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BrawlMan

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The bigger the Boss/enemy the less good a fight tends to be, with the dragon really being the worst.
Funny enough, the boss is a less a chore to fight and is even easier on NG+ runs. Even at harder difficulties. So at least it goes by fast.

For the sequel I hope they figure out a way to expand the combat so that you can grapple yourself upon to larger enemies.
That and more mobility options for combat.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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With God of War '18 I think it's due to a combination of the close camera and Kratos being very secured to the ground, making fights against enemies of similar height more ideal. The bigger the Boss/enemy the less good a fight tends to be, with the dragon really being the worst. For the sequel I hope they figure out a way to expand the combat so that you can grapple yourself upon to larger enemies.
Assuming you mean the dragon that pretty much felt like the game’s only callback to the classic games’ epic bosses (and not the chained up dragons), yeah it really marks a shift in design philosophy and focus. I’d still like to see a couple monstrosities that only someone “gifted” like Kratos could kill in Ragnarok though.
 

Casual Shinji

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Funny enough, the boss is a less a chore to fight and is even easier on NG+ runs. Even at harder difficulties. So at least it goes by fast.
I don't know, I find some of the cheap shit that boss pulls on Give Me God of War quite infuriating. Ditto for the Magni and Modi fight.
 

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I don't know, I find some of the cheap shit that boss pulls on Give Me God of War quite infuriating. Ditto for the Magni and Modi fight.
I don't know about you, I barely ever got hit by the dragon. It has still yet to actually ever kill me once. By the time I tackle the hardest difficulty, I had near max out stats. You can still get one or two shotted if you're not careful though.

The two brothers you always have to be on the lookout, but once you know all the counters and whatever you can knock back or parry, it gets mostly manageable.
 

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I don't know about you, I barely ever got hit by the dragon. It has still yet to actually ever kill me once. By the time I tackle the hardest difficulty, I had near max out stats. You can still get one or two shotted if you're not careful though.

The two brothers you always have to be on the lookout, but once you know all the counters and whatever you can knock back or parry, it gets mostly manageable.
Oh okay, I never actually played it on NG+. With the dragon though I just hate that extra shockwave they throw in on the hardest difficulty. He doesn't even stomp his feet more, it just appears out of nowhere to fuck up your crystal throwable.
 

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Oh okay, I never actually played it on NG+.
And that was your first mistake. Get on that good shit, now! You get new and extra materials and armor. Stuff you wouldn't see on a normal run. They definitely added even more bonuses after the updates.
 

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I don't know about you, I barely ever got hit by the dragon. It has still yet to actually ever kill me once. By the time I tackle the hardest difficulty, I had near max out stats. You can still get one or two shotted if you're not careful though.

The two brothers you always have to be on the lookout, but once you know all the counters and whatever you can knock back or parry, it gets mostly manageable.
Yeah, the brothers are a bit rough since you have to keep your eyes on both of them(and trying to track two bosses in a fight is eternally one of my video games banes but I can manage it. I genuinely despair in a Souls games when I realize it's a Triple Boss, and get nervous for a dual one). The Dragon was difficult because it took me a minute to figure out it's pattern but once I did I was golden.

I think I had strangely the most problem with the one balder fight where it's mostly a QTE and you have to figure the proper timing and actions quick and I lost like half my health bar before I really got the pattern down of when to dodge, when to punch and when to block.

On a vaguely related note, I had a bit of problem with the "Moon, Midgard, Sun" puzzle in the Vault not because it's hard but because you're under strict time pressure or you die. So any other circumstances I could have sussed it out by playing with it a bit but when I have 2 minutes or die then it's harder to figure it out in a reasonable fashion. NOTE TO DEVS: TOWERS OF HANOI DOESN'T WORK WELL UNDER STRICT TIME PRESSURE! And I say that as someone who generally likes puzzles in my games(and have been known to play games that are nothing but puzzles on occasion).

Assuming you mean the dragon that pretty much felt like the game’s only callback to the classic games’ epic bosses (and not the chained up dragons), yeah it really marks a shift in design philosophy and focus. I’d still like to see a couple monstrosities that only someone “gifted” like Kratos could kill in Ragnarok though.
Well, there is a giant Serpent that is fated to die at some point during Ragnorak so I'm willing to bet Kratos gets to Fell him, the actually Mythology be damned(Oh, like Kratos is gonna let Thor steal HIS kill).
 
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Well, there is a giant Serpent that is fated to die at some point during Ragnorak so I'm willing to bet Kratos gets to Fell him
Considering Atrues and Kartos see the World Serpent as friend and ally, I highly doubt it. Also, WS is gonna mostly take a back seat in Rangnorak, because all of the cold weather will freeze him.

On a vaguely related note, I had a bit of problem with the "Moon, Midgard, Sun" puzzle in the Vault not because it's hard but because you're under strict time pressure or you die. So any other circumstances I could have sussed it out by playing with it a bit but when I have 2 minutes or die then it's harder to figure it out in a reasonable fashion.
I looked at a video guide immediately when the section started. I said fuck this; not dying over bullshit you're not gonna see coming your first time through.

Yeah, the brothers are a bit rough since you have to keep your eyes on both of them(and trying to track two bosses in a fight is eternally one of my video games banes but I can manage it. I genuinely despair in a Souls games when I realize it's a Triple Boss, and get nervous for a dual one). The Dragon was difficult because it took me a minute to figure out it's pattern but once I did I was golden.
All of those are nothing compared to the Agni and Rudra twin brothers from Devil May Cry 3. These two caused a lot of rental or purchase returns.


 
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Considering Atrues and Kartos see the World Serpent as friend and ally, I highly doubt it. Also, WS is gonna mostly take a back seat in Rangnorak, because all of the cold weather will freeze him.


I looked at video guide immediately when the section started. I said fuck this; not dying over bullshit you're not gonna see coming your first time through.
I wouldn't put it past the devs to find a reason for kratos and the WS to be enemies somehow. But I would be presently surprised if they didn't.

I kinda admit I like the fact GOW201 makes most of the boss fights people who are actually important to the plot, and Killing Magni and Modi are treated as a BFD(and they aren't even Major Norse gods, IIRC). OTOH, it does set Thor up to want to murder the shit out of them.

And Yeah, I relented after a couple tries and just looked up the hint guide. Normally I'll wait till I'm fucking stumped before doing that BUT I dislike having to keep reloading and losing my progress because of the death timer.
 

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I wouldn't put it past the devs to find a reason for kratos and the WS to be enemies somehow.
Nah, after all that awesome bonding. This ain't like case with Gaia and Kratos where both were revenge obsessed, and the former saw the latter as a complete pawn. You're thinking of the writing of old Santa Monica.

WS just usually chills out on his own when Kratos and Atreus don't need his help. Considering they're enemies of Odin, and especially Thor, they will most likely team up in some way.

I kinda admit I like the fact GOW201 makes most of the boss fights people who are actually important to the plot, and Killing Magni and Modi are treated as a BFD(and they aren't even Major Norse gods, IIRC). OTOH, it does set Thor up to want to murder the shit out of them.
Same. That was one of the reason why it was hard for me to care much about the story or characters in the old GOW games. Even most of the bosses in DMC games, aside from 2 and most of 4, served some sort story, plot progression, or character growth.
 
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Same. That was one of the reason why it was hard for me to care much about the story or characters in the old GOW games. Even most of the bosses in DMC games, aside from 2 and most of 4, served some sort story, plot progression, or character growth.
The 1st one had a good plot because of it's Tragic nature. The others were focused on Spectacle and little else, it felt like. It feels like this one is back to the basics of GOW1 and while I can't exactly see it yet(because I'm not done), it does feel like this is setting up Ragnorak(also the sequel is named Ragnorak). Odin does all this shit to prevent that from happening, and all it takes is Kratos and his son taking a journey up the mountain and Baldur stirring up shit to set events in motion to bring the end times.

Though I do feel like Mimir is spending a LOT of time talking up TYR as something resembling a saint among the Aesir and it feels a bit....wierd. All of the Aesir are implied to be dicks(Or maybe Odin and Thor, with Magni and Modi being shown to be jerks and Baldur is just a Jerkass Woobie) but Tyr is apparently the good one.
 
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I first got Fez around 2013 for PS+ Vita and pretty much didn't touch it. Must have got it in a Humble Bundle. Same on PC. It's on either my PS4, 3, or Xbox or on all of em'. 8 years later, I just completed the 1st level on PC and the 300 meg simple pixel game is really fun and creative so far.


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Finished GOW2018. Gotta admit it feels like the ending really nailed it in the feels department and even though Baldur is a total fucking asshole, I can't help but feel really bad for him at the same time. I really do appreciate Kratos doing his utmost to not be the guy he used to be(even if the "You will leave us and her alone" was preceded by an intense knock down, drag out boss battle where Baldur face got turned into fucking hamburger). The ending section in Jotenheim also worked very nicely and man did that kinda throw the entire game into a different perspective.

I did kinda like how when Kratos takes off his bandages and lets them blow away in a sort of relief and Atreus just "Can we go now?" I half expected Kratos to go "Boy, can't you see I'm having a powerful moment here?". Also that look of fatalism on kratos's face when he sees what was under the curtain in the mountain hall An apparently depiction of his own death, and presumably for real this time

But yeah, I do see why this game gets the praise it gets, where it successfully channeled the tragedy of the first GOW and the character beats really land well most of the time, but it also has enough Spectacle to go with it's mythic setting without it being ALL SPECTACLE(Something the later GOW games suffered from).

As mentioned before, it's not perfect, but it's damn good. It has the sense to put the grindy bits of the game as optional realms for endgame gear, whereas exploring the side areas along the critical path and doing some of the favors/Lake of 9 stuff is more then enough to get you to the end of the skill tree and have plenty of money left over for good end game gear. At least on the difficulty setting i was playing on.

If I have to complain about anything, it's some of the lackluster variety in enemies where there's not a ton of different types and most of them are just variations of common types(Red, Blue, etc) and every once in a while, you fight a troll or an orge just to make things a little more challenging.

GOW did what I didn't think was possible after GOW3. It redeemed Kratos as a character(if not as a person) and it was a fascinating journey to experience.

As for what's next, I got the niflheim cipher completed in the final act, so I can go visit that when ready and I have all 8 Valkyries and some random Lake of 9 exploring and such(opening all the sealed chambers). I think I'm gonna hold off on that for a bit though and come back later. I'm ready to move onto something else and I've got a couple games in mind.

Off the top of my head, Unmetal just came out and the few reviews say it's good. It's also almost October so that means I'm itching to play some Spoopy games so Little Nightmares 2, Majoras Mask and Blasphemous come immediately to mind. I also want to play Eastward but I think I'll save that until get through some other games.
 
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If I have to complain about anything, it's some of the lackluster variety in enemies where there's not a ton of different types and most of them are just variations of common types(Red, Blue, etc) and every once in a while, you fight a troll or an orge just to make things a little more challenging.
I actually didn't find an enemy variety that short. I get it since the game is longer and there's more side content, but the how they spawn a certain group of enemy types and later areas, really works. The color effects are basically different elemental types. It is a bit of a cheap way, but certain elemental types fight differently from others depending on the type. At least most of the enemies are distinct from one another and have different tactics. You want limited enemy variety, look at the original No More Heroes or DmC (2013). The former was mostly a Boss Rush game, and the only difference between each enemies were that they had on different outfits. Otherwise they almost all played identical to each other. The latter has an enemy roster where at least half of them look like mannequins you would find out of the Marilyn Manson music video from 1998.
 
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I first got Fez around 2013 for PS+ Vita and pretty much didn't touch it. Must have got it in a Humble Bundle. Same on PC. It's on either my PS4, 3, or Xbox or on all of em'. 8 years later, I just completed the 1st level on PC and the 300 meg simple pixel game is really fun and creative so far.


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I played a little of it a couple months ago with my kid, but she wasn't into it so we stopped. I do want to play it by myself because what I did play(for like an hour) was very creative and fun. It's one of those "Games to play before I die" games.

And I can ignore that Phil Fish ended up being a bit of a Prick, which is why we never got to see a sequel.
 

Casual Shinji

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GOW did what I didn't think was possible after GOW3. It redeemed Kratos as a character(if not as a person) and it was a fascinating journey to experience.
The funny thing is, if the exact same game had come out after GoW3 - say 2 years later - I don't think it would've worked. While GoW3 is generally remembered fondly there's an undeniable ickiness to it and Kratos; Immediately going for a redemption arc soon after that would've felt... I don't know, not right. We really needed a long pause from not just GoW3 but the franchise on a whole to really feel up for seeing Kratos again. It also plays well together with the probably huge amount of time in universe since GoW3, as that first reveal of GoW'18 did make it seem like it had been ages since we last saw Kratos.
 

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Recently completed the Ancient Gods DLCs for Doom Eternal, & also completed Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (what a title...)

Now I'm playing through Hollow Knight again. First time was on the Switch; this time is on the PS4 for the trophies. I see that the Platinum requires me to complete the Pantheon of Hallownest, which I never managed to do last time... but I'll give it a go.
 

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I've got this app called "Move" that tracks how much motion I'm doing for Oculus. Just played coop Drop Dead for the first time. Did double the moving of a normal day of gaming. Very intense game.

 

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Just finished up Ratchet and Clank a Rift Apart and I have to say a 5 out of 5 once again the duo show off a new Playstation hardware while also being amazing game and not being a glorified tech demo. Everything was great it was linear but open the collectibles were sensible and it was nicely paced and did not overstay its welcome.

Gameplay: Just perfection to see that many effects going on at the same time and not a single frame was dropped. Toperiay gun for the win

Story: Just fine. Not going to win any awards maybe so moments needed more build up and it follows the expect beats but sometimes a burger seasoned with pepper and salt with slice of american can taste just as good as a gourmet option. I enjoyed the characters and the development they and ending opens up possibles for various sequels.

Ratchet was pretty quiet during the PS4 era compared to PS3 but I hope we get more outings this gen.
 
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I finished NMH III on Carolina Reaper Difficulty. The hardest mode. Not too bad, as I only died about 4 times total. I highly recommend you do this mode on a NG+ run at max stats. I do change my mind about FU as the next-to-last final boss. Once you know how his patterns work and the key is to time your death glove skill after he finished an attack or lets his shield down, FU becomes way more fun. His second form, I still don't like, but you can perfect dodge his attacks and just wail on him. In terms of fighting a souped up, muscle bound boss, he's definitely the better version of Jasper Batt Jr. in that regard.
 
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