What are you currently playing?

[BrawlMan]

Norse hell. Just to see his reaction. "....huh, well I guess some things are just universal when it comes to underworlds." *severed head on his ass* "Oh aye, screaming souls in torment, sharp pointy bits, nashing of teeth. It's a pretty standard setup Hel's got down here. Reminds me of me own people's tales about the under..." "shut up head..." "right...ok...shutting up now."

He technically already went to Helhiem on the minus him dying part. I highly doubt they're going to kill Kratos permanently. It would be surprising if they did. As many times as Kratos has died and come back from hell.

Also, I know you told me already, but are you sure you're not interested in playing Ninja Saviors? It's got robot ninjas and you played a game recently where you're a cyborg ninja. Ninja is in your name.

Don't leave me hanging man. Don't do me like this. I feel like my life is a lie right now. Whhhyyyyyy? (Overly wangsting dramatic acting)

 

[happyninja42]

He technically already went to hell on the minus him dying part.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Huh, so weird.

Also, I know you told me already, but are you sure you're not interested in playing Ninja Saviors? It's got robot ninjas and you played a game recently where you're a cyborg ninja. Ninja is in your name.

xD I mean I might. Frankly the side scrolling beatem up genre isn't really my jam, as a whole. But I do occasionally enjoy games outside my wheelhouse, and I did technically just buy Narita Boy, which, as far as mechanically, is a side scrolling beatem up in a lot of ways. So I might check it out. But even when I was a hardcore arcade kid, that style of game didn't hold my interest very much.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Atreus was great in that game. I loved his addition, as far as game mechanics and narratively. I had a lot of times, just due to the random AI controlling him, where he would be a Big Damn Hero, and leap up and start shanking some creature that was grappling me, and pull it off. And it was just so fun to see him leap up like a little tazmanian devil, screaming "Get off him!" *stab in throat, giant beasty screams in pain, I get released and whoop it's ass* I also enjoyed how invested I got when something was attacking him. I found it funny that I had reacted before the game even prompted me the first time with "Your son needs your help!" and I was already sprinting over there to shield smash whatever was messing with him.

Plus he became a powerful resource when he got his various mystical attacks, and could wreak some serious havoc on the battlefield.

Loved him so much. I'd be totally down for the franchise following him from this point forward. I don't even care "but he's not the god of war" argument I'm sure some people would bring up. He's fun, he's an enjoyable character, I like the potential difference in play style based on his power sets. I'm down for it.

Plus he has a runic ability (idk how I went the whole game until the other night without discovering the one tiny island that happens to hold it) that might be the coolest, let alone helpful thing I’ve seen in any game lately.

Spoiler

Ratatoskr

Ratatoskr is one of the runic animals that can be summoned by Atreus to give Kratos stones. Unlike other summons, this squirrel can talk and is none too pleased at being used as an errand boy. Ratatoskr (generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"[1] or "bore-tooth"[2]) is a squirrel who runs up...

godofwar.fandom.com

 

[happyninja42]

Plus he has a runic ability (idk how I went the whole game until the other night without discovering the one tiny island that happens to hold it) that might be the coolest, let alone helpful thing I’ve seen in any game lately.

Spoiler

Ratatoskr

Ratatoskr is one of the runic animals that can be summoned by Atreus to give Kratos stones. Unlike other summons, this squirrel can talk and is none too pleased at being used as an errand boy. Ratatoskr (generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"[1] or "bore-tooth"[2]) is a squirrel who runs up...

godofwar.fandom.com

I don't think I found that summons for Atreus! Shit I might have to go find that! That sounds hilarious. Plus, I love how clever they were with Atreus' when it came to his dialogue, and the reveal at the end. How after finding out he is Loki, looking back, when he learns he's a god, the FIRST thing he asks is "can I turn into animals?" which is something Loki could do. How HE ends up inflicting Baldur with the wound from the mistletoe, just like the myths. How he has a knack for languages, which I seem to recall was something Loki was known for? Could be wrong about that one though. Just lots of little things, that in hindsight you're like "oh damn! It was totally right there!" xD Plus I think the kid playing him did a fantastic job as an actor. He didn't feel like he was just acting, he made Atreus feel genuine on so many occasions, in so many little ways. Like when Kratos tells him they are going to jump onto that hammer, and Atreus says "Really?!" And if you listen closely, you can hear, not only incredulity, but also an undertone of excitement as well. He's surprised his dad says that's the plan, but he totally on board with it, because holy shit how is that not fucking awesome for a 9 year old?! I really hope they keep that kid for the next game, as his chemistry with Christopher Judge was fantastic.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Interestingly, for me, what I fell in love with was the unarmed/shield combat. I used that almost exclusively for the majority of the game. Because I found it way more fun, and often much faster, to stagger the enemy with punches/shield, and then get the grapple insta-kill animation. Plus it just felt more like Kratos to me, than the ax. The ax was fun, but I just didn't bond with it that much. ....damn, I might have to NG+ that sometime soon, and replay the fisticuffs of fury combat. That was seriously super fun.


Well, it's a tough hurdle when you are talking about video games. Because most players want to feel like they are progressing, and the easiest way to implement that, is with a leveling/power system. And if your guy is already filled to the gills with might and thunder, where do you go from there? It's the Power Creep dilemma in action. So, you depower him. I personally don't mind it that much. It's one of those computer game problems that I feel is more hassle to try and deal with, WITHOUT depowering the MC. I'm willing to just accept it as a necessary evil, instead of forcing a dev team to try and balance for all the crazy shit from the previous game(s), AND add new stuff as well with more power to it.

Plus I kind of want to see Kratos die, and instead go to Norse hell. Just to see his reaction. "....huh, well I guess some things are just universal when it comes to underworlds." *severed head on his ass* "Oh aye, screaming souls in torment, sharp pointy bits, nashing of teeth. It's a pretty standard setup Hel's got down here. Reminds me of me own people's tales about the under..." "shut up head..." "right...ok...shutting up now."

You have a point there, but there’s got to be some way of compromise vs just nerfing everything solely because the narrative needs to continue. It’s just too jarring and tedious in terms of gameplay, requiring a huge concession or suspension of disbelief on the player’s part after spending dozens of hours honing gear and such.

The new game will likely have a whole new set of stuff regardless, so maybe it makes sense if they just limit the people with save transfers to that. The leveling could be handled basically like difficulty scaling as it currently stands. It won’t be online (I hope) so that would make it much easier as it only affects players locally and separately based on whether you have a previous save file or not.

I might actually pose this issue on the GoW Reddit page to see what everyone there thinks might happen and maybe share ideas.

 

[happyninja42]

You have a point there, but there’s got to be some way of compromise vs just nerfing everything solely because the narrative needs to continue. It’s just too jarring and tedious in terms of gameplay, requiring a huge concession or suspension of disbelief on the player’s part after spending dozens of hours honing gear and such.

Well the easiest fix is to just not have any leveling. You are as powerful at the start of the game, as you are at the end. Perhaps have the leveling be for something else, like, I dunno, Atreus perhaps. Kratos doesn't get any growth, but you have to manage training Atreus further. That might be a workaround, but I suspect a LOT of players will be mad at the idea that they don't get to make Kratos anymore badass than he previously was. But then the problem you run into is either the game never escalates in difficulty, or you go entirely into the camp of precision response, to overcome challenges. Which, not everyone enjoys. If you have a leveling system, then players who are either not good enough to memorize combat actions at high speeds, or have disabilities that make it physically hard for them to play such games, they can at least just go grind up some more levels and overcome the challenge with bigger numbers.

And I would counter that it's not nerfing everything because the NARRATIVE needs it to continue. Narratively speaking there is nothing in the leveling mechanics that is necessary. It's a meta level aspect of the gaming medium itself. The mechanics are forcing the narrative to accommodate this depowering thing, because the GAME demands it mechanically. But storywise, Kratos doesn't really "get stronger" in the game. It's just him going around from objective to objective. It's all about just doing what must be done to scatter the ashes. So from a narrative standpoint, Kratos is basically as strong as he was at any previous point in the story.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I don't think I found that summons for Atreus! Shit I might have to go find that! That sounds hilarious. Plus, I love how clever they were with Atreus' when it came to his dialogue, and the reveal at the end. How after finding out he is Loki, looking back, when he learns he's a god, the FIRST thing he asks is "can I turn into animals?" which is something Loki could do. How HE ends up inflicting Baldur with the wound from the mistletoe, just like the myths. How he has a knack for languages, which I seem to recall was something Loki was known for? Could be wrong about that one though. Just lots of little things, that in hindsight you're like "oh damn! It was totally right there!" xD Plus I think the kid playing him did a fantastic job as an actor. He didn't feel like he was just acting, he made Atreus feel genuine on so many occasions, in so many little ways. Like when Kratos tells him they are going to jump onto that hammer, and Atreus says "Really?!" And if you listen closely, you can hear, not only incredulity, but also an undertone of excitement as well. He's surprised his dad says that's the plan, but he totally on board with it, because holy shit how is that not fucking awesome for a 9 year old?! I really hope they keep that kid for the next game, as his chemistry with Christopher Judge was fantastic.

Per the last sentence specifically there’s a great section about that in this excellent GDC talk (about 36:26 if it doesn’t autostart)

 

[happyninja42]

Per the last paragraph specifically there’s a great section about that in this excellent GDC talk (about 36:26 if it doesn’t autostart)

That behind the scenes stuff was great. They really are a great pairing. The kid's got some genuine acting chops that will likely only improve with time and practice, and Judge is REALLY well suited for playing an estranged father, trying to reconnect with his child. I recall seeing an interview with him where he talked about how raw the role was for him, as it brought up a lot of his past with his own kids, and how he was always away working, and how it effected their relationship. And what he missed out on. So it was really real for him in a lot of ways. I'm so glad Judge got over his hangup with working in video games for this role. He was fantastic as Kratos.

 

[Jarrito3002]

The spitshine makes ME1 heaps more fun to play, eventhough it's essentially the same game with the same mechanics. They've managed to unjank-a-fy the game despite its age still showing.

How much did they fix that jank. Cause as much as I hate the jank I do have a fondness for it. I heard you toggle how jank the Mako is which is great.

 

[Casual Shinji]

How much did they fix that jank. Cause as much as I hate the jank I do have a fondness for it. I heard you toggle how jank the Mako is which is great.

Well, the game runs at 60fps now (on consoles) so that alone makes the jank way more bearable. It still controls like the game of old, everything just feels much smoother and less choppy.

 

[Piscian]

I was playing outriders, but I'm having some tendonitis so I had to take a break. I'll give console gamers that, getting tendonitis in your hands and wrist seems like its far more of a PC gamer problem.

Currently still churning away at Persona 5 Royal, in the Makoto storyline. Admittedly I'm finding the characters far less interesting in this one than Persona 4. Persona 4 seemed like a far more mature game with a very small in scale story. It was heavily focused on developing the relationships between the characters and revealing the depth their personalities over the course of the game. This one is more like

"hi I'm such and such I'm an idiot model with absentee parents being abused by a teacher, wanna out and fight monsters?"
uuumm...

I love the style, artwork and combat of the game, but it's far more poppy and loud than persona 4. It's still tries to make the characters interesting but it seems far more invested in looking cool, like "oh right we gotta make these kids be sad..here whatever."

 

[happyninja42]

I was playing outriders, but I'm having some tendonitis so I had to take a break. I'll give console gamers that, getting tendonitis in your hands and wrist seems like its far more of a PC gamer problem.

Actually I have wrist issues with controllers too. Also finger joint problems, as I'll end up gripping the controller really tightly, depending on the game. I actually couldn't play my PS 4 for about 2 weeks earlier this year, as I had a serious wrist injury, that I thought was the beginnings of carpal tunnel. I was certain I would need surgery, and using a controller, or WASD on a keyboard didn't help. So I mostly stuck to point and click games I could one hand with my mouse. Turned based games, card/deck builder games, etc.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

He technically already went to Helhiem on the minus him dying part. I highly doubt they're going to kill Kratos permanently. It would be surprising if they did. As many times as Kratos has died and come back from hell.

I'm going to be nitpicky and point out that Kratos has never gone to hell. He went to the underworld. Hell doesn't exist in Greek mythology.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I don't think I found that summons for Atreus! Shit I might have to go find that! That sounds hilarious. Plus, I love how clever they were with Atreus' when it came to his dialogue, and the reveal at the end. How after finding out he is Loki, looking back, when he learns he's a god, the FIRST thing he asks is "can I turn into animals?" which is something Loki could do. How HE ends up inflicting Baldur with the wound from the mistletoe, just like the myths. How he has a knack for languages, which I seem to recall was something Loki was known for? Could be wrong about that one though. Just lots of little things, that in hindsight you're like "oh damn! It was totally right there!" xD Plus I think the kid playing him did a fantastic job as an actor. He didn't feel like he was just acting, he made Atreus feel genuine on so many occasions, in so many little ways. Like when Kratos tells him they are going to jump onto that hammer, and Atreus says "Really?!" And if you listen closely, you can hear, not only incredulity, but also an undertone of excitement as well. He's surprised his dad says that's the plan, but he totally on board with it, because holy shit how is that not fucking awesome for a 9 year old?! I really hope they keep that kid for the next game, as his chemistry with Christopher Judge was fantastic.

I actually really wish that Atreus didn't turn out to be Loki. I would have preferred if they'd used some less well known Norse myths.

When I was playing the game I was really hoping he would turn out to be Arrow Odd.

Spoiler

Arrow Odd had a magic bow and arrows which would always return to his quiver after being fired. Atreus's arrows regenerate so he never runs out even though he only carries 4.
Arrow Odd wore a fancy magic shirt that prevented him from ever losing a drop of blood if injured. Atreus has some pretty fancy shirts, and never bleeds despite being attacked by enemies numerous times. At the end of the game Kratos sees blood on Atreus and is shocked by it before they both realize it isn't Atreus's blood, it's Balder's.
Arrow Odd married a Giantess from Jotenheim. Kratos and Atreus spend all of God of War 4 trying to get to Jotenheim.
Arrow Odd lived to be over 300 years old without any explanation in the story (as far as I know) like someone who is a half-god might.

It would have fit so well.

Instead he's Loki and we're left with the uncomfortable knowledge that at some point he's going to get fucked by a horse.

Thanks I hate it.

Btw, if you're interested in the story of Arrow Odd the Myths and Legends podcast did a great 2 part series retelling the story:

31A-Viking Sagas: Odd Man Out

This is the discussion post for episode 31A, that tells the first half of the story of Arrow-Odd, a legendary Viking. Summary: The saga of the legendary Viking Arrow-Odd contains trolls, ogres, giants, magic arrows, and a sorceress getting smacked in the nose. The mistakes of one Viking's...

www.mythpodcast.com

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm going to be nitpicky and point out that Kratos has never gone to hell. He went to the underworld. Hell doesn't exist in Greek mythology.

You know what I meant. Point being, he's died at least 3 or 4 different times, and got out of the underworld each time. Besides, in the first game at least, the underworld might as well looked like the Greek version of Satanic hell. The sequels, especially III, fixed that issue and had a more proper look for the Underworld.

 

[sXeth]

It also strikes me as kinda cruel to anybody who's tone deaf or just doesn't have very good hearing. If the whole game were based on the concept from the start then whatever, but this one portion of the game seems weirdly exclusionary. Same with the area involving different/overlapping color filters, with variations so subtle that color-blind people would be physically unable to play through them. A friend of mine is color blind and can't even play Uno without second-guessing every other card, I can't imagine him going through the flower bunker in Witness.

Oh dear, the airship world puzzle in the original Myst haunts my nightmares to this day. It was something not terribly dissimilar where you had to hear a pitch melody somewhere then play it on a piano in a different spot.

 

[happyninja42]

I actually really wish that Atreus didn't turn out to be Loki. I would have preferred if they'd used some less well known Norse myths.

When I was playing the game I was really hoping he would turn out to be Arrow Odd.

Spoiler

Arrow Odd had a magic bow and arrows which would always return to his quiver after being fired. Atreus's arrows regenerate so he never runs out even though he only carries 4.
Arrow Odd wore a fancy magic shirt that prevented him from ever losing a drop of blood if injured. Atreus has some pretty fancy shirts, and never bleeds despite being attacked by enemies numerous times. At the end of the game Kratos sees blood on Atreus and is shocked by it before they both realize it isn't Atreus's blood, it's Balder's.
Arrow Odd married a Giantess from Jotenheim. Kratos and Atreus spend all of God of War 4 trying to get to Jotenheim.
Arrow Odd lived to be over 300 years old without any explanation in the story (as far as I know) like someone who is a half-god might.

It would have fit so well.

Instead he's Loki and we're left with the uncomfortable knowledge that at some point he's going to get fucked by a horse.

Thanks I hate it.

Btw, if you're interested in the story of Arrow Odd the Myths and Legends podcast did a great 2 part series retelling the story:

31A-Viking Sagas: Odd Man Out

This is the discussion post for episode 31A, that tells the first half of the story of Arrow-Odd, a legendary Viking. Summary: The saga of the legendary Viking Arrow-Odd contains trolls, ogres, giants, magic arrows, and a sorceress getting smacked in the nose. The mistakes of one Viking's...

www.mythpodcast.com

That would be neat, but given they were clearly trying to subvert expectations of common conceptions of the Norse, and instead have them be the bad guys, and the giants be the good guys (or at least not the raging assholes that the Norse are), it makes sense to have him be a half giant, and that makes him being Loki work really well narratively. Especially if you already know you are building towards Ragnarok, which they clearly were, given it's the central, driving force for the entire conflict with Freya and Baldur and Kratos. That way, you can set it up to have things go to shit at the end as sequel bait, and still keep to the prophecies. If Atreus was Arrow Odd, while that would match his MECHANICAL place in the game, it wouldn't really mean anything in the narrative sense. Because as you put it, nobody really knows about him, outside of mythology enthusiasts. Which, most people aren't. I would say that I've got slightly above average familiarity with norse mythology, compared to your average Joe American, due to my history as a roleplayer of games that focused on that setting (Scion from White Wolf in particular), and some fantasy novels that dive a bit more obscurely into the lore, so I can recognize a few odd ball myths here and there. But I'd never heard of Arrow Odd. So it wouldn't really do anything for the audience. It wouldn't give millions of players that "Oh shit!" reaction when they learn the truth at the end, they would universally say "....who? Arrow Todd? Who the fuck is that?" And all emotional investment of that touching moment, leading up to the reveal, would be dashed on the shores of audience confusion. And lose all the lightbulbs popping off in people's heads, as they connect the dots, and have that nice endorphin rush of seeing The Twist, laid bare in front of them and what it means going forward. That's just bad writing....so don't do that.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I've started playing Noita. I don't really know what I'm doing. I can't see a use for most of the potions I pick up and everything kills me really fast. The furthest I've made it is the fourth area. The physics interactions are pretty cool, but I just die so fast. It would also be nice if there was a bit more context in the game. Why am I going into the dungeon? It lets me see the name of all the monsters I've killed but it would be nice if there was a little description of what the heck each one is rather than just an unpronounceable name.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

That would be neat, but given they were clearly trying to subvert expectations of common conceptions of the Norse, and instead have them be the bad guys, and the giants be the good guys (or at least not the raging assholes that the Norse are), it makes sense to have him be a half giant, and that makes him being Loki work really well narratively. Especially if you already know you are building towards Ragnarok, which they clearly were, given it's the central, driving force for the entire conflict with Freya and Baldur and Kratos. That way, you can set it up to have things go to shit at the end as sequel bait, and still keep to the prophecies. If Atreus was Arrow Odd, while that would match his MECHANICAL place in the game, it wouldn't really mean anything in the narrative sense. Because as you put it, nobody really knows about him, outside of mythology enthusiasts. Which, most people aren't. I would say that I've got slightly above average familiarity with norse mythology, compared to your average Joe American, due to my history as a roleplayer of games that focused on that setting (Scion from White Wolf in particular), and some fantasy novels that dive a bit more obscurely into the lore, so I can recognize a few odd ball myths here and there. But I'd never heard of Arrow Odd. So it wouldn't really do anything for the audience. It wouldn't give millions of players that "Oh shit!" reaction when they learn the truth at the end, they would universally say "....who? Arrow Todd? Who the fuck is that?" And all emotional investment of that touching moment, leading up to the reveal, would be dashed on the shores of audience confusion. And lose all the lightbulbs popping off in people's heads, as they connect the dots, and have that nice endorphin rush of seeing The Twist, laid bare in front of them and what it means going forward. That's just bad writing....so don't do that.

But that's also the problem. There's so much interesting stuff in norse mythology but games just tread the same ground over and over again because the average person just knows about Ragnarok, and they want that "brand recognition."

 

[deleted20220709]

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