The prologue to this game is absolutely stunning. It will hook you in, and the responsibility on your shoulders feel heavy and real. The game also has the most unique visual representation of blood splatters on characters. It's ofcourse exaggerated, but what a feel it is. You appreciate that you were in a battle and have slain many creatures along the way. The best companion characters in any game, rivaled only by Mass Effect 2. Alistair's goofiness, Morrigans' dark and sharp wit, Leliana's mysterious past, Sten's uniqueness and Wynne's strong moral character were so addictive. The lore in this game is mesmerizing. I wanted to read every single book and talk to every single NPC to learn more about this world. The politics, racism, religion and emotions in this game kept me hooked for hours on end, and unfortunately could never be matched by any game since, outside of Mass Effect2. I also love the combat, it's tactical but without the tedious 45minute battles you get from playing Larian games. Every enemy character is dangerous. Just an example, you need to get rid of the archers and mages. Run headlong towards them, and the frontline warriors will engage you while the backline tear you to shreds from range. So, it's upto you as a player to devise tactics to find a way to the backline and annihilate them quickly. There are many moments where it feels like a chess game, with the tide of battle swinging against you and for you. Pure masterclass. Compare this to Veilguard, where enemy mages engage you in head to head combat and get annihilated in no time. Fifteen years later and enemy design goes backwards. If you have not played this game, a gem awaits you.
This game has one of the worst leveling systems on any RPG I have ever played. The first 7-8 hours of the game are brutal because the leveling system purposely handicaps you. You get no upgrade or level up until this point, while the enemies are unrelenting. Then all of a sudden, when at the 8 hr mark, you move up 3-4 levels in an instant which finally unlocks the skill tree. But guess what, from here on you level up quicker and more skills become available. You end up with a situation where there are so many new key sequences to remember, but not enough time for the muscle memory to kick in. Also, now the game's difficulty suddenly shifts from brutal to manageable/easy. As I mentioned at the beginning, the worst leveling system ever. Second, Kratos has been stripped of all personality. I played the old GOW games just a bit, and even in that short time I thought he was a badass and had a wickedly cool personality. You as the gamer felt like a god. Now, you get a weeping, mumbling and grumbling guy with a dad bod that goes around doing things. The axe is such a weak ass weapon, it feels like all the enemies are gods and Kratos is just a dad with a stick. Pretty pathetic. In fact, his unarmed fists are more powerful than his axe. Immersion breaking. Some of the levels are simply confusing, as you go into a parallel world and at that point the environments resemble a sci-fi feeling like Mass Effect. The game design idea of portals and parallel worlds are not so interesting to me. It's a cheap way to introduce lore breaking environments. On the bright side, the visuals and story are pretty good, and once you level up a bit the game is fun, however nothing very memorable. I stopped playing after a while because it wasn't living up to the hype.
A video game that is very unique. It's GTA but in China and this creates a brilliant atmosphere and some incredibly funny background dialogue. The game is centered on Kung Fu, and it is done very well. An interesting variety of enemies, that force you to use different approaches to combat. The story initially, is well written and characters are memorable so much so, that you begin to feel love/hatred for them. However, after the halfway point in the arc, the story goes out of the window, characters are brought in and out randomly and things become fantastical. The driving mechanics are really enjoyable. A truck feels slow, scooters are simple, race bikes and race cars are fast , and turn sharply which makes maintaining speed possible. In conclusion, a very fun game in a different cultural environment. It stays fun for the most part, until the end where the fighting mechanics being to show their repetitiveness and the story becomes wacky. However, compared to most of the games nowadays, this 13yr old game is a step up in quality.
