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!
2 comments:
I drifted away from VR about this time last year. I keep meaning to get back into it but my inherent laziness keeps winning out. But reading your blog at least keeps it on the back burner of my brain, rather than completely forgetting about it.
I hear you on laziness. After an hour with a VR headset on, I start to grow really physically tired just from standing and swinging my arms around. That alone can be something that is a barrier to wanting to play. It's so much easier to just sit in my chair and use a mouse and keyboard to play something. On the other hand, the immersive-ness brings me back every time. If I just want to be inside an experience, there's nothing else like it.
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