Topic: God of War OT

@Th3solution One bit I liked from that segment was when one character (possibly Mimir?) asks if Kratos has been to hell before and he just replies "not this one"

I got the platinum and using a guide for the ravens isn't too bad but the collectibles are a bit of a pain as you have no way of knowing which ones you actually have. I found I had to use a video guide and do it as though I needed to find all of them. Not too time consuming in the grand scheme of trophy hunting but a bit of a pain.

The most time consuming one comes from needing to get the Valkyries in the optional areas, particularly one of them.

@Th3solution I didn't do that, no - regarding the size of the game, yes, it is large, but still, it's levels don't match the gargantuan size of the entire worlds that made up the levels of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order do they? Do you reckon any particular Norse gods will be in the sequel? I won't say any more about enemies/characters in GoW, but let's just say you will want to follow the credits all the way to the end if/when you beat the game.

@Thrillho Yeah, I love Mimir and the interactions he has with Kratos and Atreus. Some of the banter is fantastic.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Yeah the sub-areas are pretty manageable, size-wise, compared to a larger map found in something like RDR2, or more appropriately Death Stranding that you’re playing which can take hours to move from one part of the map to another.
One thing that I appreciate is that usually a part of the area that is unobtainable is usually pretty obvious; not to mention that Atreus sometimes gives you hints (“I don’t think we have what we need to do that now. Should be come back later?” - or some kind of similar verbiage).
As such, the individual puzzles are great fun to try to figure it out when I come to a chest that looks like I can’t get to, yet I know there is a way and so I keep searching until I find the solution.

As for what Norse gods might come next time around, I have no idea. Maybe Odin, or Thor would be obvious choices. I don’t know my Norse mythology very well. 😄

I’m progressing steadily in the game. I decided to try my hand at some Valkyrie fights, even though I’m not near the end game yet. I’m at level 6 and I was able to beat the first 3 I came across, but the fourth one was so tough. I kept starting over again and again. I probably restarted about 20 times. I got close a couple times but I guess I just need to come back later.

Are the Muspelheim and Niflheim side areas worth doing? I have both languages now, but I’m not sure I want to get into a big distraction. But if the rewards are worth it then I’ll spend the time. I’m leaning toward maybe just trying to finish the mainline story and then try to do the Valkyries and if I run into problems then do the Muspelheim and Niflheim areas to get better gear.

@Jimmer-jammer Thanks for the info! Sounds like if I want to do do all the Valkyrie that I’ll need to go through Muspelheim and Neflheim anyways. The strange thing is that I’m eyeing the trophies and the achievement rate for the gold for defeating all 9 Valkyries is higher than either of the Muspelheim or Neflheim related trophies. So I guess it’s possible to go there and defeat the Valkyrie without actually completing the area trials.

@Th3solution I didn’t struggle with Muspelheim at all as it’s mostly combat challenges which are not overly difficult if you’re appropriately skilled (which most people will be by that point).

Niflheim is more time consuming as mentioned above but there is some really good gear available to you in there. It’s a bit of a pain balancing getting around the area before the mist gets you but once you get your bearings and get the right equipment to spend more time in there, it’s not too bad.

It’s been quite a while since I played but I don’t remember those Valkyries being particularly difficult.

@Thrillho Good to know. I suppose it’s worth it to try the two optional areas at least. I’m not a fan of the time limit based objectives in games. But so far I don’t mind the ‘Winds of Hel’ puzzles which are basically time trials with a twist. So far they’re designed well enough that if you use your noggin that there is plenty of time to get to the objective.

@Th3solution it really is worth going through Muspelheim and Nelfheim, they are both very good ‘endgame’ content and are good opportunities to put all the skills you have learned up to that point to good use. The Valkyrie’s are pretty cool fights too but I found that God of War’s combat shines more with multiple enemies rather than just the one... still that last Valkyrie is one tough challenge.

@colonelkilgore Yeah, I’m nervous about the last Valkyrie since I’ve heard how tough she is. And I struggled mightily with the Valkyrie Eir, I think her name is, and even put it down to easy and still struggled and then looked up YouTube videos of how to kill her and still struggled... 😰
So I figure there has got to be some leveling up to come that will help me. I know I’m not very good at these kinds of [almost Soulsborne] style boss fights, but I don’t think I should be struggling this much. So if there are good level up armor items in the supplemental areas then it is worth a go. But if the areas themselves are super difficult then it will defeat the purpose for me. But from the sound of it they aren’t as bad as they sound.

It was the Valkyrie that did the move where it would jump into the air and land on you I struggled most with.

I had to drop the difficulty down to defeat the final one too..

@Th3solution there is a fantastic armour which drastically reduces cooldown... you can ‘basically’ continuously cycle through all your specials and by the time you’ve don3 all of them the first one you used should be ready to go again.

@Jimmer-jammer That’s encouraging. I’ll give the area a try when I get some of the other items checked off.

I completed all the treasure maps now and also all the side requests of the spirits. I like ticking off lists that are less than 15 or so tasks. I’m not sure if I want to take on all the Ravens and minor collectibles.

@Thrillho I think you might be referring to the one I struggled with, Eir. She floats up in the air and bolts through the air to land on you, or she shoots an unblockable down at you. With Atreus you can shoot her out of the air if you catch her soon enough to stop the unblockable, but then she can still jump on you with an attack that, although blockable, hurts really bad if it lands. She has another AoA unblockable move on the ground that hits such a wide area, if you’re not perfectly timed in your dodge roll or if you’re caught up against the wall, it will land and hurts a lot too. Having PTSD from trying to fight her. 😅

@colonelkilgore That’s an interesting tactic. I might have to try those. I don’t think I’ve found the ones you’re referring to, but I have my cooldown cranked up pretty high. Second only to my strength.

@Th3solution iirc the dwarven smiths will offer to make you a special armour at some stage and it can either be cooldown specific or ‘something else’... the cooldown one just sounded to good to turn down and it worked out to be an awesome choice.

@colonelkilgore ok, good to know. Sundri was just telling me that. “Me and my brother are working on something for you. Meet us back at the temple” So maybe that’s it.

I did just defeat Eir finally, though. It was bugging me that I couldn’t. So I did a little questing and upgraded some armor and whatnot and went back with a Rage Resurrection stone and I was able to beat her after using the stone and Rage pummeling her at the end. Kind of a cheese way to do it, but after dying 20 times I was fine with it.

@Jimmer-jammer I’m with you. I’m getting most things during the playthrough because I tend to be obsessive in my exploration. I am still probably a wee bit from the endgame, I’m not sure, but I just got like number 39/51 Ravens. I might end up like you and only be a few Ravens away from the platinum and I might be dragged into doing the same thing. We shall see.

Well, I finished the main story!
What a fantastic game. I was really satisfied with the ending and with the whole journey in general. Perhaps I’ll write a more detailed review or impression piece later, but suffice it to say, the game certainly lived up to the hype.

Now the difficult decision exists as to whether to keep pushing for the platinum. In the course of playing the game naturally, I got 62% trophy completion. It seems like I’m far from the platinum if you look at it that way, but I think I’m close to most of the collectible trophies. I need the artifacts, Ravens, and shrines as well as finish Niflheim and Muspelheim and the Valkyries. I don’t know. What I’ve been doing for the last 3-4 hours is grinding Niflheim collecting and have 2/3 tears done in the center. So I might as well finish it, get that gold trophy, and then take care of the Valkyrie there which would put me at 6/9 Valkyries. I think I need to find about 5-6 artifacts, 10 Ravens, and 1 shrine.
.... I’ll see if I’m burned out by the end of finishing Niflheim. This area is really, really tedious. The battles are fun, but the amount of mist echoes (the name of which is a clever subtle nod to Bloodborne I think 😄) needed to open all the chests and tears and manufacture the necessary armor and upgrades is enormous. I’m getting sick of running around in circles from one battle site to another.

@Th3solution I think the Valkyries are worthwhile as they’re a great test of all the combat skills you’ve built up to that point. The collectibles are annoying but once I had everything else I felt obliged to mop up the last few bits.

As for the story itself, I thought the ending was great and built up perfectly. The reveal of Atreus as Loki was really well done but also cleverly hinted at as in the Norse mythology Loki does cause Baldur’s death with mistletoe just as Atreus does.

Have you been back to Kratos’ house since finishing the game? If not, you should...

@Jimmer-jammer Thanks, I went ahead and polished off Niflheim and fought the Valkyrie there and she was the easiest one so far. Either that or I’m getting better/have better equipment. Or all of the above. That’s cool that hunting and freeing the Valkyries is among your paramount gaming experiences. I do very much like it too. Six down so far.

@Thrillho I didn’t know that about Loki being the one to kill Baldur in the mythology legends. And I agree that Atreus and his mom’s identity was a fantastic reveal and very well handled
Given the previous entries, I’m actually quite surprised at how well done this game’s narrative was done. It was extremely relatable and touching, without losing connection to the previous entries backstory.
I’ll be sure to go to the house. I’m in this for the long haul platinum, I think now. I want to at least do the Valkyries and by so doing I’ll do the 2 optional areas anyways and those will give me all the trophies minus the collectibles, so I’ll just bite the bullet on those. At least the menu gives you the counts on where I lack each one.

@Thrillho Yeah, just went back home and that was pretty awesome. It gave me chills. I can’t wait for Ragnarok. It’s impressive how the game has portrayed Thor and Odin in a completely different light, as antagonistic, as opposed to the Marvel interpretation of Thor being a semi-benevolent leader. But the image there at the end of him is just so spectacularly foreboding.

So I’ve got all the artifact collectibles. I have 7/9 Valkyries. Just need to do Muspelheim trials and the Valkyrie there. Then find all the Ravens; I’m missing 5. The problem is — as far as I can tell, the map only shows I missed one in Konunsgard. Where are the other four? Urgh... this is going to be annoying.

@Th3solution sounds like you’re enjoying it as much as I hoped you would... and that end game content though (Niflheim, Muspelheim and the Valkyries are just the cherry on top). Pretty much the game that has everything.