God of War - The Bear and Badger

Gamermike

Do Valkyries have varying levels of difficulty? As the two I have come across have pummelled the absolute shit out of me.

I left them for now, on one of them the boy mentioned something that made me think I wasn't powerful enough yet.

Tempy

They span from "amongst the harder fights in the main story" to "post-game ultra boss"

hylian_elf

News on NG+ mode for GotY 2018:

"Sony Santa Monica has confirmed that God of War's New Game+ mode will be arriving as a free patch in less than two weeks' time. To access New Game+, you'll obviously have to first complete the campaign at any difficulty, before going back in for a second, much harder run through with all of your weapons, armour, talismans and other items intact.

New Game+ in God of War brings with it new gear to unearth, tougher enemies to take on, and the ability to skip cinematic sequences. Enemies will have "new tricks up their sleeves" too, Sony Santa Monica warns, meaning you'll need to ensure the new equipment you acquire is upgraded using a new resource called 'Skap Slag'.

New customisation options, new armour sets and enchantments will also feature in New Game+, when it rolls out for God of War as a free update on 20th August. If you've already beaten God of War, the mode will be waiting for you once the patch has been applied, so you can get cracking on another playthrough straight away."

JonB

I should get on and finish it and send it back to you.

Think I'm about 3/4 of the way through. Got sidetracked by Dead Cells this week.

[Deleted User]

I'd not seen anything by him for ages and thought this dude was done. Glad this thoughtful and considered bit of game analysis showed up in my YT feed:

Tempy

He’s just finished a long project on the Zachtronics games, he’s been pretty prolific this year.

Yeah, 9 vids this year. They've all been great too.

JonB

I ended up watching all of that, which I wasn't intending to.

Spot on IMO. Pretty much echoes my thinking about the game exactly, plus adds a few other things I hadn't noticed.

Tempy

I watched it too, as I watch all his stuff. I still really enjoyed God of War, and I like it despite its failings. I don't agree on every point, I think combat mastery is not something GoW is asking for, and it was very clear that it wasn't. The game encouraging it is and not living up to it is disappointing, bit I've become better at checking out from this stuff as I've grown older. I'd argue that it did have clarity of vision, but concede that the focus is muddied. The intent was there, but it was clearly hamstrung. I still enjoyed it a lot, and would probably see it as the only big budget game on my end of year list.

hylian_elf

I love the game. Very much. But in hindsight and thinking about it a lot more, maybe it’s not so great as I first thought.

Still my GotY so far.

Tempy

Well as Matt says at the end, games have become more like films. In one way, that's being able to be captured by them and invest in them. Sometimes I think the post-internet criticism engine has forgotten how brilliant it is to be enraptured for the duration of a piece of entertainment. If it starts to fall apart afterwards, it isn't always the worst thing.

Moot_Geeza

Tempy wrote:

Sometimes I think the post-internet criticism engine has forgotten how brilliant it is to be enraptured for the duration of a piece of entertainment. If it starts to fall apart afterwards, it isn't always the worst thing.

Well put.

Aside from being great experiences I see God of War and Breath of the Wild as templates for near perfect sequels, more so than anything I've played for years. They're colossal achievements as they stand and extremely enjoyable while you're on the hook, but it's shocking how quickly the greed set in for me on completion.

Kow

Finished this, basically so I could sell it off while I might still get some money for it. Funnily enough, I quite enjoyed the story but the combat didn't do much for me. I ended up dropping the difficulty towards the end as some of the fights were just pissing me off. Looks and sounds great but I didn't particularly like the game. A solid 6, definitely no goty contender.

MattyJ

So just started this..tips please? Combat seems to be more slow and deliberate but also multiple enemies at once so sometimes I'm struggling. What should I do upgrade wise?

Tempy

Combat is about threat management, it’s good to trip/stun opponents by chucking yer axe and focus the beat down on remaining foes.

yourfavouriteuncle

MattyJ wrote:

So just started this..tips please? Combat seems to be more slow and deliberate but also multiple enemies at once so sometimes I'm struggling. What should I do upgrade wise?

Really just keep on trucking. Upgrades are all over the place and whatever you plump for is useful. I’d always go for health first cos I’m shit at games but after that take yer pick. I struggled with it at first. I disliked the muscle man and his manly, muscle-y voice and the kid seemed like some weird design bribe because hey we’re all dads now. I didn’t actively dislike the whole thing but it took me a good few hours of play to not be feeling a bit disappointed and that the rest of the forum had been lying to me. And then it gets good.

Tempy

I know why they didn’t do it, but they should possibly have lead with the fight with The Stranger, it’s quite a slog to get there but it is quite the thing.

MattyJ

Tempy wrote:

I know why they didn’t do it, but they should possibly have lead with the fight with The Stranger, it’s quite a slog to get there but it is quite the thing.

It's a good fight and taught me a few things about blocking et al!

Wondering if I should craft armour at first dude or hold off?

Paul the sparky

Cinty's early game tip about the talisman that extends your parry timing window is a good 'un, well worth getting that if you're struggling with combat. Can't remember what it's called, sorry.

Moot_Geeza

At the risk of spoilers, as I can't remember when the sidekick appears, I found

Spoiler:

yourfavouriteuncle

Moot_Geeza wrote:

At the risk of spoilers, as I can't remember when the sidekick appears, I found

Spoiler:

upgrading the boy's arrows worthwhile

That’s worth doing but not until later game i’d say. It’s a benefit no doubt but there’s more pressing stuff to sort early game.

MattyJ

I'll crack on till the game opens up as from what I understand it reaches a point where you can do side quests etc.

Bob

It does indeed and you can spend as much or as little time exploring as you want

hylian_elf

The way the world opens up is incredible. World design is great. IMHO

Verecocha

Absolutely loved GoW Matty, jealous of you experiencing it for the first time now.

yourfavouriteuncle

Yup to these last three posts

MattyJ

Guys I don't know if you know this but this game is, like, really good.

Wondering about upgrades...are resources finite? Should I bother with any upgrades at this stage? I've just

Spoiler:

MattyJ

Upgrades outside of axe and bow I mean

yourfavouriteuncle

Yeah, now’s the time to start on the other stuff I’d say. Some of it becomes pretty useful. Such a game.

MattyJ

Sooooo I've been doing th Valkeries. I have the last one left, the one that appears when you get all the rest. Wondering if I can be bothered to do it now or if I should just finish the game. My question is: can I carry on playing post-finish? Does it dump me back into the world? Or is the only option new game+

hylian_elf

You can carry on. I did that battle as my very last. A very good fight.

Howdy, Stranger!

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