[S2 E5] Episode 026 - GoW Rag

The transcription is a conversation between two friends discussing their experiences with the video game God of War Ragnarok. They talk about their initial impressions, the game's storytelling, and its critical reception. One friend mentions upgrading to a PlayStation 5 console to play the game. The conversation also touches on stick drift in game controllers. Overall, they both enjoyed the game and consider it a worthy sequel to the 2018 God of War. There he is dude, what's up, bro? What's up, dude? I'm eating chicken. I just got home from work. How are you? I'm great. I just had a monster. I got a rogue in and then live on air for you and I I'm going to Try a concoction of things. No, we're gonna do speedball 3...2...1...Batlord Welcome back to three to one backlog the podcast where we play and discuss video games from our Backlog, my name is Alec and I'm joined by my best friend ever James. How you doing James? Good evening. Good evening. I'm doing great. I recently purchased something on eBay and it's exactly what I wanted For Those confused check out patreon.com you can see an extended not see because we don't do visuals you can listen to an extended Version of this episode where we go on many many rants anyway, but what we're here today to talk about I just can I go get some Lysol wipes and some cleaning tools? Yes Driving my my urethra is itching. I'm a little irritated about this. That's no good It's not really but you know what I mean, it wasn't a good reference because now it sounds like I'd have an STD There's your intro. I don't know how to say this I'm a very clean person, but then I go to get in my toolbox to grab some of these things While thinking about how I'm gonna express to you how clean I am normally as you can see in my background. I'm fucking clean There's a black widow spider out there. Oh, no, and I feel like that makes me sound unclean I I should I should just leave all this in for the extended Want to just do the intro again, no, no, I'll Know it'll be it'll be perfect so today Tonight this evening for you and I we are talking about focus focus on my She's like sniff. She just doesn't like it. We are gonna talk about God of War Ragnarok, yeah bimbo winter boy It sounded good in my head God of War Ragnarok is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studios and published by Sony Interactive it was released worldwide in November of 2022 for PlayStation 4 and PS 5 Yeah, dude, we got to talk about that. It's the ninth installment in the series Chronologically interesting. I didn't know that and oh, yeah and a sequel to 2018's God of War. Yeah, I've really enjoyed this one. I don't want to you know, dive into too much You know, I don't want to start the praise off too too early. But man, I Really liked this one. Yeah, I I'll Yeah, I'll go with that. Oh, I liked it, too I initially didn't think I was liking it as much and the game really comes together at the end way more than I Thought it would I think I think it did a much better job than 2018 of like really Diving into a really good story and like how they portrayed everything how they they split up different scenes and different interactions Between different characters. Yeah, they they it felt like a it this was one of the One of the first times a game has made me really feel like I was playing through a movie Truthfully. Yeah. Yeah, I I talked to you a little bit about it while we were playing it and I said that I felt like the game was kind of all over the place a little bit and When it comes together at the end I see there's a lot of movies that do that where you kind of Game of Thrones did it and then everything everybody's stories Kind of come together at the end and this game is no exception It really it did that it accomplished it really well And I don't know if this is the right time to talk about that for me, but no, well What was very dramatic? Yeah and you know I said I said movie but I think like a Miniseries because when they would split stuff up and we'll go into more depth later on. I feel like it was more The segments felt like episodes, yeah, so yeah, it did break those down really really well, but chapters Chapters that is a great descriptive word. Thanks. So you good at this? I run a pot I hope we're on a podcast. So I Yet again, I forget when I did this last but I have no notes I I'm so I'm gonna try and remember this stuff in order you have to keep me truthful here We're raw dog and Ragnarok here. We are our dog and it's hard. I got notes. We can go with my notes I'm keeping it. I'm trying to keep it airtight. But you know, who knows? So who help you hold on this was we're still in the season of James, right? Yeah, this was yours, okay Yeah, it was it was if you didn't pick it. I would have picked it. So yeah, okay Also, yeah, look at the season of James and and ask yourself if I considered you in it at all I get the history of Jane. I appreciate it. We have see you stars. That was that was all you far cry 3 Yeah, I really enjoyed that one. It was a little cocoon was out of left field I feel like I was not expecting that at all But the game was a game that I I actually picked because you do love that You do like that developer a lot and I thought it was gonna be a little different than it was You know, you would enjoy it more than I did but in our Christmas episode you'd you had joked about like Oh, we're gonna get you know, Ori 2 and Hollow Knight and Shovel Knight or whatever. It was where they had me shovel night Well at those a dude, honestly, I mean I need sure I would have picked them but after playing through See you stars and and you having A Negative reception. I kind of felt bad and I wanted to pick games that I thought you would enjoy more dude. You're my friend That's what I do. I mean, I appreciate it. Yeah, man, but I don't know These are games. I also enjoyed and there's funny, you know, you're gonna get to pick one game and then I can pick gory And you'll fucking love it. Oh Yeah, this is Number four of your five of back-to-back picks so we are moving right along so Let's get into it. So this was on your backlog. Yes I mean it was my pick it was it was your pick. Yeah, if you didn't pick it I was gonna have it later in the year. So we definitely were to be playing it in 2024 for sure Yeah, one thing I didn't pull I did not pull critics scores But if I had to guess this this has got to be ranking really high good. Yeah I want to say it was tens across the board. It actually ranked I did look it up because I I felt for a while that the God of War 2018 was a better game and I looked it up and that I saw that that is not the general consensus at all other people Felt that this game was better than 2018 and I thought okay, maybe I'm not I haven't finished it yet So I don't really have this thing in that so it did better than 2018, which I think was a 10 out of 10 But it was like a nine point eight versus nine point nine one or some shit, right? But it was a little bit of a better reception. So cool So I did this on ps4 the one we found in the trash Last year and it's why we're able to it's still just trucking along dude and for Christmas You sent me the ps4 a new ps4 controller, which was really neat because I had some knockoffs that had gotten stick drift after like 20 hours of play How they hold up still good. The one you sent me is Pristine still it's great. Let me ask you a question about stick drift Did you ever have stick drift in a game controller before like newer consoles like when you were a kid? Did you ever have stick drift not that I can remember but I definitely weird I never did I've never had it in anything, but I have it in I mean, I don't controllers I don't want to say it's like the quality of our stuff nowadays is just slowly degrading But I feel like that's what's happening. I don't want to say it, but I feel like that's what's happening, bro Unless you want to I have it all this. Yeah, unless you want to pay through the nose For a controller. I mean that's starting to go away, bro No more and more third-party companies have been making controllers a lot cheaper. Welcome to fucking controller Yeah, I'm sorry more and more companies third-party have been making cheaper controllers with The Hall effect sensors that don't get stick drift was first maybe first introduced in the Dreamcast controller Right as pictured right here. Oh but yeah, so more controller companies are doing that and you're getting like the ones with the back buttons for Programmable back buttons and Hall effect sensors for 80 bucks and 80 80 bucks. I mean, that's that's a lot of money for it is different for a thing That's necessary to use the console Sure, but that's third That's third-party controllers that have all these upgraded features when a first party Xbox or DualSense controller It's like 70 bucks. So you pay $10. Yeah, you're two back buttons or four back buttons You know like the programmable ones and You know stick drift free sticks. I don't know. It's a good it's good. It's hopefully sticks Hopefully what comes of that is that the the companies that make these controllers and make the consoles step it up You hear that a new Sony? Well, Sony has already at least tried the the new DualSense edge controller They're like it's expensive as fuck 200 something bucks. Oh has Replaceable joysticks you can just push a button and pop them now and buy new modules if that happens, which is good But then you're still buying modules, right? So I was on the ps4, but you Had a little upgrade since our last episode. Yeah, man. I So I started playing the game on ps4 as Planned and I just I really wanted to this was the time like I said I wanted to do it for this game and I said it was ideal and I just kind of checked things over and saw like what I had some trade-in value and There was a just after Christmas deal on Trade-ins with GameStop and I had like a newer console like that. I traded my ps4 and My brother-in-law had given me a couple consoles that I Duplicates of so and I he gave me permission to trade them in and he said get that ps4 or get that ps5 nice so yeah, it was uh It was kind of fun actually to go in and end up like I haven't bought a new console in person. Mm-hmm So long so it was kind of fun Man dude, yeah Honestly, I don't think it made any fucking difference Visually at all because I played an hour and a half of this game on a ps4 and then I switched to ps5 and I Swear, it didn't look any different to me. Are you on a 4k? Yep. I had dude I have quite a nice TV again because my brother-in-law gave me a very nice LG 4k TV I mean, this is he looking for more Siblings, I mean, yeah, dude, let me get his number I After the cousin does he have another sister I could marry? Oh wait, hold on, honey. Uh Sorry, I'm old. I'm also married Yep. Yeah. Well, it's a funny joke, right? Haha Haha, he yeah, basically this podcast is sponsored by my brother-in-law. He's a great dude ladies So yeah, I played it on anyway, dude. I'm sorry. We're so off track right now Like we're having a good time, but we're clearly not focused. It's we had we haven't recorded it in in a minute Ages, I think it's I think this is probably one of our longer stretches of not recording We're I think we're over a month. Yeah at least finest. So yeah No, you tried to schedule time But you had to go out of town and then you had a day where we were gonna Going to record and it just didn't work out. So yeah And speaking of which if you hear like the world's going to end type alarm going off behind me That means I have to go to work. So okay, no problem, but hope not scheduling is always just Crazy, but we are here now, so we're gonna move it down to oh wait I'm gonna say what I'm gonna say. Yeah, it's just I have to say it. I got the App on my phone on my Steam Deck called Chiaki for Steam Deck. Mm-hmm It's a way to essentially play your PlayStation 4 or 5 in on a handheld and it's fucking flawless Like it was crazy that I was playing a game It's 60 frames per second in my bedroom when my PlayStation was actually in my office at that time Yeah, just it's really cool. It's free It works very very well and there's even like controller Setups because the ps5 controller has like a little trackpad on it, right? So there's like a way that there are controller profiles to make the Steam Deck essentially a ps4 or 5 controller It just worked really well. I was very impressed with it It's the same type of remote play stuff that I used with the backbone for the other games that we played on it, right? It's just it's a open source Linux based program and it worked very very well I don't know I was blown away by it you and I will still have to sit down and maybe set that up or try to set That up, but also set up for our next game because we've talked about that a little bit But yeah, I still need to set that up and get that going. Yeah, we can if you're well I don't know how late you want to stay up tonight, but we could do that tonight if you wanted to We'll do it and if you guys want us to we'll record it just in case If you guys like being punished and piracy, no, no, no, it's not piracy piracy. It's fine Yeah, we own ROMS. I mean we own discs. Yes. I'll lend you my discs I have a copy of this greatest hit Sony Moving down five moving down to graphics and art style now the graphics. I think we've already touched on They they were really good I don't think the ps5 seems to make much of a difference from what you can tell Maybe with newer games maybe like because this game was released on both both consoles, right, you know maybe like all if it was on ps4 it was a 9.999 repeating and it's a 10 on on ps5 for me. Nice What do you think? I would agree. It looked really good. It looked Very similar in quality to 2018. It wasn't too far off. They're using a lot of the same Models and things I didn't see much of a difference in quality The character models may have changed a little bit because time has progressed in that world So, you know our choice is a little he's got a little bit more tattoos that have come out of nowhere And yeah, man, if I had a kid, I don't know if I'd be tattooing and who is doing the tattooing curious But honestly dude if I had to guess probably him because he seems like a mischievous little bastard They were really good good Just shy of 10 if not 10 for graphics art style really good. It's it's they got great character models I think they're Did you did you have anything? Graphically that stood out in a bad way that you want to talk about because I saw some things that were just a little weird I will discuss if you have your ears ready. I've got my ears ready. So I noticed Did you okay? Do you are you familiar with the? Character model for Bay the actress that plays her Karen and wool or something like that. I think her name is yes. Okay. Yeah She's been a lot of stuff. Yes, I noticed hers was Glaringly terrible when they do. Yeah when the model is Looking straight at the camera. So when you're looking straight on sometimes it was really fine And then other times it was really weird when they get more of a from the side profile Yeah, it looks okay But when she had a lot of scenes where she was looking you were looking like dead in In the front of her at her face. Yeah, and it was just a blocky mess The shading I think was the problem Yeah, I just that was really the only thing that I can bring up but it was pretty jarring when I saw it Yes, I do remember that And I I think it may have been prevalent on or it may have been present On some other characters, but hers was very very bad Particularly, I don't know if it's because we're familiar with her Face normally. Mm-hmm. I don't know. It's like she's been in a lot really did look like her She looked like the actress, you know, yes. Yes, but yeah, just just that that was really it I everything else generally looked really good. I really liked the Like the winter atmosphere of the game like in Midgard where it was like very like cold And it just looks good I feel like it's graphically kind of easy to Make it look good to like it's like water in a lot of games like it. Yeah, it looks very pretty Yeah, that was that. I don't know. It was a 10 10 for me Phase actress I'll give her a 4 in the game in the game 9.8 in real life Yeah, dude, but yeah, then when she was in one of the vampire shows as well, like I never watched it Yeah heard. Yeah, because I looked it up like, you know, I was like is that her like it was obviously her That's the thing. Yeah, it was very obviously her maybe they were just trying to change her likeness enough to where I wasn't associated so heavily with her, but That's all man. That's it. She's been floating around the TTR TTR PG space For a couple years, so she's done some Dungeons and Dragons stuff. Yeah She will help some people are very into that like voice acting and stuff and then they seem to get into that kind of shit Too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm Yeah, are we talking about this game still? I'm sorry, or is this the We're still in it dude, I'm sorry, I'm just I know I'm on track even though I'm a fan girl No, we're a fan girl. Yeah. Oh, yeah, dude going from graphics. We're gonna go into sound quality Yeah, I thought it was great great dude. Yeah, that's good. It was good I don't have any complaints about it except I mean, I'm sure my wife would complain about it But Kratos is a loud fella. Yeah. Yeah so much of the game was like you just picture her sitting on the couch doing anything and so much of the game is just like It's a little much but it's part of the game and that's great. Oh, you don't call him the god of war and he's quiet, you know, not Fantastic. We'll go down to voice acting and I thought all these were well Okay, you got a complaint. So brother I Got I got a weird one so So the voice the voice Acting I think was fine. I don't think anybody had like a really bad like really bad dialogue or You just they were they were they were presenting it weird or anything. I think the All the actors that were portrayed in here and that that contributed were top-notch on how they sounded Yeah for me And I'm not gonna get into it later. I'll get into it now I think the actor choice for Odin threw me off a little bit. I disagree. I love to disagree with you I mean, that's okay. You're fine, buddy I I was gonna do this for 2018 and I didn't do it again for this one I was gonna like look up stuff and try to familiarize myself with some Norse mythology Because I'm not an expert in at all, but I swear every time I've seen Odin depicted in any kind of media or any Any anything he's like he looks scary and like Like like he's a very intense presence And I wish we could have my brother-in-law on this episode who call him You cuz you mentioned that and I mentioned it to him and then he said This is what he said. He's like dude. Think about like think about the lore of Odin and like I don't know the Lord Which is why I one of his eyes just for knowledge. Mm-hmm. And so basically Odin's a fucking nerd, bro Yeah, yeah, but I do agree. He's like, you know, he is Thor's father So you think of him as like it is bigger like he's obviously stronger and bigger than the door, right? Right? Yeah, I don't know I mean for a guy that gave one of his eyes for knowledge like you could depict him a little differently and I do like The way this game had a different take on So many of these characters, I will say The initial shock I got from him coming in the cabin early in the game. Yeah It kind of equalized by the end of the game. I got used to him and I ended up liking the choice, but at first it was just not who I was expecting at all Yeah, I was another thing like Like like I was expecting like a like a Jason Momoa Structure, right somebody who's just like like well every fucking character. I know right? Yeah, I know It's it's I and maybe that's because I we may be conditioned a little bit with like our cinematic Yeah, you know Hollywood and everything. So You know that could that could be me just not knowing the lore Well, I think he is generally you're correct He is generally depicted as like a larger-than-life character and everything But I think it's cool though because he's you know as in this game. He's playing more of like a cunning character Yeah, and cunning characters in your like in D&D and stuff like they're not necessarily You don't have if you think of a barbarian you think of Kratos if you think of a guy that's cunning and talks his Way in and out of everything you think I'm Odin. So it's I I feel like it's an appropriate character model Mm-hmm. And like you said you kind of developed maybe a little bit of a different opinion. I pray. Yeah. Yeah by the end of it I I Couldn't get used to it. But I I was it just seemed normal by the time I finished the game. So yeah Yeah, I really did like it. What else is he in? I don't fucking know Um, I don't he's in a lot of TV shows I forget what his name is now you have a much better Like recollection of who these like who these people are, you know I don't know you had you know more of like voice acting and stuff because you you follow more sounds closely Richard chef Okay, as American actor best know for playing Toby's Ziegler Ziegler on the West Wing Okay, and he was on a couple other things Not a couple a lot of other things starting all the way back in 1987 in a short film called arena brains Called what arena brains? Let's see, let's see if there's anything you would know Seven Seven movie seven he was in that he was Where'd it go? He was Margaret Walker. No, no the deep impact He was in Ray I'm skipping over so many things I'm looking for like ones that I really know that's all right We can move on we don't have to know this is this is super super important man of steel Entourage I feel like he was like a lot of I don't know if he's been like a leading actor in anything He's been like I'm like a lot of like side characters and stuff. Yeah, so Anywho, yeah, I don't know any of those things. I don't know the guy but I liked him He was a fine. He was a fine gentleman. I'd say he did fine. Yeah, we're in the voice acting section. But yeah, I thought from Voice acting perspective. Everybody was on Point all the way through. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I want to make a complaint, but I can't London Lundy Luna Lundy Lunda Lunda. Yeah, she was the Guest best character best best actress. No, she's she's got a lot of like Really really good quality a lot to the table Yeah, she brings two really good qualities to the table on the table her voice and her acting. Oh, yeah What can I say about her? Nothing? Okay, that's fine All right, let's go boys acting was good a lot of returning characters So if you have any complaints, it better be about a new character, and I don't have any complaints at all I wish that Mamiya talked more in this game He took a backseat in anything where tear was in the game a mirror did not talk which was weird Yeah, like literally anytime tear was in the room. He didn't talk but I think it was it was because in 2018 we got a lot of like Story and exposition through him you get a lot more of that at the end of the game once you've beaten it and you you do The endgame stuff you do get a lot more of that, but I just I don't know He was my favorite character in that game. I did an episode on About sidekicks and that guy is a great sidekick and I should have mentioned it Yeah, it's all bad for not because he's fucking phenomenal. He really is. Yeah, but yeah good voice actor Look, I could listen to him talk all day. I actually did listen to him talk all day. I think Is he in anything else? I'm not familiar with him outside of this game. No, don't look it up because I'll start listening to it It's that good Okay, so now we're on game mechanics and stuff yes gameplay and mechanics yeah, so I remember you kind of had a like a Qualm or something with the gameplay of God of War 2018. You said it felt kind of repetitive and stuff How do you feel it did now Ragnarok? I? So I found that the play style of Kratos, I'm Isn't my favorite. It was it was a lot of the same stuff. I feel like for Ragnarok With Kratos specifically all they did was change his Spartan ability Or give you more options and he got a new weapon Yes, he did get a new weapon, but you're not wrong He really did like if you picked up the endgame of either one of them, you could probably manage it. Mm-hmm Yeah, all his mechanics are pretty much the same for his Blades of Chaos and the Leviathan Axe those were exactly the same However, you did have a lot of things different if you think about it. You had multiple Secondary characters and well, yeah, I'm talking about Kratos specifically. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I just want I look I like this game I love disagreeing with you. No, so they did add a spear that you that has story reasons Later on in the game. So there was a new weapon and That was that was fine I didn't really like how the spear handled but neither but it was it was a nice change of pace, I guess Yeah, so now this would be a good time to mention. I liked Their fisting who are we calling it that air fisting? What please in the last game my favorite way to fight was I just love the impact of using like melee Not not a weapon at all an arm Arm. Yeah, okay barefisted barefisted. I but that was my yeah That was my that was my favorite way to play in the first game And this game actually allowed me to kind of indulge in that a little too much Because there was Lunda Lunda made armor that was specific to melee And it had like a poison effect to your melee attacks and then increase the damage of poison I don't know if it was overpowered if I just liked it a lot if it was easier to manage But my first thing was always to like throw the axe and then just go in there Barehanded barefisted barefisted. Can we get can we get a t-shirt made? I only barefist. I only go barefist. There you go Raw fisting. No, okay. I like barefisted better. Yeah, dude But yeah, so yeah, I don't know man it was cool I like that build a lot because it made it really I could play the way that I enjoyed playing And it was very strong. See and you you're I don't think it might have been overpowered, right? And you're alluding to An aspect of the gameplay that I want you to go more in depth on that. I don't like on any Type of game because it it takes me out of the immersion of playing What's that? I don't look at armor statistics and stats like really ever. I it gets it's It's really it's too For a video game where I want to just go and play it gets too crunchy for me isn't that the D&D side and the which which is funny because I Do like D&D but it's a different Style of playing a game. Yeah, right. Well, you're not gonna get through D&D quick. That's the whole point roof, you know but for for for this I Whenever anytime I have to spend more than like 20 seconds in a menu, I don't like it So, okay shit man, well, I guess you know this game you could have just worn any armor and struggled through it if you had to Yeah, I on did you play middle setting or did you play easy? I started middle setting and I bumped it down and I bumped it down for Same reason but I got a couple comments on it is Time I I don't want to spend a bunch of time struggling through Oh Attempting over and over and over again, right? I I my time is very precious. I feel like I'm next to death I don't want to die trying to get through a game I want to get through the game and play it and enjoy it Especially as I've gotten older. I like the stories of games. I don't if Honestly, if if I if they had a version of this even below easy I mentioned this on Death Stranding where like I just walk through and then get to the story beat and play that I'm fine with It they have a version of this game. That's so easy. You don't have to buy the game. It's called YouTube. Yeah So no and and also, oh I was still in that Transition weird time of like starting a new job So I I didn't know if I was gonna have time or if I like did all the side beats So I didn't do all I didn't 100% it So I kind of like really be lined to the end of the game So, yeah, I Did you know the the side quest stuff in this game? I didn't enjoy it as much I guess we're just gonna get it. We don't know that part of a gameplay mechanic Sure, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did in 2018. This is me and that that's the thing. I The side quest that I did do Yeah, I've really liked okay more so than 2018 Maybe I just didn't do the right ones, but so many of them felt like I was just reading Tablets or something it well, that's like they're collectibles but did you do the one where it was the it was a Mimir side quest where they it was like the massive turtle or something So in Midgard, I don't know. I have in my notes. I have giant tur law Did I forget? It's a tur law. It's a giant tur law. I have that written down but yeah So right right out right outside of I think it's tears temple in Midgard that like central hub from the 2018 off to the side there's a set of islands and You see like a geyser going off But it ends up being a blowhole of like a whale or something. Oh my god. It was so good. It was basically, you have to Basically, it's this massive creature that tear No, not sorry not tear that Mimir tricked into basically holding up a building or something or a series of buildings on this islands and He wanted Kratos to go and try to set it free. I remember him mentioning it, but I didn't get to that side Yeah, it was a game. This is a game where I will go back and play through all of it I'd like to because I'm not on the time crunch of like getting this one done to get a podcast out right and Get into the next game because there isn't one yet So it will be one that I intend to play then do more of the side quests on But I think they I think they really took The side quests not that they didn't take it seriously before but I really feel like they put some TLC into these So any anytime you were to like get off the boat in Midgard to you there was something of substance there Yeah, it wasn't just you know walk in 20 feet fight a troll and then Get a chest there were a couple of those but they were like there were things you could do Yeah I really I did a Mimir side quest where he went and you kind of learned more about his wife Or is the girl I didn't do that one. It was so boring. It was boring to me. Mm-hmm I don't know. It was just boring But I don't know maybe I just happened to hit like the really good side quests on on the last game But some of them just felt like fetchy like go and find Linda's armor. That was a side quest I did I wanted to do that one, but I didn't have time. That was so yeah That was the I was joking about stinky fist build So the poison turns everything green and there's like and it has like this like noxious cloud look and you're like punching it And it just like blows up like these green clouds and your brother. He actually called it stinky fist build And I thought that was pretty funny, but that's what I used So yeah, so I don't know it was fun to weave in and out of the different weapons you could like throw a spear from a distance and then go in with the axe and then when you're at the end of the Axe combo switch to the chains of chaos and then do the same thing Mm-hmm, and then some of the the death animations or the like, yes They made the severe particularly were very cool. Mm-hmm. Did you ever see any of those? Yeah I think the one I saw the most was he kind of like flung them up and I think spear them and slammed them back Down I think okay There was one. I really liked where he just like kept adding spears to somebody yes, and it's cool because the concept of the weapon is it's like you can just make another spear anytime you want up to you Know so you could like impale multiple spears and just keep making infinite new ones in the game in the Lord Yeah, I guess but that was pretty cool. I don't know I loved that they definitely put like the most work into the animations for that weapon because that was the new weapon of the game right, right, so Yeah Mechanics to me it played really well who we haven't talked about from a mechanical standpoint is Oh, yeah, true the boy the boy Artreus he we actually get to Take control of Artreus and go on little side adventures and things And we get to actually play a ranged character And I may lay if you want to be or melee which which I think is why I enjoyed playing his because it had a Lot more flexibility than Kratos to me. Yeah, so I Loved every one of his sections. It felt a lot easier I don't know if it's because I was ranged or because you inherently kind of overpowered but it did feel a lot easier It did it was fun. It was fun. I I mean If I was to really think about this from like a from the eyes of The studio. Yeah for the longevity of this series. I think we have been playing through Artreus aka Loki's like like their version of like an origin and they're gonna set it or like yeah They're in they're gonna set up his own game Kratos is going to maybe not immediately in the next game, but slowly take a backseat And make room for the new God of War. I agree So I so I said so with that mind, I think they put a little bit extra sauce on our traces sections To ease the fan base into the chance of like seeing Him take a more front and center Yeah, I I think they clearly wanted you to like him more. Oh, yeah, like he was a more likable character He wasn't totally a piece of shit Yeah, he didn't even really have that much of a piece of shit moment Even this a couple times where he became kind of bratty again He immediately went and was pretty likable in his own right? So yeah, he was really it's his like coming-of-age story But I think I think with that what we need to do is just go ahead and get right into storyline Yeah, so this is gonna be the the the probably the meatiest part of this episode I've been going back and forth trying to figure out how we want to do this one without you know Because we don't want to just go in and retell the entire thing But I hate doing that what I would like to do is try to talk about some of the moments that we remember And maybe talk about the different matchups because we we we run into some situations where Artreus might go with somebody else And Kratos might go with somebody else as their companion. So there was a lot of a lot of moving around Of the party as it as it were so yeah, okay, but to start off I want to talk about the intro to the game, which was really intense. It was it was very good It was a great intro just it was a great way to snap right back into the game and they explained a lot of cool Yeah, so you want to say We start off in the first couple minutes with being ambushed by Freya and that was a really yeah remember that that was like the first 45 seconds of the game, I think and Cuz she's still pissed and Goes on a full-on, you know attack on both Artreus and Kratos mostly trying to focus on Kratos as they're on a sled pulled by wolves and it was a really intense scene I think mostly it was quick time events and a little bit of navigating right it would go from between the two Yeah, I'd be like navigating. Yeah, but I hardly navigating. Yeah, really because it was it was it was mostly You know just kind of keep you in the center of of the trail but it was mostly punching a sad woman in the face But I cannot remember with this Interaction in particular but with the quick time events where it was like a boss battle or a fight with somebody notable They would do like combo attacks like our tree. It showed That since we'd laugh I don't believe so since we last left off in 2018 It's been a couple years now our trays and Kratos are Really working together in their fighting technical efficiently Yeah, so the the fighting between them is really really fun when they went to go later Way later, I think talk to Surtur and they fought some Valkyries. Yeah Those combos where it was our trays and and in Kratos and a combo wing up for like a finisher Really really good animations really really good fun Sequences. Yeah, so I did like that they added that Particularly the first one that really I was like, oh shit. They're really doing it was the Drecky fight it was like the big not dragon thing, but it was like the things in the water There was a dead one and then a trace was like like I've never yeah And then you fight it. It's a big and another one comes out and of course and you guys kill it and like you guys They focus on doing it together and it was cool because oh, yeah, that's when you know They're they kind of got it figured out how to work together really? Well, they've definitely grown a lot together it's showing that they're their relationship has strengthened and Elevated and they're really Really really really getting along. Yeah, so I Happened in the in that part. There was I can't remember really but with an arrow and he was like, yeah We knew this and then he didn't have to yeah I yeah, I couldn't remember if they did it with that, but it was made me think of it, but that finishes up And I think it's stalemate. They I think they put up phase wards again, and that was helping Ward Freya from getting into their home so they were safe in their little bubble But also whatever the the Raiders were also awarded because of it too, yes. Yeah, the only yeah, please good Say that you you then you end up meeting Thor and Odin That's kind of where the like little like flash-forward thing happens at the end of the first game Why why super not there yet? No, I there was something there was something else notable that happened between Fred and Thor Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, there was a good bit of shit. Yes for you, right? We get to know if it's already been established from the end of 2018 that our trace is Loki from the mythology So, you know in the mythology That the little bit that I know Loki in different ways, but had a relationship to a Wolf named Fenrir. Yeah, and we meet Fenrir as a Regular, you know everyday wolf as a buddy, but he's sick and he ends up passing away. Whoops Artreus there's some shenanigans some little like magic happens that nobody seems to notice or Trace of notice, but he's grief stricken. He goes off to clear his head Kratos goes to find him and then gets into this awesome fight with this massive bear. Oh, yeah Yeah, that ends up being Loki that like transformed out of like a bear. Yeah Yeah, that was I was actually not expecting that when me either. Yeah, I But I do recall being like I was actually saying this I was like, man I really hope he doesn't kill this fucking bear while I'm fighting it I'm like, I hope he can just like, you know, put the bear in an arm bar and get it to tap Cuz it Cuz it was it was a named Fight, it wasn't just yeah, you know, what was their name? I cannot remember to be honest It was a it was a yeah, I bet if I just type bear fight rag the rock It'll show you that it was something of you won't Bjorn. Yeah. Yeah, which does that mean bear? Possibly. Yep, very cleverly named fucking the bear named bear. Okay, they'll go Great thing. I actually cooler. I remember I remember when the name popped up. I was like, well, that's interesting That's got to be for a reason But I did not make the connection that it was Artreus in in like a transformed rage right, so Me neither really really fun It kind of teased at the fact that he's gonna be able to transform. This is some like god power he has Or or I think it's I don't know if it was that he was a god or if it was His giant magic because they go into that later on too, but it was one of the two. Yeah I don't know what he is I was gonna say did he acquired the soul of it? But then I don't know if he's because Loki is a giant but he's also a god as well So, I don't know where he was getting it from but yeah Yeah, and I guess in in my head until I thought about it I kind of thought it was just his ability to extract a soul or whatever. Mm-hmm But now that I think about it probably well, you know, it's it could be because While Kratos was going to look for him. He came across a Slain bear right? So either Artreus killed the bear like like, you know All regular willy-nilly in human form or he was already transformed that I don't know and it was kind of ambiguous I didn't really say Also, I was thinking about this while we were taking a break a moment ago I thought I'm curious how much time Elapsed during the Ragnarok story and I say that a couple a couple It's kind of because no one from 2018 to Ragnarok that was three years, but I'm saying from the gate within the game We just play that we're reviewing now in Ragnarok How much time has elapsed while we were playing because I feel like it's only a couple days or weeks. Yeah Like it could have been it could have been very long The only reason I said is because later on way way later They come back through that area and the bears still there It's it's just a dead carcass, but it didn't really change much so they didn't make any animation changes So it just still looked like the same slain bear. So it it I'm just I'm do just a little passing thought but yeah It might have been in just a couple days or maybe it just wasn't something that they felt the need to change enough True so Then to what you had alluded to a moment ago. We see The end credit the end scene from 2018 where Thor shows up. That was real fun. Yeah, I really liked how Thor kind of just he didn't really want to like kill you. Obviously. He wasn't allowed to kill you He was told I think he really wanted to he wanted to but he wasn't going to he made that clear He was he even He even revives you which I loved how he kind of broke the fourth wall and it starts to go into the continue Screen and then he I don't know this might have only happened to me because I died fighting him But he kills you or he killed me when I was playing and then he's like no no No, I get to pick when this fights over and then he fucking revives you with his with the the hammer He like shocks you back into the fight. I think yeah, I think that did happen to me as well, dude It's so fucking cool. That was pretty cool But yeah, I don't know I thought that the fourth wall break of that was really cool Um, I liked that that was that was a challenging fight. I think on purpose it was it was a fun fight Yeah, it was but yeah So that that was good and I'd like how he really his plan was just to see you get Actually get really mad like just to prove it like you're not a good guy anymore Like he just wanted to prove that to you that you're not You're not the guy that you're trying to always be right, you know, and I thought that was pretty cool You know and that whole fight turns out was really just to give Odin a chance to talk to Loki alone Yeah, so that there was and that was and that was like kind of the first Sneak peek or first look at how the game was going to like split your time. So things were happening simultaneously But we could go back and like play through some of it and that's it wouldn't being a sneaky dude sneaky sneaky Let's see fast-forwarding a bit we End up going and Sheltering with Brock incendiary they're back. Yeah in the on one of the branches branches of Idris, oh and I can I just say I the the dwarves are great. Yeah, I They really gave each character their due in the story. Yeah, are you side? I wasn't sure if you were anything more on that. Are you are you are you? Are you sidetracked with cleaning a controller the controller is pristine, okay The controller is clean dude. It's perfectly clean. We're working sir. No You're right, and I've never fucked off while I was working Yeah, no, they I don't know man Well, I thought I honestly thought you were gonna say more about them then like it gave them their due So I wasn't sure if you were elaborating on that. No that they they really dove in to I mean, they didn't go like crazy backstory with them. I you know outside of like conversations that they had like there was a moment where Our trace was kind of going against Kratos's Instruction and like snuck away, but then Sindra came along with them So Sindri was the companion to our trace and I and a couple themes and yeah Yeah, and that's I put in my notes you kind of get the little the story backstory on Brock a little bit Yes through Sindri stuff that Brock doesn't even know about him. Right, right. That was kind of you know Disappointing to hear. Yeah, but I think it kind of explains part of it. Like he doesn't look like any other Dwarves He looks now was that why he was blue. I think so Because they all the other Dwarves new to there was something when you go into the town of Dwarves They literally fucking hide from them. They know something's wrong with them So right different and I think that's it because before they had explained that as like The method in which they do their crafting was different. So it's getting changed Oh, well, I thought that I thought that that was the reasoning they gave from 2018 I think it was but I don't think it was the like I think it was just like a like a yeah Maybe that was like Sindri's answer to it or wrong the sumptive answers, but there are no other Dwarves that look like Brock So, how come Brock's blue and you're not? Why? Oh, it's fine. Very good question Actually, you see my brother's not as careful as I am. In fact, he prefers to work with metals using His own bare hands No gloves says it's the only way he can hear what it wants to be Touch enough raw silver and it changes your skin irreparably forever I Wouldn't bring it up to him. No, you know how sensitive he can be. I guess that makes sense. I Really liked the dive they took into those I was and I texted you about this I was getting real Creepy vibes from Sindri and some of those interactions. I think it was just me Misinterpreting like his guilt in the situation or like his somberness To To his backstory, but I thought he was like I I I think I messaged you like, you know If Sindri takes a turn and becomes evil, I Wouldn't be super surprised. Right, right. So, you know things progress a little differently, but Yeah, really fun interactions. So any Anything with Sindri and Artreus the of note that you remember I Did yeah, it's just in there in that time period a little what I do recall was them you meet Freya you know when you you seek out Freya and I just thought it really showed how like Far gone Freya seemed to be and she looks she looks upset all the time Like her makeup is all fucked like her outfit looks sad. It's even called like the morning garb or something like that I think it has like a name that was like right and sounding but the one thing that stood out to me is like Freya Is like in the first game. She lives in a giant turtle. Maybe that's what it was Maybe that's why that's in my notes But she's like got it just a dead animal in her tent and that's like Freya would never kill an animal Yeah food, you know the Freya that we that we meet initially But yeah She just has like a dead animal sitting in her tent when you go to approach her and I was like man That's that would just that it was just crazy that she went that far off from how she had always been just consumed by her with rage and Sadness and that wasn't like like directly in your face like it's not part of the story it's just something that you may or may not observe and I thought that was a nice way to add that in because it tells You a lot about her without actually saying it Exactly. I did like how Freya was portrayed there and I did like how they Brought her back into the story to the group. And at first I was a little like yeah so so later on we interact with Freya it comes to blows and there is a fight and it becomes a not a stalemate but a Like a bargain so She catches I think Kratos unawares or her or him or a trace. I can't remember But anyway, they get into an altercation and basically Freya has the upper hand and can make a killing blow But I forget who it was on and says hey I'll give you a temporary truce if you can help help me break Odin's curse. That's keeping me in Midgard, right? Yeah, so she then has to get into the party get into the group and then you take her on Some of your adventures kind of quickly. She joins the fray Yeah Suspiciously fast. Well, that's how it well That's what I thought at first and then later on our trace goes off and does something solo or is told to stay back or something and Kratos and Freya go on a mission just the two of them and they they end up making amends But that whole process that whole storyline is told Similarly to how Mimir would tell stories in 2018 just as you're walking Kratos and Freya would have those conversations of like you know Kratos was telling her about his family and how How his Life has been just pulled apart by gods. So she started from a bond Yeah, they definitely trauma bond. Yeah, you know and it's not through cutscenes It's through dialogue while you're traveling in different zones and it's one of the things Yeah at first I didn't like it, but then I was like, you know what? This is actually a good Break from like your standard cutscene to just well, that's what yeah And I feel like that's a realistic way that people would yeah interact like they wouldn't sit down and talk about it They'd be talking about it while they're walking or something, right? And it's also really nice Like you said you can get a lot of story across without it having to stop you from playing right and I think that's good Particularly when when I I remember when I was playing they were having that conversation a lot of it while they were climbing. Mm-hmm Yeah, and it was like Personally, I think I'd focus on the climb But that also seems like something to gods would do right while they're just you know They're not they don't feel like their lives are at risk You put me on this hanging off the side of a mountain and I'm not talking much Well, I think it was the designers were putting the conversation in a place where you couldn't speed up your travel So I know it was it was very smart move. Yeah, I think it was that one Yeah, so by the end of that I really did enjoy how how Freya and Kratos made amends. I really did like that It was it was definitely a good A good segment. Yeah, I agree. I feel like it was you saw it coming probably. Yeah Do you think they're gonna date, you know? My wife asked me that, you know, I I Maybe a little more explicit. I don't I don't want them to I Really didn't want to see romance in this game There are a couple scenes and a couple interactions where I think we're so conditioned to Expect it for sure, you know like there there was and we're gonna bring this up in a minute But there was something with our Treya's and he was put in a position where in any other form of media There would have been romance and I was I was fully expecting it and I'm glad they didn't yeah, so I Plenty of options now. Yeah, it doesn't have to just there's more than one girl out there for him. Maybe Maybe well, I mean right we're talking about anger Boda stupid name and What's the other girl's name? Soon or his daughter. Yeah soon. I think it's what it was Yeah, so I could see her still hating him somehow I could see her somehow turning against him Yeah, it's death. I'm really interested to see what they do with the series next Yeah, because I want to see what they're going to continue because now we're jumping ahead a little bit but Ragnarok the based on the name of the game we just played as happened and There's a fallout for that. So the people of Where do they where do they live? Where does Odin live? I'm blanking on his hours as guard. So as guard is kind of out of commission, right? Also, I wanted to say since you mentioned as guard death stranding definitely takes place in as guard go on They look like the same fucking model, dude. They look like the same Landscape it was I loved it. Go ahead Yeah, literally it looks so much like it yeah PlayStation go ahead anyway back to Freya and Kratos potentially having a romance I Started playing the Valhalla DLC. Mm-hmm, but I didn't like what they were doing It's like a roguelite kind of thing where you you fight die fight again and keep progressing slowly but apparently there's a little bit of like epilogue in it, but I didn't go back and Watch it. I didn't I didn't get into the DLC at all But I wanted to fully play through the the rest of the game and then I will will go back to it Yeah, but I was a little disappointed that it was a roguelite roguelike. So I and I and I bring that up as As I'm saying this I have not finished it. So I don't know what happens but I've in the first little bit of it, there's an interaction between Kratos and Freya and they get very close to each other and she like is kind of like whispering things and they're calling on a Conversation that the audience the player doesn't know but how it was structured and had the tone of it was very familiar as in their Relationship may have have have changed in some way in a bad way or no in a more than just acquaintances or all You know what? You know, I mean, you know like like Maybe there's like a romantic potential yeah between them, but I don't know if that's accurate or not, so I I could see them trying to do something because Asgard is Without a Spoilers without a leader at the moment and there might be some things shifting around So anyhow, basically there's a throne to be fulfilled or to be there's a seat to be taken So interesting anyway, there may be something there, but I cannot confirm nor deny it So you want to get into Loki's section in? The giant land the land of the Giants. Yeah, we'll briefly touch on it for me It was too long man. It was really just it was very long It was very long and like I got the point I get it Like I fully understood what was happening for a very long time past that but it was cool I feel like it they introduced a character that was new and that's always welcome in a game Where you where you have so many different characters. Yeah, so we meet a new character Angra Bota. Who's like a giant Prophet or messenger or something? I don't quite remember what her deal was, but her yeah I'll leave this in your time or something. Yeah, like her whole She's big into prophecy and like her whole thing was like, oh, I have to give Loki Like the like he has to be the keeper of souls like a keeper of giant souls. So he she gave him like a bunch of Soul rocks which had the souls of Giants in them, but no you did say this section was really really long. And I definitely think I It was long. However thinking back on it. I think the problem was the part that was really long was the Portion of them getting comfortable with each other where they're going and like doing her daily chores of going and picking Fruit or something like that should have been Shorter, I did like the fight with her grandmother who was a full-sized giant that fight was really that was really cool Yeah, I kind of forgot about that till you brought it up when they went underground and we're clearing out a cave I didn't like that because it was just It seemed unnecessary. It was filler. Yeah, but one thing I did want to get your opinion on or just call something out was When they were going into the grandmother's house, you're home or whatever. There was a dead snake Yep, or no, sorry, not a dead snake a lifeless snake a soulless snake Yeah, they established that you can take a soul without taking the life. Yeah, so he takes So so our trace aka Loki gets like a thought of like, oh, I'm gonna take one of these giant soulstones and Basically, he put a soul into this snake and the snake works up and goes off later on Some I forget where it was, but somebody mentioned that they saw a snake and it was growing Unbelievably fast. Yeah and getting very very big Yeah And I think there were some mentions of some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff with time Where it was alluded to that that was the world serpent Yes, your among gondor or whatever your men Jormungandr. Yeah Yeah And that was all a little wishy-washy to me and I really wish you knew and I didn't have to try to think about it Because I was hoping that you just knew that I didn't look it up I should ask my brother-in-law because he can't give you an entire lowdown of everything But yeah, he should he should comment on our tick-tocks You can get him to do it. All right But I thought it was really cool Yeah, it was cool It was one point that they that was the first when you realized What can happen because of the thing? Mm-hmm Sorry because of the soul swapping type thing. Yeah, you realize what its purpose is. Yeah, that's when you know When you know, you know Yeah. Oh Let's see, what was some other good bits they went back to hell and we got We don't to talk to in depth, but they did that whole because we're on the soul stone bit They did a similar thing with the hound wolf thing that was guarding something in hell, I think was guarding the mask or something and Fenrir What I'm actually not sure what it was guarding because you didn't yeah Yeah, cuz the mask didn't end up being there he like he mistranslated something I think what was it was the issue I guess I don't know I almost wonder if the mask was trying to help you the whole time in some weird way Because why would it even be telling you to do anything if it wasn't telling you? Like it was telling it to go to the wolf and then it stopped being a part of it. Maybe maybe I Can't remember if it was established was the mask it was going it was helping you find the thing you desired Yes, kind of thing kind of like a Jack Sparrow's compass, you know, it'll always point where you want to go So maybe the mask was taking him to the large dog on purpose Right because I want a large dog. Yeah, so you got this large dog. They do a thing and it becomes a Persistent boss that you have to keep fighting and at the end of it they call back to a time when Fenrir the regular sized wolf had passed away and Loki cast a spell and not realizing it. He put the soul of Fenrir. I think in his mother's knife Yep So then when the the fight ended with a dog He basically with a wolf he put Fenrir soul into the large body of this Gargantuan wolf and I thought that was awesome. I do wish that played more of a part in Odin Yeah, because that's how Odin dies like in the lore. Oh, really? Yeah. Hey, yeah So this is what this is what I was told. I don't I don't have the book of Norse Norse mythology But I guess he was his he was prophesized that he was going to be killed by a wolf So he had all the wolves in everywhere kill. That's right And then like his grandson was a wolf or something like that. So he didn't want to kill his own grandson So he locked it up thus fulfilling his own prophecy by making his grandson hate him so much Right. There's probably more to it than that But that's how eventually he does Fenrir does get out and and he fulfills his own prophecy because of his own fear Of wolves of his own. I gotcha. I gotcha. I wish it just I mean it but that's the obvious choice Yeah, and I also like that is what we kind of expect to happen And then what actually happened is like kind of fucking crazy So All right, where are we at? We either there's one other thing. I wanted to call out before we get into the Asgard stuff Kratos and Brock. Yeah, that was a little and get the spear. Yeah, that was a that was a fun bit You you see it from you see What Sindri had told our Treya so since we kind of like talked about how he Brock died and he was able to bring him back without a soul Yeah, but he told that to our Treya's so then flash forward to Kratos and Brock going to meet this like Maiden in the water or something and they interact this this Entity interacts with Kratos, but can't see or register that Brock is there because he has no soul Right, and that was very sad Yeah, it was kind of short-lived but he his reaction made me sad more than any how he's like, I fucking knew it Yeah, and it was like man. Yeah, he had all probably had suspicions the whole time. Yeah It would be an honor if you might Bless you Are you Hello Hello The fuck was that Yes, like I weren't even here Mermaids don't speak to our corporeal bodies speak to a part of our soul a part specifically You might be missing I Died That's also when you get the riddle that he that Mimir doesn't know the answer to The Brock tells him rock tells him a riddle when he can't figure it out. Did they ever have a resolution to it? Oh, man, you could yeah, dude It's at the it's you go to Brock's funeral and it's fucking almost I'm not even kidding. I almost cried I got choked up on it I don't know if I I don't know if I registered it then you got to watch it you gotta watch like cuz I went cuz I went to the funeral and What I made because I went to the funeral where they they Do the arrow? Yeah. Yeah, it is what gets larger the more you take away from it. That was the riddle He solved a couple. He said a couple suggestions and Brock was really happy that he Mimir didn't know the answer to it at the end of the funeral. He finally realizes what it was. It's after Sindri Like leaves does his part and leaves and then he just walks away doesn't care to talk to anybody doesn't say anything at the funeral and Mimir says a whole and Kratos is like what and he's like a whole the more you take away from it the bigger it gets and that's Just a metaphor to what Sindri is feeling. Mmm, cuz his brother his sibling was everything and he lost You know that was everything he cared about. Mmm, and also some other things since we're talking about that I don't want to forget to mention this Sindri doesn't give a fuck about cleanliness anymore. He had blood on him. Oh Man dirty he touched things that he wouldn't normally touch at the funeral So we we we definitely glossed over how Brock died. So we'll need to have yeah Let me just wanted to circle back. But once that happened Sindri's transformation it is kind of like Freya's he spirals. Yeah, and I Think one of my favorite bits or something they decided to portray Finally was actually showing the teleportation he can do Yeah, he how he's not even trying to hide it anymore. Yeah. Yeah, I he just doesn't he doesn't care about anything anymore He's just doing what he and who knows what he is doing. Yeah, that's what that's what's scary because he is Clearly very powerful. Yes. Yes, and I could I could see that him coming back in another game and For a different reason than I thought initially before I could see him having an evil turn and Maybe taking revenge because I think he's definitely blaming Kratos and Artreus because They they won't do what everyone wants them to do, which is just chill Playball, just just yeah, just leave it alone. Just try to get along and they refuse Every time yeah, and it's they they they I forget the line. He chose exactly maybe I'll do a snippet But it's like Sindri was saying like you guys just take and take and take and and literally give nothing back. Yeah, except Destruction and heartache and You are ripping our lives apart So you can take a moral high ground or what you see as a moral high ground And I don't even know if it's a moral high maybe yeah, I think it's just it's kind of selfish. Yeah. Oh for sure. Yeah Indri I I'm so sorry. No. No, I don't want to hear it. You don't know what sorry means We're not letting Odin get away with it who would that be the Odin you invited it to my home Some of us were bigger fools than others aren't we I Gave you everything my skills my friendship my home my secrets my My home my secrets my treasures and you just kept taking And now what have I got Not even my family You want sorry This is what sorry looks like I what can we do? We? There is no way there's only you no matter what the cost So what you can do Let's get the fuck out of my sight But That that that last scene of was the last scene but it basically got really close on to Sindri's face and he's just he looks dirty and just Worn out He might have looked at the camera I cannot remember but it felt like he did and he just like he didn't look at anything He's just like look through the camera Yeah, like in the end of the middle distance and just like it it almost like sizzled a little bit and he just vanished Yeah, I just oh Hmm. Yeah, man, that's pretty rough. Yeah, it was It was sad, but probably one of my favorite parts of the story. Yeah Yeah, people like emotions. So We have very much glossed over the whole tear arc Did you think here was bad did you have suspicions of him? Yes. Yeah, I didn't like him I never fucking like something was was off. I just something seemed off with him. So they go and they find tear The Norse mythologies God of War who has now become a pacifist And I won't go too far because it's way too conflated, but he ends up being Odin in disguise my question is Did they find Odin already in disguise or did they find tear and then later on? There was a switcheroo So they did not find here because you find here later on if you go and do the side quests I am not very interesting though. Not an interesting interaction. Really? Maybe there's more that comes from it Maybe he gives you side quests but they actually find him locked up in a cold area and they're like talking to him and he's like I think I need to process. Oh, that's right. I think they tell him to go to Sindri's house when it's not Sindri's house anymore. Okay. Yeah, and he's like I think I just need to take time to process what you told me because they tell him like Odin's dead You're free now Like I think I just need time to process this it was it was like it felt like they were just like oh well We got to do this. We have the character model already in the right actor. It didn't feel meaningful at all But that he exists he was he exists and it was not ever Here. Yeah, it was always Odin Odin did that to get eyes on where you guys were and I guess there was a scene Where Odin mentioned something before he calls him before he calls him Loki in front of everybody He mentioned something that as the player, you know that he's not supposed to know it But and I didn't pick up on it, but I was told this he mentioned something that gives it away that he knows What's going on at Sindri's house in some conversation interaction with him and Kratos when it's just the two of them He slips it in there about something He makes some kind of reference that only him like only that group of people would know and Kratos didn't pick up on it Do you remember what it was? But I didn't pick I didn't either. No, I don't I can look it up if you want to talk about it I'd be I'd be curious but yeah, I'll have to go on it. But see in that that that's the thing I this this Game game was really good about hiding stuff. Yeah that that Just just adding more layers to the story You mentioned. Oh, we already have the voice actor and the character model. I didn't like the voice of tear it was It was too bland it was like the most bland American voice that you can imagine like everybody It sounds like a pacifist's voice. Yeah But I had to have been on purpose everybody every character had like Personality and his was so from like his how he like the cadence He spoke and just how he talked through his dialogue was just blah. There was nothing to it Right. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Yeah, and it sounded like every fucking hippie guy, which he also Right. He was also fucking massive. It was like what nine foot tall. Are you doing a lot? Yeah, I wouldn't even tolerate a Kratos looks weird. Yeah. Yeah, and he was stringy Like how was he ever a god of war when he has zero zero muscle at all the guy? Can't even lift his his own arms I think in that version of the God of War their God of War was like a very good tactician and Like being able to lead Warriors into battle Kratos was just like bloodlust and combat incarnate where he himself was the force of War and destruction. So oh man. So yeah that tears bit that was that was crazy That whole scene where Brock of all people is like, hold on what's going on? And you said why the fuck do you keep calling him Loki? Yeah, I and that was like when it all fell apart Yeah, and then and then tear or slash Odin just breaks that character I was like, why are you always fucking talking and just stabs him? Yeah, and this I loved it or he was like you never shut up and just you know, yeah It's weird that that was enough to kill him whatever you know what I mean like but he was also very recently injured I guess anyway, and the whole fight went with the rift hairs realm tears. Oh, that's right because they had just finished that up Okay. Hmm, man. Okay, so I looked it up a little bit. I know this is important first of all tear apparently has the same like phrasing and and vocal cadence as Odin Oh like a bland American guy you said So that's one hint of it Also the fact a lot of people are saying the fact that tear was just fucking happened to be in the first place that you Look, he wasn't hard to find. That's also very Suspicious you check one place boomies exactly there and then I guess Odin knew we were looking for tear, right? Yeah, tear states that Kratos was a Spartan soldier within five minutes of meeting him Like he just knew that I guess which is kind of odd and then later Odin first shows a trace around Asgard He comments on how Mimir hasn't lost his sense of humor. Mm-hmm making what would sound like assumptions, but they were actually Comments made with like the knowledge of conversations that were had. Yeah Okay, just subtle enough to be easily missed. I think and that yeah, I think you wouldn't catch those things until you were Fully honed in on your second playthrough knowing what happens where you're not you're more than just suspicious of tear You're trying to find these things that Ryan gives away. You're trying to find reasons to that They did that the characters missed Mmm, you're instead of instead of looking for details. You're looking for proof. I gotcha. I make sense. Let me see I'm trying to see if there's anything else that people say Yeah, I really didn't like when I thought it was tear even though I didn't like tear I didn't really like his sections they took They went back to the elf area and I even from the last game. I hate the elves. They're so hard to fight It's so fucking racist No, you're so hard to like fight and and all that almost as bad as the hag witches or whatever They were banshees. I forget. Oh, yeah, they're just good. You can range attack them But yeah, I just didn't like to hear for the fact that even if he was a good guy Even if he was the best guy, he's a pussy and he's boring. Mm-hmm Like I don't care. What is your purpose in this game? He like literally everything he said was always like, well, I don't know Why why do that like let's do you know exactly what fucking Odin wants? But he did say he would always like go against what you're like what you want to do I do like how Brock always called him out like on stuff and he's like, oh, I'm glad you're okay and Brock's like yeah Fuck it. No, thanks to you. Yeah after something occurred, you know He just always Brock's abrasive personality just fit in so well as a counter to tear and you know That'll it did it that makes me wonder if that's why Odin as tear Wasn't interfering because he didn't want to help them really he wanted them to he wanted that fight to go poorly he wanted he didn't want to like blow his cover because he's Presumably much stronger than tear so it was easier to Get what he wanted by stating that he's a pacifist and not helping them when they really needed the extra set of hands Yeah, I guess another thing Atreus mentions Faye and tear and then tear Responds, I remember that name and doesn't like ever speak anything more. It was kind of suspicious Yeah, cuz tear it would have been like imprisoned for ever But yet here was like like the actual tear was imprisoned for a long time Really long time. So Faye would have never met here. Yeah, right. So yeah, that that's okay. Okay. I think There's probably so many little hints because I'm just reading a reddit post where it's like the giveaway that I actually did catch on my second playthrough and there's Scrolling and scrolling of it. So I'm going to close out of it. There's obviously other stuff. Yeah so yeah to try and Point this this conversation in the direction of an end Asgard you meet We meet a couple people in Asgard We we interact more with Thor. He's I'm dull He I was going to save him but our everyone's favorite character the nicest gentleman I've ever seen on screen. I'm doll my god. I hated him My note on him is a Heimdall small dick energy He really did he just had such a whiny Aura. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah Didn't didn't didn't you put your wife? She was said next she was like, are you gonna kill him? Yeah, she's like, I hope you fucking kill Like well, I'm that's the plan I can tell you that that is because him He was it was a tough fight, but And you know how there's like voice lines that they say over and over again during a fight Yeah, you don't notice it as much when you're playing it but like it gets it has to be very annoying from like an outsider's perspective listening to Small dick energy on repeat as your husband fails miserably Yeah that one even on the easy difficulty I think it took me two tries to get him because I didn't quite figure out the mechanics Yeah, and yeah, it was it was pretty rough Once I did figure out the mechanics, it was a lot easier though. Yeah Yeah, it's the way that goes like it's like once you get in the cadence of how the fight is going Yeah, you learn the abilities then I finished the fight without any issues, but it's like getting through the phases and knowing Yes, if you haven't played yet and and have not in This version of Heimdall is not the nice Friendly helpful Idris Elba version by any means he is His his power is foresight and he uses it Just find it cool in in like such a dickhead ish way you know, he's better than everybody outside of Odin and Even I think even some of his interactions his lines with Odin was a little snarky Where other people probably wouldn't step over that line. He still Obeyed Odin, but he was he was a bit snippy Yeah, I guess they mentioned how he had like ridiculous loyalty to Odin. Mm-hmm. He also looked like a Teenage pop star. He's some guy you would want to punch if you oh, yeah About him with punch. Well, he had like except for actually punching it which seems impossible He has like the in sync Justin Timberlake ramen noodles hairdo It was like really tight and curly on his head. It looks so terrible a good job making him hateable. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, he was in like a toga or something. He was like It was so bad by surprise it was awful So, yeah, we meet him we meet Thor again Thor is still just a lot of grief in This game we had Freya still grieving Sindri ends up grieving Thor is still grieving over his sons from the last game And he takes apparently he has a drinking problem and he takes up drinking again. Yeah, that was pretty fucking wild Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. But that was a good time. Yeah, that was pretty fucking class Early. Yeah, it was real fun It was I don't I I feel like it was a good Kind of step out from the seriousness of the game Mm-hmm, and it suddenly just had like a fun moment and then he helps you and he's drunk Yes, like he agrees to go with you for the next piece of the mask and he's just drunk. Yeah. So yeah, that was pretty cool That was really fun. I Feel bad for his family all of it. It's just he as the generations go on. They're just playing victim of like the people above them's Decisions, you know and then a trace actually is trying to Relate to him a little bit which is kind of sad It makes you feel bad because he is like you couldn't understand like Thor says something like you couldn't understand like what? Like you couldn't understand like what I go through and he's like, yeah the son of a god who's a half-giant What what how could I not understand you because he just they have the same description on paper. They do Yeah, yeah living in the wake of like living in the shadow of my father kind of thing, you know So there's a lot of and I think ultimately That time that they had together is what I think Thor knows that his dad is a piece of shit Mm-hmm the whole time and I think Thor knows that he starts feeling like maybe Atreus and and Kratos are not the bad guys Yeah in this I feel like he knows that but he's just stubborn and he feels like he needs to fulfill his duty Fucking sad shit, too, man, you know with all the jokes we made about the Angra Boda section offline, but you know, I feel like a underlying theme across this whole story in each group of characters and the eat we have a couple groups that are falling into this it's a it's a It's it's like the latest edition of like a Fast and the Furious movie it's like a story about family Yeah, you know, it's a lot of troubling family Dynamics and they're trying to just navigate them. Are they good enough for their for their fathers? Are they good enough for their? Their partners and in Thor's case for their kids in Kratos's case and in Thor to his Daughter Freya's loss of her son. There's a lot of just family dynamics that they are Touching on and it's a lot but how they go about portraying it in the story It is done so well that it doesn't feel like it's too much right to to digest So man, it's good. Good. Good. Good good stuff. It's just great. Just great So the last bit to touch on I'd say because there's gonna be some gaps in here But we have the final confrontation with Odin. Yeah, so How would you do in that fight? It wasn't tough. It wasn't I think it was just putting a bow on On the game was like, you know what we're you've you've played through all this many hours of stuff, let's just put a bow on it and Try to have a fight for the sake of something to play through But yeah, our real focus is to get to that final cutscene and of that, you know Yeah story beat. I don't think well Thor was a better fight I think then then Odin was But I guess that makes sense because like I said earlier Odin is not a like a fighter really he's a clever guy Yeah, so it makes sense that he wouldn't necessarily be super strong But I don't know it was that he ended up actually dying or being killed by Freya Correct. Well, right is in my Remember Odin so or does she intervene and help? Oh, dude Wait, just want to mention the whole assault on Asgard and how like the dog is there But like Fenrir is there and then you're among gondor, whatever the giant snake Yeah Is there just fucking everything like wrecking shit now what happens? Atreus takes a soul and puts it into a into like one of the soul stone things and it's random That's right Kratos gives it to Freya and he's like I told you I wouldn't deny you the opportunity To get revenge on him if that's what you wanted. That's right. She makes the decision. I'm not gonna kill him This isn't my role. This isn't what needs to happen And she's clearly has moved on from being a vengeful person throughout the whole game You see that she's clearly grown a lot and then out of nowhere Injury comes in takes it smashes it with a hammer and fucking leaves. That's right. Yeah, dude It is always watching. He's always angry and he's I hope he's not like the villain of a future game But he's obviously it would be so sad but conflicted character, but I kill him, you know Yeah, see I was getting confused because we didn't mention earlier There was you find when you're with Freya and you go meet the Norns The tree that Odin attempted to hang himself on and you find the noose That's still hanging from the tree. Oh, yeah So something in the lore I think she was able to like kind of yeah raffle him down Yeah, I think there was a moment where in the fight with Odin she Tries to assist using that noose and I and that it was helpful work Yeah, I think it was part of what actually got him taken down Possibly before the soul was removed. I think I finished this game over a month ago So I'm trying to piece stuff together, but I just remembered that. Yeah, I forgot about the Sindri part Sindri on like we're seeing we've been seeing over the last two games the origin story of Artreus and a Loki and we're also seeing Sindri's epic villain turn like I Oh So sad. Yeah, so sad All right So and that would be the time where if we were better and more organized we would talk about the funeral part But we've done that already just rewind it Man what a game good game sick place So I think that's that's a pretty good discussion. We've been we've been going at it for a little bit any any final thoughts I gave the storyline a 10 out of 10. Yes. I think we touched all the main things of it I did put in my notes giant her law. I like that. You do go back her long giant turtle Yeah, I like you go back and it's actually like an event that you you go in and it's still alive. Mm-hmm. Oh I want to mention this we should have talked about this Four hours ago. That's what let's get it at the end of God of War 2018 I said I wanted to take time for playing this because they wouldn't make a game Where you already have all these abilities and you're strong and you have everything all sorted out like if it did take place Immediately after right and I hate how like they do the Assassin's Creed move where they just strip you of your abilities Somehow that's annoying. So how do they pull it off? Fimbulwinter weakens magic. Okay, and so When shit happens and you guys are like we have to go out You've lost a lot of your ability like you're fighting ability is diminished Thor brings it up He's like are you trying to remember your old how to you know how to fight like are you trying to remember all your old? Moves, right? It was another little wall break thing And then Kratos goes and gets out armor that you would presume is the end game armor and he hands it like he like puts it on And it's no stats. So Fimbulwinter weakens magical things Perfect way of explaining all of your talents being reset and everything you have to tell him back up. I just We all knew it was gonna happen because you can't start out the game with 400 abilities. It's not fucking mortal kombat, right? But later on In a couple years people are gonna come back and be like, oh do I play Ragnarok first or 20? You know, they're just gonna like grab one. So it's gonna happen There there is a world or a player where they're going to go directly to this game. Yeah, oh it works. I like it Yeah, it was cool that they that you start out with nothing again, but there was a very very clever but you know necessary explanation for it not just like You know Thor shocks you so hard you lose all your cool shit, you know Which maybe would have made sense to since he kind of technically kills you in the fight But right right. I like how Thor broke the fourth wall a couple times in that and then I just thought that was a very Good explanation ten out of ten the world tree squirrel. I didn't do a fucking single quest for that guy I couldn't stand him. But when we played Yoten, I mentioned how the world tree And I was like, yeah, he doesn't even play a part I wish they would have done that I think I specifically said that he's a character in this game and I didn't care so I lied on Yoten I don't care. Well, I think it was it was it was a way for them to give you more collectibles slash side quests because the collectibles became something that involved a fight with those like weird monster things So, you know, I I did like the personality that Rada Radagast car Radagast, right? Yeah, right at that ratatouille head So yeah, I did I did like that the attempt was there So like how he starts out really nice and you ignore him and he gets really rude. Yeah, he's like, hey fuck It's pretty funny I like how this game It's not like all old Norsey people like they talk in a more modern way the way that we talk and it makes it a lot more Personable and it and less try-hard feeling. It was really good the Berserker is in this game instead of Valkyries They're the gravestone things that you stick the silt the hilt of the sword in. Yeah, I fought three of them I was actually seeking them out. That was one thing I wanted to do is complete all of that They are not nearly as hard as the Valkyries were in the first game for me I think I did one of them. I killed three of them. They are hard They were difficult for me, but I couldn't beat a single Valkyrie in the first game this game They weren't that hard but stinky fist build I think is a little strong. So yeah Yeah, I think I think it really did more damage than then then necessary. Yeah So do you have a favorite boss fight? Oh I Liked the grandma the the giant and anger bonus part because I liked the space you were in and Yeah, it wasn't just you know, you do damage to the big pool of hit points. It was like, okay, you've got to like stun them Move around and navigate the the map I really liked how that was structured and I did like the two Valkyries when you were giving Surtur To agree to help you. Yeah to start Ragnarok. So I like the grandma fight a lot more Overall the Valkyrie fight I really liked the animations that they did where Kratos and our treas were like combo in their moves So I like that a lot. I really liked it stood out so much I don't remember what it was called but there was the boss fight where you're playing Kratos and Freya's helping you and You go and you get her to be able to leave the realm that big rift dragon thing Yes, that thing was so fucking cool. And it was a very classic God of War just huge scale You know thing with the quick time events and everything and that was and the way that you kill it was so fucking cool Mm-hmm. She closes the realm when it's halfway and it just cuts its head off. Yeah, I love it, dude Yeah, so good. I Since we started this my youtube algorithm has gotten very video game heavy and the game ranks channel shows up on my algorithm a lot and they they did a I'd like a top ten of like most out of nowhere boss fights and That one that you just mentioned was like one of the top one or two because it's like, you know Okay, we're gonna do this thing and then BAM There's a fucking dragon in your face. Like it just came out of literally out of nowhere So, yeah, it was really a Nidhogg Nidhogg. What a name. Yeah, I know what it's a legendary drag dragon Mythology, but yeah, that was cool. Love it. I it was my favorite boss fight by far The two Valkyries was cool because the Valkyries Specifically gave me a lot of trouble in the first game So it was fun to be able to say I killed two of them at the same time. I felt really really smart Do you have a favorite section or realm in this game because they were a little different we get to see some new ones. I Did like I think it was Freya's home Yeah, yep best one. It was pretty it was fun. Yeah once you got to The two wolves that like chase the moon in the Sun So then you could you you could trigger whether it was night or day and then the map would change I did like that. I accidentally I changed it to Daytime what you're supposed to and then I am accidentally immediately changed it back to night and she was Freya was just like Why are you doing this? Just and he's like I wanted to see it nighttime again, there's something like that and then she changes it back and she's like Okay. Thank you. I like how just Kind of again a little bit of a fourth wall break kind of thing because it's like I I think the game Probably knew it was an accident because I did it three times back to back to back. That's funny Favorite weapon question mark. I got to give it up to well this time. I got to give it up to the bow with Did you use a specific bow because there was three of them do you remember which one used um, I Don't think so. I think okay for using it as a Damage dealing weapon rather than a you tool to get through puzzles I didn't see much of a difference like that probably that probably was due to what difficulty I was playing on Okay, but I like the mechanics of using a ranged weapon But also it being strong enough to have him go in close range and use it as like a staff Was a little worried. He was gonna break it like the way he opened a chest with it, too Yeah, and I use it as a pride. Well, it's a magical weapon. Oh, yeah, but with Kratos I got to give it up to the Leviathan axe. I still like that one a lot more than the blades or the spear The they all were so cool But I think that just the Leviathan axe as a weapon in general is my favorite I think for the game that of them all since 2018 that I feel like the Leviathan axe has really Become the like the icon for a weapon because it was in the early days It was like the blades of chaos like that was like such an iconic weapon and I really think they revitalized What a really cool weapon can be for this character and for this game line with the Leviathan axe Yeah, I like how it kind of just counters Mjolnir. Is that how you say that? Mm-hmm Thor's yeah. Yeah hammer. Yes, sir. I I mean it's an axe is cooler than a hammer It's a sharp hammer essentially, so it obviously is cooler But dude, I wish I had a weapon that I could just like put my hand up and it returns to my hand That's such a cool thing to have in anything. So Leviathan axe is the best weapon besides stinky fist Thank you fist. Thank you fist dude. It's the opposite of stanky leg. Oh Did you use any of the cool shield stuff did you Know I had the one I think it was an onslaught shield where if you time to block you would get like a Really big knockback on Like shield slam. Mm-hmm You would fuck things up dude because there was a lot of stun with that and if you used one of the add-ons or Trinkets or whatever the hell they're called that increases your amount of time to block it made it a little easier to get those perfect Timed blocks right shield would turn red and you would do massive damage with the shield slam. That was fun Yeah, I think that's all I got to say about that. I know it's been nine hours. We've been recording. Oh my god It's already it's like three days later from when we started Yep. All right So why don't we get into the end of our episode with what we are going to be playing? Next so James for your final hold on final. No, dude. I thought three more You got two more do I really you stars far cry? Cocoon got a war. No one more. You're you're like, yeah, I get a freebie. Ha don't count You picked a cocoon. I did not Check the check the record. I don't know dude. I don't think it did What is of our season of James? What is our last game wait, what's our next game to end our season of James? This might be the second most James selfish pick but Metal Gear Solid PlayStation 1 Nice Yeah, we talked a little bit about it so far. I'm excited Are you are you actually excited? I am if we I I genuinely am I Yeah From afar. I've watched I think you play back in the back of the day and like I've seen some stuff online, but it's it's Hideo Kojima a lot a lot a lot of a lot of background there so there's a lot and I just never really knew Where to get in and we're going back to a PlayStation 1 game So it's like we're going really far back. So if I didn't get it to work on the Steam Deck, I'm all in So sorry you do when I expand on on why you're picking it or any further I it was a very I rented it multiple times when I was a kid. So I did enjoy playing it I want you to play it and I want to be able to talk about the story of it and everything the I think it's Like Hideo Kojima's like breakthrough game where I really put him on the map I feel like it has a good mix of like Hideo Kojima's bullshit as well as Hideo Kojima's really good story writing and I feel like it's a it's gonna hold up Well, I haven't played I haven't touched that game since I owned a PlayStation 1 As my primary console is that one top-down as well, or is that like third person? It's Top-down, I guess or it's like third-person kind of yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's not like I don't know how to describe it, dude Is that the one where you can hide in a box? Yep, but that's everything even a part of Every Hideo Kojima game. He loves boxes that guy But I don't know. I'm excited to hear how you feel it held up, you know versus my nostalgia, I guess I got it Yeah, mechanically it's gonna hold up well and I think visually somehow even though there's so many even though it's a very old game I feel like they hit the perfect like peak of Graphics for the PlayStation 1 without making it stupid. Okay, and we'll see and you'll see what I mean I think when you play it I'll help you get it set up on the Steam Deck or I'll lend you my disc or something like that for you know Just in case Hideo's listening It's also on PlayStation Network, I think you can go get it there too, but yeah I've got yes plus all that. So if if worse comes to worse, I'm sure I could get it there. Yeah, and if not Well, there's I've got Multiple I've got a ps3 copy of the game. I've got a PS 1 copy of the game I'll just give you one and we'll figure we'll go from there. Sweet Can we can we get can we get a can we get a quick metal gear metal gear there it is Dude I'm 19 hours. I love it. I love it. I think as the games go on the gear gets longer Hit us up on on social media give us your best metal gear metal gear Yeah, duo us or whatever. However that we're all Merle Merle gear Fantastic, all right, so our next game is going to be a metal gear solid from the PlayStation 1 Console, I think the last thing to do is just kind of do some housekeeping here. Check us out We have a link tree link TR dot ee slash 3 to 1 backlog It's got everywhere that we can be found hit us up on there Let us know what you're liking about these episodes if anything Let us know what you hate about these episodes. Do we take way too fucking long to get to any point we need to know Yeah, I want some I want some serious feedback. We are we are in We are kind of like in our unofficial season 2 right now So 2024 is everything season 2 for us right now, it'll still stay in order on your on your podcast feed, but We did split it up there. We appreciate you listening as always check us out patreon.com slash 3 to 1 backlog as well you get episodes a week early and they are Extended cut versions of those episodes. So you think our tangents are bad right now? They're even worse on patreon, so go check it out. It's real fun real ridiculous, so Anything else for us? I don't plug if applicable. How'd I do? I already put it in. No, I'm just kidding No, I mean I'm in my physical plug wink wink so Air tight that's gonna do it for us guys. We appreciate it. We will see you next episode. Thanks everybody. Goodbye A hole What gets bigger the more you take away