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

Story wise it's nothing compared to what an epic GoW prequel should have been,that battle where Kratos took the oath would have been epic,hell they make a whole game about breaking the bond yet don't show the genesis of it,resources were sacrificed for MP it seems.

Yea I know. I honestly am not sure what they were thinking or if they really want to save that story for another time... but that's what I expected. Starting the game off as Kratos as a normal Spartan ect. in the great fight that you call upon Ares and become an insane beast, would have been amazing.

Then you bust into a house where these two demons attack you, go into this small boss encounter ends with you killing them brutally. After the battle Kratos looks down to see it was his wife and child. BOOM! I was expecting that...

Which would have fit in more with the Multiplayer and them being all traditional Spartans. Could have been some of the Spartans on your team (during the great war)...
 
Whoa, multiplayer is so much fun. I didn't care for the beta and I sucked at it but I'm doing pretty well here and everything seems to make much more sense. Love the RPG like character customization as well. Definitely unique and fun.

It's awesome. I don't think there is another like it out there and it seems like it's pretty deep.
 

Carnby

Member
What idiot at Santa Monica thought the trails was a good idea? I'm not playing anymore until this gets a patch. Up until now I was a defender of this game.
 
Yep, I was surprised too.

Move
Polyphemus and Stheno to SP
and you have two more epic boss battles in the campaign.

Adding MP to the GOW saga was so a bad decision...

Multiplayer was probably a different design team. If the multiplayer team didn't exist, then neither would Stheno and Polyphemus. It's not an "either or" situation.
 

Ghazi

Member
Is
Polyphemus
the giant from the Odyssey
whose cave Odysseus got trapped in?

I don't know my Greek lore.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Finished, it does some really cool stuff with the last half hour or so. I certainly think it's the worst of the six, and the only one I'd not recommend, but it didn't leave me soured, and assuming they do something radical with the next one, I'll still be looking forward to it.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
It's not hard at all.

The game doesn't really condition you for that spike in difficulty. There's a green and blue orb chest before and after most fights in the game. Here, they throw 3 waves at the player and say good luck. I thought it was fantastic but I can see how the Adam Sessler's of the gaming world would have trouble.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
What idiot at Santa Monica thought the trails was a good idea? I'm not playing anymore until this gets a patch. Up until now I was a defender of this game.

Play defensively. You can block just about everything they'll throw at you. Use the counterattack on snakes to stone everyone. Then in round two, counterattack the amazons to slam them around. Use magic or soul power L3+R3 to kill the harpies. The third round is easier, just play carefully and then it's over.

I was initially very annoyed by this fight because I was trying to be aggressive. Unfortunately, turtling is far more viable.
 

Loudninja

Member
If you are experiencing Audio issues
We are currently working on a permanent fix to address various audio/mix issues being experienced in the single-player campaign.

If you are experiencing audio issues, please try the following to resolve:

If you are connected via HDMI directly to your HD TV, and pushing audio out from the TV speakers, your audio settings in-game may be set to 5.1 surround sound. Please check the in-game settings and ensure your Audio is set to Stereo, and not 5.1 surround sound. This should resolve your issues.

If you are running your audio/video through a receiver to your HD TV, the above resolution does not apply. You may not be experiencing audio issues either as a result.
http://www.godofwar.com/en-us/faq/q/if-you-are-experiencing-audio-issues/
 

rdrr gnr

Member
The game doesn't really condition you for that spike in difficulty. There's a green and blue orb chest before and after most fights in the game. Here, they throw 3 waves at the player and say good luck. I thought it was fantastic but I can see how the Adam Sessler's of the gaming world would have trouble.
Yes. But it does condition you to all elements necessary for success. The game stops holding your hand and compels you, the gamer, to apply the skills you have learned over the course of 27 chapters. Success isn't even contingent on maxed out weaponry (though it helps). It took me a handful of attempts on Hard -- and at no point did I think, "Oh, this is going to take me three hours." I do think the game should give you the ability to change difficulties, but I disagree with the patch. Sessler plays games for a living; he is terrible at playing games. Maybe he never recovered from his traumatic experience of encountering the unfettered misogyny. Even if the criticism is sound (I agree there is a spike) -- if you are struggling -- it's because you are bad.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
Yes. But it does condition you to all elements necessary for success. The game stops holding your hand and compels you, the gamer, to apply the skills you have learned over the course of 27 chapters. Success isn't even contingent on maxed out weaponry (though it helps). It took me a handful of attempts on Hard -- and at no point did I think, "Oh, this is going to take me three hours." I do think the game should give you the ability to change difficulties, but I disagree with the patch. Sessler plays games for a living; he is terrible at playing games. Maybe he never recovered from his traumatic experience of encountering the unfettered misogyny. Even if the criticism is sound (I agree there is a spike) -- if you are struggling -- it's because you are bad.

I don't dispute that Sessler is probably bad at games, but I know that I'm not, and I still hit a wall at that section until I stumbled upon the right approach. I had breezed through the rest of the game, so I had no way of knowing until that point that I was "bad" at the game.

I don't know if a patch is the answer, but if people are getting stuck when they've chosen to play on normal, it's likely a problem.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
I don't dispute that Sessler is probably bad at games, but I know that I'm not, and I still hit a wall at that section until I stumbled upon the right approach. I had breezed through the rest of the game, so I had no way of knowing until that point that I was "bad" at the game.

I don't know if a patch is the answer, but if people are getting stuck when they've chosen to play on normal, it's likely a problem.
Again, I agree there is a spike. It's a poorly designed section -- but it's not a "problem." I'm not sure how it is on normal -- but on Hard, it was for me, the single most difficult section of the game. It also took me the longest to finish than any other checkpoint. That being said -- it took me, what, less than ten attempts? It's an issue relative to rest of the game -- not inherently. And I'm not sure what you mean by "stumbled." For me it was fun to apply different approaches via trial and error until I got a strategy that consistently got me to Round 2. The first time I beat Round 2 -- I beat the section.
 
I just finished. 9:28 on Normal.

Outside of a hiccup on the 4th boss (I was being too aggressive) and the trails I didn't think the game was that difficult.

Final fight was so good.

I've only played two of them but: GOW3 > GOW:A
 
Trials isn't all that bad once you realize you can block 80% of the fight.

Didn't play it smart the first 2 times on normal. Then i read a little guide and felt like an idiot that most of the attacks can be blocked. I'm more of an evade kinda person since the new block system sucks. Anyways, beat it on my first try once i realized that.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
I'm going to consider it a mini miracle I beat the trials on hard without blocking at all and only rolling around being super aggressive within 8 attempts. There was luck this way mainly in round 1 as you can get locked into a hitchain, but abusing the ever loving shit out of magic worked well.
 
Just completed the game. It's amazing at how much the game improves, especially when you get used to the combat system and upgrade all of your skills. The final boss fight was insane.

8/10 otherwise, what started out decent and disappointing ended up being great. The combat system still needs some tweaking though, and they better fix those audio issues soon.
 

Paches

Member
I have played up to
the point when you beat the 3 snakes puzzle/area and kill the gargoyle type boss
. Not sure why people are saying the spectacle has lost its luster. The scale is still awesome and I am still dropping my jaw.

Also, my reaction to the new medusa QTE kill:

tumblr_mftfzsHOMb1rgjkhbo1_500.gif


The dodging inside the QTEs is a nice touch too.
 

SpokkX

Member
Up to chapter 18 and I find myself kind of bored

It is not bad by any means but is is nowhere near gow 1-3, where each one was hard to put down,

Still it IS a better than than most games it is just not up to the usual standard for console gow

They need to shake up the formula for gow4

New mythology, new hero (ditch Kratos), new worlds, monsters, weapons etc

Nordic mythology would be the coolest IMO
 

Noi

Member
Nope, that's not it.

I think the game sort of misses the point of the scale. Why is it zooming the camera out in basic combat scenarios? I can't see my guy. I'm getting walloped and I can't even see why. This just seems masturbatory.

This is how If feel as well. When III panned the camera out in a similar spot, it was in situations where you generally weren't expected to fight long enough for it to be a hindrance or against so many enemies that keeping track of Kratos would be hard to do (the beginning of the final Kratos vs Zeus fight comes to mind). I'm on Chapter 13, and the
second boss fight against the Hecatonceir's mutated face and the snake rides to the oracle
have been the biggest offenders in that regard. I just end up rolling until I can tell where I am again and then resume fighting.
 
The trial is insanely easy with the L3+R3 Hades attack and Uroboros.

This was Pappy's number one suggestion: spam Uroboros, ideally targetting more than one foe. I think people forget about that power. Use your magic in round one, it regenerates with most of the enemies if they're brutal killed. It's an annoying fight, but it should be doable on normal if you're using the mechanics they've given you. I agree the game might not train you quite enough.
 
This was Pappy's number one suggestion: spam Uroboros, ideally targetting more than one foe. I think people forget about that power. Use your magic in round one, it regenerates with most of the enemies if they're brutal killed. It's an annoying fight, but it should be doable on normal if you're using the mechanics they've given you. I agree the game might not train you quite enough.

It's very doable. The beginning of Round 2 allows you to even regenerate your health with the two blue chicks with spears.
 
Again, I agree there is a spike. It's a poorly designed section -- but it's not a "problem." I'm not sure how it is on normal -- but on Hard, it was for me, the single most difficult section of the game. It also took me the longest to finish than any other checkpoint. That being said -- it took me, what, less than ten attempts? It's an issue relative to rest of the game -- not inherently. And I'm not sure what you mean by "stumbled." For me it was fun to apply different approaches via trial and error until I got a strategy that consistently got me to Round 2. The first time I beat Round 2 -- I beat the section.

Even this is too much of a burden for some people to bear. People are far too reliant on checkpoints in games these days to the point of even complaing some games have too many... or as in this case... "F#$, that part is hard and no check point! WTF!!!!!"
 

Macattk15

Member
Beat it just now. Last boss was epic.

I passed the Trial of Archimedes 1st try.

It is so damn easy to fill the Rage meter with Hades element weapons. The only tough part was when the Banshees came out with the Gorgons in the 1st stage .... and the Talos in the fire hallway.

You literally can block every single attack of the Centaurs and the Amazons.

Use your shadow buddy on cooldown, same with the amulet .... really don't know how Sessler couldn't handle it ... over SIX hours. He must be pretty fucking bad at the game. Its much more of a test than any other part of the game ... but I literally had everything max leveled when I got there and I guess that made it easy? I also never really used the Poseidon element ... Shouldn't have wasted the exp to level it before my base weapons.
 

Paches

Member
Beat it just now. Last boss was epic.

I passed the Trial of Archimedes 1st try.

It is so damn easy to fill the Rage meter with Hades element weapons. The only tough part was when the Banshees came out with the Gorgons in the 1st stage .... and the Talos in the fire hallway.

You literally can block every single attack of the Centaurs and the Amazons.

Use your shadow buddy on cooldown, same with the amulet .... really don't know how Sessler couldn't handle it ... over SIX hours. He must be pretty fucking bad at the game. Its much more of a test than any other part of the game ... but I literally had everything max leveled when I got there and I guess that made it easy? I also never really used the Poseidon element ... Shouldn't have wasted the exp to level it before my base weapons.

A lot of game reviewers are in fact horrible at games. Did you read the MGR:R review on Kotaku and his complaints about Blade Wolf? Pretty lol-worthy.
 

Macattk15

Member
A lot of game reviewers are in fact horrible at games. Did you read the MGR:R review on Kotaku and his complaints about Blade Wolf? Pretty lol-worthy.

Nah I didn't. I also haven't played MGR:R yet so I couldn't really judge if I did read it. Maybe I'll pick that game up next.

Either way, pretty stupid to knock a game for some shit you can't handle. Why would a reviewer not play it on Easy anyway? I can only imagine the Trial being easier there.

My feelings on the series : GoW 3 > GoW : A > GoW 2 > GoW

Never played the handheld games. Even though GoW is last that doesn't mean it's bad ... I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
 
Just wanted to post to throw my hat into the ring of people who also beat the Trial of Archimedes, pre-patch. Fuck yeah!

Those tips about blocking really helped. Getting magic from the wraiths in third wave really helped too.

Can't wait to play the rest of this beautifully paced (aside from the rocky Trial) game.
 

Macattk15

Member
Just wanted to post to throw my hat into the ring of people who also beat the Trial of Archimedes, pre-patch. Fuck yeah!

Those tips about blocking really helped. Getting magic from the wraiths in third wave really helped too.

Can't wait to play the rest of this beautifully paced (aside from the rocky Trial) game.

You're almost done if you passed the Trial!
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
Again, I agree there is a spike. It's a poorly designed section -- but it's not a "problem." I'm not sure how it is on normal -- but on Hard, it was for me, the single most difficult section of the game. It also took me the longest to finish than any other checkpoint. That being said -- it took me, what, less than ten attempts? It's an issue relative to rest of the game -- not inherently. And I'm not sure what you mean by "stumbled." For me it was fun to apply different approaches via trial and error until I got a strategy that consistently got me to Round 2. The first time I beat Round 2 -- I beat the section.

My experience was basically just like yours, but I was angry because I wanted to fight the way I had been fighting through the whole game and now I couldn't. I felt mislead, and like I had been thinking about the combat system wrong the entire time and the game didn't do anything to let me know about it.

When I finished it, I even thought it was actually pretty easy with the right approach and a little luck.

When I say it's a problem, I don't mean it has to be changed. People can pass this with some help from the internet. But it's shitty if someone is just trying to get through a GOW game on normal, which has never been particularly tough outside of certain infamous sections. It's a weird difficulty spike which typically you only see in Titan mode.

Anyway, it seems we're mostly in agreement about it.
 

TEH-CJ

Banned
The epicness is less than GoW 3 and to make up the difference somewhat they should have let us play through the General Kratos era and those 3 blood deeds,Stheno should have been in the game too.

so much this.

missed opportunity there.
 

ruxtpin

Banned
Yes. But it does condition you to all elements necessary for success. The game stops holding your hand and compels you, the gamer, to apply the skills you have learned over the course of 27 chapters. Success isn't even contingent on maxed out weaponry (though it helps). It took me a handful of attempts on Hard -- and at no point did I think, "Oh, this is going to take me three hours." I do think the game should give you the ability to change difficulties, but I disagree with the patch. Sessler plays games for a living; he is terrible at playing games. Maybe he never recovered from his traumatic experience of encountering the unfettered misogyny. Even if the criticism is sound (I agree there is a spike) -- if you are struggling -- it's because you are bad.

The game does not condition you with all the necessary elements for success. You can sit here and tell me that using the
slow time
and
ghost Kratos
, along with parrying/counter-attacking should make the thing a cake-walk - and perhaps that's the case - but saying the game conditioned the player for that part of the game is a load of hooey. I played all the way up until that point on normal mode and never once had an issue with any prior battle. Never, in any of the battles that led to the trials, was it so crucial to parry and use the spoiler-ed abilities I mentioned. Every battle up until that point I got through using strong and light attacks and magic (hell, I think I barely used block at all). Allowing the player to breeze through all previous battles like that, and then expecting them to have mastered every tool that you've given them is bullshit.

Conditioning the player for the trials would have meant a number of battles where it was mandatory that you win by fulfilling certain criteria (i.e. using new abilities you've just gained). That never happened. You get a new ability in this game, they tell you the buttons to press for the new skill, throw 5-6 guys at you, and you have it. Yet you're never required to beat the enemies with the new ability you just gained. Otherwise I'd have gotten to the trials and said, "oh snap, I remember doing this before - I've gotta' do that now so I can beat these guys."

I'll be the first to say I suck at games, but I've beaten all the other God of War games on normal mode; I remember those annoying ass spiked walls in GoW1 and an annoying cerberus dog in GoW2 (that I thought I had to beat in some special way because it took a lot of hits to kill him [or her]). Perhaps I need to go back and start Ascension on easy, and maybe I'll do that when I have some more throw-away free time.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
I have to say that the power type approach to the Chains was a smart move. No weapon feels as fleshed out as the Chains. Having the rest of the weapons in the world keeps the variety. I would say that this game has the best combat, yet the most derivative enemy types. I'm not sure if using Fire against an Ice enemy does extra damage. It felt like a missed opportunity. You have more fluid movement yet everything still came down to grappling the same enemies in the same ways.
 

phierce

Member
It's not hard at all.
Thanks for that incredible insight!

It's really not that hard. Any insight he could have added has been discussed numerous times in this thread. What more did you want him to say?

Personally, I beat it first try on hard. Others have claimed to do so as well. Many people have struggled with the trials, but many have also found it to be just the right challenge...maybe even not hard at all.

The fact they are patching this is one of the biggest problems with gaming today...hell, with society today for that matter. People don't want to work for shit. If you can't beat it on hard, play normal...If you can't beat it on normal, play easy...and if that still doesn't work, play a different game. Don't fucking cry because YOU can't do something without it being dumbed down to your level.

They should not have to make every game, on every difficulty level, so every single player can complete it.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
The game does not condition you with all the necessary elements for success. You can sit here and tell me that using the
slow time
and
ghost Kratos
, along with parrying/counter-attacking should make the thing a cake-walk - and perhaps that's the case - but saying the game conditioned the player for that part of the game is load of hooey. I played all the way up until that point on normal mode and never once had an issue with any prior battle. Never, in any of the battles that led to the trials, was it so crucial to parry and use the spoiler-ed abilities I mentioned. Every battle up until that point I got through using strong and light attacks and magic (hell, I think I barely used block at all). Allowing the player to breeze through all previous battles like that, and then expecting them to have mastered every tool that you've given them is bullshit.

Conditioning the player for the trials would have meant a number of battles where it was mandatory that you win by fulfilling certain criteria (i.e. using new abilities you've just gained). That never happened. You get a new ability in this game, they tell you the buttons to press for the new skill, throw 5-6 guys at you, and you have it. Yet you're never required to beat the enemies with the new ability you just gained. Otherwise I'd have gotten to the trials and said, "oh snap, I remember doing this before - I've gotta' do that now so I can beat these guys."

I'll be the first to say I suck at games, but I've beaten all the other God of War games on normal mode; I remember those annoying ass spiked walls in GoW1 and an annoying cerberus dog in GoW2 (that I thought I had to beat in some special way because it took a lot of hits to kill him [or her]). Perhaps I need to go back and start Ascension on easy, and maybe I'll do that when I have some more throw-away free time.
That's a fair point; I've already conceded there is a spike. But I wouldn't say you need the two items. Though they are the difference makers for many. Requiring one to use an item to beat an enemy is very different from having that ability at your disposal. The game could do a better job (it should, actually) at encouraging those powers. However, there are those who are still struggling knowing strategies others have employed. There is no excuse for that. If one's approach worked before but doesn't work now -- then one needs to adapt -- regardless of if the developers could have designed it better.
 

Macattk15

Member
As for puzzles ... I didn't look for a guide on any of them.

Only got stuck for maybe 10 minutes or so on the one where you have to direct the beam through that chunk to split it to go out both eyes inside of the head.

I felt dumb after I realized what I needed to do. Every other puzzle was basically instantly done.
 

JordanKZ

Member
Well. I just lost several hours of gameplay.

I got hit by the chapter 13 bridge bug. Googled the problem and reset back to the beginning of the chapter. I then played normally all the way to
Apollo's Eyes
so about 4 hours of game time.

Getting a little bored so I decided to quit out to the main menu. Only to find that the game hadn't saved any of my fucking progress for the last FOUR hours. Chapter select only goes up to 13, if I hit continue I go straight back to the bridge bug on chapter 13.

I'm not replaying all that fucking game again. I'm done. Not to mention I don't think I could solve this unless I completely start the game over.

Seriously, what the fuck? Why wasn't the game saving!?
 

ruxtpin

Banned
Well. I just lost several hours of gameplay.

...

Seriously, what the fuck? Why wasn't the game saving!?

Same thing happened to me. Granted, I've ranted about the trials, but I think the save bug and the game freezing on me while loading are bigger issues. I ain't cool with that!
 
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