And we're back! The game started off strong, with plenty of abilities to run across sooner rather than later, and it certainly seemed like it wasn't going to let up much at all. We'll be finishing off Chapter 2 today, along with going after the incredibly short chapters 3 and 4. Keep in mind, all of these observations are written fresh after beating each level, with the occasional note during play.
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CHAPTER 2:
LEVEL 4: I should probably mention that I have a soft spot for animal vehicles in games. Especially weird ones. LoS lets you ride on giant spiders, which immediately elevates it to the upper echelon of "cool shit you can do" tier games. You wind up reining in both a giant spider, as mentioned, and a large cave troll. Trolls can knock down unbreakable things; Spiders can create webs and pull trees you couldn't otherwise yank. Shadow Magic is introduced here; unlike Light Magic, which heals you as you hit enemies, Shadow Magic enhances your damage, and also opens up certain seals. Light and Shadow have their own magic meters, thankfully, and you can choose which meter to fill when sucking up magic energy. Very smart decision.
Clever use of the hook: When rappeling on one segment, I had to swing off the wall face, leap off, and hook onto a grapple point that was just around the corner. It was easy to do, but the marvel is the implementation: even having never done something like that before, I was able to get it without much coercion from the game itself.
LEVEL 5: The levels are really starting to "standardize," not having nearly the variety visually as the first chapter did. This is okay, actually; the design of each level is incredibly distinctive, and each one has its own unique secrets. This level has more stuff to ride, including Wargs. These guys are built for jumping over gaps and climbing things Gabriel couldn't normally access.
LEVEL 6: Much more focused on grappling and area traversal, this level features a lot of secret areas only accessible using leaps of faith. You encounter your first flying enemy as well, and man... Those little devils are annoying. I mean it, they're actually little devil things. They arrive en masse at times, which makes it almost impossible to tackle them in the air. While annoying, their health is low.
LEVEL 7: This one focuses entirely on gathering four shards of a large crystal. Evidently, it can be used to summon a giant beast to help destroy everything on screen, but the game didn't recommend this route. Instead, it ends with a mirror puzzle. Before you plotz, it's a very minor one that's easy to grasp and solve. Unfortunately, you lose the crystal after the level. No big loss for now.
LEVEL 8: Entirely a boss battle. Much like the last giant boss, this one employs very similar SotC tactics. It manages to change things up by employing a few new wrinkles, including countering some of the giant stones it throws. It manages to be very similar to the previous titan, and yet it is a different enough experience to never feel TOO familiar.
LEVEL 9: Again, another straight-up boss fight. This is also the only level in the game thus far that has absolutely NO findable items. It's a no-nonsense battle, and it's a bit of a toughie. Though the enemy is smaller than a titan, it's got one particular attack that can be very difficult to dodge, and it is CONSTANT. It borders on annoying, but luckily the checkpoint system allows you to pick up at a later point in the battle.
CHAPTER 3:
LEVEL 1: Finally, I can try out the summon! And... it is murder. It took out three Greater Lycanthropes in one shot. Luckily, you don't need to collect four parts of a whole shard; rather, just find one and you're okay. This level introduces fairies, which are akin to little homing missiles, or tiny, naked suicide bombers. Much more environmental exploration this time around, with loads of grappling and swinging.
Also, great moment in game design: You are given a rod and two separate winches in which you must insert the rod. You use one winch to open a gate. You can actually then TAKE THE ROD OUT and insert it into another winch. As heavy as those last statements are in innuendo, I'm just so glad there wasn't the "one time use" problem I see in a lot of other games that do this.
LEVEL 2: Very short chapter, as this is the last level in this one. Obvious from the start that it's a boss area. By this point it's painfully obvious that the narrative tries really hard not to get in the way of the gameplay, to the point where it actually becomes difficult to follow. Yet, when a cutscene happens, it makes sure to grip you, even if it can be occasionally difficult to follow. Solid voice acting, solid animations for the most part... Even early on, it's a sign of good things to come.
The boss here is the first multi-form one. First form is fairly easy; powerful, but not much of an issue. The second, however, requires much quicker reflexes to stay alive, but otherwise doesn't deviate too much from the Wargs and Greater Lycanthropes. The final isn't so much a form as it is a last ditch effort, where you must attack an alternate target.
New item, the Cyclone Boots. Basically, allows you to dash, which nullifies much of the Warg's usage as a ridable enemy, save for climbing vines. Also adds quite a few new attacks! Very nice stuff.
CHAPTER 4:
LEVEL 1: Another two-level chapter. This one manages to successfully add in quite a bit of use to your boots. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to hear someone say your full abilities aren't on full display here, which is really showing the strength of the game. There's a rather fun boss battle in the middle, which pits you against a giant ogre of sorts. While not particularly difficult, his moves are occasionally hard to avoid.
The end of the level does something a little different... I really am not going to spoil this one, other than saying it's a very strange, weird change of pace from the usual combat.
LEVEL 2: A far more vertical level. You fight a new enemy type, a ghostly swordsman. These guys are actually pretty annoying; some may enchant their swords and will do some serious damage for a short time. Luckily, a summon will take them down quick.
The traversal upwards is easy, though I got hung up very briefly at one or two points, wondering where to go. The boss of the area is unconventional in that you don't actually attack it directly. You'll be doing a lot more fighting with some of the little broodlings the boss sends out. Redirecting the projectiles the boss fires is a bit hard to get used to, thanks to having to twirl the analog stick in a very specific direction, as you had to do against the second titan.
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Well, I am now officially one third of the way through the game, chapters-wise. The next chapter seems to be a bit beefier, at seven levels, so hopefully I can knock out two or three more by tomorrow. The game is honestly shaping up to be a heck of a lot of fun, and there was certainly a lot of care in the level design. The game holds your hand a fair amount of time, but never in an overtly pushy way. It saves you from a lot of bottomless pit deaths and tries to idiot-proof the gameplay as much as possible without making it simple, which certainly works in its favor.
Stay tuned. Looks like I might be doing a one-shot review of Comic Jumper before the week is done, so be on the lookout.
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