God of War (2018, Action/Adventure, Santa Monica Studio/Sony)

The saga enters a new era, coming out on top in the process.

With all of the praise it has received since its release, one may likely think, or at least find that this game may be overrated. Well, it isn't. If you think so then you're simply wrong: this game is as good as most people say it is. 

And why is that?

It's because it refreshes the franchise. Instead of being the seventh installment that recycles the formula started with the very original (nothing wrong with doing it for three main games, if only to improve it with each release), it gives us a new perspective and change of pace. You're closer to Kratos now, playing from an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective. You're never moved far way from him, even when a massive battle commences. Likewise, cutscenes, all rendered in-game, are closer to the action than they ever were. This is a more intimate entry to the franchise.

The story is also vastly superior.

To summarize the story, here it goes: Kratos has, long since the 3rd entry, exiled himself to a faraway land—the Norwegian wilds. Or, in other words, Midgard. Some time after arriving, he settles down, swearing to never go back to his old, raving lunatic ways. He also meets an enigmatic woman named Faye, and ends up falling in love. They even have a child. That child is named Atreus, in honour of a fellow Spartan who helped keep the others grounded in humanity.

Unfortunately, Faye passes away.

At the start of the game, we see Kratos cutting down a specific type of tree, all marked with yellow handprints. These were handpicked, literally, by Faye, indicating that she knew full-well of her demise. Her passing rocks both Kratos and their son, Atreus, forcing them to look inside themselves and most of all, to forge a bond together. For they are each all that they have left.

In short, this is a game about a father with a sordid past who tries to shape his son into a man—a better man than he ever was. But Atreus is genetically predisposed to the traits that, much to Kratos' horror, defined what he once was, and now hopes to let go of. He has to mentor his son, protect him, teach him humility and boundaries, and especially for him, not to be so afraid of his son. Kratos sees, in some ways anyway, his younger, much more violent and reckless self in Atreus, and throughout the game this terrifies him. 

Faye wanted her ashes to be released atop the highest peak in all the realms. So, knowing that the journey would be harsh and challenging, they set off to fulfill her last wish. Along the way they run into all sorts of oddball characters, borderline-insane antagonists, and a sinister force unseen yet at the center of it all. And all they want is to grant Faye her request.

What you're going to notice right off the heap is that this game is fucking gorgeous. Santa Monica Studio overdid themselves giving us a mesmerizing presentation. You have to wonder just how much work that your PS4 console is putting in to give you this experience. To give you a single hint as to how detailed and photorealistic this game is, you can see the tiniest, most lifelike details on Kratos' face: wrinkles, contours of the face, scars, ruggedness of the skin—it's all there for you to see at any time. The attention to detail not just in Kratos, but pretty much everything else you see AND interact with, that will take your breath away. 

The gameplay is not too far removed from the titles of yesteryear, but it is more deliberately paced and, owing to the closer third-person perspective, has more impact. Fighting enemies has weight and power, and as you earn experience and use that to unlock more fighting moves with the various weapons and your collapsible shield, it only gets more intense as the game goes on. And there's a well-designed gear system at play here: you unlock sets of apparel (chest, arms, waist, and various trinkets) that all grant different bonus traits. These sets can help you hone your play style. And though there clearly are tiers that rank in power, there are still caveats to all of them: do you favor having more hitpoints over defense? Do you want a set to grant bonuses to runic attacks, at the behest of cooldowns which may end up being longer? There are many combinations to consider, and some sets grant truly unique bonus abilities that you just have to discover for yourself.

Now, while you're still as much a god as you were before, if not out of practice a little, in the game proper you're often tested by even the most common enemies. They come in ranks, and with each rank comes greater risks. This keeps you on your toes, even if when you really think about it, Kratos would be laughing at all the nasties that come before him if it weren't for gameplay and story segregation. But that would make for a boring game, wouldn't it? 

There's a strong sense of progression with all of the things you encounter. Enemies and bosses get stronger and more dangerous as you move closer to your end goal. And a very notable foe may keep you glued to your seat as to just how relentless he is for our protagonists throughout the game. 

Oh, did I mention that you have Atreus at your side? 

Yes, Atreus is a supporting character. No, he's not a liability; Atreus was carefully designed to provide aid to Kratos AND look after himself remarkably well. First and foremost, though, is that Atreus is hardly ever at risk of getting hurt, or even killed for that matter. In fact, I'd say that outside of boss battles, he's always at the ready, only affected by the chaotic, ever-changing conditions of the battles you engage in. You can lock onto enemies and order him to fire arrows, of which there are three kinds (two of them take over when you unlock them), in order to stun enemies. Or they can help wittle their health down, too. Of course, there is a slight limitation here: Atreus can't simply spam arrows into your enemies, as there's a cooldown to each attack. That aspect can be upgraded with Atreus-specific gear that you can also unlock.

There are plenty of puzzles and sequences that often require working with Kratos' son in order to solve them. Is there an object that has to be hit with a lightning arrow from Atreus in order to open a door? Does Atreus, who understands the Nordic/Runic language the pair often sees on their journey, have to read aloud an incantation in order to unseat an obstacle? Such occurrences, and more, come into play many times, and they never get old. A lot of imagination went into the puzzles and other obstacles to overcome, and they only get more interesting as the game progresses. Of course, some of these puzzles only require Kratos to solve them.

The world is large, fairly open, but always focused. You can explore a little, for the sake of finding unlockables and new items, and also for gaining resources needed to improve the gear you find. There are various challenges and side-missions to complete, and in my experience, they are all satisfying undertakings. You might even gain some further insight to the lore that is on offer in this fantastic title when you explore as much as you can. The rewards are aplenty, so there's no excuse to not engage in this activity.

It's also a somewhat lengthy experience overall. We're not talking the length of an RPG, but you're going to get your money's worth. And that's NOT including the side-missions. The game is paced well, with set-pieces aplenty but spaced out nicely, making for a well-rounded experience. It's all very cinematic, without taking you too far from the action. Button prompts do return from previous titles, but they're not egregious. If anything, these only complement the action that unfolds. For example, a character named Baldur loves to harass our heroes from time to time, and he always brings with him a harrowing encounter. One such encounter involves Kratos trying to rescue Atreus from Baldur's clutches as they soar through the frigid skies on a dragon, and because Baldur can match Kratos' might blow-for-blow, he'll sometimes be forced to pin the madman down and wail on him in order to buy more time to save his son.

There are a handful of unique, and highly challenging boss fights that are seemingly optional: the Valkyries. While they all look rather similar in appearance, with even their battle areas sharing a common theme, they nonetheless are separate from one another. As in, they scale in difficulty and ability. One after another, each fallen Valkyrie pales in comparison to the next one up the ladder. You might not fight them in the proper sequence at all times, but when you do, you feel the burn getting hotter and hotter as you step up. And then you fight the final Valkyrie, and you're constantly on your toes. Your heart rate skyrockets as you duel against the deadliest enemy in the entire game. And when you finally manage to defeat her, you feel immensely rewarded, like David toppling Goliath. It should be noted that fighting the Valkyries grants you some of the game's most valuable, and effective gear and resources as well; very much worth the high degree of difficulty that these battles afford.

Speaking of his son, this is one of the most engrossing father/son storylines you'll ever experience in a videogame, bar-none. Their interactions and development are so well-written that it's believable, and natural. Kratos starts off rather distant and cold, and harsh, even if he's well-meaning. But over time, he is able to fight off his own insecurities and fears for the boy that naturally, he opens up to Atreus and shows more of the humanity that Kratos is in favor of. We also see a lot of development of Atreus as well; he starts off rather timid and cautious, but over time, he gains lots of confidence—perhaps too much at times, as well as straight-up arrogance and less patience for the world around him, and even, in the most heated of times, his own father. And then he has to learn humility, and to keep a level head, for like Kratos of old, he could get lost in his own anger and power and cause unimaginable damage to all around him.

Let's talk audio: the game has a memorable score, carefully made for this game. It also has some of the best voice-acting you'll hear in the franchise. Gone are the days of Kratos constantly barking like a lunatic; this Kratos is humbled, if not extremely weary, and has a deep, booming voice. In battle, he still roars with fury and determination as he ever did, if only because he just wants himself and his son to get to their destination with as little conflict as possible. There's a lot of funny banter as well with the merchants you meet in the game, especially the dwarf Brok, whose foul-mouth is as sharp as his wit. His brother Sindri is more reserved and timid. A third, very important character named Mimir joins our heroes, albeit unwittingly somewhat, and while his accent is noticeably unlike that befitting the region the game takes place in, he's always a treat to listen to as he is a story-teller type. 

Baldur, the primary threat our heroes face, is one of the best villains I've fought in a video game in quite some time. He's a menace, yes, but there's a reason for his madness. Each battle, and sequence involving him makes for a thrilling time. You'll even learn of his vulnerabilities as a character, for in spite of his invincibility, it comes with a price that has weighed on him over a very long time. Other characters, though not as frequent, nonetheless always contributes to the high quality presentation of the game's story.

And then eventually, with all the hardships our heroes face, and all that they learn about themselves and one another, they come to the destination that Faye had determined. This is when they learn that not everything is what they thought they were: Faye was a frost giant, and Atreus, already known to be half mortal and half god, turns out to be part Giant as well. And Faye may have known more than they realize about their journey. Finally, as Kratos himself learns, Atreus seems destined for something that will change their lives completely down the road.

And then it comes to a satisfying, if not somewhat emotional, end.

Great work, guys. I'm looking forward to the next inevitable installment. Thor, here we come!

A+

The Good:

+ It's a fresh new, if not still familiar, take on the franchise. Sorely needed.

 + The graphics are truly a sight to behold. The scenery porn alone is worth the price of admission

+ Gameplay is always satisfying, from fighting common and less-common enemies, to battling the bosses, and then the harrowing encounters with the Valkyries. 

+ Cutscenes, rendered in-engine, never bore us, always push the story forward, and are often thrilling or emotionally moving.

+ Kratos is much more sympathetic, and being humbled, never grates on the nerves. 

+ Atreus is the additional primary character that the story needs and deserves. He adds so much depth to the franchise alone.

+ While not a true open world per se, the world is still built in a way that allows you to explore for more experiences. And you never feel like the world is too small, either. It feels just right.

+ Everything you hear is perfect for the presentation.
+ The Valkyries serve as a test of all that you learn through the game. If you're up for the challenge, then you're in for quite a ride, even with the lowest-ranking Valkyrie.

+ The new setting opens up many new possibilities

+ We're going to fight Thor and Odin

The Bad:  

- Going through the game, you may be likely to find that it meanders a bit. Sometimes you want the next big set piece of occur.

- Nifilheim, while a really neat area, contains a side-mission that may come off as tedious to some. There are rewards for this activity, however.

- The game ends (no fault of its own this one, because all stories have to end at some time)
- Some bosses seem a bit recycled.
- The Valkyries, progressively so as you fight harder and harder ones, might frustrate you a bit.

  

Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells" Exposes Contrived Writing

Probably the worst aspect of this season of GoT is how everything that happens seems so...contrived. 

 

Arya popping out of nowhere to destroy the Night King? Contrived, considering that the scene was littered with the undead closely watching (and guarding) NK. 

 

Jaime Lannister suddenly abandoning Winterfell to be with Cersei even though he was being built up as a guy who was finally realizing his sister's toxic and twisted ways? Contrived and, unfortunately for the showrunners, utterly pointless. 

 

Oh and Jaime suddenly doesn't care about the people of King's Landing? Contrived because...since when does he not care about the people? There's a reason why he's named the Kingslayer (Euron even brings it up in the same episode); it's because he killed the Mad King, Daenarys' father, before said man could immolate his own citizenry with wildfire deposits he scattered around the city. Oh and why did he even bother to fight at Winterfell in the first place? Because he wanted to fight on the side of the living! Guys...if you can't stick to your own writing, then get someone else to do so.

 

Sansa's hostility towards Dany? Contrived for the sake of forced drama, being a catalyst for the latter character's rather sudden descent into madness.Oops indeed!

Euron Greyjoy conveniently appearing in the same place that Jaime was going even though he jumped off ship at least a few miles away, just to engage in one of the dumbest duels I've ever seen? Contrived for the sake of killing Euron Greyjoy in a most desperate fashion.

 

Rhaegal getting shot out of the air by ballistas mounted on ships that were known and discussed as being present, before Dany & Co. even went near the area? Contrived and senseless, because at least Viserion's death was poignant (if still very much avoidable. Thanks Jon). Not to mention she was recklessly flying around with two dragons that are prime targets for the army that she was fighting against. UGH!

Jon Snow and Daenarys being in love? Contrived, and with glaringly-obvious absence of chemistry between these two, coupled with the somewhat immediate reveal of their being blood-related, squicky. At least Jon knows better than to go further down the incest rabbit hole. However...

Daenarys swiftly descending into blind madness that would make her father blush because she decided that an entire city of civilians became targets of her ire? Contrived, if only because this character development, while present throughout the series, still comes out of left-field due to the circumstances at play.

Cersei not getting the comeuppance that damn near everyone thought she would get, even with the variations thereof? Contrived and then some. She, along with her confused brother-lover, get buried in a pile of rubble with nothing ceremonious in the lead-up.

 

Sandor Clegane suddenly wants Arya to go back, even though he was totally on-board with the idea of going to King's Landing for the sake of vengeance? Somewhat contrived, because he didn't stop her all the way back in Winterfell. It took them arriving at the Red Keep as the Mad Queen was rage-burning the city for him to go, "shit, Cersei's going to get crushed to death, so she doesn't need to kill the bitch." We still got Cleganebowl at least. 

At least the show is ending next weekend...What a relief.

TheAmazingAtheist Is Not a Fan of Tomb Raider (Old)

This post is intended as a response to the video above, but I'll supply the original tweet that has garnered so much controversy (for whatever reason) here:

 

TJ, on his Twitter, has since revealed that he has only played the newest incarnations of the franchise and none of the originals by Core Design. So he couldn't be considered a fan and doesn't appear to do so himself anyway. However, that's not really important here, it just goes to prove my point that he's not a fan of these games. If he were, he'd be such because of the gameplay and, you know, the actual game design, and not because of the simple visual design of the main character. And really, given that you play from a third-person perspective in all of these games, you don't usually get a look at her breasts anyway unless some camera angles permit it, so the size of her tits is mostly portrayed in marketing materials. And that latter point is really important to understand, given that that's how Lara Croft became considered such a sexy character at all.

I do think that TJ is missing the point of contention many people have/have had with the above tweet, and that's the following: he's basically body-shaming Alicia Vikander, the lead actress in the starring role of Lara Croft, which is based on her current incarnation of the character. And why's he doing that? Because her breasts aren't big enough to match the promotional and marketing materials that have, through the 22 years of the franchise, through thick & thin, made her into (among other things) a sex icon in the videogame lexicon.

However, as a fan of the franchise (especially the Core Design era), I didn't much care for the big boobs aspect of Lara Croft. In fact, aside from her being a bad-ass, stone-cold (with a few exceptions) killer out to add to her collection of artefacts and treasures, and wealth, of course, I didn't pay attention to anything else about her. She was rather flat personality-wise and had undergone no character development in each game. The few exceptions, of course, being the odd gasp or disgust at the antagonists & their devious plans. The development of her character was left to the current era. No, I was a fan not because of what the marketing was trying to do, but because of how the games played. You know, the reason why we play games? If you play a game so that you can look at it, either because it has nigh photo-realistic graphics (Crysis was hailed for this aspect for years) or, in this case, because a character, no matter how few pixels could be derived from her polygons and textures, has big tits, then you're just not a fan. 

I liked the adventure, the puzzle-solving, the trial-and-error, and the thrill of success that was derived from the games. I liked that they were distinct in this regard: they were designed with a deliberate, and stand-out (but not always for the right reasons) grid-based movement system. The gameplay and the movements you made in order to complete the games were designed entirely around this system of tiles. If you mastered how it worked, you mastered most of the game itself. And that works in helping you enjoy the game even more. Because I still know plenty of people who can hardly even play, let alone enjoy, the games for how they are designed.

The main reason for her being considered a sex-icon of gaming is due mostly to the marketing around the franchise. Yes, her in-game model did have (progressively with each instalment) bigger and bigger tits, but it still wasn't central to the games, even to the character. And considering you said this:

You're just wrong. And what do I have to back that up? Why, an interview with the very creator of the franchise itself, Toby Gard (who left Core Design around the release of Tomb Raider II), in which he states the following:

It was never the intention to create some kind of 'page 3' girl to star in Tomb Raider. The idea was to create a female character who was a heroine, you know, cool, collected, in control, that sort of thing. The problem with those other games is that the female characters are actually there for purely exploitative purposes. I know you could argue that Lara with her comic book style over-the top figure is exploitative, but I don't agree. I think it's ridiculous to say that portraying stylised people is degrading. You can represent an over the top hero figure by augmenting characteristics like a jutting jaw, wide shoulders, thin waist etc. and that is not degrading to men. It may well be a stereotype, but it seems to me that people are overanalysing this whole thing. It's pretty simple, if women in a game are only there to be the equivalent of quiz show floozies then they are being portrayed in a sexist way. When it comes to Galleon there are all sorts of women in the Galleon world, just as there are all sorts of men.

 You could argue that Toby Gards' words support yours when he argues about how people were 'overanalysing' the portrayal of her figure, but it's his opening statement that shows he never intended Lara Croft to be so overly sexual in design in the first place. He wanted her to be bad-ass, stone-cold, unflapping in her drive to achieve wealth & fame. And to save the world while doing it, because other people want those same artefacts that she chases, but for nefarious purposes (destroying the world in some way) instead of simply putting them on display for fame & fortune. She's a cold-ass bitch who'll kill you without shedding a tear if you get in her way, but if you intend to use those same artefacts to rule or destroy the earth, she won't stand for that either.

As he explained later in the interview, he left Core Design (in part) because of his creative control over the franchise, which he co-created, by the way, was being taken from him. What did Core and, by extension Eidos Interactive, want for the creative department for the franchise? Why, to fixate on her sex appeal, because they felt it was an ace way to garner more and more money. And indeed, it was. But the co-creator did not agree with it, so it was one of the reasons for his departure.

So you trying to justify your crappy views by ignorantly stating that she was designed to be sexually appealing falls flat on its face, because of the very words of one of the minds behind the creation of the franchise as a whole.

Source: Gamasutra - Interview with Toby Gard (Oct. 23, 1998)

Then you said:

 

You are partially wrong with the above statement, and I am being generous here. The notion that Angelina Jolie's tits were as unrealistically large as they were in the videogames (and most prolifically, the marketing material) was debunked. How did they get her tits to appear so large? Why, have you not heard of the myriad ways women make their tits look bigger than they actually are? Wire bras, for instance, raise the breasts because ordinarily, gravity makes them seem smaller due to what is commonly derided as "sagging." According to some sources, like this one, in particular, the studio used "...padding to bring her from her normal 36C to a 36D. (The videogame Lara is estimated to wear a 36DD bra.)" Oh, and those C's and D's mean something, too. It makes all the difference from breasts appearing to "sag" to them appearing to be protrusile & firm.

So the studio had to use trickery (no CGI, thankfully) in order to make Jolie's portrayal seem closer to the videogame character, as she was being portrayed in the then current spate of Tomb Raider titles. Which, by the way, was only attributed to the progressively-increased polygon count and not necessarily to those same breasts somehow getting bigger and bigger in proportion. They just appeared more realistic with each new release. This, as mentioned before, was one of the issues Toby Gard disagreed with and left the same studio over. Even Angelina Jolie, who portrayed Lara in the first run of adaptations, wasn't as "buxom" as Lara Croft, even though the studios played up the character's sex appeal as much as they possibly could. And by the way, the sex appeal might've worked for you, but it didn't for me; indeed, the tits were cartoonish and ridiculous, distracting from what was far more interesting than a couple of tweaked breasts succumbing to the laws of physics before my very eyes (some would call this "boob physics").

You may argue that her big breasts defined her as a character, but going by the statements made by her co-creator, and by what I found to be more important to each game personally, I wholeheartedly disagree. And I definitely disagree with your body-shaming an actress for her (less sexually-appealing) portrayal of Lara Croft, who was only made sexually appealing because of marketing in the first god damned place. If she wasn't intentionally created just to be treated as a sex goddess, then I agree with her creator and not with people like you, who lack self-reflection and cannot concede that perhaps they're off the mark on this subject. 

I do agree that you got far too much exposure for this because, in the end, this was really another case of you trolling for attention. I already knew that about you, and I have for years, but the media clearly didn't. So that's the only reason I can forgive them at all for granting you this much-undeserved attention because you took part in body-shaming an actress for not matching the marketing that has surrounded her character for so many years. That same marketing that saw the character's co-creator resign from working with the character  Funny, now I know that marketing works more easily on you than it does on me, it appears that it is you who isn't fully capable of thinking for themselves. Amirite?