Rolling the Credits on Asgard's Wrath

Ok, I've finished Asgard's Wrath. whew. That was a workout, a crazy grind fest, and also pretty amazing. What a fun game!

It's so much fun to see all the main cast dancing at the very end of the game.

So when last we left our hero, I was taking on the second half of Stikkan's story. It took a bunch of work, but eventually I leveled up Stikkan's gear enough that he could survive till the end fight, which was pretty epic.  Hel sucks you up into a vortex and then starts flying around you and trying to chuck giant iceballs at you. It's all about shooting her with your God bow at the right times.

A couple of Superstars about to go WWE in Aegir's Hall!

When you do defeat her, you get the Greed Stone and give it to Loki, and Hel busts into the tavern. After a heated exchange, she's banished. End of problem. All that was left after that was to travel to Jotunheim and take on the final arc of Risi's story. 

Risi, as it turns out, while technically is a half-giant, he's an absolute dwarf compared to the actual giants. Once you free the giant chieftains from Thor, they grant you a big club and tell you that you have to be the one to take down Thor. It's chill though, because you have a God helping you out.

The chiefens are HUGE when they are finally freed and get to stand up.

After a bunch of complex battles, you topple Thor's tower with SCIENCE!  Risi's artificial arm turns out to be a fantastic lightning conduit that ends up dropping Thor's tower on his own head. The end.

Thor is about to get a headache!

Back at the tavern, Thor threatens you a bunch, and after Loki gets his final stone, he goes insane with power and turns on you. The final fight with Loki isn't even the hardest part of this experience though. No, that tower defense game you play with Thor's army is wayyyy harder. I failed on that a number of times.

How you like that beat down, Loki?! Come at me, bro!

While you do get to beat Loki up pretty good, his ultimate trick is to trap you in Asgard as he makes his escape, leaving you with a pretty cool hint at what's coming next -- an ankh, which basically fortold Asgard's Wrath 2.

I can't remember, there wasn't a hint like this in Asgard's Wrath 2 was there?

So even though I've finished the main quest and rolled the credits, I still haven't seen everything in the game. Basically there's about seven areas or so that I still haven't seen, and if you really wanted to, you could level all your heroes and companions up to legendary status.  There's a lot more to do.

I love my little frog companion so much! He deserves to be leveled up to Legendary.

Even as I'm typing this, I'm feeling pulled back into the game, like I may actually want to 100 percent this one. I actually felt the same way back when I finished Asgard's Wrath 2.  Both of these were such great games. If you're looking for the best the Oculus has to offer, you can't go wrong with these two games, especially if you love action RPGs.

I can't recommend them enough.

Happy Dueling!

Asgard's Wrath -- Rivers of Blood and Ripped out Eyeballs

I got a bit caught up in releasing UNSVR lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been playing a lot of the OG Asgard's Wrath! It's been a lot of fun to be honest. I could only play it in short bursts lately because I haven't had the time and stamina to do otherwise, but I've made a lot of progress doing just that.

So, first off, I finished Part 1 of Stikkan's journey, and it ended with solving a God Puzzle where you filled up the channels of a canal his boat was stuck in. It was a river full of blood mind you . . . I guess it was kind of like the Nephilim version of working the locks of the Panama Canal. Kind of weird, but I'm rolling with it.

Filling the river with blood!

The main challenge in this puzzle came from a couple of fights with a bloated, poison spitting garbage-heap of a woman. I was kind of reminded of an uglier version of Grummus from Everquest. That may be too esoteric of a reference for the kids. Anyway, at the end of the fight, you rip out her stomach. Don't ask me why, but that seemed to be the only way to kill a bloated, poison-spitting garbage-heap of a woman.

The Draugar Queen, otherwise known as a bloated, poison-spitting garbage heap of a woman.

After this, you royally piss off the Norse royalty, and Odin throws you in Asgard's jail.  It's ok though, because you can possess a half-giant whose missing an arm and restore him to his former glory and free yourself from Odin's bondage. (You can't make this stuff up . . . unless you're Sanzaru, then, ok, nice imagination Sanzaru! I like it!)

Half giant / Half machine!

The half-giant's name is Risi, and he's your fourth hero you can play as.  While escaping Asgard's Jail (it's name is escaping my brain right now), you find Risi's mechanical arm and unlock a super cool raven character named Runa that helps you sneak past these evil statues that one-shot you with a death ray.

By the end, you free yourself from the prison and have an epic fight with the Warden. So, reader, if you rip out the heart of the first boss and you rip out the stomach of the second boss, just guess what you rip out of the Warden? I SAID GUESS!! Well, I gave it away in this post's title, but if you guessed eyes, you guessed right! You just grab on to those suckers and rip 'em right out of his skull. Fatality!

They're glowy eyes too!

After all this, the game did something really unexpected, and I say this as a game designer. Check it out . . . the game splits into three paths and unhooks you from the main quest line!  It feels really risky to me to do this, but I can respect the decision. 

Your paths are as follows:

1- You can play as a champion running around in Asgard's Bar, the Aegir Hall. This is incredibly fun, btw. You get to see the bar from a totally different perspective and arm yourself with sewing needles and acorn shell shields.

2- You can play part 2 of Stikkan's journey.

or 3- You can play part 2 of Risi's journey.

For me, I finished up option 1 as much as I could (some fun battles there) and then started on option 2, Stikkan's journey. I'm not sure what my decision did or did not do for me since surely I'll be playing Risi's journey as well, but they gave me an interesting choice.

The "safe" designer in me wonders why you would ever detach someone from the main quest line, even for a moment.  The "creative" designer in me loves the "surprise and delight" moment of even being offered a choice.  You definitely don't see this same type of choice being offered in AW2 (as far as I remember correctly).  Part of me wonders if the metrics showed them that people stopped playing at this area when they did that?  It's something I'd love to know just to answer my own curiosity.

So far in Stikkan's follow-on quest, I've unlocked a new wolf companion.  He's a brutal dual wielder that can howl at magical ice crystals and break them so you can proceed. In this quest, I'm finding myself swapping back and forth between companions a lot to solve puzzles and break through blocking mechanics. This feels really good in late game. I like re-using companions in this way.

All in all, I'm having a great time playing Asgard's Wrath. I feel like I'm getting close to beating it and I'm even wondering if I'll have it done over the weekend here.

I'll be sure to let you know.

Happy Dueling!

Stikkan it to 'em in Asgard's Wrath

Our third hero we unlock in Asgard's Wrath is a dark elf named Stikkan, who's no stranger to traveling in Niflheim. Yup, we've made our way out of Midgard and into a world of cold ice and magical bears known as Niflheim. Stikkan is a smuggler who knows a thing or two about being stabby stabby with bad guys.

He's got quite the hairstyle.

Upon entering Niflheim you get to see Sikkan fighting off an angry horde on his merchant ship. Unlike the other heroes you save, Stikkan can see you in your godly form. After possessing him, you now have access to his kit, which includes a crossbow and a spear that, much like our old buddy Darth Maul's dual lightsaber, can be split into two short swords connected by a strand of energy. These short swords, or rather short spears, can be thrown to activate simple puzzles where energy passes between magic orbs and powers up unpowered spheres, unlocking doors and raising obstacles.

Raising the Hraenathra to power open a doorway

The first companion Stikkan unlocks is an angry bear mama known as Bjornhild. Bjornhild has a metric ton of hitpoints, but it hasn't stopped me from constantly using revival mead on her. Ahh well. Bjornhild lifts giant logs that can be dropped down on pressure plates that also open doors and raise obstacles . . . and she just looks cool holding a giant log.

"Where you want me to put this log, boss? Or should I just carry it around looking cool?"

I've enjoyed playing in Niflheim so far, and I wonder how long I will spend there. Will the adventure be kind of shorter like it was with Frodi, or will it be a bit longer?  I'm not sure, but so far the battles have been relentless and unforgiving as we make our way through Hel's armies. Hopefully, there will be even more surprises along the way.

Happy Dueling!

Death to Hel's Bane in Asgard's Wrath!

 As predicted yesterday, I finished up the fight with Hel's Bane this evening. I did spend a bunch of time this morning upgrading Frodi's gear, which helped pad my health with 100 extra life or so, which really helped my survivability. 

Yesterday I was theorizing that I would shoot this guy in his heart when it was exposed, but what the game had in mind was much much cooler than that.  Once I had him down on his knees with his heart exposed, you run up with your controllers and rip his heart right out of his chest. 

Such a cool way to end a fight, and it was super visceral . . . me likey.

After this an elevator took me down to a lower level where an army was invading into the tower. I was then asked to play a little bit of tower defense with some cannons and blow up the army that was marching toward me.  I wasn't expecting that, but it was a really nice touch.

Manning the control panel that throws cannon fire down on to the invading troops.

In the end, Frodi redeemed himself and defeated the ice giant that was trying to break into Midgard while I pulled out of his body and watched from a distance.  He thanked me and gave me his stone.

I shall chop off your hand foul giant!

As for my thoughts, to be honest, it felt like maybe the Frodi story wasn't as long as I thought it would be once I figured out how to end the boss.

He sucks

I liked it, but it felt like there should have been a bit more. I would have enjoyed running up the ice giant's arms and zapping him in the head, but I'll take slamming a door shut on the ice giant's arm and chopping it off. It's still pretty satisfying.

I'm excited to see what character I get to play with next. 2 down and probably 2 more to go? I love this game so much. I just wish it didn't wear me out haha.

Happy Dueling!

Small Victories, Big Losses -- Back to Asgard's Wrath!

 As I'm typing this to you, my face is covered in sweat.  Sec . . . need to go take care of this facial drench. 

. . . and back. Whew. That's better.  So today has been a crazy day. I woke up in the morning and just decided to go for it. I don't know why I was so blocked on starting back up on Asgard's Wrath, but I was. For the past few months, it's kind of like every time I'd turn on the computer, I'd look over at my Quest 2 headset and think, "Asgard's Wrath, maybe? Naaaaaah!" NOT TODAY!

At first it was definitely weird. My controllers wanted to continually walk in reverse like I had some kind of horrible controller drift. After fighting it for five minutes or so, the drift just kind of went away and I was back in the game.

I'm coming for you Loki . . . gimme some time

The last I played, I had just unlocked Frodi and solved his first god puzzle. I had to learn how to use his staff weapon all over again, but eventually, I got it. I'm not sure I like it yet. It's kind of weird and I'm not quite sure how to use it correctly against enemies. Since parrying is such a huge part of combat, I just haven't figured out how to use it in that way. Instead, I've been opting to use Frodi's short sword.

Today's adventure took me deep inside The Great Column of Midgard. Frodi kept talking about how impressed he was that we had come this far, so I believe him.

That's a nice tower.

Inside the tower, there was another God Puzzle that involved shooting a Bow at some swinging legs of a Bull and making my way through a complex puzzle around the edges of the tower.

Gotta hit the horsey legs with the magic bow!

Also, I unlocked a new companion. She's an owl lady with a crossbow.  I like her.

And whoooo are youuuu? (She's Sigrid)

If you point her at an owl totem, she will reveal hidden secret messages that tell you the order to press runes to open secret doors.

Anyway, when you take 5 months off like me, you forget how taxing the game can be. You're going to work up a sweat and probably die a few times to bosses while you figure it all out. I'm currently stuck on this dude in the Rotund of the tower.

He sucks. 

Basically, you have to get up in his face and dodge his attacks until his eyes light up red, and then you have to parry his sword swing from above.  It's not a perfect science for me yet, and I'm not exactly sure what to do now that I've got him low with his icy heart exposed.

Logic seems to dictate that I would shoot his heart with an arrow or perhaps use my handy dandy soul staff to strike him in the heart. It's just a sweaty arm-swinging fest to get him to that point, and then I usually forget what the heck I'm doing and die.

I'm thinking tomorrow I'll have him dead.  If not, I'll be raging all the way to YouTube to see if there's a strat video to help me.

Happy Dueling!

AW: Off the Grid with Ingrid and To and Fro with Frodi

Ok, Team. It's time for another update on Asgard’s Wrath because, DANG, some super cool stuff happened. Basically I’ve finished the first hero’s story (Ingrid) and moved on to the second (Frodi). Obviously, I'm still in love with the game so far, and it's just getting better and better.

The big bad of Ingrid's story

Wrapping up Ingrid’s journey led to a pretty epic boss fight -- one that I honestly wasn't expecting to be so cool. I love it when you get surprised by something awesome like this. Tyr basically taunts the heck out of Ingrid and starts destroying her hometown. Eventually, you make your way up to a giant arena and there you are in a mythic showdown between Tyr and, not Ingrid, but you in God form. He came out with fireballs, flailing maces of death, all armored up with serious grudges. My job? Counter his fireballs by shooting them out of the sky, knocking off his armor pieces, and then hitting him with an arrow to the heart so I could pull him close on a light rope. Once in range, you punch him out boxer style. After you do that sequence three times (three is always the magic number), he's left knocked down long enough for Ingrid to get in there and stab out his left eye. Truly an epic moment you can't get in any other VR game than Asgard's Wrath!

Time to gain an eye patch, Tyr!

With Ingrid’s adventure wrapped up, I’ve now started with the second hero, Mr. Frodi, the blind priest. He’s a caster-type character wielding a staff, which adds a whole new dynamic to combat. Frodi’s staff can cast energy bolts, which you can direct in looping paths. He also has this spirit orb, which you can use to refill with extra charges since his staff has limited power. 

Unlocking Frodi also meant unlocking my next animal companion: a minotaur! Now, just to be sure you understand, these animal companions in Asgard's Wrath aren’t exactly powerhouses—they’re more like sidekicks for fun and to help with puzzles rather than front-line fighters. That said, if you toss them a rage potion, they’ll go beast mode for a bit. By the way, it's super satisfying to throw stuff like that to your companion: potions, food, and whatnot. It’s great watching them catch and use it or throw it back. Anyway, the whole deal with the minotaur is that it can push large blocks out of the way to open up those blocked areas.

No need to bow, my dude . . . let's go wreck stuff!

All in all, Asgard's Wrath is doing a great job of keeping things awesome, and I’m excited to see where Frodi’s journey goes next. More updates to come!

Happy Dueling!

Breaking Through Bridges and (Almost) Breaking Bulbs in Asgard’s Wrath

I'm so happy I was able to play Asgard's Wrath again this weekend!  Jumping back in to play this game again was difficult for me for some reason.  I don't know if VR just felt too athletic an experience right now or if I was just too into Diablo, Brawl Stars, and all that other stuff I've been playing. I don't want to say I've been lazy with it, just haven't really been heavily wanting to play this game when I sit down . . . more like . . . lemme just veg out. 

That all said, I’ve made some progress in Asgard’s Wrath over the weekend! I’ve officially unlocked Astrid as a companion, which has added a whole new dynamic to the game. She's an Eagle Valkyrie with some solid ranged attacks. There’s something about her that feels cool. So far, she’s been essential not just for story but also for helping me navigate the game’s many puzzles.

EAGLE POWA!

And let me tell you, these puzzles are part of what make Asgard’s Wrath so satisfying. I do hope they get a bit more difficult as I go on here. Case in point: the recent God Puzzle challenge I encountered, the solution was pretty simple. I just had to grab a few pieces and assemble a broken bridge to allow my avatar to get across. Easy. If it's anything like my experience in AW2, it'll get much more complex later in the game.

Easy, make a bridge from two pieces. Got it.

The next puzzle I encountered however was more involved and brought Astrid into the mix. This time, I needed to lower a bridge to retrieve a handle, which was essential to get me ready for the upcoming fight with Tyr’s bruiser. The trick here was using Astrid's wind wings to blow a windmill that adjusted the wooden stops on either side of the bridge. The puzzle demanded some patience at first because I wasn't understanding what my eyes were seeing. I had to pay close attention to the stops on the right and left sides as the bridge lowered, making sure it hit just the right angle. After a bit of trial and error, the bridge finally lined up, and I got what I needed. It’s these kinds of puzzles, sprinkled throughout the gameplay, that make the world feel interactive and alive.

Lower a bridge . . . seemed easy enough at first.

Speaking of the Tyr’s Bruiser, that mini-boss fight was no joke. He’s one of those Etins who doesn’t give you much breathing room, and timing is everything. After blowing up the meteor above his head while he was summoning it a few times, it was game over and the game actually asked me to rip his two heads off, which was incredibly satisfying. Ripping the heads off an ettin wasn't on my dance card this weekend, but I'm so glad it happened.

Add another defeated enemy to the codex!

Overall I'd say my biggest hurdle to returning to play Asgard's Wrath again is simply parrying. After taking a break from the game, my timing was completely off, and I could feel it in every swing. Each missed parry is a reminder that this game’s combat demands a bit more precision than just sword wagging on an enemy. I’m slowly shaking off the rust, but getting that timing back has been a challenge all its own. 

Of course, the bruiser wasn’t the only danger I faced this weekend. In the heat of battle, I managed to pull off some accidental real-world damage to my finger—thanks to my current VR setup. Right now, my playspace has its own hazards: the most worrisome being a ceiling fan with exposed bulbs. I’m genuinely surprised I haven’t shattered a bulb by now. If I don’t swap out this fan for a regular light fixture soon, there’s bound to be an incident, especially since games like Asgard’s Wrath require some serious arm-swinging action.

Bandaid please!

In short, Asgard’s Wrath continues to keep me hooked with its thoughtful puzzles, intense battles, and a world that feels surprisingly immersive. Astrid’s arrival has marked a new phase in the adventure, adding a bit of guidance and grounding to the otherwise chaotic Norse world I’m navigating. Here’s hoping that next time, I’ll nail those parries without needing a Band-Aid in real life!

Happy Dueling!

Freaking Asgard's Wrath . . . Why are you so good?

So it's been a hot minute since I had my super fascination with Asgard's Wrath 2. I was so in love with that game, and the Quest 3 I was playing it on. Just a great game and experience all around. Unfortunately, I had to give that Quest 3 back to Meta when WIMO folded because it was an engineering model and had to be returned (kicks dirt).

I love that some of my final moments in the game industry were spent playing that game. I finished it up just in time. I would have been incredibly distraught if I hadn't finished it before having to surrender the headset.

THAT SAID, Asgard's Wrath I and II came bundled with the Quest 3, and both of those games landed safely in my library regardless of the headset loss. I still have the Quest 2, and I had never even touched the original Asgard's Wrath, so I loaded it up and gave it a go!  What a treat! 

let's load this thing up!

In hindsight, I suppose I should have played the original first before playing the sequel, but it was new with a shiny 10/10 rating! Had I played it first, I would have realized so many features in AW2 are straight from the first game. (Now I'm wondering if I sounded dumb to people who already knew about the original?  Ahh well. I sound dumb most of the time anyway, so no biggie.)

Act 1 -- Sea Serpent!

The game starts out with an epic battle against a Kraken to teach you the basics. Starting out with a boss fight like that is perfect. You are the unknown god and Loki is there to teach you how to realize your potential as a god of animals because you can take regular animals and turn them into furries . . . erm, Animorphs! 

Egil the Sharkman for the win!

Whereas AW2 had 5 Animorphs, it looks like there may be upwards of 10, which is crazy.  The first two you get are a shark and a turtle, which help you work your way through the first two dungeons. The shark gnaws on zombies in cages to raise platforms. The turtle uses its shell to block flame traps. I think AW2 perfected this.  Each Animorph in AW2 had two or three different functions. It made them feel more impactful.

Hero in a half-shell! TURTLE POWER!

Of important note, giving a high five to your Animorph was not a new thing in AW2, and it's still awesome to do in AW1. *smacks a five with shark boy*

God puzzles are a thing, just like they were in AW2. Since I've only started, I haven't encountered any super complex puzzles yet. The first one was discovering your power as a god and the second one was constructing a simple totem and placing your shark companion on a platform . . . pretty basic. I'm hoping this gets just as fun and complex as it did in AW2.

Running into my now third God Puzzle.

Combat seems more about timing your strikes, which is good. It makes it so you can't just waggle your sword at something and have it die, unless it's a zombie . . . those are just intro enemy fodder. I'm playing the game on what I believe to be normal difficulty, and it's been a challenge in several moments, which I'm gladly taking in stride.

Crossing the Bifröst

So far it's every bit as beautiful a game as AW2 . . . I just wish I had the quest 3 headset to fully enjoy the graphics. That said, it's still pretty immersive, and I'm happily playing a new game that will be sure to hold my interest for a month or two.

Happy Dueling!