God of War 2 Post Mortem, 6th of Forelithe 2014

God of War 2: Post Mortem

(longer unabridged post here)

What I liked about God of War was that as brutal and as action oriented the game was, it was just as much intelligent.  The really "great" games on the edge are like that, and the pretenders are easy to spot because you can't fake that kind of thing.  The original God of War made me feel like I was playing this epic mash up of Metroid(once you get to the Tower) and Clash of the Titans, mixed with the closest we ever got to a "Wolverine" like character outside of comics.

The level design is the top of its genre.  Not only are the puzzles satisfying, but several were of types I had not seen before in a game.  While the world did not feel so much like a Metroid, the world was very much larger and things did interconnect to each other as time went by.  The boss fights are, again, the top of the genre, with none of them repeating.  They even resisted the temptation of redoing the Minotaur(the best boss from part one) and instead stuck with making new bosses each and every time.

The HD remake that I played was flawless, and just like with part one, looks to have improved immensely.  I never spent a lot of time with part 2 on the PS2, but I played through part 1 a couple of times, and the HD remake of part 1 only enhanced the game, never took away.  The cameras are repositioned, the textures are tightened up, and the frame rate is rock solid locked at 60 frames instead of dipping below 30 on the PS2.  There is no reason not to play the HD versions over the original, it is a vast improvement in every way.  The only "jarring" part is that the cutscenes are many times still done in low resolution, so many times the cutscenes look worse than the actual game play segments.

Basically it is what every big blockbuster in Hollywood believes a sequel should be: the same as the first but more more more.  While that kind of sucks in the world of RPG's, its pretty apt in the world of Kratos and leaves a satisfying experience.


6th of Forelithe, 2014

Well, I began watching Attack on Titan.  I can see why people would like it.  It is already one of the most emotionally charged anime I've ever watched.  I can tell you though, if you're faint of heart or don't like watching characters you care about die, then don't watch this.  I'm only 4 episodes in and I can tell its not only going to be heartwrenching, but you're going to have to watch very gruesome and sad deaths in this show.  On the flip side, as sad and hopeless I've felt about the characters, I've felt the opposite too about the enemy.  It has been a long time since I've wanted a bad guy to die in horrible horrible ways.  The show is actually a pretty strong "war time" story.  It reminds me of several media that is based on war chronicles like Starship Troopers, World War Z(the book), and a few war movies.

I got so into Attack on Titan(I was only going to watch at most 2 episodes a day, but they like to end on cliffhangers), that I think instead of 3D Dot Game Heroes, I'm going to go ahead and play Shadow of the Colossus.  A little human taking on the biggest of giant and unconquerable creatures?  Yeah, kind of fits both.  Shadow of the Colossus revels in its understatement, so I think it will actually match my mood after watching Attack on Titan well.  I'll get to take on these enemy while being able to chill out a little.

Played some Minecraft for about 30 minutes today.  The Lost Kingdom is built, now I'm going around and making it more "lost".  Also, I've started the chests and books that lead to the quest line.  Just a little extra part of the world me and my girl may one day play in, gives us something to do that is a break away from the old farm.  I'm not using command blocks or anything, I'm not that good with Minecraft.  Just some books, some chests, and an "understanding" to do things in order.  Still, I have some ideas for little emotional parts here and there.