Heavenly Sword - PS3

[JU!]

This still sounds good to play. Gonna get it in Nov/Dec when I get a PS3. Good to hear other opinions on it.

[VR46]

Completed this (on Normal) earlier today, a really enjoyable experience, took my time but still finished it in about ten hours play. Got a bit repetitive towards the end so had no urge to go through on Hard. Cutscenes are just amazing.

A highly recommended game apart from the low completion time.

[Jebus]

I rented this today from Blockbusters, wanted to try it but didn't want to buy it.

My goodness me what a pleasant suprise!

The demo is an appalling advert for the game, it really is. Why they'd choose the second level to show you the game and it's mechanics I honestly don't know.

Playing it from the start is a completely different experience and I have just played it from 1pm - 5:30pm straight. Not often I do that with a game but it is so completely engaging, it really is.

I've heard people saying they have no control over the actions and that it's an over simplistic button masher. Frankly that's bollocks, you COULD go through this just whacking buttons like crazy but you'd be making it harder on yourself. Check the combo's out, you NEED the anti-block moves in chapter 3 (at least I think you do, to make it easier).

The cut-scenes are mind blowing, there are moments where I was screaming "my eyes...my EYEEEEEEEEEES" they are so good.

Kai is one of the most likable characters in recent games and when she points her crossbow at the captains junk and says

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"Password? Or should I hit your weak spot for MASSIVE damage"

I actually laughed out loud, very good.

This may just be me, but this has the best sense of humour in game I've seen it ages...there are loads of little bits that made me giggle and chuckle...but it's also one of the most emotive games I've played in a while. The end of chapter three had me feeling genuinly sad when Bohan is just ragging on his

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son, and you can literally see the sadness and anguish in both Roach's and Nariko's eyes...

...it's fairly heartbreaking to be honest.

I'm glad I didn't buy it because it IS short, but it seems about the length of Halo 3 which I've already stated isn't TOO short. Obviously with no multiplayer though, it's not got that additional game mode to make you want to keep it.

I'm so suprised by this, all the negativity surrounding the demo AND the game release is completely unfounded for me, this has pretty much blown me away and the little niggles (tearing at times) don't bother me that much.

Some of the battles are just...****ing hell, insane.

If you own a PS3 you really should play this from the start and give it a chance, it's really quite superb.

[Jebus]

Oh well, consider a very very good game completely ruined.

The end boss...what a letdown, can't do his third form, it's stupidly hard...about 10 times harder than the entire game put together. Combos mean nothing because he can just skip through whatever he wants.

His fireball attacks, well you can rebound them but it's seemingly random since it does it once, then when I repeat the button command it fails.

The entire boss battle just sucks, it's so "cheaty"...you can't see a bloody thing that's going on, it's a crock of ****!

Well and truly pissed off...really I am.

[Mardigan8]

Thats a shame to hear Jebus as it looked like you were enjoying it. I thought the final boss was tremendous and if you get the timings down for the blocks and make sure to switch stances you can deflect everything he throws. Also, going at him with anything more than a 2/3 hit combo is suicide so try keep it short and remember, 'roll' is your best friend as it gets you away from his attacks and doesn't break a 'heavy' combo string.

The end battle is a beautiful spectacle aswell, its a shame you are having trouble with it as I thought it was a fantastic set piece.

[Number45]

I'd recommend laying off it for a day or two and then going back. I didn't particularly like that last encounter either (And not just for gameplay reasons), but like Mardigan says is really is all about the timing (First time I tried against him the timing seemed off, but if you counter instantly after it hits then you'll get the rebound - also try to keep medium distance for those, too far and he'll dodge the rebound and too close will be much harder to time). Other than that I just hit him a little at a time when he got in range and rolled away as soon as it looked like he would attack.

[Jebus]

Can't really do that 45, it's only a two day rental.

It's not just the difficultly that put me off, the visuals, whilst beautiful are all designed to make the battle more difficult. The second form is particularly nasty, with his

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black wings

making it nearly impossible to avoid him OR hit him properly because you can't see which way he's facing and you can't see which way YOU are facing. From 8:30pm to 10:15pm I tried to defeat him...gutted.

The first and third form have the same problem with the crowd of people running around, whilst it LOOKS amazing, it makes for a frustrating time. There were points where I literally couldn't see where he'd gone because of it.

Regarding getting the rebounds, it really did feel like a lottery. Whilst I can counter the yellow flying attacks pretty well, the blue ones are next to impossible. As for the ground ones, well I don't think you can even avoid them, let alone counter them.

I might try it again, but I won't feel ashamed if I just looked up the ending on youtube if I'm honest. I'm pretty impressed it managed to literally make me play to the last boss in two sittings, it's a very very good game and one most people should try, but I don't understand why this very easy game (I found it very easy all the way through) should ramp the difficultly by at least 10 times for the final fight, it's no reward, it's a punishment!

The visuals and voice acting are absolutely top notch though. Andy Serkis is excellent as Bohan, very funny. It's really a very humerous game in amongst all the emotional scenes, it's got a wonderful sense of humour. There is a lot more depth to the combat that most people would have you believe as well.

It is short though. I think it's about 7-9 hours long first playthrough, which isn't horrendous but I've never replayed these kind of story driven games in the past, so I wouldn't do with this either. I'd feel a little agrieved if I had paid full whack for it, but it is a QUALITY rental...

[Destrukticor]

Finished this last night.

Short, but that wasn't really a prob for me. The last boss i have to agree with jebus, incredibly poor design wise and a difficulty spike that was not justified.
rebounding the blue shots from any of his forms was random at best the yellow ones were a lot easier.
Nice enough game, nowhere near as poor as people have been making out and some very nice cutscenes in realtime as well for the more graphically inclined among you.

[Jebus]

After all the nastiness Bohan had displayed, when you become

->Open Spoiler<-

goddess

it would have been nice if you just totally outclassed him and destroyed him with ease...

Oh and his

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son at the end, heartbreaking again...please don't take my daddy

...

[Number45]

After all the nastiness Bohan had displayed, when you become

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goddess

it would have been nice if you just totally outclassed him and destroyed him with ease...

That is exactly what I wanted (I think I mentioned it in my comments after I'd finished it), would have been a much more fitting finale if you ask me.

[SummAh]

Actually, I thought the last boss was too easy upon first try...I managed to defeat him with ease. He has a amazingly easy pattern to decipher and punish. I don't see the difficulty spike at all.

IMO, a totally outstanding game. It would have been even better if they added a survivor mode where I get to play the last battle field and just keep em goons coming! Nevertheless, well done Ninja theory!

Here's hoping for a sequel.

[VR46]

Didn't someone mention it was part of a trilogy ? after a weeks break really fancy playing it again, shame I sold it now

[Mr M0by]

Didn't someone mention it was part of a trilogy ? after a weeks break really fancy playing it again, shame I sold it now

I haven't started again on Hell Mode, too many games between now and Xmas and too little time to put in the graft at the difficulty, that said I have been replaying some of the checkpoints again (on 'normal') to earn more glyphs. It's extremely satisfying being able to despatch all the enemies with the combo's i have earnt first time round, stringing together extended successive sequences of hits without return. I just redid the whole of Chapter 1 like this and the ease with which i could pull off some pretty impressive attacks and counters second time around made the game feel a bit more like God of War.

[eastyy]

well been playing through hell mode....havent really had many problems i have died but far far less then i did on my first play through on normal

[dogen]

Finished this on Normal last night and I largely enjoyed it. Short and sweet.

The villain character designs were disappointing, in that they generally looked terrible.

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And I can't believe Nariko died. ;_;