Leaderboard

I was kitted for full on damage, health gain, and stealth (those two up-gradable charms you get from the Inari shrines are broken). I was two shotting enemies like they were nothing in the end (and if I was wearing the Sakai Clan armor I was damn near just insta-killing people). With that I had no problem gaining resolve since I was literally decimating people left and right (once I got sprinting slash I felt bad for archers, bastards just dropped dead and I sprinted by them). I guess for me I was fully upgraded on everything come the end of Act II so I guess that would make Act III a cake walk (fully upgraded sword, fully upgraded Sakai Clan armor, maxed out stance trees and ghost weapons) but I still wish there was a noticeable increase in difficulty. Than again not everyone plays a game like I do and actively seeks to make sure they're in top form before beating an area (80% of my gameplay is just me searching for charms, supplies, and anything else to give me an edge in battle (and with the Charm of the Inari it was a cake walk to have enough supplies to upgrade everything by the end of Act II (gold was the only issue since it's linked to liberation areas))). Out of all the Mythic quests Uchitsune, Heavenly Strike, and Yarikawa's Vengeance were my favorite just on their visuals alone (and lets face it in a game littered with amazing visuals topping the standard is rather hard and they did it). See I hated the duel in the cave as I couldn't see shit and while the ambience was cool after I beat Kojiro I couldn't find my way out of the blasted cave (pissed me off, spent almost 5 minutes searching for the exit (might need to tweak my brightness settings on my TV)).

So I finally beat it (yea I know, Strider bringing up the rear but I wanted to really enjoy it and Platinum it (which I did)). Have to hand it to Sucker Punch, this was a hell of a game. Probably my second favorite story behind Detroit (yea yea Nier was a great story, a fantastic story but Detroit was just so much better (for me, granted I know a lot of people had differing opinions on it)) though there are a few areas I found it lacking (just little gripes, mostly with how Jin's treated (hypocritical as fuck considering Samurai were just as devious and underhanded historically, even worse than Jin in some cases (though I'm not 100% sure I agree with the Act II finale shenanigans (not going to ruin it for Sledge) but I understand why it happened). I will say this that finale though was spectacular even if that final fight with the Khan was underhanded and while I still disagree with Shimura's treatment of Jin that whole end sequence is fucking heart wrenching (yea you know what ending I chose). Again though my favorite part of the story was watching Jin come to terms with what he was becoming and what he had to do to save his people. Act II was the real turning point for his character and it was really great watching him finally settle into his role (and if there was any reason I'd give to play this game it would be that. Jin's progression as a character is by far the best part of this game and is a wonderful arc). Combat wise this was a blast. As I said before it's punishing until you master the basic combat fundamentals. Quite honestly I don't agree with the massive difficulty spike between Act's I and II (was kinda eye opening how powerful enemies became in the matter of one tale) but I was disappointed by the lack of difficulty in Act III (granted it wasn't a complete cake walk but considering the jump between I and II I was expecting III to be harder than it was). I guess you can chock that up to being comfortable and more familiar with the combat system but once you get Ghost Stance the game is practically easy mode (especially if you wear the fully upgraded Ghost Armor). Three guaranteed kills with a 25% chance to scare other enemies is broken as fuck (and I generally terrified 3 mongols on average every time I used Ghost Stance making liberating areas a cake walk). I gave up on being stealthy toward the end and just bum rushed into combat. I still had fun don't get me wrong but I guess I just wanted more challenge (hell the so called most difficult duel in the game was a cake walk, two shotted him no problem). Plus once you max Wind stance spear guys are a joke. Really wishing I would of known that in the beginning, I'd of just maxed it as soon as I unlocked it (yea I didn't read the upgrades right away, I was more interested in being stealth ninja man and upgrading my Ghost weapons). I really enjoyed the side quests with your four (five if you count Kenji) main supporting NPC's. Very interesting and rather personal tales that fit in well with the story as a whole. As a whole I really enjoyed Masako and Norio's tales the most (with Masako's being my favorite. Hey I like crazy old ladies with a vendetta apparently) but Yuna's probably had my favorite part (I won't say what but I'm sure you can guess). Overall I thought all the other tales were rather interesting but like slippers said a lot of them get repetitive and after awhile it becomes a chore to do them (much like liberating areas) and the mythic tales were quite interesting though I fail to see the need for some of them (I really don't see the need for the flaming sword one, while cool that tale was a bitch to complete). I give it a 9/10 (would be a 10/10 if it wasn't for some of the choices they made with the story) and like I said earlier I'd give this my Game of the Year if it wasn't for the fact Cyberpunk is coming out this year. Well that and the remaster of Kingdoms of Amalur coming out next month (probably one of my favorite games of the PS3/360 generation). Overall though a thoroughly enjoyable game well deserving of the hype it received. SP made a very rare gem in this rather bland era of gaming history and I tip my hat to them. Now to see what this new co-op mode brings to the game this fall (what with it's supernatural theme and whatnot).