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God of War Ascension |OT| Gods up, Foes down

Jigolo

Member
Are the sound issues worth holding off on playing the game? Or are they a relatively minor nuisance

Minor. It does take away an element that all other GOW games had but I'm sure it can be patched.

Off-topic: I'm pretty new here but does some of you guy's 'Who quoted me' sometimes not work? There were a ton in this thread that weren't recorded for me
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Comparing the intros of GOW:A and GOW3, I have to go with GOW3. Just much more epic for me.

2 questions

I upgraded my Blades of Chaos to level 1 before the "3 weeks earlier" and I kept my upgrade. Does anyone else find this stupid?

Is there a way to take off elements and just use the blades?

The upgrades carrying between the time changes is odd. Oh well.

Fire is Kratos' traditional moveset so just leave that on if you don't feel like mixing up the elements. No enemies have resistance to certain elements so you won't be at a disadvantage.
 
The upgrades carrying between the time changes is odd. Oh well.

Fire is Kratos' traditional moveset so just leave that on if you don't feel like mixing up the elements. No enemies have resistance to certain elements so you won't be at a disadvantage.

Really? I just assumed that the fire elementals were a little resistant to fire, electricity to electricity, and so on. This isn't true?
 

Jigolo

Member
Would you have preferred they get rid of your upgrade so you get to start back at square one again?

Athena has taken powers away from Kratos if I remember correctly. I just find it stupid that I upgraded my blades 3 weeks in the future and took that with me when Kratos went back
 
The first half of the game is worse than GoW3. It's GoW by the numbers. It's flaccid, with no drive, no invention, nothing you haven't already seen or done something similar in another GoW game, and it was better there.

Second half though, better than any segment in GoW3. The puzzles with the powers you gain are clever, the art direction is fantastic, the enemy encounters are well balanced and challenging, and there's a few really nice boss encounters.

I still don't like what they've done with the combat. The story is a bust. The sound mix is ASS. But the game is good. I don't regret the Redbox rental!

First half: 6/10
Second half: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
 

Minion101

Banned
...That was it? THAT was the Trial of Archimedes every review has been bitching about? The one the IGN guy took SIX HOURS ON? And I beat it on my second try?

iq7Ae1KmUQkS4.gif


C'mon now, ya'll. Just apply a LITTLE action game knowledge here.
Was it IGN? I know adam sessler said he was stuck on it for 6 hours and had to get someone to play his save. It may have been Arthur Gies who mentioned on RebelFM podcast that he helped someone through that part, the save he played (the person was unnamed) was upgraded very little with gorgon eyes and feathers. So you may have trouble with Trial of Archimedes if you have found very few gorgon eyes and feathers (or suck at games like Adam Sessler)
 

BadAss2961

Member
It definitely feels a lot like GoW2 in terms of environment progression. Great variety already, about 3 hours in, and some very creative stuff.

BTW, the sound issues seem to only affect the first couple areas of the game. I haven't had an issue with them since reaching
Temple of Delphi
.
Environment progression more akin to God of War 2 is exactly what I wanted from Ascension. Now if only the game was as a long as GoW2...

Good thing the MP is awesome.
 
66 minute estimate on a 104 mb patch...WTF. Collectors edition is nice for the DLC but this steelbook feels plastic :( some of the paint is chipped off where u open it too.

I'm ready to start playing though. Guess I will kill time on 3DS until update is done.
 

Draper

Member
Many issues with this entry to the series, but there are certain encounters where the combat is just so damn gratifying. Seeing those beautiful blades swing about while you're just eviscerating everything with perfectly executed moves...it's what makes GoW, GoW.
 
huh, I went through a media blackout and did not play the demo.

I played the game for 40 minutes for the 1st time and uh I am not sure what to feel. but it feels so freakin' weird

is this a God of War game or not? feels meh so far.

Does it get any better?
 

Draper

Member
huh, I went through a media blackout and did not play the demo.

I played the game for 40 minutes for the 1st time and uh I am not sure what to feel. but it feels so freakin' weird

is this a God of War game or not? feels meh so far.

Does it get any better?

Yep, first hour was literally yawn-inducing for me. It definitely gets better.
 
huh, I went through a media blackout and did not play the demo.

I played the game for 40 minutes for the 1st time and uh I am not sure what to feel. but it feels so freakin' weird

is this a God of War game or not? feels meh so far.

Does it get any better?

After about 3 and a half hours, yeah!
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
The first half of the game is worse than GoW3. It's GoW by the numbers. It's flaccid, with no drive, no invention, nothing you haven't already seen or done something similar in another GoW game, and it was better there.

Second half though, better than any segment in GoW3. The puzzles with the powers you gain are clever, the art direction is fantastic, the enemy encounters are well balanced and challenging, and there's a few really nice boss encounters.

I still don't like what they've done with the combat. The story is a bust. The sound mix is ASS. But the game is good. I don't regret the Redbox rental!

First half: 6/10
Second half: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

I haven't finished the game yet, but you might as well be me. (Are you?)

Something felt unfinished about the first several hours, but I was nonetheless compelled to keep playing to see what was next. By hour 6 (and I'm taking my time exploring) my feelings were a lot more positive.

I still haven't figured out whether they made the combat better and more deliberate, requiring more attention and execution to make the most of it, or if they fucked up the parry and the entire flow, plus put a million goats and bugs in the game instead of good enemy encounters.
 

Draper

Member
I haven't finished the game yet, but you might as well be me. (Are you?)

Something felt unfinished about the first several hours, but I was nonetheless compelled to keep playing to see what was next. By hour 6 (and I'm taking my time exploring) my feelings are a lot more positive.

I still haven't figured out whether they made the combat better and more deliberate, requiring more attention and execution to make the most of it, or if they fucked up the parry and the entire flow of combat, plus put a million goats and bugs in the game instead of good enemy encounters.

A lot of the time it does feel like lazy development (or maybe time constraints?) Either way, certain parts feel very off, and the pacing is just all over the place. I kinda get the feeling that they wanted to push out another game with this engine before moving onto next gen. Or maybe the team is just spread thin as a result of dipping into next gen development.
 

Camjo-Z

Member
The game just froze up on me... and I wasn't even fighting any enemies, I was just running around grabbing some chests...

Aside from that though, pretty fun so far!
 
The first half of the game is worse than GoW3. It's GoW by the numbers. It's flaccid, with no drive, no invention, nothing you haven't already seen or done something similar in another GoW game, and it was better there.

Second half though, better than any segment in GoW3. The puzzles with the powers you gain are clever, the art direction is fantastic, the enemy encounters are well balanced and challenging, and there's a few really nice boss encounters.

I still don't like what they've done with the combat. The story is a bust. The sound mix is ASS. But the game is good. I don't regret the Redbox rental!

First half: 6/10
Second half: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

This sums my thoughts too. The first half of the game is really weak but things really pick up at about the halfway point and the game gets good.
 

Jigolo

Member
Don't you just hate when you see a chest you passed and now you can't get it because the last checkpoint makes it impossible? I missed a Phoenix Feather

fuck
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
A lot of the time it does feel like lazy development (or maybe time constraints?) Either way, certain parts feel very off, and the pacing is just all over the place. I kinda get the feeling that they wanted to push out another game with this engine before moving onto next gen. Or maybe the team is just spread thin as a result of dipping into next gen development.

Yeah, I don't know what the cause is, but it's this incredibly beautiful game that they forgot to put many good ideas into. I really thought this would be PS3 GOW with lots of good ideas, since they didn't have to work as hard on the tech.

The "new" combat moves are mostly recycled ideas from past games, and the rage meter is tuned so that you have to REALLY know the enemies fairly well to build it (unlike in the E3 demo, where Kratos was a wrecking ball) which means I'm feeling chronically underpowered because my meter so rarely maxes. That's not how GOW should feel, but I'm starting to adjust my play style accordingly.

And the parry is so nerfed that it also significantly impacts how I have to play. I feel like it should reward with more rage meter than it does, because you often have to stop what you're doing a second before the enemy attacks. If the game is going to make me be really intentional about it, rather than reactive, it should give the meter boost that I would be getting if I were attacking during that time. In past games you could just do a barrage of light attacks and parry instantly when needed.

Don't you just hate when you see a chest you passed and now you can't get it because the last checkpoint makes it impossible? I missed a Phoenix Feather

fuck

I missed an entire giant room with a big wheely crushing thing going around it. I tried to go there when I was in the area again later and it wouldn't let me. :/
 
Another thing that reminds me of GOW2 is smaller boss encounters. I always loved the fights in GOW2 against men or men-sized creatures. And even though they're larger than men, I liked the fights against (spoilers for five hours in or so)
the flying bat/dog creature outside the Delphi temple, and the battle against the Oracle's assistant with the twin growing out of him. I really liked this fight.

Hopefully there's even more as the game progresses.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
Another thing that reminds me of GOW2 is smaller boss encounters. I always loved the fights in GOW2 against men or men-sized creatures. And even though they're larger than men, I liked the fights against (spoilers for five hours in or so)
the flying bat/dog creature outside the Delphi temple, and the battle against the Oracle's assistant with the twin growing out of him. I really liked this fight.

Hopefully there's even more as the game progresses.

you didn't spoilers right.
 

Manus

Member
So after about 5 hours in I can say I hate the parry system. It's just so hard to pull off now. And those goats! Once I got the ice element it took me 30 mins to kill them, their just so cheap.
 
The parry is so damn unintuitive and has such a huge recovery animation/can't cancel out of it, I ended up not using it most of the time. The risk/reward just wasn't in my favor in most encounters. Between that and the Rage Meter hiding your bigger moves for 90% of the game, Kratos feels slower AND weaker. Not cool, SSM!
 
Don't you just hate when you see a chest you passed and now you can't get it because the last checkpoint makes it impossible? I missed a Phoenix Feather

fuck

God of War lets you miss a few though, it'll change what would normally be red orb chests into Feathers and Eyes. At least if I remember correctly.

Edit: Awful phone pic but does the game look a bit jaggy in places for everyone else? I don't mind given how beautiful it is in general and the aging PS3 hardware but there seems to be a little less AA than normal in places. Don't really see it in the picture (obviously) but it becomes an almost Home Movies esqe squiggle fest in places.

ioZeS6SE6saQA.jpg
 
Played to the first silver trophy. Kinda of meh. Lets hope it gets better. Also, I think the rage meter is dumb but maybe that's because the combat is off.
 
The parry is so damn unintuitive and has such a huge recovery animation/can't cancel out of it, I ended up not using it most of the time. The risk/reward just wasn't in my favor in most encounters. Between that and the Rage Meter hiding your bigger moves for 90% of the game, Kratos feels slower AND weaker. Not cool, SSM!

no kidding? it's the beginning of the series. suppose to be weak
 
I haven't finished the game yet, but you might as well be me. (Are you?)

It feels that way sometimes. I think our views on UC2/UC3 ended up being pretty similar, as is our mutual love for GoW2.

I think it all comes down to sharing a big fondness for RE4, and action games with great pacing, variety, encounter design, and all that jazz. We have similar approaches.
 

Draper

Member
Yeah, I don't know what the cause is, but it's this incredibly beautiful game that they forgot to put many good ideas into. I really thought this would be PS3 GOW with lots of good ideas, since they didn't have to work as hard on the tech.

The "new" combat moves are mostly recycled ideas from past games, and the rage meter is tuned so that you have to REALLY know the enemies fairly well to build it (unlike in the E3 demo, where Kratos was a wrecking ball) which means I'm feeling chronically underpowered because my meter so rarely maxes. That's not how GOW should feel, but I'm starting to adjust my play style accordingly.

And the parry is so nerfed that it also significantly impacts how I have to play. I feel like it should reward with more rage meter than it does, because you often have to stop what you're doing a second before the enemy attacks. If the game is going to make me be really intentional about it, rather than reactive, it should give the meter boost that I would be getting if I were attacking during that time. In past games you could just do a barrage of light attacks and parry instantly when needed.

Yeah, parrying is kinda sucky now. Does anyone actually block? Is it effective?
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
no kidding? it's the beginning of the series. suppose to be weak

That is not really a good way to design a game. Would it make sense for Kratos to be on the level he is in 3? Not really, but it also doesn't make sense that you can upgrade your blades to level 2, then go backwards 3 weeks and retain the upgrade.

The golden fleece just worked better.

Yeah, parrying is kinda sucky now. Does anyone actually block? Is it effective?

Blocking seems fine, on the standard enemies anyway. They don't guardbreak so you can be there all day. They're pretty relentless on hard so you will probably get stuck like that without doing the parry to open up some space and get away, which is all I've been using it for so far.
 
Man, I sure hope those sound issues get patched when the game hits Australia tomorrow. I just checked Pappy's twitter and he hasn't said anything about the problem there either, which I find really strange.
 

Jigolo

Member
God of War lets you miss a few though, it'll change what would normally be red orb chests into Feathers and Eyes. At least if I remember correctly.

Edit: Awful phone pic but does the game look a bit jaggy in places for everyone else? I don't mind given how beautiful it is in general and the aging PS3 hardware but there seems to be a little less AA than normal in places. Don't really see it in the picture (obviously) but it becomes an almost Home Movies esqe squiggle fest in places.

Haven't noticed any jaggies. The game looks really good, even better than GOW3. The textures are just their whereas in GOW3, alot of the textures were blurry.

Are videogames like God of War about realism or fun?

Apparently realism; considering they changed that trophy title because people felt it was too disgusting.
 

hawk2025

Member
Ugh, my multiplayer experience so far consisted of:

1) Going through most of the two tutorials, but the game glitching and making the last fight of the second tutorial impossible (the enemy's health bar would not drain)

2) After going through the tutorials AGAIN after quitting, the game froze on the loading screen before I could get into a match.


The PS3 is currently "Checking and restoring the file system". Ugh.
 
2 hours and 45 minutes in and I'm quite enjoying it so far, it's no God of War 3, but seems like its still quite a strong God of War game. The stuff with the three giant snakes in Delphi was awesome. I'm also really digging the whole element switching system, just wish the rage meter charged a little quicker so I could be using those extra effects more. :p

My main problems with the game are the sound (it often lacks bombast and at times it seems like sound effects and music are missing. Perhaps the music could do with being louder as well?) and the way it's easy to lose Kratos amongst the action at certain times (a big no-no). Combat with groups of enemies seems to be balanced for the new grapple/throw, it seems quite difficult to avoid taking significant damage when fighting a large group of enemies unless you're very regularly throwing enemies into the crowd to scatter/stun them. That's less of a complaint and more of an observation, though (I'm not quite sure how I feel about it).

The visuals and art direction are freaking incredible.

Haven't touched multiplayer yet, hope it's cool, I have no idea what to expect, though I suspect I'll get my arse handed to me since I'm not hugely skilled at the series, mostly sticking to normal playthroughs.

As for jaggies/shimmering, there's a little bit of it in the environments, but not any more than there was in God of War 3 as far as I can tell, and on the whole it's a step up from God of War 3 (though in mostly subtle ways that coalesce into something that is beautiful to look at).
 

bill0527

Member
Just got my CE, but can't get into the game until tomorrow.

The Kratos action figure is cool. Much bigger than I thought it would be.

This 'Steelbook', and I use that term loosely, is a joke. Where's the steel? This is like flimsy plastic. I ate a donut this morning heavier than this thing.
 

Camjo-Z

Member
Ugh, my multiplayer experience so far consisted of:

1) Going through most of the two tutorials, but the game glitching and making the last fight of the second tutorial impossible (the enemy's health bar would not drain)

I remember getting that glitch during the beta, they really should have fixed that by now or at the very least just let you skip the tutorial.
 

prophecy0

Member
Having to wait 30+ minutes to download a day one patch before I could even play the game was not fun! That said, I'm having a good time with the game. I just finished beating GoW3 on Titan a couple of weeks ago, and as a result I'm having a difficult time adjusting to the new combat system (I started Ascension on the Hard difficulty). Overall I'm getting through battles without issue, but the damn goats are kicking my ass.

So after about 5 hours in I can say I hate the parry system. It's just so hard to pull off now. And those goats! Once I got the ice element it took me 30 mins to kill them, their just so cheap.

I died here enough times that I quit in frustration. Can someone give some combat protips for Hard mode? I roll all over the place and grapple like a madman, but the goats just do not stop spamming attacks over and over again. Also, my new "upgrade" (ice element) seems completely useless in this battle. I assume the battle is supposed to get me acquainted with my new power, but it's making me wish I could switch back to the first element.
 
First hour in and my only complaint is the poor audio mix. A patch is needed to give the sounds effects some umph. During regular combat the effects are there. During the set piece encounters the effects never play and there isn't any use of the subwoofer. Dialog is crystal clear however.
 
Having to wait 30+ minutes to download a day one patch before I could even play the game was not fun! That said, I'm having a good time with the game. I just finished beating GoW3 on Titan a couple of weeks ago, and as a result I'm having a difficult time adjusting to the new combat system (I started Ascension on the Hard difficulty). Overall I'm getting through battles without issue, but the damn goats are kicking my ass.



I died here enough times that I quit in frustration. Can someone give some combat protips for Hard mode? I roll all over the place and grapple like a madman, but the goats just do not stop spamming attacks over and over again. Also, my new "upgrade" (ice element) seems completely useless in this battle. I assume the battle is supposed to get me acquainted with my new power, but it's making me wish I could switch back to the first element.

You can switch elements at any time using the d-pad.
 
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