With a new build comes delight - nothing of the above plagued the new demo, the game felt WAY more polished and thus fun. All of a sudden what felt disconnected and rough before was now an immersive experience. The camera captured the action without much trouble, animation felt fluid even in the transitions and most important of all hits finally connected in a way that gave the game a good sense of impact and momentum.
Plus "easy demo mode" was off this time around. The game was much harder and I actually only managed to finish the stage with the help of a certain healing special ability (you choose your supporting god before the round starts). In my roughly 9 tries I died 7x. Side note - finished Metal Gear Rising the day before. So much for "Press X to win".
This is how the game is meant to be played:
X: your short range attack, when timed right it's also a counter to enemy attacks
Y: some enemys block a lot, the shield bash throws them out off balance so that you can break their defense
A: block - make your shield your best friend or it's game over, this is a core gamplay element and NOT optional - stunned enemies are open for a quick counter
B: roll - an alternative to blocking, quickly getting behind your foe - stronger enemies have an attack that can't be blocked, so this is essential too
Right trigger: Executions, optional but a real lifesaver (the better I performed the more health was regenerated thanks to my special ability)
Left trigger: Spear - hold RT to shoot. Kills lower foes with one shot.
Right bumper: Special power, especially helpfull when surrounded and/or outnumbered, consumes energy that slowly rebuilds with every hack you do, slows time or dazzles your foes
I fought:
* normal foot soldiers - easy but a real threat when in numbers
* archers - nasty when accompanied with other foes because it's quite hard to reach them and they don't stop shooting just because you have to deal with three other guys at the moment
* fat axt warriors with shield: slow but hard to overcome their defense, hit hard when you don't watch out
* sword double wielders: usually hit you with a combo of three strikes - be careful to not only block the first one otherwise they deal a lot of damage, have a special strike that can't be blocked
* chieftain with burning weapon(s): though enemy, special strike that can't be blocked, can cause a lot of hurt
Button smashing gets you nowhere. Actually you have to be very patient and focused. Not crazy combos are the challenge, the timing is - so again, this shares a lot of similarities with Batman NOT God of War, Devil May Cry etc. which I personally prefer. It's a more heavy, grounded, reaction-based experience and is a great fit for the setting.
Below is a short video of me playing (my first try - I'm still horrible at blocking - as you can see enemies surround me and give me a hard time, I cowardly use the special power as a last resort )
(и тиринг)
