A lot happened in tonight's play through and things started off with a bang. As I noted I stopped just after getting the Spear of Destiny. A weapon that I'll probably use as often as the Barbarian's Hammer, never. So here I am with Kratos standing on a bridge with a swing point just in front of him. The succession of swing points that occurs here is awesome. Kratos is jumping from point to point while the pillars around him are crumbling to the ground. Launching from the various swing points while all this chaos is going on is just a blast, it's just a shame that this is the first time anything like this has happened. Many of these points aren't actual swing points. Instead Kratos latches to them and drags himself over to the them, he then leaps off of the pillar to the next point. I can't recall having seen this type of grapple point in the game. Sure that have been points where Kratos is drawn to them, but none where he would then leap off the wall. I was not expecting the leaping part so on my first try I died. Made it the second round, the section is tons of fun but concept could have been introduced a little earlier.
Shortly thereafter Kratos meets Icarus. In Greek mythology Icarus had wings made of wax, he flew to close the sun which melted his wings. Icarus then fell to his death. In God of War Icarus is a crazy old man. I assumed his madness came from flying to close the sun, which means God of War borrowed from Disney's Hercules cartoon! I did not see that one coming. Anywho, Icarus is like everyone else around here, determined to meet with the Sisters of Fate and no one else can have that opportunity except for him. Icarus even brags that only his wings will take him to the Sisters. In grand Kratos style, Kratos says he'll take Icarus' wings then and meet with the Sisters.
A very cool fight occurs where the two are falling to their deaths and they toss and tumble and fight until Kratos wins. I admit that I laughed when Icarus tried to appease Kratos by claiming that they are actually destined to meet the Sisters of Fate together. This was Icarus trying to save his life. Kratos would have none of it and rips off Icarus' wings which had ACTUALLY BEEN GRAFTED ON TO HIS BODY?! That's just nuts. But now Kratos has them and he can hide them at will, but they're only used for gliding he can't actually fly with them. Personally I wouldn't trust the wings. Every time the wings appear I think 200 or so feathers go flying off. It looks like the wings should be pretty barren at the rate they're molting.
After the falling part Kratos lands on a Titan who happens to have platforms growing out of his body. This part is a ton of fun and also extremely frustrating, but for different reasons. The wings really come in to play here. Kratos is wandering in and out of the Titan's body pulling off various platforming maneuvers just to work his way around. I love tough, challenging but fair platforming and this area has it in spades. Especially towards the end when Kratos is climbing up a cliff face and rocks are falling directly at him. He has to jump back and forth in timing to the rocks to make it across. It was just fun to play. But eventually you reach the Titan and that's where I got frustrated.
The Titan turns out to be Atlas, the guy you always see holding up the world on his back. Kratos and Atlas apparently have a history together. Atlas being sealed away underground is apparently Kratos' fault. But I don't remember playing this part and it wasn't in the last game so I don't know when this happened. I'm missing a part of the story and I want it filled in! Hmmm...let's hop over to the wiki. Apparently Atlas and Kratos met in the PSP game Chains of Olympus and Kratos is the one who chained Atlas up and forced him to hold up the world. Atlas seems very forgiving of Kratos' hand in his imprisonment and actually gives Kratos a new ability, the Atlas Quake. It causes seismic tremors. Seems like a good ability.
Atlas helps Kratos reach the Tower of Fates. The tower is a fairly run-of-the-mill area until you reach the Translator. Then it becomes an "escort mission". Thankfully not a long one. Kratos must get the Translator back to a book so he can translate it for Kratos. It's very convenient that a translator just happened to be around. Kratos must keep the Translator alive until they reach the book and for a short while after they reach the book. It's not hard and this sort of mission is rare enough in these games that I didn't mind it. It's funny though that Kratos works so hard to keep the Translator alive because Kratos offers the Translator as a sacrifice just moments later.
It's at this point that you finally meet one of the Sisters of Fate. She congratulates Kratos on sacrificing another human being. This shows he really wants to meet the Sisters. Just a note that she has one boob hanging out and it looks fake. It stays remarkably perky for having zero support. My guess? Implants. If this had been a Tecmo game she'd be bouncing all over the place, but at least then I would have known that they were real. Then there was a little bit of backtracking to the save point and that's where I currently sit.
Next time: What ever comes next, there's a chance that boobs will be involved.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX - Get the Ghost Munchies
I decided to take a break from God of War II and play something else. This will only be a small distraction and I'll get back to God of War II.
One of the greatest things to come out of this generation of consoles is the downloadable title. These titles are often smaller titles that otherwise would not have been worth the money to develop or they would have been buried on some compilation disc. Now you can spend $10 - $20 dollars and get a game download. Many of these are outstanding titles. Case in point: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.
Now I've never played Pac-Man Championship Edition so I don't know what the difference is between it and the DX version, but the DX version is pure awesome! You know the basics of Pac-Man, Pac-Man wanders around a maze eating pellets. All the while Pac-Man is being chased by four ghosts. Occasionally Pac-Man eats a power pellet and he gains the ability to eat the ghosts. The Championship Edition cranks that up to 11.
Now Pac-Man wanders a maze with a set number of pellets on each side. Guarding the pellets are sleeping ghosts. When Pack-Man comes near the ghost wakes up and starts chasing Pac-Man. When all the pellets on one side are eaten a fruit appears near the center on the opposite side of the map. Eating the fruit will cause more pellets to appear on the side that was just cleared and more sleeping ghosts to appear as well. It might also change the configuration of the map.
In a fun twist power pellets are not always on screen so you have to keep clearing the sides of the maze until one finally shows up. By the time you can get a power pellet you should have a long line of ghosts behind Pac-Man. Eat the power pellet and BAM! It's gorging time! This is what makes Pac-Man Championship Edition DX so much fun. It's a puzzle game all the while being an arcade game. You have to determine when to eat a power pellet to receive the maximum amount of points. As you score points the game gets faster. The speeds it will reach are ridiculous. I don't know how many times I lost track of Pac-Man and I was freaking out because that long line of ghosts was probably going to eat him. And as the game gets faster rouge ghosts show up that don't follow the line. These rouge ghosts are your normal Pac-Man ghosts and they have all of their behaviors. But at a speed of 50 it's hard to tell what's exactly going on.
All I can really say is check it out, you won't be disapointed. It's a great game for a quick pick up when you only have a few minutes to spare. But it also can can suck you in for hours on end. It's pure gameplay so there's no story to get involved with. Your only goal is to keep that yellow hockey-puck alive while munching ghosts.
There are other gameplay modes to check out as well. Time trial is all about eating pellets and fruit, eating ghosts is a waste of time. But Ghost combo has you eating as many ghosts as possible and this one can get tricky, especially when a power pellet appears in front of a long line of ghosts. Should you go for the pellet or should you try to get a longer line behind you?
Just play the game. This is the true revival that old games need. Not a bizarre uprade to some 3D world. Mario rip-off. Try it, you'll like it.
One of the greatest things to come out of this generation of consoles is the downloadable title. These titles are often smaller titles that otherwise would not have been worth the money to develop or they would have been buried on some compilation disc. Now you can spend $10 - $20 dollars and get a game download. Many of these are outstanding titles. Case in point: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.
Now I've never played Pac-Man Championship Edition so I don't know what the difference is between it and the DX version, but the DX version is pure awesome! You know the basics of Pac-Man, Pac-Man wanders around a maze eating pellets. All the while Pac-Man is being chased by four ghosts. Occasionally Pac-Man eats a power pellet and he gains the ability to eat the ghosts. The Championship Edition cranks that up to 11.
Now Pac-Man wanders a maze with a set number of pellets on each side. Guarding the pellets are sleeping ghosts. When Pack-Man comes near the ghost wakes up and starts chasing Pac-Man. When all the pellets on one side are eaten a fruit appears near the center on the opposite side of the map. Eating the fruit will cause more pellets to appear on the side that was just cleared and more sleeping ghosts to appear as well. It might also change the configuration of the map.
In a fun twist power pellets are not always on screen so you have to keep clearing the sides of the maze until one finally shows up. By the time you can get a power pellet you should have a long line of ghosts behind Pac-Man. Eat the power pellet and BAM! It's gorging time! This is what makes Pac-Man Championship Edition DX so much fun. It's a puzzle game all the while being an arcade game. You have to determine when to eat a power pellet to receive the maximum amount of points. As you score points the game gets faster. The speeds it will reach are ridiculous. I don't know how many times I lost track of Pac-Man and I was freaking out because that long line of ghosts was probably going to eat him. And as the game gets faster rouge ghosts show up that don't follow the line. These rouge ghosts are your normal Pac-Man ghosts and they have all of their behaviors. But at a speed of 50 it's hard to tell what's exactly going on.
All I can really say is check it out, you won't be disapointed. It's a great game for a quick pick up when you only have a few minutes to spare. But it also can can suck you in for hours on end. It's pure gameplay so there's no story to get involved with. Your only goal is to keep that yellow hockey-puck alive while munching ghosts.
There are other gameplay modes to check out as well. Time trial is all about eating pellets and fruit, eating ghosts is a waste of time. But Ghost combo has you eating as many ghosts as possible and this one can get tricky, especially when a power pellet appears in front of a long line of ghosts. Should you go for the pellet or should you try to get a longer line behind you?
Just play the game. This is the true revival that old games need. Not a bizarre uprade to some 3D world. Mario rip-off. Try it, you'll like it.
Friday, February 4, 2011
God of War II - Feels Like I'm Wandering
I had this horrifying revelation today. I've been wandering around, going to all these unique locations and it dawned on me that I'm actually still on that stupid island that the Pegasus dropped me off at. I thought I was making progress (and I actually am) but in the end I'm not going anywhere. But now that I think about it the last game really did the same thing. You had your tutorial level (Aegean Sea/ City of Rhodes), the warm-up area (Athens/ The Titan Ice Cave) and the area you wandered around forever (Temple of Pandora/ Island of Creation). So far we're par for the course.
It's just a bit of a shock that all of this is still the same island. This island actually feels huge. It has a large variety of scenery and many various locations. I'm having a good time on it even though today's playtime didn't feel that productive. I did take out another boss (apparently I've completed Boss Batch 2, so says the trophy). There are many more bosses in this game then God of War I.
Before I get to the boss fight I want to talk about this vine puzzle I encountered. I got to a point where some guy is yelling for help and in typical God of War fashion you have to ignore him. Gameplay will naturally take you to this guy, but it feels odd to have someone yelling and have no clue if you should stay in the area or if you're supposed to leave. The good thing about these games is that you can't seem to skip anything. The game will guide you where you need to go eventually, but it may be a little confusing on how to get there.
Now on my way to find this guy I came to an overlook where I could see the giant horses and there was a fate statue next to me. I had no idea what to do. I jumped off the cliff a few times, tried going backwards a few times before I realized that there was this "knot" that I was supposed to press and this would cause some vines to grow. You then need to slow down time so you can run across the vines. This is actually a really neat puzzle, especially since you have to run across the vines while they're receding back into their holes. There is one big problem with this puzzle, there is no setup for this. You've never seen this type of puzzle before and there's no clue what you should be doing. That's why I jumped off the ledge, I was trying different things to figure out how to continue. I found the vine-growing-knot on accident. If I hadn't stumbled across it who knows how many times I might have died or if I would have to go to a walkthrough again for help.
Thankfully I made it through and eventually found the guy who was yelling for help. It was Perseus from the Clash of the Titans. I saw the old movie when I was young and I've never seen the newer version so I don't remember his story, but I believe he kills Medusa. Not that the God of War series stays true to any Greek mythology. The series really does like to name drop.
Perseus decides to fight Kratos thinking he's some test sent by the Sisters of Fate. Perseus is a moron, but the fight is fun. I think having to fight Perseus in the water made the first half of the fight way to easy. Perseus puts on some magical helmet and turns invisible, but it's not hard to figure our where he is since you're fighting in water. Eventually Kratos crushes Perseus' magical helmet and now Perseus stays visible. You battle it out until the end of the fight where Kratos throws Perseus threw a wall and Perseus gets impaled on some hook thing. It's fairly standard stuff for God of War at this point. Fun fight though. Perseus comes off as a smug idiot so I couldn't wait to smash his face in. His death scene didn't disappoint. It's also funny that throwing Perseus threw the wall created an opening to escape his prison.
Immediately after the fight you get to solve a puzzle where there's another giant statue shooting eye beams that block Kratos' path. I only mention this puzzle because it makes you think about your gear. There is only one movable statue so you can only block one eye with it. The second eye you must you the golden fleece to block. Brilliant! It actually makes you use your gear in a unique way. I found that very cool.
In the next area I received the Spear of Destiny. Now I know of the Spear of Destiny from Christianity and the Evangelion series. I had no idea there was one in Greek mythology and that it would be impaled in the gryphon thing that I killed earlier. It just seems like a weapon called the Spear of Destiny would be in the hands of someone stronger. So far he spears seems like a decent weapon, but I haven't had much time with it.
Next time: Across some ruins and one step closer to the Sisters of Fate.
It's just a bit of a shock that all of this is still the same island. This island actually feels huge. It has a large variety of scenery and many various locations. I'm having a good time on it even though today's playtime didn't feel that productive. I did take out another boss (apparently I've completed Boss Batch 2, so says the trophy). There are many more bosses in this game then God of War I.
Before I get to the boss fight I want to talk about this vine puzzle I encountered. I got to a point where some guy is yelling for help and in typical God of War fashion you have to ignore him. Gameplay will naturally take you to this guy, but it feels odd to have someone yelling and have no clue if you should stay in the area or if you're supposed to leave. The good thing about these games is that you can't seem to skip anything. The game will guide you where you need to go eventually, but it may be a little confusing on how to get there.
Now on my way to find this guy I came to an overlook where I could see the giant horses and there was a fate statue next to me. I had no idea what to do. I jumped off the cliff a few times, tried going backwards a few times before I realized that there was this "knot" that I was supposed to press and this would cause some vines to grow. You then need to slow down time so you can run across the vines. This is actually a really neat puzzle, especially since you have to run across the vines while they're receding back into their holes. There is one big problem with this puzzle, there is no setup for this. You've never seen this type of puzzle before and there's no clue what you should be doing. That's why I jumped off the ledge, I was trying different things to figure out how to continue. I found the vine-growing-knot on accident. If I hadn't stumbled across it who knows how many times I might have died or if I would have to go to a walkthrough again for help.
Thankfully I made it through and eventually found the guy who was yelling for help. It was Perseus from the Clash of the Titans. I saw the old movie when I was young and I've never seen the newer version so I don't remember his story, but I believe he kills Medusa. Not that the God of War series stays true to any Greek mythology. The series really does like to name drop.
Perseus decides to fight Kratos thinking he's some test sent by the Sisters of Fate. Perseus is a moron, but the fight is fun. I think having to fight Perseus in the water made the first half of the fight way to easy. Perseus puts on some magical helmet and turns invisible, but it's not hard to figure our where he is since you're fighting in water. Eventually Kratos crushes Perseus' magical helmet and now Perseus stays visible. You battle it out until the end of the fight where Kratos throws Perseus threw a wall and Perseus gets impaled on some hook thing. It's fairly standard stuff for God of War at this point. Fun fight though. Perseus comes off as a smug idiot so I couldn't wait to smash his face in. His death scene didn't disappoint. It's also funny that throwing Perseus threw the wall created an opening to escape his prison.
Immediately after the fight you get to solve a puzzle where there's another giant statue shooting eye beams that block Kratos' path. I only mention this puzzle because it makes you think about your gear. There is only one movable statue so you can only block one eye with it. The second eye you must you the golden fleece to block. Brilliant! It actually makes you use your gear in a unique way. I found that very cool.
In the next area I received the Spear of Destiny. Now I know of the Spear of Destiny from Christianity and the Evangelion series. I had no idea there was one in Greek mythology and that it would be impaled in the gryphon thing that I killed earlier. It just seems like a weapon called the Spear of Destiny would be in the hands of someone stronger. So far he spears seems like a decent weapon, but I haven't had much time with it.
Next time: Across some ruins and one step closer to the Sisters of Fate.
God of War II - What's an Euryale?
Here Kratos stands at the Temple of Euryale. I had determined that I needed to go to to the right since the front door turns you to stone and the left side has a locked gate. Guess what's on the right side of the Temple? The key that you need for the left side of the Temple! Really this is not very thought out right here which is sad, since this place has some really unique puzzles in it. Puzzles that I like and that were fun to solve. You literally have to run to the right just to turn around and run back to the left. You also encounter grappling in here. This is very much like just hooking onto a normal swing point, except you spin in a circle. I don't quite see the point in it, but it's kind of fun to do.
I mentioned the puzzles in the Temple and there really are some interesting ones. My personal favorite has to be the one where I had to drop a corpse on a river and let it flow in a circle so I could pick it up on the other side. It felt natural to do this. All the clues were laid out before me and I just had to piece it together. Didn't take long and it had me going "Wow, that's pretty inventive."
There's one that had to do with a rocking ledge where you had to place two statues on it to cause it to tip. This allowed Kratos, being the brute that he is, to dislodge the ledge and create a new path. This lead to the a fairly brutal, yet simple puzzle where Kratos had to drop an injured soldier on a conveyor belt so that the soldier would jam the thing up allowing Kratos to pass through. Kratos is quite the guy.
This is where you technically encounter Jason of Jason and the Argonauts fame. Jason was on a quest to recover the golden fleece. That's about all of Jason's story I can remember. Now I say "technically" because Jason is dead and his arm is dangling in the mouth of a Cerberus. Turns out this arm has the fleece attached to it. Also this is the old style of Cerberus from the last game.Neat! Made me nervous that little Cerberuses were going to show up and start evolving, but thankfully that doesn't happen. During the fight the Cerberus swallows the arm and during Kratos brutal finishing move, Kratos reaches down the dog's throat and pulls the arm back out. Kratos then attaches the fleece to his arm, conveniently the fleece looks like armor and it happens to be a perfect fit for Kratos.
The fleece reflects attacks. I know what it does because when Kratos put the fleece on a tutorial message appeared and told me what it does. Then, in a voice-over, Gaia also tells me what it does. This happens every single time. Not only do I get a tutorial I also get a lecture on how to use my new gear. I don't need both, just one will suffice thank you very much. The fleece actually seems to absorb an attack and then channels the energy into a new attack. This allows me to freeze gorgons, which is a first in the series.
The fleece allows me through the front door of the temple so there is some limited backtracking. The nice thing about backtracking in this game is that they always try to find a way to shorten the trip. This is very good on the development teams part. Once in the temple I have various other traps and puzzles to overcome but I'm starting to feel confused. I get the impression that I'm on my way to kill Medusa, but I killed Medusa in the first game. So I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to pull this off or if the team just said "screw it" and they brought Medusa back to life.
Turns out the answer is that I get to fight a really fat gorgon with her fat boobs hanging out named Euryale. Oh. so that's what a Euryale is. Euryale falls into the category of annoying boss fight. Largely because she has an instant death attack against you. Euryale will climb pillars and send out shockwaves of that stone beam that gorgons use. Normally I would just jump over it, but occasionally I would jump to late, get turned to stone, and smash into the ground shattering into a thousand pieces. Lame, but at least it's consistent with the rest of the gorgon's in the game. You could just get turned to stone and shake out of it. There's normally enough time.
When Euryale dies Kratos rips her head off and you get the gorgon freezing power again. Hooray? I didn't really use the power that much in the last game and the mechanics seems the same in this game. I doubt it will be my new favorite power. Kinda like the Barbarian Hammer I got. I don't like the thing. It's slow, clumsy, and I can't roll with it. I need to roll, that's how I survive.
Next time: Kratos has a very fat gorgon head and he just might use it. Seriously, this thing is at least three times the size of Medusa's head, maybe even 5 times.
I mentioned the puzzles in the Temple and there really are some interesting ones. My personal favorite has to be the one where I had to drop a corpse on a river and let it flow in a circle so I could pick it up on the other side. It felt natural to do this. All the clues were laid out before me and I just had to piece it together. Didn't take long and it had me going "Wow, that's pretty inventive."
There's one that had to do with a rocking ledge where you had to place two statues on it to cause it to tip. This allowed Kratos, being the brute that he is, to dislodge the ledge and create a new path. This lead to the a fairly brutal, yet simple puzzle where Kratos had to drop an injured soldier on a conveyor belt so that the soldier would jam the thing up allowing Kratos to pass through. Kratos is quite the guy.
This is where you technically encounter Jason of Jason and the Argonauts fame. Jason was on a quest to recover the golden fleece. That's about all of Jason's story I can remember. Now I say "technically" because Jason is dead and his arm is dangling in the mouth of a Cerberus. Turns out this arm has the fleece attached to it. Also this is the old style of Cerberus from the last game.Neat! Made me nervous that little Cerberuses were going to show up and start evolving, but thankfully that doesn't happen. During the fight the Cerberus swallows the arm and during Kratos brutal finishing move, Kratos reaches down the dog's throat and pulls the arm back out. Kratos then attaches the fleece to his arm, conveniently the fleece looks like armor and it happens to be a perfect fit for Kratos.
The fleece reflects attacks. I know what it does because when Kratos put the fleece on a tutorial message appeared and told me what it does. Then, in a voice-over, Gaia also tells me what it does. This happens every single time. Not only do I get a tutorial I also get a lecture on how to use my new gear. I don't need both, just one will suffice thank you very much. The fleece actually seems to absorb an attack and then channels the energy into a new attack. This allows me to freeze gorgons, which is a first in the series.
The fleece allows me through the front door of the temple so there is some limited backtracking. The nice thing about backtracking in this game is that they always try to find a way to shorten the trip. This is very good on the development teams part. Once in the temple I have various other traps and puzzles to overcome but I'm starting to feel confused. I get the impression that I'm on my way to kill Medusa, but I killed Medusa in the first game. So I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to pull this off or if the team just said "screw it" and they brought Medusa back to life.
Turns out the answer is that I get to fight a really fat gorgon with her fat boobs hanging out named Euryale. Oh. so that's what a Euryale is. Euryale falls into the category of annoying boss fight. Largely because she has an instant death attack against you. Euryale will climb pillars and send out shockwaves of that stone beam that gorgons use. Normally I would just jump over it, but occasionally I would jump to late, get turned to stone, and smash into the ground shattering into a thousand pieces. Lame, but at least it's consistent with the rest of the gorgon's in the game. You could just get turned to stone and shake out of it. There's normally enough time.
When Euryale dies Kratos rips her head off and you get the gorgon freezing power again. Hooray? I didn't really use the power that much in the last game and the mechanics seems the same in this game. I doubt it will be my new favorite power. Kinda like the Barbarian Hammer I got. I don't like the thing. It's slow, clumsy, and I can't roll with it. I need to roll, that's how I survive.
Next time: Kratos has a very fat gorgon head and he just might use it. Seriously, this thing is at least three times the size of Medusa's head, maybe even 5 times.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
God of War II - Giant Statues of Misdirection.
Thankfully the only backtracking that I had to do was to run across the giant chain. Beyond that everything is new. I came across a giant statue that standing on a switch could take me up to the statue's head, but first I had to solve a puzzle. This involves swimming.and recovering the relic, The Amulet of the Fates. The Amulet allows to slow down time for a short while. I guess God of War took a note from The Prince of Persia. The downside to the Amulet is that it can only be used when near a Fates Statue. Don't plan on whipping it out for every boss fight you come across. I can only imagine that use of this item will be fairly limited. Enjoy it while you can.
I have to admit that I actually found this puzzle to be fun. It could easily be solved if you just took a moment to look at your environment. The handle hiding on the planter is noticeable if you know what you're looking for and by now you should.
When Kratos reaches the top of the statue, the statue talks to him. Apparently the Sisters of Fate are controlling it. They tell Kratos that his fate cannot be changed and that his soul will never find rest. Kratos does not care what the Sisters have to say so he knocks off the head of the statue.
You almost have to admire Kratos. He will do whatever it takes to do what everyone else wants him to. Athena wanted Kratos to stop Ares, Kratos single-mindedly did it. Gaia wants Kratos to go to the Sisters of Fate to change time. Kratos is doing just that and nothing is going to stop him. Kratos comes off as a guy who can be easily manipulated. Find out what he wants, figure out how to make it coincide with what you want and then convince Kratos that you're here to help him and BAM! You'll have your own unstoppable killing machine. Just make sure you don't double cross him or else he'll drag himself out of Hades just to find you. Sure he'll probably find a new guide on his way to kill you, but that's just the kind of guy Kratos is.
After you deal with the statue head another giant statue head blocks you're path with eyebeams. Get ready for some misdirection. You have to drop onto a floor and battle three Cyclops and the occasional boar. During the start of the battle you're shown a doorway off to the side that is blocked off by energy. Once you kill the Cyclops you are shown the energy bursting away from said doorway. This type of camera shot makes you think you need to go to that doorway. Inside the doorway is a bottomless pit, a small ledge you can shimey across, and a face that spews fireballs. Now I died about 5 times trying to find my way through this entryway. But I couldn't, you know why? BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO! If that's not the right path why did the camera specifically show me that doorway?! Instead I'm supposed to climb a ladder and block the eyebeams with some statues. Blocking the eyes is a simple puzzle, but I'm still mad about wasting time and deaths on the wrong area. Turns out you're supposed to ignore that path for now. They should have just kept it blocked with energy for the time being.
You enter a swamp where you're attacked by a guy on a horse. Kratos sinks his Blade into the horses rump and gets dragged along by the horse. Turns out the rider is the Barbarian King who nearly killed Kratos. He is the one responsible for the event where Kratos pledged his soul to Ares, thus setting in motion all of the events that lead up to the first game. Turns out the Barbarian King has a grudge against Kratos since Kratos killed him. Go figure. First you have to knock him off his horse, then the fight really begins. Well if you can call it a fight.
The Barbarian King is not hard, at all. His horse does very little damage and his attacks are so well telegraphed that you should be well out of his way before he actually strikes. The best part of this fight is when the Barbarian King is summoning souls of the dead to help him out in combat. The Barbarian King actually summons the soul of the Ship Captain from the first came. Needless to say the Ship Captain reconizes Kratros and doesn't like that fact that they have met again. I actually went out of my way to grab the Ship Captain and kill him with the Circle button. I'm glad they've made him a running gag. For all the violence and gore in this game, there is this side of the game that really seems to like cheese and camp. It's part of this game's overall charm.
Currently I'm at the Temp of Euryale. I can't enter the front door since it will turn me to stone. The left side of the temple is has a door that's locked. But the right side seems to be able to go somewhere. Good thing that side has the savepoint or else I would be able to complain about misdirection again.
Next time: Pac-Man......or some more God of War.
I have to admit that I actually found this puzzle to be fun. It could easily be solved if you just took a moment to look at your environment. The handle hiding on the planter is noticeable if you know what you're looking for and by now you should.
When Kratos reaches the top of the statue, the statue talks to him. Apparently the Sisters of Fate are controlling it. They tell Kratos that his fate cannot be changed and that his soul will never find rest. Kratos does not care what the Sisters have to say so he knocks off the head of the statue.
You almost have to admire Kratos. He will do whatever it takes to do what everyone else wants him to. Athena wanted Kratos to stop Ares, Kratos single-mindedly did it. Gaia wants Kratos to go to the Sisters of Fate to change time. Kratos is doing just that and nothing is going to stop him. Kratos comes off as a guy who can be easily manipulated. Find out what he wants, figure out how to make it coincide with what you want and then convince Kratos that you're here to help him and BAM! You'll have your own unstoppable killing machine. Just make sure you don't double cross him or else he'll drag himself out of Hades just to find you. Sure he'll probably find a new guide on his way to kill you, but that's just the kind of guy Kratos is.
After you deal with the statue head another giant statue head blocks you're path with eyebeams. Get ready for some misdirection. You have to drop onto a floor and battle three Cyclops and the occasional boar. During the start of the battle you're shown a doorway off to the side that is blocked off by energy. Once you kill the Cyclops you are shown the energy bursting away from said doorway. This type of camera shot makes you think you need to go to that doorway. Inside the doorway is a bottomless pit, a small ledge you can shimey across, and a face that spews fireballs. Now I died about 5 times trying to find my way through this entryway. But I couldn't, you know why? BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO! If that's not the right path why did the camera specifically show me that doorway?! Instead I'm supposed to climb a ladder and block the eyebeams with some statues. Blocking the eyes is a simple puzzle, but I'm still mad about wasting time and deaths on the wrong area. Turns out you're supposed to ignore that path for now. They should have just kept it blocked with energy for the time being.
You enter a swamp where you're attacked by a guy on a horse. Kratos sinks his Blade into the horses rump and gets dragged along by the horse. Turns out the rider is the Barbarian King who nearly killed Kratos. He is the one responsible for the event where Kratos pledged his soul to Ares, thus setting in motion all of the events that lead up to the first game. Turns out the Barbarian King has a grudge against Kratos since Kratos killed him. Go figure. First you have to knock him off his horse, then the fight really begins. Well if you can call it a fight.
The Barbarian King is not hard, at all. His horse does very little damage and his attacks are so well telegraphed that you should be well out of his way before he actually strikes. The best part of this fight is when the Barbarian King is summoning souls of the dead to help him out in combat. The Barbarian King actually summons the soul of the Ship Captain from the first came. Needless to say the Ship Captain reconizes Kratros and doesn't like that fact that they have met again. I actually went out of my way to grab the Ship Captain and kill him with the Circle button. I'm glad they've made him a running gag. For all the violence and gore in this game, there is this side of the game that really seems to like cheese and camp. It's part of this game's overall charm.
Currently I'm at the Temp of Euryale. I can't enter the front door since it will turn me to stone. The left side of the temple is has a door that's locked. But the right side seems to be able to go somewhere. Good thing that side has the savepoint or else I would be able to complain about misdirection again.
Next time: Pac-Man......or some more God of War.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
God of War II - Of Zeus and Giant Horses
Zeus backstory goes something along the lines that all of the Gods of Olympus were the children of Cronos, except for the ones that are Zeus' kids. I'm no Greek scholar so no getting mad if I'm wrong. Anyways, it was foretold that Cronos' children would overthrow him. To prevent this Cronos ate all of his kids and kept them in his belly. But Cronos' wife, Rhea, tricked Cronos so that her youngest son Zeus might live. Cronos swallowed a rock thinking it was Zeus. Zeus was taken away to safety where he was raised by the Titan Gaia. Gaia encouraged Zeus desire to rescue his siblings, but she did not expect Zeus to come after all of the Titans, just Cronos. And so the prophecy was fulfilled.
Now when you see Rhea who looks like a normal human and Cronos who is this giant elemental monster you just have to wonder, how does this relationship work? If I read this right Zeus had two brothers (Poseidon and Hades) and two sisters (Hera and Demeter). If you include Zeus, that means Rhea and Cronos had five kids together. I really do not see this happening. It just seems way to painful on her part. But that's Zeus' backstory.
Going back to the cutscene where Zeus killed Kratos, Zeus mentioned that the cycle must end and he called Kratos son. Does this mean that Kratos is Zeus' literal son and Zeus wants to keep Kratos from overthrowing him like Zeus did to Cronos? Probably.
Back to the gameplay. Kratos just killed a new breed of Cerberus. At this point the level is fairly straight forward (at least I didn't get lost or have to look at Gamefaqs). I continued through the level until I came across some giant horses. These horses were a gift from Cronos to the Sisters of Fate. Cronos was hoping that the Sisters of Fate would alter Cronos' future so he could avoid his fate. Similar to Kratos wanting to change his past.
Here we meet Theseus. Theseus is the keeper of these giant horses and he has a key that Kratos needs to continue. Apparently Kratos and Theseus know each other and they don't really seem to like each other. Theseus won't give Kratos the key so a boss fight occurs. Theseus isn't that hard of a fight. I unleashed the Wrath of the Titans on him and he didn't seem to like that very much. Theseus jumps on top of a giant door and throws lightning (at least I think it's lightning) and calls up giant spikes from the ground. Kratos needs to shoot him with his bow. Thankfully Theseus also summons minotaurs to the fight. Minotaurs are a fairly easy fight so Kratos gets lots of health and these minotaurs drop magic orbs so you can keep using your bow.
Eventually Theseus falls. Kratos then stabs Theseus with his own giant spear thing and then proceeds to slam Theseus' head in a door repeatedly. It's pretty brutal. Makes me glad I'm not Theseus. But for a boss fight this wasn't bad. Theseus mixes things up a good bit and making use of the bow was a nice touch. It seemed a little to easy to restore health and magic which took away some of the danger from the fight. But I had fun.
I ran through the horses until I encountered a memory of Cronos. Apparently Cronos left this memory behind for Kratos. Kratos receives a new magic attack. He can lay lighting orbs on the ground and these orbs zap anything near them. I got a 500 hit combo from these things so I highly recommend them. At least from my limited exposure.
Continuing through the giant horses I came upon a lever puzzle. There were four levers and when I pulled one a small lock opened. I had to reach the lock before it closed. It wasn't hard. First you have to do the two levers in the middle, followed by the two levers on the outside. Then you get to whip the stone horses to make them move. The whipping part had me laughing because whipping stone horses seems very silly to me. But the stone horses begin to move and pull the two island chunks together. Now I just have to backtrack and make it to the second half of the island. Hopefully the backtracking will somehow be made interesting.
Can someone tell me why there was one lone guard standing in front of the giant chain that leads back to the island? It was really stupid for him to even be there. He wasn't a challenge, more like a waste of time.
Next time: The second half of the island I guess.
Now when you see Rhea who looks like a normal human and Cronos who is this giant elemental monster you just have to wonder, how does this relationship work? If I read this right Zeus had two brothers (Poseidon and Hades) and two sisters (Hera and Demeter). If you include Zeus, that means Rhea and Cronos had five kids together. I really do not see this happening. It just seems way to painful on her part. But that's Zeus' backstory.
Going back to the cutscene where Zeus killed Kratos, Zeus mentioned that the cycle must end and he called Kratos son. Does this mean that Kratos is Zeus' literal son and Zeus wants to keep Kratos from overthrowing him like Zeus did to Cronos? Probably.
Back to the gameplay. Kratos just killed a new breed of Cerberus. At this point the level is fairly straight forward (at least I didn't get lost or have to look at Gamefaqs). I continued through the level until I came across some giant horses. These horses were a gift from Cronos to the Sisters of Fate. Cronos was hoping that the Sisters of Fate would alter Cronos' future so he could avoid his fate. Similar to Kratos wanting to change his past.
Here we meet Theseus. Theseus is the keeper of these giant horses and he has a key that Kratos needs to continue. Apparently Kratos and Theseus know each other and they don't really seem to like each other. Theseus won't give Kratos the key so a boss fight occurs. Theseus isn't that hard of a fight. I unleashed the Wrath of the Titans on him and he didn't seem to like that very much. Theseus jumps on top of a giant door and throws lightning (at least I think it's lightning) and calls up giant spikes from the ground. Kratos needs to shoot him with his bow. Thankfully Theseus also summons minotaurs to the fight. Minotaurs are a fairly easy fight so Kratos gets lots of health and these minotaurs drop magic orbs so you can keep using your bow.
Eventually Theseus falls. Kratos then stabs Theseus with his own giant spear thing and then proceeds to slam Theseus' head in a door repeatedly. It's pretty brutal. Makes me glad I'm not Theseus. But for a boss fight this wasn't bad. Theseus mixes things up a good bit and making use of the bow was a nice touch. It seemed a little to easy to restore health and magic which took away some of the danger from the fight. But I had fun.
I ran through the horses until I encountered a memory of Cronos. Apparently Cronos left this memory behind for Kratos. Kratos receives a new magic attack. He can lay lighting orbs on the ground and these orbs zap anything near them. I got a 500 hit combo from these things so I highly recommend them. At least from my limited exposure.
Continuing through the giant horses I came upon a lever puzzle. There were four levers and when I pulled one a small lock opened. I had to reach the lock before it closed. It wasn't hard. First you have to do the two levers in the middle, followed by the two levers on the outside. Then you get to whip the stone horses to make them move. The whipping part had me laughing because whipping stone horses seems very silly to me. But the stone horses begin to move and pull the two island chunks together. Now I just have to backtrack and make it to the second half of the island. Hopefully the backtracking will somehow be made interesting.
Can someone tell me why there was one lone guard standing in front of the giant chain that leads back to the island? It was really stupid for him to even be there. He wasn't a challenge, more like a waste of time.
Next time: The second half of the island I guess.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
God of War II - Backtracking Stikes Back!
First I'm going to gripe about the tutorials in this game. At first I thought they would be better handled then they were in the first game. The first tutorials did not show up after I had already killed people, they showed up before, that was very promising. But then things quickly deteriorated. I received tutorials for the Pegasus long after I was already using abilities like the dash and the dodge buttons. I got stuck in this stupid Temple of Lahkesis where I had to pick up a body and use it as a weight. The tutorial for this appeared after I had picked up the body. On an amusing note, this is the first game to tell me that a tutorial message was a tutorial message. Sure it was like the eighth tutorial in, but it's the thought that counts.
So Kratos just climbed out of Hades (again) and I can now ride a magical Pegasus. Woot! But first I talked to some guard guy from the Spartan army and told him to get ready for war. I wonder if I could have skipped that part and if it would have made a difference? So I jump on the Pegasus and I get treated to a flying level, oh what fun. I get to kill gryphons! So far I do enjoy the flying levels, they are fairly well done and give a good sense of speed and action. I just wish it had a fleshed out tutorial section. I discovered the dash attack on accident and the whole thing with the giant raven didn't make much sense.
So the Pegasus stops off at this ice cave since that's where Gaia sent us. I have to do something here, but I'm not sure what. My Pegasus gets stuck under the fingers of a giant ice looking Titan named Typhon. I'm told I have to free the Pegasus. So I attack Typhon's fingers for at least 10 minutes before I go to Gamefaqs to get some help. Apparently there's a part of a nearby wall that has a slightly different texture that I can climb. I don't know when I would have noticed it.
So I run around the island until I find a man tied chained to a giant hand being eaten by a bird. Kratos seems to know who this is but I don't (apparently it's the Titan Prometheus). This guy has been turned into a human and he's eaten by a bird every day until he dies and then his body restores itself and the cycle happens again. There's a cool scene where the guy dies and his body repairs itself. It actually shows organs and such. Very impressive, but I don't know what to do with him. So I do the same thing I do to every new person Kratos meets, I attack him. Eventually the chain kinda breaks and the former Titan ends up dangling from the chain begging Kratos to kill him.
Again I was confused. Do I kill him, save him, or do I need to leave him for a little? Turns out I need to leave him. I make my way to the ice Titan and a pseudo boss fight occurs. It's not a real fight, I apparently have to steal a bow and arrow set from his eye while he tries to blow me off a cliff. This if better handled than the Hydra fight from the first game. I steal the bow and arrow and make my way back to Prometheus. This means backtracking. Thankfully this is also handled better then the last game. Kratos is able to find new ways to go back that shortens the travel time.
I make it back to Prometheus and I shoot him with my bow and arrow until he falls into a fire. The fire now gives Kratos power and I now have the Wrath of the Titans ability. Similar to the Wrath of the Gods from the last game, but it fills up a lot faster so I can use it more often. Turns out that I can also turn it off and save any remaining energy for later.
I make my way back to the ice Titan's hand and using the Wrath of the Titans ability I force his hand to move, freeing the Pegasus. Then Kratos hops on the Pegasus and we fly away from this awful place. I guess I came here to get the Wrath of the Titans ability. Another cool flight section occurs and we end up at the Temple of Lahkeisis, or something like that.
At first things seemed straight forward until I couldn't get through this double gate. The first gate kept closing to quickly. Turns out I needed to grab some corpse and place it on the switch. I had to go to Gamefaqs for this one too. Sadly I had already destroyed all of the dangling skeletons just for kicks and I had no idea that one of them was a corpse that had fallen to the ground and that I was supposed to grab it.
Continuing on we learn Zeus' backstory, but I'll cover that next time. I also encounter a Cerberus, seems to be a different breed from last game. It's a much easier fight since the little ones are not evolving into full-grown Cerberus yet. That's where I currently am.
Next time: Zeus's backstory and whatever I happen to play next.
So Kratos just climbed out of Hades (again) and I can now ride a magical Pegasus. Woot! But first I talked to some guard guy from the Spartan army and told him to get ready for war. I wonder if I could have skipped that part and if it would have made a difference? So I jump on the Pegasus and I get treated to a flying level, oh what fun. I get to kill gryphons! So far I do enjoy the flying levels, they are fairly well done and give a good sense of speed and action. I just wish it had a fleshed out tutorial section. I discovered the dash attack on accident and the whole thing with the giant raven didn't make much sense.
So the Pegasus stops off at this ice cave since that's where Gaia sent us. I have to do something here, but I'm not sure what. My Pegasus gets stuck under the fingers of a giant ice looking Titan named Typhon. I'm told I have to free the Pegasus. So I attack Typhon's fingers for at least 10 minutes before I go to Gamefaqs to get some help. Apparently there's a part of a nearby wall that has a slightly different texture that I can climb. I don't know when I would have noticed it.
So I run around the island until I find a man tied chained to a giant hand being eaten by a bird. Kratos seems to know who this is but I don't (apparently it's the Titan Prometheus). This guy has been turned into a human and he's eaten by a bird every day until he dies and then his body restores itself and the cycle happens again. There's a cool scene where the guy dies and his body repairs itself. It actually shows organs and such. Very impressive, but I don't know what to do with him. So I do the same thing I do to every new person Kratos meets, I attack him. Eventually the chain kinda breaks and the former Titan ends up dangling from the chain begging Kratos to kill him.
Again I was confused. Do I kill him, save him, or do I need to leave him for a little? Turns out I need to leave him. I make my way to the ice Titan and a pseudo boss fight occurs. It's not a real fight, I apparently have to steal a bow and arrow set from his eye while he tries to blow me off a cliff. This if better handled than the Hydra fight from the first game. I steal the bow and arrow and make my way back to Prometheus. This means backtracking. Thankfully this is also handled better then the last game. Kratos is able to find new ways to go back that shortens the travel time.
I make it back to Prometheus and I shoot him with my bow and arrow until he falls into a fire. The fire now gives Kratos power and I now have the Wrath of the Titans ability. Similar to the Wrath of the Gods from the last game, but it fills up a lot faster so I can use it more often. Turns out that I can also turn it off and save any remaining energy for later.
I make my way back to the ice Titan's hand and using the Wrath of the Titans ability I force his hand to move, freeing the Pegasus. Then Kratos hops on the Pegasus and we fly away from this awful place. I guess I came here to get the Wrath of the Titans ability. Another cool flight section occurs and we end up at the Temple of Lahkeisis, or something like that.
At first things seemed straight forward until I couldn't get through this double gate. The first gate kept closing to quickly. Turns out I needed to grab some corpse and place it on the switch. I had to go to Gamefaqs for this one too. Sadly I had already destroyed all of the dangling skeletons just for kicks and I had no idea that one of them was a corpse that had fallen to the ground and that I was supposed to grab it.
Continuing on we learn Zeus' backstory, but I'll cover that next time. I also encounter a Cerberus, seems to be a different breed from last game. It's a much easier fight since the little ones are not evolving into full-grown Cerberus yet. That's where I currently am.
Next time: Zeus's backstory and whatever I happen to play next.
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