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I haven't played it but you do get one more weapon in the game but I won't say what it is since I don't want to ruin it for DX if he hasn't gotten that far yet (I've seen the entirety of the game played through on Twitch). Gotta say I've never been interested in the GoW series but after seeing people play through it on Twitch I might just have to pick this up eventually, the story is extremely fucking good and the game play looks awesome.

Oh yes, there is another weapon in the game you get later. But for a good amount of the game the axe is all you have. Atreus also gets two arrow types that do different things and also solve puzzles.

You have a heavy and light runic attack that can be upgraded. It's better to accumulated some before deciding to upgrade them. Each can be upgraded twice and the latter is very expensive XP wise. All of your abilities takes XP. Rather than leveling up, XP is a currency that slowly accumulates. You also have a talisman that does special things upon activation. The one I use instantly refreshes both my runic attacks off cooldown. I haven't found anything that is more beneficial IMO. Runic attacks have 30-80 second CDs depending on what they do. There is also the axe pommel that gives you a passive ability. All of these can be upgraded but the pommel and talisman require those special items off kills I mentioned. There is so much to choose from in the skill ability dept it's really up to you what to do. You can upgrade your axe melee and ranged, spartan rage, shield and barehanded combat, and Atreus. They all have 5 tiers of skills that slowly unlock and you get stronger. Also Runic attacks are found in chests and from defeating enemies. Later you can buy some super powerful ones, I can't afford these yet as they just became unlocked for me. Your HP and rage meters upgrade classically through chests. These chests are generally hidden or require a 3 seal puzzle. You have to find 3 if certain items to grow the meters. The HP meter can also be modified through vitality and dew of the world tree which give random permanent star bonuses of +2. The dew is found mainly through exploring with the boat.

Further into this game and I'm blown away with how amazing this game world is. The NPCs make this game hands down. The dialogue is so good, and each character's personality is so different and unique. The voice acting is stellar which is what brings it all together. Top that with the fact that there is no cut scenes, all interactions are the in game engine. "cut scenes" do still occur, but the camera just moves seamlessly into a new position as the scene plays out, once the scene is finished you resume control of Kratos. Its all one cut and its masterful. I've done 3 boss fights so far, and the last one I just finished was probably the most epic in the games history. I'm glad the QTE's are gone, or done differently in a more interactive way rather than a press this button as it flashes on the screen or you'll suffer type deal. It's killing me I have to go to bed so early with this new job. I have to force myself to quit so I can get some sleep. I'll probably focus on a bunch of side quests tomorrow. I did a few today and which took up 50% of my game time, and then I decided to do some main mission. My armor is two tiers below the max I believe, Its like any MMO with Gold, Purple, Blue, and Green. I had green for the longest time and then I crafted some blue... and then when I thought that was good, purple and now gold appear. These don't really drop, and if they do, they're shit stats and perks. Basically just merchant fodder. The good stuff needs to be crafted, and to craft it they require certain materials that come from certain places or enemies... hard enemies. You can't just go cut down a bunch of trash mobs, you have to seek out challenging encounters to collect these things. Luckily only 1 kill is really needed for any one piece as these types of fights drop the materials in bunches, and if they don't then the piece only requires 1 of whatever it is. So you might get lucky and get to craft 2-3 from one kill.

So far this game in incredible. The story is freaking amazing and has me nerding out over all the nice surprises and twists they've done with Norse mythology. I'll be curious to see how the more casual fans react to this entry into the series. Gone are the days of mashing X, Square, and Triangle mindlessly. You have to be calculating in this game. Dodge and blocks are very important as quite a few enemies can one shot, or stun lock you to death with a 2-3 hit combo. Checkpoints are super forgiving so you often might find yourself entering the same room 2-3 times or more depending on your skill level to figure out the best way to survive an encounter. Combat feels brutal as where enemies can one shot you... you can one shot them if you are patient, and are good with timing. Once you unlock enough abilities on the tree, Kratos has quite a few wind up/big blow hits that will take down some of the mid to hard tier enemies fast. Also, you can normally tell when an enemy is going for a one shot kill. Each attack a monster does will either ping yellow or red before the strike... this only happens for a brief second, but its enough time to dodge out of the way. If it pings red, you better dodge or you'll die. Later in the game you have the option to buy Revive stones, but I haven't really needed them and they cost too much when I'm trying to upgrade my gear. Spartan Rage is an amazing ability which is basically a berserk meter. For the duration of the meter you have rapid big damage fist attacks and slams. You regen health every hit, but you are not invincible, just more durable. You can cancel for a sizable cost of the meter, and it takes a good while to build up. So it is best saved for groups of harder enemies, or big enemies like Trolls and Ogres. While the game is amazing, its gameplay mechanics are not perfect. My biggest gripe is the auto targeting is wonky at times. Ill be setting up a combo on something only for Kratos to start swinging at the air because he locked on to another monster further away. It doesn't happen too much, but it is an issue. The game tries to give you warning arrows on incoming attacks from behind, but sometimes the camera gets in too close to where you can't see them, and if its something that can one hit you, then you're gonna die pretty much. On the dialogue part, everything is very entertaining. My only complaint is that some of the interesting banter gets needlessly interrupted. Mostly when you are in a boat, Atreus and Kratos have conversations, but when you dock, Kratos stops and tells Atreus its time to focus or something. In a game that is 50% exploring/puzzle solving and 50% combat, its kind of needless that he can't finish the story or thought until next time you get into the boat again. I've learned to just sit there by the dock until the story is done and then get off.

An entertaining watch, but kind of annoying all the way though. Half of the major characters are insufferable, and the story is a never ending series of calamities and inconveniences that amounts to such impossible odds for a string of bad luck. Mrs. Robinson is super annoying and comes off as a control freak, later you learn of her plight but by that time you don't care because shes been such a stuck up bitch 1/4th of the series. Will Robinson is a constant fuck up, making tons of annoying mistakes... this doesn't happen until a little later so he's an ok character at first then you just grow to despise him. I think John Robinson, Don West, and Judy Robinson were the only three characters I liked besides the robot. Dr. Smith was an interesting twist on the character, but she's completely unbelievable as so many coincidences fall in her favor in what she is doing. Don't get me wrong, the acting is quite good, I'm sure this is how the characters are suppose to be portrayed... but holy shit I wanted people to die. The special effects were top notch. Only a few times did they falter a little bit in the CG department... nothing as bad as the zipline scene from Punisher.