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[Panajev2001a]

The framerate thing is subjective. It felt off half the time to me in the first 3 chapters, but was no biggie. But suddenly the fourth chapter felt real nice to play though since there were like 5 continuous sections with stable 30 fps framerate. All IMO.

The sequel needs to be at a fixed 30 fps. When it dips it just spoils the beauty of the animations.

Good thing they did not enable V-sync then, in those cases the frame-rate drops would have meant 15 fps animation at each drop...

 

[Mesijs]

I have said it once, and now i can say with confidence - R&C and Uncharted will really have to be something amazing, to be the most memorable PS3 game against HS. This is really Ico-level of general awesomeness and maturity that this game gives away, and I'm a sucker for that stuff.

You will regret these words when you'll play these game. God of War is, in all aspects, a way better game than Heavenly Sword. These two games will be scoring 9s and no people will complain about the gameplay like they did with Heavenly Sword.

I received a Conan (p?)review copy today and the combat is better than Heavenly Sword. Maybe has less 'wow'-moments but it plays better than HS.

 

[slade]

I received a Conan (p?)review copy today and the combat is better than Heavenly Sword. Maybe has less 'wow'-moments but it plays better than HS.

That's good to hear. I didn't really like Heavenly Sword all that much and this was the next action game I was thinking of purchasing.

 

[Lord Error]

Ive only played the first crossbow level but it was hard...3 out of 22 scores....

Don't turn off motion control yet. That mision is tough and you have to be very very good to score well there, because the targets are so close. All of the later missions leave you a lot more time to aim and it's a lot more fun to aim by tilting the controller IMO. If you don't find it fun in the second Kai mission, then switch it off to sticks maybe.

 

[McLovin]

OMG I beat the game twice and I just now figured out that you can do air combos

 

[Ceb]

God of War is, in all aspects, a way better game than Heavenly Sword.

A better game? Maybe. A better experience? No.

 

[nelsonroyale]

You will regret these words when you'll play these game. God of War is, in all aspects, a way better game than Heavenly Sword. These two games will be scoring 9s and no people will complain about the gameplay like they did with Heavenly Sword.

I received a Conan (p?)review copy today and the combat is better than Heavenly Sword. Maybe has less 'wow'-moments but it plays better than HS.

It will be crap for those wanting a fleshout experience though...bloody despise the conan character as well though...Haven't played GOW either...looked a bit angsty to me, and being pretty knowledgeable about greek history, Ive a thing against perversion of the subject matter...still I would like to check those out

 

[Greg]

A better game? Maybe. A better experience? No.

GoW is the better game and experience. The only advantage for HS is that it's on new hardware - sad thing is, it uses the hardware in all the wrong places...

 

[karasu]

You will regret these words when you'll play these game. God of War is, in all aspects, a way better game than Heavenly Sword.

No.

 

[Tieno]

Coming out of God of War 2 and into Heavenly Sword I was seriously dissapointed with the story and presentation of said story (God of War was way better in that regard). Gameplay and environments were mighty fine with the puzzles and platforming, although I find Heavenly Sword's fighting less button mashy.

 

[Lord Error]

GoW is the better game and experience. The only advantage for HS is that it's on new hardware - sad thing is, it uses the hardware in all the wrong places...

HS is at the very least as good of an experience as GoW was, and it uses hardware better than any game on it so far. I really don't understand your comment there. There isn't a game that I've seen that has better looking vistas, better lighting or better looking characters, or scenes with so much stuff going on, where it finally for once doesn't seem like everyone does the exact same thing (talking primarily about missions where you cannonball the battlefield from above). To me, that's exactly the kind of thing we've been promised with these new consoles.

You will regret these words when you'll play these game. God of War is, in all aspects, a way better game than Heavenly Sword. These two games will be scoring 9s and no people will complain about the gameplay like they did with Heavenly Sword.

Don't get me wrong, Uncharted has been my most anticipated game for good two years now, more than HS and perhaps more than MGS4 even (which feels like betrayal to me, trust me , and I hope it fires on all cylinders and delivers something amazing.

R&C I'm sure will be fun to play, just like other games in the series, but I doubt it will leave such an impression on me like HS did. R&C is a lighthearted fun, and with great gameplay mechanics, but that's not enough to make the game truly memorable to me.

 

[Blimblim]

Just bought the game, I liked the demo so I hope the rest is as good. I'll do some videos tomorrow, though I doubt anyone will care about them

 

[fortified_concept]

God, I love shooting arrows with Kai and the firing the cannon with Nariko. I could play these missions again and again and again.

 

[JB1981]

God, I love shooting arrows with Kai and the firing the cannon with Nariko. I could play these missions again and again and again.

firing the cannon is pretty awesome. amazing smoke, fire and particle effects.

 

[Greg]

HS is at the very least as good of an experience as GoW was, and it uses hardware better than any game on it so far. I really don't understand your comment there. There isn't a game that I've seen that has better looking vistas, better lighting or better looking characters, or scenes with so much stuff going on, where it finally for once doesn't seem like everyone does the exact same thing (talking primarily about missions where you cannonball the battlefield from above). To me, that's exactly the kind of thing we've been promised with these new consoles.

The huge battlefields were absolutely amazing, I agree. It's understandable to have hitches in the framerate during those sequences because the scale was so amazing, and those hiccups never bothered the actual gameplay - however, the rest of the areas just felt so unpolished that the fluidity was lost.

Normally, a game with a great story will make me want to finish a terrible game - although HS is far from terrible, that sums up my exact feeling for the game. Yeah, the backgrounds were beautiful and the lighting was awesome...but at what cost? I felt at times that I was just going through the grind just to see the next cut-scene.

 

[Lord Error]

however, the rest of the areas just felt so unpolished that the fluidity was lost.

A lot of the areas in the game didn't really have any notable framerate problems though. I dunno, I guess it just bother some people more than others.

 

[Ken Masters]

Can I get some tips on beating General Firefox

Spoiler

2nd time you fight

?

Spoiler

I can barely get to the part where he multiplies himself into 20 clones, but I can't even get a hit on them, and how do I break those pots of health on the outside?

 

[drohne]

Spoiler

I can barely get to the part where he multiplies himself into 20 clones, but I can't even get a hit on them, and how do I break those pots of health on the outside?

Spoiler

i'm not aware of any particular trick for beating the clones, but you can get those health pots by countering flying fox's projectile attacks -- doing so will send you into aftertouch mode, and you can guide the blade home. it's easier to do if you stand far away from fox -- though if you actually want to hit him, you should stand close.

 

[Ken Masters]

Spoiler

so when you knock the blades back at him are they supposed to actually take damage of him? because it always seems like he just catches it

 

[Aeon712]

Can I get some tips on beating General Firefox

Spoiler

2nd time you fight

?

Spoiler

I can barely get to the part where he multiplies himself into 20 clones, but I can't even get a hit on them, and how do I break those pots of health on the outside?

Use Power Stance combos
Triangle, Triangle, Square, Square
Square, Triangle, Square, Triangle
Triangle, Triangle, Square, Triangle

 

[drohne]

Spoiler

so when you knock the blades back at him are they supposed to actually take damage of him? because it always seems like he just catches it

Spoiler

i haven't seen him catch them -- he dodges them, though. you can definitely hit him and damage him

 

[Mesijs]

Can I get some tips on beating General Firefox

Spoiler

2nd time you fight

?

Spoiler

I can barely get to the part where he multiplies himself into 20 clones, but I can't even get a hit on them, and how do I break those pots of health on the outside?

If you play on 'normal' just button bash and you'll beat them. Don't try anything complex.

 

[Mesijs]

A better game? Maybe. A better experience? No.

Yes, to me the experience of God of War is much, much better. Just some very impressive things:

Spoiler

Seeing Ares in Athens is WOW!!! Same with walking on Pandora's Temple en seeing the colossus Kronos hundreds of meters underneath you. The scale feels immense. Also, the combat in GoW is much, much more satisfying because the brutality and the animations. You can literally feel the force of Kratos when he's dealing his blows.

Heavenly Sword doesn't have this. It has a 'big' battlefield that doesn't feel big as it's restricted. It has cool moves but no gore so everything looks not as if it is real, bloody combat.

 

[flarkminator]

Yes, to me the experience of God of War is much, much better. Just some very impressive things:

Spoiler

Seeing Ares in Athens is WOW!!! Same with walking on Pandora's Temple en seeing the colossus Kronos hundreds of meters underneath you. The scale feels immense. Also, the combat in GoW is much, much more satisfying because the brutality and the animations. You can literally feel the force of Kratos when he's dealing his blows.

Heavenly Sword doesn't have this. It has a 'big' battlefield that doesn't feel big as it's restricted. It has cool moves but no gore so everything looks not as if it is real, bloody combat.

You forgot to mention the utter lack of pacing in Heavenly Sword versus GoW, both 1 and 2.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

To me the whole game feels, it feels like they didn't have a single person that cared what it "feels" to play the game. It seems like the artists really put their heads down and nailed their jobs, but the design just didn't spend enough time making love to the game.

The clearest example I can give is the Whiptail fight.

Spoiler

one of her attack patterns is to go to the end of the arena, and send ranged attacks to you. You make your way towards her, and after her barrage she is left stunned. Managing to be right next to her isn't exactly an easy task as her ranged attacks get harder to avoid as you close the gap.

However, regardless of how soon into her "downtime" you hit her you at most get 1 or 2 hits of your combo in before she's hitting you back, and or blocking. It just feel like crap honestly. Let me at least get a combo off so that I feel, as a player, that I'm doing good. That I'm doing what I'm supposed too. This is the kind of minute detail that you NEVER notice when it's done right, but is painfully obvious when done wrong. Simple things like that just really tarnished the experience for me.

And again, the pacing in the Whiptail fight was...wow I just don't know who's idea it was to have a boss

Spoiler

barely change her attack patterns, then cut to another playable character with a completely different intensity level, and then jump BACK to a boss that's barely changed.

Seriously some of the worst pacing I have ever witnessed in my life.

 

[Ken Masters]

Spoiler

How do you break those damn health pots in the firefox fight, someone said use aftertouch when you reflect his shot back, but when I do that it just goes back to him I can't control it in any way.

 

[Belfast]

Spoiler

How do you break those damn health pots in the firefox fight, someone said use aftertouch when you reflect his shot back, but when I do that it just goes back to him I can't control it in any way.

It's tough, but as far as I can tell

Spoiler

You need to hit them with Kai at the very end. You've got a VERY limited to do this, considering her life depletes rapidly and you've still got to aim one last shot at Flying Fox.

 

[Mesijs]

You forgot to mention the utter lack of pacing in Heavenly Sword versus GoW, both 1 and 2.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

To me the whole game feels, it feels like they didn't have a single person that cared what it "feels" to play the game. It seems like the artists really put their heads down and nailed their jobs, but the design just didn't spend enough time making love to the game.

The clearest example I can give is the Whiptail fight.

Spoiler

one of her attack patterns is to go to the end of the arena, and send ranged attacks to you. You make your way towards her, and after her barrage she is left stunned. Managing to be right next to her isn't exactly an easy task as her ranged attacks get harder to avoid as you close the gap.

However, regardless of how soon into her "downtime" you hit her you at most get 1 or 2 hits of your combo in before she's hitting you back, and or blocking. It just feel like crap honestly. Let me at least get a combo off so that I feel, as a player, that I'm doing good. That I'm doing what I'm supposed too. This is the kind of minute detail that you NEVER notice when it's done right, but is painfully obvious when done wrong. Simple things like that just really tarnished the experience for me.

And again, the pacing in the Whiptail fight was...wow I just don't know who's idea it was to have a boss

Spoiler

barely change her attack patterns, then cut to another playable character with a completely different intensity level, and then jump BACK to a boss that's barely changed.

Seriously some of the worst pacing I have ever witnessed in my life.

I totally agree. The flaw in the combat system was also one I mentioned (also in my review), but people just don't care I guess. Style over substance is what's happening and people love it.

 

[rinker]

Spoiler

How do you break those damn health pots in the firefox fight, someone said use aftertouch when you reflect his shot back, but when I do that it just goes back to him I can't control it in any way.

I'm not sure I couldnt figure it out either, but you don't really need it. I barely needed the one thats on the ground in the arena.

 

[Ken Masters]

I'm not sure I couldnt figure it out either, but you don't really need it. I barely needed the one thats on the ground in the arena.

how did you beat him so easily?

 

[commish]

So is this game one to be rented, or is it worth buying?

 

[Greg]

So is this game one to be rented, or is it worth buying?

One of the best rentals ever - I beat it over a weekend and had a great time doing it.

 

[Ken Masters]

finally beat him

Spoiler

so I am down to the last clone and he's just sitting there frozen, so I had to start over. THen I went back and beat it easily

 

[Raist]

Holy shit, just seen an ad for HS on TV (france), it's awesome.

It's like the first PS3 ad I've seen in.. hmm... 3 months ?

Got the game today, haven't played yet

 

[deepbrown]

You forgot to mention the utter lack of pacing in Heavenly Sword versus GoW, both 1 and 2.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

To me the whole game feels, it feels like they didn't have a single person that cared what it "feels" to play the game. It seems like the artists really put their heads down and nailed their jobs, but the design just didn't spend enough time making love to the game.

The clearest example I can give is the Whiptail fight.

Spoiler

one of her attack patterns is to go to the end of the arena, and send ranged attacks to you. You make your way towards her, and after her barrage she is left stunned. Managing to be right next to her isn't exactly an easy task as her ranged attacks get harder to avoid as you close the gap.

However, regardless of how soon into her "downtime" you hit her you at most get 1 or 2 hits of your combo in before she's hitting you back, and or blocking. It just feel like crap honestly. Let me at least get a combo off so that I feel, as a player, that I'm doing good. That I'm doing what I'm supposed too. This is the kind of minute detail that you NEVER notice when it's done right, but is painfully obvious when done wrong. Simple things like that just really tarnished the experience for me.

And again, the pacing in the Whiptail fight was...wow I just don't know who's idea it was to have a boss

Spoiler

barely change her attack patterns, then cut to another playable character with a completely different intensity level, and then jump BACK to a boss that's barely changed.

Seriously some of the worst pacing I have ever witnessed in my life.

I found the pacing in Chapter 3 to be some of the best I've ever experienced in a game. Chapter 2 was pretty good too, with two boss battles. And I managed to get in around 2 combos every time I got to Whiptail...so I'm not sure what you were doing wrong.

The Combat system works for me....i dont get this "style over substance" comment - it works, I know what I'm doing, I know which combos to do, I know when to block and when to counter - I know when I want to do an aeriel combo, and I know how to build upto a superstyle. It just works - and I feel badass, without feeling out of control. To me this combat system beats GOW, and POP of course - and is funner than NG. Funner, whether it's technically better...I don't really care.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies."

I don't see the problem with this - that's only if you're waiting for counters....why not get on with some combos, get out the power stance and kick their ass. Plus you can still get a counter from one of them...I mean they are meant to be hurting you, and by having two different types of enemies attacking you at the same time, it makes it harder. But surely that's the point? Those are my most favorite moments, when I have about 3 different enemies attacking me at the same time. Fun, and challenging.

GOW was impressive - but it wasn't emotive. It had a pretty lame storyline, with empty characters - had awful platforming (it tried to do platforming, unlike HS which didn't attempt to...and failed with it's lame double jump...i was spoiled by POP)...had a shallow combat system which just felt so poor to me...but yes it had huge set pieces and looked gorgeous. HS has emotion...and beauty, and I feel in control...just wish some of the sections lasted longer!

Plus, in my eyes they have created one of the most iconic scenes in a game ever, even before I have reached the end.

Spoiler

This is the part where you must fight your clansmen for the entertainment of Bohan - the intensity of this gameplay is unmatched. With the glorious music sweeping in by Nitin, and the quick counter attacks paralyzing your fellow men, with sharp camera angles, and cutting sound effects - this is very effective, and extremely intense (this intensity is increased by the speed and accuracy need to paralyze them - otherwise you kill them just like that).

One of the most iconic moments in gaming history. It really struck me, especially in such a beautifully rendered environment.

:"I totally agree. The flaw in the combat system was also one I mentioned (also in my review), but people just don't care I guess.

It's not whether people care, it's whether they agree with you. Most people here have played it, listened to you...and some often disagree whole heartedly.

 

[nelsonroyale]

I totally agree. The flaw in the combat system was also one I mentioned (also in my review), but people just don't care I guess. Style over substance is what's happening and people love it.

Those are some of the aspects that appeal to me...stylistically, this does look superior to GOW...artistically it easily beats the others out...perhaps with the exception of DMC.

 

[drohne]

if your combos aren't working against whiptail, maybe that's a sign that you're doing the wrong thing?

Spoiler

when she's stunned, launch her for an air combo -- satisfaction and massive damage. perhaps it's also bad design to make a boss susceptible to a move that you never really need elsewhere, but that's a different issue.

 

[Slurmer]

You forgot to mention the utter lack of pacing in Heavenly Sword versus GoW, both 1 and 2.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

To me the whole game feels, it feels like they didn't have a single person that cared what it "feels" to play the game. It seems like the artists really put their heads down and nailed their jobs, but the design just didn't spend enough time making love to the game.

The clearest example I can give is the Whiptail fight.

Spoiler

one of her attack patterns is to go to the end of the arena, and send ranged attacks to you. You make your way towards her, and after her barrage she is left stunned. Managing to be right next to her isn't exactly an easy task as her ranged attacks get harder to avoid as you close the gap.

However, regardless of how soon into her "downtime" you hit her you at most get 1 or 2 hits of your combo in before she's hitting you back, and or blocking. It just feel like crap honestly. Let me at least get a combo off so that I feel, as a player, that I'm doing good. That I'm doing what I'm supposed too. This is the kind of minute detail that you NEVER notice when it's done right, but is painfully obvious when done wrong. Simple things like that just really tarnished the experience for me.

And again, the pacing in the Whiptail fight was...wow I just don't know who's idea it was to have a boss

Spoiler

barely change her attack patterns, then cut to another playable character with a completely different intensity level, and then jump BACK to a boss that's barely changed.

Seriously some of the worst pacing I have ever witnessed in my life.

Spoiler

I launch her up in the air and do an aerial combo when she is stunned. You can get a nice, satisfying 4 hit combo off and do a pretty good amount of damage.

**edit: beaten to it**

 

[deepbrown]

if your combos aren't working against whiptail, maybe that's a sign that you're doing the wrong thing?

Spoiler

when she's stunned, launch her for an air combo -- satisfaction and massive damage. perhaps it's also bad design to make a boss susceptible to a move that you never really need elsewhere, but that's a different issue.

Didn't try doing an aeriel....good idea for my second play through! I love the later aeriel combos, so beautiful!

What I found funny against Flying Fox was

Spoiler

throwing a body at him removes almost all of his health!

(at least in the first encounter)

 

[EekTheKat]

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

Blue + Yellow attack at the same time usually means it's a good time to

Spoiler

roll/dodge out of the way

.

Also the block system seems to have a small "buffer" to it - for example, power

Spoiler

can in fact block red for one hit(which causes Nariko to be briefly stunned, the second hit will connect).

 

[typhonsentra]

Can someone make a video of these framerate drops you guys are having? I can't imagine they're as bad as you're saying. I mean I'll admit I'm not the best at telling 30 vs. 60 FPS but I think I can tell 30 from 15...

 

[Panajev2001a]

...

flark, you really enjoy having a game with several enemies around you and only one attacking you at any given time ? Why is there a roll button for ?

The game that applied your idea most closely was Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End and it certainly does not feel better than Heavenly Sword other than being much easier and less challenging to fight your opponents.

Can you explain that point of yours more in depth ?

 

[Lord Error]

You can literally feel the force of Kratos when he's dealing his blows.

This is actually where I disagree completely. Except for in QTEs, GoW doesn't have nearly the feeling of your weapon connecting to an enemy as HS does. Hit animations in GoW are all pre-canned, there's always this feeling that your weapon is just passing through them and they just bounce back. In fact, I think HS beats every other game of this kind in the sense of enemies reacting to your hits (probably because they partially use physics engine for this) and I think the game didn't get as much recognition for this as it should have. When you pull off a power stance distance attack where Nariko jumps towards the enemy and slams the sword down, it's one of the most satisfying moves this genre has ever seen.

I totally agree. The flaw in the combat system was also one I mentioned (also in my review), but people just don't care I guess. Style over substance is what's happening and people love it.

Yeah, that must be it. Jeez man...

Spoiler

How do you break those damn health pots in the firefox fight, someone said use aftertouch when you reflect his shot back, but when I do that it just goes back to him I can't control it in any way.

You need to be farther away from him and the pots. That If you want to hit either pots or him, you'll have time to aim using aftertouch.

 

[Ken Masters]

Spoiler

any advice on 3rd stage Raven King?

 

[Mr. Mister]

You forgot to mention the utter lack of pacing in Heavenly Sword versus GoW, both 1 and 2.

Not to mention the myriad of minor mistakes they make in their combat system. One of the most junior mistakes is allowing more than one enemy to attack you at the same time. In this case having a blue and a yellow attack at the same time from two enemies. That's SO easy to fix, and it really really changes the feel of a game.

To me the whole game feels, it feels like they didn't have a single person that cared what it "feels" to play the game. It seems like the artists really put their heads down and nailed their jobs, but the design just didn't spend enough time making love to the game.

The clearest example I can give is the Whiptail fight.

Spoiler

one of her attack patterns is to go to the end of the arena, and send ranged attacks to you. You make your way towards her, and after her barrage she is left stunned. Managing to be right next to her isn't exactly an easy task as her ranged attacks get harder to avoid as you close the gap.

However, regardless of how soon into her "downtime" you hit her you at most get 1 or 2 hits of your combo in before she's hitting you back, and or blocking. It just feel like crap honestly. Let me at least get a combo off so that I feel, as a player, that I'm doing good. That I'm doing what I'm supposed too. This is the kind of minute detail that you NEVER notice when it's done right, but is painfully obvious when done wrong. Simple things like that just really tarnished the experience for me.

And again, the pacing in the Whiptail fight was...wow I just don't know who's idea it was to have a boss

Spoiler

barely change her attack patterns, then cut to another playable character with a completely different intensity level, and then jump BACK to a boss that's barely changed.

Seriously some of the worst pacing I have ever witnessed in my life.

i think you are getting pacing mixed up with what in your eyes was a poor combat system. the pacing to me was rather excellent. as soon as i started to get bored with fighting as nariko they would switch me to doing some shooting missions with kai. even in kai's missions they did a good job of mixing it up -- they did one subtle touch on the gondola that made it go from dragging on to amazing.

also taking you out of the fight is often a way of making you want something more -- as in "damn i cant wait to finish this mission and get back to kicking that things ass". there is also the whole things happening in real time ala 24 thing that i think they were trying to do.

i also disagree about it being art driven and designers not putting in any love. i feel that the game is bursting at the seams with heart. it felt to me like a real labor of love -- that isn't to say that the game isn't without flaws but i think the people behind the game gave it their all.

two guys can attack you in many a game including god of war, when you see that attack coming push on that right analog stick to evade out of the way, its the get of jail free card. i never tried it but i am also fairly certain you are invulnerable during a counter so if you countered one attack the other would likely do no damage. the guys at ninja theory obviously have a very deep understanding of combat.

i think heavenly swords biggest fault is it that the team just tried to satisfy to many players. the game feels like they wanted to make a hardcore ninja gaiden like experience and then realized that doesnt sell so well so just went back and made it easy to win by not really knowing what you are doing. a small sect of the hardcore can see the game behind the game and enjoy the combat system while the rest are just left mashing on buttons and not really feeling any connection -- this is something god of war excels at and is often given shit for by the hardcore.

 

[theBishop]

it is the pacing more than the combat i have a problem with.

it suffers a bit from Resistanceitis where the game basically says to you "Great... We'll take it from here". You reach some checkpoint that isn't obvious, which triggers a cutscene, or Kai-mode, or the end of the level. If memory serves, this problem gets less noticeable as Resistance goes on, but its present throughout Heavenly Sword.

A good example is when

Spoiler

Kai kills Flying Fox

. There's a palpable feeling that a cutscene is being interrupted so you can play for 5 seconds. And by the way, if you screw up on the first try (which I did), you just do it over again. Really lazy in my opinion.

 

[Mr. Mister]

it is the pacing more than the combat i have a problem with.

A good example is when

Spoiler

Kai kills Flying Fox

. There's a palpable feeling that a cutscene is being interrupted so you can play for 5 seconds. And by the way, if you screw up on the first try (which I did), you just do it over again. Really lazy in my opinion.

that part did feel very sloppy. that isnt really what i consider a pacing issue though.

 

[Doc Evils]

I'm playing in Hell mode now. I'm up to the Areana.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I'm playing in Hell mode now. I'm up to the Areana.

Me too. I am battling Roacch.

 

[JB1981]

Some of the restart points are absolutely ridiculous. If you die in the

Spoiler

first fight against Flying Fox,

you have to rekill his goons over and over and over again. Who makes design decisions like this?

Anyway, any tips for pulling off some of the more complicated aerial combos? I can't seem to successfully string anything together up there.

 

[flarkminator]

i think you are getting pacing mixed up with what in your eyes was a poor combat system. the pacing to me was rather excellent. as soon as i started to get bored with fighting as nariko they would switch me to doing some shooting missions with kai. even in kai's missions they did a good job of mixing it up -- they did one subtle touch on the gondola that made it go from dragging on to amazing.

No I actually took notes on every single enemy encounter and puzzle leading up to the end of chapter 3 (I lost interest in taking notes passed that point). Detailing the intensity of each encounter and puzzle, and in general they just have really poor pacing. I could show you graphs of their pacing versus god of war's pacing and there really is no comparison between the two.

also taking you out of the fight is often a way of making you want something more -- as in "damn i cant wait to finish this mission and get back to kicking that things ass". there is also the whole things happening in real time ala 24 thing that i think they were trying to do.

It can OFTEN be a long of things, but in this instance, it was none of those things. The tension is building in a fight with the boss and all tension and adrenaline is blown by the switch to Kai. To have a section that starts off with no tension what so ever. Anytime I look at a game and wonder, "what the hell is going on" you have failed in my eyes.

i also disagree about it being art driven and designers not putting in any love. i feel that the game is bursting at the seams with heart. it felt to me like a real labor of love -- that isn't to say that the game isn't without flaws but i think the people behind the game gave it their all.

I think this game has a hidden story that will never come to light. It's times like this when I lament the real lack of TRUE behind the scenes stories. The world could learn so much from what really went on behind the scenes of this game. But no one will ever know because people are so afraid of the truth.

two guys can attack you in many a game including god of war, when you see that attack coming push on that right analog stick to evade out of the way, its the get of jail free card. i never tried it but i am also fairly certain you are invulnerable during a counter so if you countered one attack the other would likely do no damage. the guys at ninja theory obviously have a very deep understanding of combat.

You're correct, two guys CAN attack you at the same time in God of War, but it is a encounter specific decision. Chosen to either increase, or decrease the tension of a fight. Additionally, if two guys attack me at the same time in Gow of War I simply have to hold block, it doesn't matter. In HS, my only choice is to dodge, which I think is counter-intuitive to a game so focused on blocking dynamics.

From my observation they try to ratchet the tension of a fight up and down by simply increasing or decreasing the number of enemies you face. In addition their encounters themselves are very one dimensional, as in it's usually just here's 20 guys, go at it. When you design it like that, the highest moment of tension is the beginning of the fight and it scales down from there. Instead of starting off, building to a crescendo and then tapering off. This is all "last 10% of a game" stuff but, for a game this short it's sorely lacking.

i think heavenly swords biggest fault is it that the team just tried to satisfy to many players. the game feels like they wanted to make a hardcore ninja gaiden like experience and then realized that doesnt sell so well so just went back and made it easy to win by not really knowing what you are doing. a small sect of the hardcore can see the game behind the game and enjoy the combat system while the rest are just left mashing on buttons and not really feeling any connection -- this is something god of war excels at and is often given shit for by the hardcore.

I completely agree. I think everything about this game screams casually hardcore -- two divergent design ideas clashing horribly. Again, I think this game has a hidden underbelly that no one outside of the company will ever know about but could learn sooooo much from.