The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

isthatallyougot wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 10:06 amYou're killing me phase. Well, I'll temper your opinions with the fact that you seem to be an outlier - that along with your...tendencies. :P
I understand, I do tend to go back and forth with my opinions on things sometimes. But I've played a lot of God of War, and at this point I don't expect my opinion to change.

One of the things that I like so much about The Last of Us is its organic feel. While it's a video game (of course), its design structure doesn't feel like a video game. The environments, puzzles, situations, etc. are realistic instead of like they were made to be video game levels. There's not a ton of collectibles floating/glowing in the areas, or optional side stuff that doesn't really fit in the world reminding you that you're playing a video game every step of the way. You feel like you're playing out a real situation with real people in a real world. And that's how God of War starts out, and why I was enjoying it so much. But then it turns into a video game, it stops feeling organic and is filled with video game elements just for the sake of adding more content that isn't really necessary. I was expecting a The Last of Us type experience from beginning to end, but instead only got that for a few hours and then it basically turned into a Ubisoft game. I like Ubisoft games, but I don't want every game that I play to be a Ubisoft game.

I'm not the only one that feels this way about the game, there's a lot of discussion about it going on at other forums and I can provide links if you would like. I still think that it's a really good game, but it starts off one way and then kind of becomes something a little different partway through. I personally like what it starts out as more than what it becomes. For the first several hours it was hard for me to put the controller down, but now it's hard for me to pick it back up. :|
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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by jfissel »

isthatallyougot wrote: Thu May 03, 2018 9:32 am
jfissel wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 4:48 pm I have now finished God of War's story. Excellent game. Can't wait to clean up some of the things I missed along the way.
How would you rank it compared to the 3 mainline entries j? I really loved all 3 (even Ascension, and the 2 PSP titles, to slightly lesser extent), and just curious how it frames relative to the rest of the series for you, considering how different it (apparently) is.
I haven't given it a whole lot of thought as to where I would rank it in the series, but my first thought is that it would be in the top 2 (I really enjoyed God of War II).

This game seems like a natural evolution of the series in many ways, especially due to the fact that action-adventure games have changed in the 5 years since Ascension came out in 2013. A fixed-camera game without a somewhat open world would be looked at as ancient if it released in 2018. Normal difficulty was perfect for me, although I was overpowered at the end due to completing a lot of side stuff. IMO, the lore is just right...not many games or people delve into Norse Mythology and I learned a lot of interesting stories (and the way they present most of it is well done & varied). As far as the realms are concerned, there are 6 available but really only 3 that you'll spend a lot of time in for the story. The other 3 are either filled with only optional things or are very brief.

Overall, it's a fantastic game and I'm headed for the platinum trophy. The game or save data doesn't tell how long you've played, but I'm guessing I've put in about 45 hours. I would highly recommend this game for God of War fans or action-adventure fans.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

J/phase, thank you both for your impressions.

I hope I'm more j about it than phase, of course, but I was concerned with the direction as things were gradually revealed (very limited exposure for me though), so who knows how I'll feel when I play it. I don't want to be disappointed because I really love the franchise to this point. Time will tell.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by canedaddy »

I still have a long way to go but I'm in the jfissel camp right now on all points.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

jfissel wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:30 pmThis game seems like a natural evolution of the series in many ways, especially due to the fact that action-adventure games have changed in the 5 years since Ascension came out in 2013. A fixed-camera game without a somewhat open world would be looked at as ancient if it released in 2018.
It seemed like a natural evolution of the series until it opened up, then it turned into yet another "modern" action adventure game that kind of wants to be an RPG too but ultimately feels like a mismatch of the two. Another problem is that it's a semi open world instead of a real open world. Lots of optional side content works for open world games, but not so much for more directed and linear level based games like this IMO. This is God of War, I just want to travel down a somewhat linear path and slaughter waves of enemies and solve the occasional environment based puzzle. I don't want an open map to explore with tons of little objective icons scattered all over it taking me away from the set pieces, scripted events and brutal combat. Most of the side stuff seems like filler to me, and feels somewhat out of place IMO.
jfissel wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:30 pmNormal difficulty was perfect for me, although I was overpowered at the end due to completing a lot of side stuff.
I've been doing the side stuff just because it seems almost mandatory in order to improve you enough to have a chance against the enemies, but it's the side stuff that has the hardest enemies. It also has the most head scratching puzzles. It's not fun constantly getting stumped on hard to figure out puzzles, especially in a God of War game.
jfissel wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:30 pmIMO, the lore is just right...not many games or people delve into Norse Mythology and I learned a lot of interesting stories (and the way they present most of it is well done & varied).
I personally find a lot of it to be a little dull, and dragged out. I really only care about Kratos's and Atreus's goal of reaching the highest peak and scattering the ashes, nothing more. I don't need a lot of lore and stories along the way, just threats and obstacles to overcome.
jfissel wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:30 pmAs far as the realms are concerned, there are 6 available but really only 3 that you'll spend a lot of time in for the story. The other 3 are either filled with only optional things or are very brief.
They're the oblivion gates of this game, and I don't particularly care for them since they're another element of the game that seems somewhat tacked-on. The game is at its best when it takes place in Midgard IMO.
jfissel wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:30 pmI would highly recommend this game for God of War fans or action-adventure fans.
I think that I would like the game more if it was an original IP with no connection to God of War with you playing as Faye (Atreus's mother) instead of as Kratos. Based on how she's described in the game, I think that an adventure with her and Atreus would be a lot more enjoyable lending itself to the explorative nature of the game more since Kratos is still basically Kratos just angry and grunting his way through everything to reach his end goal.
isthatallyougot wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:49 pmI hope I'm more j about it than phase, of course, but I was concerned with the direction as things were gradually revealed (very limited exposure for me though), so who knows how I'll feel when I play it. I don't want to be disappointed because I really love the franchise to this point. Time will tell.
I hope that you agree with j more than me as well, because I'm a little disappointed with it at this point. It's a good game, but it's not a good God of War game IMO. Like I said, it would have been better as an original IP with you playing as Faye (Atreus's mother) instead of it being connected to God of War with you playing as Kratos IMO.
canedaddy wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 6:55 pmI still have a long way to go but I'm in the jfissel camp right now on all points.
You most likely will be for the duration of the game since you and j usually seem to be on the same page when it comes to games. I'm curious to hear what argyle thinks of the game at this point, does anyone know where he's been?
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 17: 4/28/18: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Phaseknox wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 8:12 pm You most likely will be for the duration of the game since you and j usually seem to be on the same page when it comes to games. I'm curious to hear what argyle thinks of the game at this point, does anyone know where he's been?
Yeah, we have similar tastes in games and play them in a similar way (exploring every nook and cranny, doing side stuff).

Don't worry about argyle, I'm sure he'll be along when the spirit moves him.
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