Heavenly Sword - PS3

[Mardigan8]

I am gonna kick off hell mode tonight so will let you boys know how it feels in comparison to Normal, which felt quite easy as it wasn't until Chapter 4 that I actually died for the first time

[JP]

I am gonna kick off hell mode tonight so will let you boys know how it feels in comparison to Normal, which felt quite easy as it wasn't until Chapter 4 that I actually died for the first time

Looking forward to hearing about it...

I've not played much of it yet but I can imagine sitting through it again when I've finished it.

[eastyy]

completed it last night.....and started straight again in hell mode
that final battle was great

lol the irony is that blocking and stuff finally clicked......but that was in the final battle

is it me or are some cut scenes unskippable and others not ?

[chopemon]

is it me or are some cut scenes unskippable and others not ?

The first time you see them they aren't skippable AFAIK but you can skip them if you restart a checkpoint but you always have to watch a few seconds of them. They use them to hide loading.

[Number45]

I'm up to the final fight (I assume) now. Didn't get very far first time out, but I should hopefully finish it off tonight.

[Mardigan8]

Fired Hell mode last night and it looks like THIS is where the real challenge is. Button mashing will get you slaughtered as enemies usually attack when you are mid combo so you need to get your rolls and counters in very smartly. I am up to the end of Chapter 2 but I have still to do the boss fight.

There is a wee problem with hell mode though, you dont get to carry all the combos you unlocked in normal mode with you into hell mode, you need to start all over again with the standard move set which is quite stifling considering all the moves I was using toward the end of the game are now locked so it makes it even more of a challenge. I have had to re-assess the combos I am using but have actually started using ones I didnt bother with on my normal run through and it the combat feels much more involving.

This slight set back aside Hell mode is brilliant, enemies dont mess about and the action really feels tense. One bit of advice, you must be ruthless with your kills!! When you deck an enemy get over to him and finish him on the ground so he dont get up as all the enemies will take a serious beating before they die unless you do.

I am so glad I started hell mode as it has got me more tuned in with the way the game should be played, switiching between target enemies, using the kill move as much as possible and countering boys all over the place. The superstyle and aerial moves are now getting used a lot more and I now appreciate how useful they are, plus they look beautiful.

If you want to test your skills at this game then get hell mode fired up. Normal mode lets you appreciate the game and get use to the system but never really offers a REAL challenge, hell mode does. You will die in about 5 hits from a normal enemy, 3 hits from a boss, it is tough but use the blocking and counters right and you could rip through waves of enemies and look cool as **** doing it

[Number45]

I finished this tonight, on normal. I think the scores are about right, but I personally have perhaps different issues than others have had with it.

Artistically it's consistently beautiful, but there are a lot of framerate problems throughout the busier, faster parts of the game (Not distracting at all, but noticeable nonetheless) as well as the cut scenes (Though I understand that's down to loading).

While the main characters are very well portrayed, in my mind they're wasted a little on a story that's very thin on the ground. What is there is very good, but when you strip the action out of it there's really not a lot going on - reminded me of 300 in that respect, a two hour spectacle that would have been around 20 minutes long without the fight scenes.

Despite getting more comfortable with the combat as the game drew on, I still feel that it sits in the middle between the accessibility of God of War and the depth of something like Ninja Gaiden/DMC. It doesn't empower you the same way that God of War does right off the bat, but then I don't feel there's that much depth to the system either. You can button mash on normal, you won't be heavily punished, but it's not terribly satisfying - the game doesn't force you really to think about what you're going to do to get through a fight (Granted that may change on Hell Mode).

I also thought (End game spoilers)

->Open Spoiler<-

that the way that Bohan is powered up at the end of the game made no sense at all. I personally would have preferred it once you'd made the ultimate sacrifice that you really could have steamrollered him into submission - it's the least he deserves and it would have been a more fitting end to him in my opinion. If he had an all powerful Hawk at his side throughout the game why the hell wasn't it used? I suspect it was put in the game as a means of providing a long drawn out (But not terribly difficult) final battle

.

But despite that I did enjoy it overall - it's just not quite God of War sadly. I'll be interested to see what they can do if they feel a sequel is possible.

[Mardigan8]

Working my way through Hell mode and am about half way through Chapter 3. Much more of a challenge that Normal and the gameplay feels better for it. Blocking, countering and evading all over the place and producing 30+ hit combos in between it all, great fun and the combat looks brilliant on this setting.

Whiptail fight was superb but very punishing. They really have ramped up the difficulty with the boss fights as they deal serious damage now and mix their attacks up a lot more so its harder to defend. Makes for a great battle though. Kais sections are every bit as fun as they were on normal and starting to have some real fun with the motion controls now on her sections.

Almost got Nariko fully upgraded aswell so will have all my combos unlocked after a few more scenes. Funny thing is I seem to be getting better style ratings on hell mode. Must be the fact I am being forced to use all the good stuff and use them well

Not sure if anything gets unlocked after hell mode but if there is I will def be putting more time into this.

[eastyy]

i am on hell mode got past the first boss

really though difficulty wise its about the equivalent on my first play through on normal......on normal i died against the first boss about 5 times on hell mode only died once

i switched off the motion sensing for aerial combos......this time they are essential as someone said here handy to get a few extra hits in.

i struggled with blocking as basically i thought you could not cancel combos while you are doing them meaning if enemies were about to attack i would usually get hit.But found out rolling cancels combos which is handy

[cavalcade]

Can't add much to this thread beyond - amazing cut scenes, terrible game.

I'd have paid ?30 for the cutscenes alone to be honest though.

I'm praying for a second - any idea how it sold?

[Yoshimax]

Apparently it's a trilogy :

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?p=1206754&posted=1#post1206754

But I think that might depend on sales of the first and I just don't see them recouping the dev costs for part1 although maybe that's why it's a trilogy - reuse the same tech for all 3 and recoup over the long term.

[ChrisF]

Apparently it's a trilogy :

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?p=1206754&posted=1#post1206754

Wrong link dude?

[VR46]

Can't add much to this thread beyond - amazing cut scenes, terrible game.

I'd have paid ?30 for the cutscenes alone to be honest though.

I'm near the end of Chapter 4 on Normal and really enjoying it, sure it's probably not game of the year material, but terrible is a bit OTT no ? what didn't you like about it.

[analog dog]

Gotta says I thought it was a fantastic game.
Artistc,focused and playable.
Enjoyed it immensely.

[cavalcade]

I'm near the end of Chapter 4 on Normal and really enjoying it, sure it's probably not game of the year material, but terrible is a bit OTT no ? what didn't you like about it.

Apart from it being not as good as Devil May Cry/God of War or Ninja Gaiden in any way shape or form on any basis of comparison, I think it has a number of fundamental flaws.

Generally it doesn't work, the camera is clumsy, the framerate erratic, the feeling of contact of the weapons wrong, the sign posting and level design patchy. It has a lumbering, archaic feel, of a game that hasn't really learned from every game since the original Devil May Cry. It is never balletic in the grace of the violence it portrays, and that is a critical part of any 3rd person combat game. But, and it is a big but, the non-interactive bits are simply stunning and a new benchmark in gaming, and for this alone it is certainly a worthy title.

It seems this generation all our new benchmarks will be flawed diamonds. Bioshock, Heavenly Sword, Halo 3. All brilliant in many ways, all terrible in many others.