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.

@Th3solution Muspelheim and Niflheim are all about the combat. The former is a series of challenges increasing in difficulty. The latter is an anxiety inducing series of areas where your health is constantly dropping, especially without the proper equipment. The idea is to get as far as you can and then get back out before you die.

They’re both worth doing in my opinion, and there are Valkyries in both. They are the most ‘videogamey’ areas of the game, however.
Cheers!

Edit: Hope I wasn’t rude to jump in, and hope it helps!

@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.

@Th3solution in hindsight, Niflheim was one of my favourite areas of the game. The way enemies generate in it, if you don’t like what you see, you can always just exit and re-enter for a batch you’re better at fighting. It’s a really fun area. Valkyries definitely felt like endgame content to me. Kudos for taking down 3!

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.

@Th3solution I managed to find most of the collectibles organically in my play through but those ravens were not exactly easy to find. I’m not a trophy hunter by any means, but I was so close to that platinum, I bit the bullet and used a guide to hunt them down. It was the only part of the game I felt was completely superfluous. Ultimately, I’m happy with my platinum, even if I didn’t love that part of 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 hunting down and freeing the Valkyries remains one of my favourite and most exciting video game moments of my life. I had no guide or help and no idea what exactly they were or what I would unlock. I left them till the very end as they terrified me, so I also earned my platinum when I freed the final one. It was a series of moments that I will never forget, and an affirmation of my passion for the hobby that is games.

I’m happy for you! It’s one of my favourite games, I’m sorry I showed up late for your journey. I can’t wait to see what they do with the sequel. Have a good one!