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dkirschner's Apotheon (PC)
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| [July 8, 2016 08:58:45 AM]
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Apotheon is an excellent 2d action/action-RPG/metroidvania game from, and I was surprised, the same devs who made Capsized. I really didn't like Capsized. But, I see similarities in the movement and combat here. Apotheon's loose, sort of floaty movement works well. You pick up a lot of different weapons of several types (spear, sword, club, ranged...) and generally swing it wildly while moving back and forth and jumping up and down. You've got to actually connect the weapon to the enemy for a hit, so for example, you'll miss a lot because enemies will hug you. Solution? Jump up and swing downward, switch to a dagger (which hits right up close), roll away and then attack, etc. The fighting can be pretty hectic, and it's definitely a lot of fun, kept me thoroughly entertained.
There are also a ton of items, including bombs, potions, "bone dust" that summons skeletal warriors to fight with you, and all manner of special items that permanently enhance attack speed, amount of health and armor restored, etc. Consumable items are created via a simple crafting system. Weapons and armor and other things can be purchased from a few vendors (though I never purchased anything except recipes to make potions), and you can upgrade your skills with each weapon type at a trainer. It is really expensive to upgrade weapons all the way! I think they can all go up to level 4, though I only leveled them to 3 (and one to 2 only).
Despite the hectic combat, the game is easy on standard difficulty. You could definitely bump it up to the other option it gives you. I died maybe twice during the whole game, though I did *almost* die a lot. Once your health hits 0 or 1, you get like a second chance kind of thing. If you get hit one more time, you'll die, but I almost always had time to drink a health potion, of which you will never run out.
Enemy types don't vary too much, and you could probably criticize Apotheon for lacking some diversity in combat. I mean, the weapons really aren't *that* different from each other. And the enemies are mostly just humanoids with the same weapons you have. Sometimes you fight a large cyclops, or a wolf, or an underground demon thing. Some enemies fly near the end of the game. Boss fights were pretty fun. My favorite was (I forget which god--oh yea, this is very God of War-ish. You kill all the gods of Olympus for revenge) the one where you mount a horse and chase after the god to try and kill him on horseback. You never ride a horse otherwise in the game, but it was fun, so I sort of wonder why they didn't incorporate it more.
One great thing about Apotheon is the exploration and incentive to do so. There are all sorts of hidden hallways, floors you can destroy with bombs, doors you can pick with locks. You can collect tons of cool weapons, even some rare items granting permanent bonuses, and the best, upgrade armor for free. Usually you would purchase armor upgrades like you would purchase weapon skill upgrades, but there are these special lockboxes hidden around that sometimes contain armor upgrades. You feel really lucky and accomplished when you find one. There are also various doors where you need a specific key or item to pass, as well as hidden quests you can find that will give you some instruction or puzzle to solve, such as assassinating 5 people that Hermes was supposed to kill but didn't, or following clues to a sunken treasure in Poseidon's realm, or hunting three unique animals and then finding the doors that their trophies unlock. It's great stuff, and I poked around in all the nooks and crannies looking for secrets.
As mentioned, you will kill god after god as you obtain their items and powers. Each god's realm is unique, and this was a huge strength of the game that kept things from feeling repetitive. You'll have quite different types of objectives in each realm. My favorites were the more puzzle-oriented ones for the most part. There was one with these three concentric rotating structures, and you have to make your way to three different doors (one in each structure) as they rotate. It was a nice platforming challenge. In another, you had to use ranged weapons to hit switches (some of which you couldn't even see) throughout the level to open doors. It was like taking a ton of trick shots and practicing aim, very cool. In another, you've got to raise water levels to navigate the level, while fending off mermen. Really really liked the level designs and varied objectives.
Finally, one must praise the clay pottery art style which is absolutely beautiful and looks fantastic in motion. The music is also perfect, rising with the action, drums pounding for boss battles. I don't know what else to say except the visuals and audio are damn near perfect.
So, really fun game. Some people disliked the controls and/or combat, but I liked them. Great exploration, lots of secrets, decent story, recommended.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jul 8th, 2016 at 09:03:57.
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dkirschner's Apotheon (PC)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 5 July, 2016
GameLog closed on: Friday 8 July, 2016 |
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