[previewyoutube=krnQG_vg8-E;full][/previewyoutube] Dear fellow adventurers! It has been a little over a year since we revealed Grimlord on steam back in June 2022. During this year, we have made unrelenting efforts to produce new content and listen to all your feedback and opinions from the community. Today, Grimlord offers a smoother dark-fantasy experience, a deeper and more comprehensive system, and unique mechanics. Now we've reached a point where it's ready for all players to have a taste, so we've decided to launch Early Access. We have polished and optimized tons of details down to the nitty gritty in the past 12 months. Current playable content contains the prologue and the first chapter of the game. Which offers the beginning of a complete story line and a peek into Grimlord’s massive lore, several challenging bosses, and an abundant of weapons and weapon parts. Crafting system, talent tree, active skills are all there for you to explore. We strive to bring a genuine action role-playing adventure into VR and present it as close to perfection as we possibly can. Its challenges, interactions, narratives, balances, physics-based combat, each of which requires hundreds of hours of trial and error and we are blessed to have a gathering of VR and RPG enthusiasts accompany us each step along the way. We cannot express enough of how much we appreciate you, the Grimlord community, and all the inspiration and encouragement you have brought us. We wouldn’t dare to dream big and make it a reality without your support. Achieving Early Access is something to remember, your love and support, is something we hold dear. A special thanks to our amazing voice actors, you brought our characters to life, this game wouldn’t be the same without your outstanding performance! The Blacksmith – @Stephen Carlock The Herbalist – @Clark Casey Rheala – @Elizabeth Nightingale The Faithless -- @Jonathan Cox Exiled Mage – @Oliver Smith Of course, this is merely the very small first step of a very big journey. There are much to do following the EA launch, we will continue to add in new content to the chapter that already exist and make sure every time you fire up Grimlord, there are something new to experience (More info on our Update Roadmap) as well as going all in on Chapter 2, where the gameplay is more story driven, the game world is expanded to a whole other level and all the characters and plots will slightly unfold. There’s even some surprise guest-starring characters and cameos that we can’t wait to reveal, stay tuned for more! With all our heart, thank you for playing our game. Now get up and get Grim! [h3]In this EA version, we made some major progress since the Open Alpha including:[/h3] System 1. Talent system integrated, spend Matters to acquire attributes. 2. Smithing system no longer consumes large number of coins (renamed to Matters) 3. Smithing system introduces materials to craft weapon parts, materials can be obtained in treasure chests or fallen enemies 4. Smelter no longer refunds Matters 5. Smelter will return materials 6. A prompt board has been added to the blacksmith’s workshop to indicate the materials and costs of crafting 7. Added new tutorials and tips in forms of beams of light and text to guide players 8. Narrative and plot implemented, and the main NPCs can now be interacted with 9. Added NPC-related physical interaction system, you can interact with them, accept or reject their proposal by nodding or shaking your head. 10. The physical system has been improved to better interact with NPCs and enemies 11. Bow and arrow system has been reworked. Arrows can be picked up from where they land, there is a chance to recover them. 12. Arrows will be broken if they hit walls 13. Re-modified spell rune drawing system. 14. Climbing system improved. Weapons can be used as climbing tools. Weapon can be inserted to certain wooden materials and used as climbing points. Levels and Maps 1. Monastery prison completed. Initial tutorial and plot added. 2. Inner castle of Castle Roar completed. Player can now reach the end of the chapter. 3. Adjusted certain routes in this level 4. Added hidden passages where you can explore and obtain materials and treasures. 5. Changed certain paths of the Monastery 6. Changed certain levers 7. Added new treasure chests with schematics and materials Characters and Enemies 1. Added NPC Rheala 2. Added NPC The Herbalist 3. Added NPC The Blacksmith 4. Added NPC The Faithless 5. Added NPC The Exiled Mage 6. Added shielded knight enemy type 7. Added crossbowman enemy type 8. Added multiple bosses Weapon and Items 1. Modified the mechanism of the Black powder grenade, which explodes after the fuse’s been pull out for a few seconds. 2. Added schematic and logo display, replaced most of dropped weapon parts display. 3. Adjusted the weight of certain weapons to improve handling. [h3]Thanks to our community's help. We are able to provide a polished experience to you! V0.4.1 Developer Update Notes[/h3] System 1. Smelter not only returns materials of the weapon, but also returns 70% Matter consumed when crafting, to encourage trying different weapon combinations 2. Adjusted blocking detection, you can block attacks more accurately 3. Adjusted the effects of unarmed strikes 4. Tweaked the recovery mechanism of health potions picked up in the battlefield. Now these potions will be filled when you rest, teleport, or resurrect. 5. Player’s poise consumption when being damaged is generally reduced 6. The dodge mechanism has been improved to a charging method. You get certain dodge points within a certain period of time. After using dodge, they will be recharged in several seconds. You can use them again upon charging’s completion. There is a CD between each dodge. All stats relate to dodging is based on different armor sets and talents (not yet implemented) Narratives 1. Adjusted task objectives, the door opposite the blacksmith is always open for players to choose armors 2. Adjusted several check points to avoid unnecessary breaks between tasks Weapons and Items 1. Dagger schematics has been added to the blacksmith in the beginning of the game 2. You can find the handle of a two-handed hammer on your journey 3. Added a small mana potion to replenish mana 4. Some schematics’ location have been changed 5. The stats of certain weapons have been adjusted 6. Add passive skills to weapons, you can use Trigger to switch pages to check them out when viewing weapon stats Levels 1. Adjusted the positions of some climbing points to make climbing smoother 2. Adjusted the position of the mirror in the equipment room to better reflects the player 3. Some minor tweaks have been made to the reservoir level, and some treasure chests have been added Bosses 1. The balance recovery rate of the spear-wielding giant is slowed, making it easier to be felled, but it will be more aggressive when standing back up 2. Fixed the glitch of the black knight never jumps off onto the battlefield and the fog door did not appear 3. Added a dashing-forward 5-slash-combo move to the axe-wielding guardian