Boss-Slaying Survival Game Praey for the Gods Quietly Launches on PS5, PS4

Shadow of the Colossus is my favourite of all time.
This one just drops out of nowhere??? Looks pretty good, very curious if it's actually good

If this means empty world and boring overly scripted boss fight like Shadow of the Colossus, this isn't for me. I still have no idea why that game received so many good reviews...

Slightly worrying that there was no warning that this game was going to drop. The bosses really do look like clones of some of those out of SotC but there are human battles in this as well so perhaps that's something to set it apart.

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the hype for SOTC? I never played the game until the blue point remake came out, so I have no nostalgia for it. I only defeated about 8 of the collosi before selling my copy and remember getting extremely frustrated with the lethargic nature of controlling the main character. I'd spend like half an hour in some fights wondering what the hell to do. I've seen people say how moving and sad it was killing the collosi, but I don't get it how can you get sad over killing sentient rocks!!! I played and loved The Last guardian and got attached to trico (probably because he's a bird cat dog) but don't see the magic of this game's predecessor. We did get the game on ps+ so maybe I should give it another try one of these days. If anybody can tell me why they hold this game so high please tell me and how to get through the clunky controls, as I'd like to learn how to appreciate this game.

@GorosBat Personal preferences, no more, no less.
Why do some people like Bloodborne more than Dark Souls? Aren't they in the same "punishing combat" genre?
Yes they are, but "de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum"

@Shinnok789 - Some people prefer the faster-paced more aggressive combat of Bloodborne over the slower-paced more cautious combat of Dark Souls. I actually tried to get a friend into Dark Souls a few years back but he couldn't get into it due to it's slower-paced combat, so I suggested he give Bloodborne, and he fell in love with Bloodborne. After 2 months of playing nothing but Bloodborne, I managed to convince him to give Dark Souls another try, and he did become a fan as well, but he would always tell me "But it's not Bloodborne".

Personally i was surprised they only had to change the name as there have been games before that have fared much worse when they appear too similar to established franchises (great gianna sisters anybody?) Anyhow looks interesting but i'll hang on for a sale or the inevitable ps+ give away..

@GorosBat
For some reason the controls didn't bother me in SOTC much and I got used to it pretty quickly. The Last Guardian though? If it was any other developer it would be ripped to shreds but because it's Team ICO it's somehow "deliberate" and an "artistic statement". It's not good game design it just plays like s--t.

@PegasusActual93 Funny that we have the same thoughts for the opposite game. If you ever decide to go back to the last guardian one day, from my memory of playing the game after maybe 5 hours into the game trico gets easier to control as his bond with the boy becomes stronger. It is an artistic choice in the same essence of SOTC with climbing a collosi. That being climbing a collosi and killing it isn't supposed to be easy and in the last guardian an untamed animal is going to be hostile to you at first and won't obey your orders at your whim. I encourage you to and anyone else who's reading this to give the last guardian another go, by the time you're at the end trico obeys every order, e.g. when you command him to jump he will jump within 3 seconds of telling him to do so. Also, the ending (no spoilers) of this game is absolutely stunning and is truly emotional after the bond the boy forges with trico.

@GorosBat I’m one of those who count SotC as one of the all-time greats, and I don’t exactly know how to describe why. Perhaps some of it is nostalgic, but the game is just so unique. Part of what I appreciate about it is the serene nature of the world and the contemplative tone. So I’m not sure Praey for the Gods will capture the same magic if there is random enemy encounters and survival mechanics scattered throughout.
But as far as sadness and remorse with killing the Colossi, I didn’t really have that emotional response initially until I got to the end and really thought about what the game was trying to say. At its surface, slaying big bosses who are just minding their own business isn’t necessarily a new thing in games, but taken into the context of the whole game and the player’s motivation and outcome, it does seem pointless and remorseful. I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it. 😂
I admit that the control scheme isn’t the greatest in the world, but it’s far from unplayable as many have said. The game’s beautiful visuals, setting, open narrative, themes, unique gameplay approach, music, and message are all what combine together to make it a game that weighs in my mind even years after completing it. I can’t say that about 90% of games I complete.

@GorosBat To be fair though, the boy is kinda floaty (I loved the game btw)

@Quintumply @get2sammyb Can we expect a PushSquare review, perhaps?

@GorosBat
I don't mean controlling Trico, I mean the boy somehow controls like his feet are cement and also on roller skates at the same time. I don't even know how that's possible but they somehow achieved that. Combine that with the worst camera I've seen since the PS1 days and puzzles that just are not any fun to solve and I gave up after just a couple hours and have no plans to ever go back. But thanks.

@Quintumply Awesome. Thanks!

@lolwhatno Haha, glad you like it. It does look dapper, doesn’t it.

I've been interested in this game for a while but it is a little concerning that it just randomly released out of nowhere. I think I'll wait to see some reviews first.

@Rhaoulos not to be disrespectful but when the whole world praises a game and you're the different opinion, maybe it's you who's wrong lol
There are a ton of things to love SotC

@GorosBat I love that you're telling people to power through Last Guardian because the ending is so powerful and yet you admit you didn't finish SotC and are complaining that you don't "get it" when that game's ending was... kind of the largest factor playing into its power.

You remind me of my aunt who watched Fight Club for the first time and gave up approximately 5 minutes before she would have learned the twist and then ranted to me that she didn't understand the movie.

Personally, SotC is up there for me behind only Rez in GOAT conversations. So I'll certainly need to snag this at some point. I've played SotC 3 times, owned it on every generation, and platted the remake. Friggin LOVE it.

Kickstarted this a long time ago for Steam. Glad it finally has full release for all platforms!!!

I only played the SOTC remake as well and, while I thoroughly enjoyed it, don’t understand the hype.

I think it’s a great example of a game that worked well in its time, but doesn’t really hold up the same now.

How is this gameplay mechanic exactly like Colussus, how was the possible/allowed?

@MFTWrecks I’ve already watched both the ending and true ending and it seems like you like to presume things and don’t like it when someone has an opposing opinion to you. If you want to go down this rabbit hole, you can have it. Here are some VALID criticisms for the game but your sense of denial won’t listen to them.

Clunky controls (that literally never get better)
Doing the same gameplay loop for literally the entire game. You wake up, ride your horse and follow literally the worst waypoint marker (light from the sword) that has ever been made in a game, it is so inaccurate and actually makes you lost. You then spend 10-20 minutes flailing about trying to hop on the stupid rocks, stab them in their glowing spot a few times, get thrown off. Then you repeat that process until it is dead. Recycle that process another 12 times and you get SOTC, that somehow people think is a masterpiece. Did you ever notice that my criticism for the game is NOT THE STORY, it is the horrible gameplay loop that you are stuck doing for 5 hours until credits roll. Don’t even get me started on controlling what is probably the worst horse in all of video games, I press forward and he will literally turn right. So yeah, I feel sorry that a snowflake like you can’t handle getting their viewpoint challenged, have a good day😇

@Gorosbat

I adore Shadow of the Colossus and it doesn't have anything to do with the gameplay itself. For me, Shadow of the Colossus is all about how the game made me feel. The empty open world was both beautiful and melancholy. I think, for me, the general feeling of melancholy is just something that speaks to me in movies, tv shows, games, music (especially) etc. I loved figuring out how to defeat each colossus. I loved the thrill of scaling the giant, awe-inspiring creatures who are just going about their lives but they must be destroyed in order to progress the plot. Every time I defeated a colossus, the exhilarating feeling of bringing down my prey to get one step closer to saving my dearest one, was immediately undercut by the realization that I destroyed this work of natural art, this beautiful unique creature, a testament to the mysteries of nature. There was this constant tension and conflict within myself that these creatures are sentenced to death for the sake of my selfish desires. What is the value of life? What makes one life so important that 13 (?) other, seemingly innocent creatures, are condemned to oblivion?

And we're never really told the relationship between Wander and his dearest one. Is she his lover? Is she his wife? Is she his sister? We don't know, but regardless, Wander's crusade takes precedence.

I don't begrudge anyone who doesn't like it. The gameplay mechanics aren't great. They aren't great. They're clunky and inconsistent. I think it's on your way to third colossus, but you go up with winding ramp that has a jump towards the end. I can't tell you how many times I misjudged the jump because of the camera angle, resulting in my falling into the water below and having to climb all the way back up again just to misjudge the jump once again. This game is at times extremely frustrating to control. I know some people complain about Agro, and while I can't recall having any issues, doesn't mean no one else did.

I'm not out to criticize anyone else's interpretation of the game. I just wanted to put out a view point to give you an idea of why this game is treasured by many.

Hope all is well with everyone!

@thejoesenone This is how everyone should share their opinions. You gave your opinion and explained why instead of insulting because someone has a differing viewpoint. Well done, if everyone on the internet made comments like you do the internet would be a better place👌

@GorosBat

Thank you!

@thejoesenone Great comment that not only sums up my feelings about a magnificent game, whilst also acknowledging it's obvious faults - but is also notable for the dignity of the response. Thankyou

@GorosBat I'm all for discourse, so let's conversate, eh?

I think you're looking at the game through a lens of how easy you think it should be. To me, the game is all about overcoming momentous odds. Beyond just the absurdity of the task of defeating the colossi, you as Wander need to navigate a strange unknown land. And you do so with limited knowledge and tools at your disposal. It's a tall ask of the player. But so it is of Wander.

"It's clunky and difficult." Yes. That's the point. The game is using its systems to instill within the player the same sense of overwhelming odds and unease as Wander himself must be feeling. You need to fight through obstacles as ginormous as the colossi, as well as those as mundane as climbing and jumping. A precision platformer it is not. If it were, the tasks at hand would be far too simple. The "clunkiness" (in my opinion) is a key tool the developers were able to leverage to invoke uncertainty.

The way it purposely makes simple tasks like riding your horse and climbing things difficult is the same way early survival horror games (such as Resident Evil) used their camera angles and controls to instill in their players a sense of helplessness and dread. And just like those titles, it succeeds wonderfully. If you could turn and shoot too quickly in RE, it'd make the zombies too easy to kill. You see this in later entries as they needed to shift to a faster paced form of action to maintain the dread, because without it the game would become a cake walk.

Not only is the task at hand challenging in SotC, but the journey itself is sometimes boring and monotonous. You carry on your task with nothing but drive and your own wits. It took me until my third play through (when I platinumed the remake) to even explore the additional systems like increasing my stamina and health by way of hunting. I literally didn't know those options existed (across 2 generations/playthroughs no less!). But they are there for any player with the necessary curiosity to experiment and discover and explore. What's amazing is the game can readily be beaten by a broad swath of players with different skill sets, all based on a simple and straightforward suite of tools. Few games can say that.

There is nary a true upgrade in sight. No, it doesn't necessarily get "easier." Should it? Why would it? You mention the horse being difficult to control and all I think of is, wow. It's almost as though riding a horse while chasing skyscraper-sized monsters and shooting arrows at them and avoiding obstacles wouldn't be simple. What it asks you to do is hard. And I firmly believe the systems in place reinforce that to aplomb. it's up to you to learn its skills and improve on your personal terms. The game will not hold your hand. And I think it would suffer, tonally, if it did.

Everything is laid bare from the beginning, tool-wise. Where you saw difficulty and monotony and frustration, I see someone who, as Wander, simply didn't have the wherewithal to complete the task(s) at hand. And that's totally fine. It's kind of poetic.

@Rhaoulos maybe because not all games made especially for you?

@AFCC Good for you if you feel obligated to have the same taste as everyone else. Also, when you begin a reply with "not to be disrespectful", I immediately assume you are the type of people who can't be accurately described on this website without being banned

@AlekseyVolkov Really? I thought everyone else on this planet was an NPC. More seriously, I usually understand what people like about a game even if I don't like it. This one really baffles me.

@JustPlainLoco Hehe, your friend's case and mine are about the same.
I played Dark Souls 3 in 2016, my first game of this genre. Coming from games like God of War, Darksiders etc, I didn't like it one bit.
Bought Bloodborne GOTY on a sale on Holiday 2018, because I red about it by chance, that it's different from Dark Souls, even though the genre is similar.
Much to my surprise, I played Bloodborne+DLC for over 600h in total (so says my PS5 game status... didn't even realize the amount until I saw it there). Learned all there was about the game, the lore, how to tackle each encounter etc.
I even got my first ever Platinum Trophy in it. And to date I consider it to be one of the best games ever made.
This year I finished Demon's Souls Remake, Dark Souls II and III.
But just like your buddy, the only conclusion i got after i finished each one was "Liked it, it was a good game, but not Bloodborne"
It's exactly the slow combat that makes the difference for me too, BB is much faster, more engaging, each boss encounter keeps you on the edge of your seat, plus the Victorian setting, horror atmosphere in many of the levels, Lovecraftian story and lore etc...
Next stop will be Elden Ring, which I will buy and play next year... I'm fairly certain I'll like it, 'cause it's based on Souls games... but the conclusion, i fear, will be similar, for the exact same reason.

Downloaded it today ... really good so far !

@GorosBat I think context is key. When that game originally came out, there really hadn't ever been anything else like it. It doesn't seem like it now, but it was definitely innovative for its time. I think it still deserves to thought of as a game that pushed the medium forward.

I helped Kickstart this game maybe 5 years ago. It's been a long wait but I'm glad to finally play it. Only other game I ever Kickstarted was Hollow Knight.

I played some earlier, I'm quite enjoying it so far. While Shadow of the Colossus is obvious inspiration, I would say Breath of the Wild is strongly in its DNA too (and not just because you get a glider right away). Partly with some of the resource gathering, but also with making the open world interesting to traverse with clear landmarks. Shadow of the Colossus had way too much empty space of nothing (don't get me wrong, I love Shadow, but some aspects have aged a bit these days), but I haven't encountered that yet here. Of course, with no mode of horse transport, this world isn't as needlessly vast, so I didn't feel like it took forever to get to my destination either. But it does break up Shadow's issue with going from point A to point B with nothing interesting (gameplay wise) in between.

Fortunately, it also knew what not to take from Shadow, so while the bosses are clearly Shadow, the controls on this are WAY better (especially the grip meter). I haven't encountered any major glitches yet, a few visual things off in hidden areas, but I do notice I tend to bounce off bosses like they're made of rubber.

I also quite appreciate the snowy atmosphere, while other games (Breath of the Wild, God of War) have their snow areas, I don't think I've seen the whole thing be snow. Which is fine by me, it feels cold just looking at it. I'm also glad the game can make it so cold and water won't kill you (some of us just want to unwind after work here and don't want to put up with that).

So yeah, looking forward to more over the weekend. Also, does anyone know what language the Gods spoke in this? Is it made up, or based on a real language?

@zawa113 This is actually a decent short review, thanks!

I feel so drawn to this game. Absolutely loved SoTC back then, but couldn't agree more that it's clearly very outdated now. The idea however, of a tribute game with similar (well scripted imo) bossfight mechanics AND with a rich open world that has plenty to offer (just like we've gotten used to these days) on top of that sounds simply genius to me..

Would like to read a proper review of this title, Push Square, but thanks for bringing this game to our attention anyway (really had no clue of its existence).

@Rhaoulos well, I see the type of person you are from that comment! But hey, I already was suspecting it from your incorrect comment about SotC 🤷‍♂️ have a good day and go play some good games

Finally after 4 and a half years waiting something I backed on Kickstarter actually came through!!!

@skxnkwxlkr
I'll admit, I'm not super far into the game yet, so I haven't done too much with the survival stuff. If you're here for the Shadow bosses though, I think the game has you covered pretty damn well. But I do appreciate the option of making the survival parts easier for people who don't want the cold or freezing water to outright kill them

@zawa113 I'm all in on survival, really glad there's other challenging elements apart from bosses, again a plus for me.. but I can understand why you'd like to have the option to go easy.

Do you play on PS5? If so, mind me asking what's the performance like?

@skxnkwxlkr I do not play on PS5, because I cannot find a PS5 to buy (and I refuse to play scalper prices). I'm playing on PS4 standard, and I'll admit, a few texture pops have happened, but that also happened to me all the time while playing Psychonauts 2.

Also, while I did back the Kickstarter, I didn't play any of the beta versions and I honestly mostly forgot about it, just checking occasionally to make sure it wasn't vaporware. I didn't even know there was BotW survival until I played the game yesterday

@GorosBat It's not for everyone but in its day on PS2 there was nothing like, there is still been nothing like it. It's the atmosphere,the world, the story telling using minimal words and cut scenes all woven into one package. The clumsy movement is part of the charm...it's the same in all Ueda games. These are not super hero characters with special abilities...you are meant to struggle a bit

I never got into the PS2 version at launch...I was not used to it and regret not playing it more. I played the HD remake on PS3...the same. Played Bluepoints remake, incredible, beat the game and I finally understood it's brilliance... The Last Guardian is sublime too, loved that game...and ICO...these are unique, creative and artistic games that have no equal.

As for Prey to the gods.... Shameful that no reviews have appeared as yet...looks pretty good and unique.