The 2D pixel beat ’em up Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons continues to add new characters, and in the “largest character update yet”, it’s now added four more fighters.
Each character in this free “Bimmy & Friends DLC” brings a new face, new personality, and a new fighting style to the city – allowing players to experiment with “powerful tag-team” combos. Here’s the rundown about and you can see each fighter in action in the trailer above.
The League of Legends trading card game Riftbound’s second set, titled Spiritforged, was released in the US on February 13. The newest expansion has been out in China for a couple of months now, and in the west for just over a week, sowe’ve seen a general picture of how the new cards are impacting the metagame thanks to two recent Regional Qualifiers in Fuzhou and Chengdu. With that being said, these are some of the best Spiritforged cards I think you should look into picking up now that the set is finally available.
10. Blood Money
At uncommon, this card is relatively easy to pick up at an affordable price as a single. This is a super cheap and efficient early removal spell to help you stay on tempo, and you’d be hard pressed to see Yellow decks like Viktor, Herald of the Arcane not running three copies.
9. Card Sharp
Card Sharp is pretty versatile. There are a few Power hungry decks with Spiritforged, so being able to offset some of that cost with the Gold generated from Card Sharp and pressure with a 3 MIght body is worth considering.
8. Not So Fast
Thanks to the recent errata to refexive triggers, nerfing cards like Icathian Rain, Not So Fast got significantly better. Before, you’d only be able to counter just one instance of damage, but now you can just counter the entire spell with Not So Fast. Definitely keep this card on your radar if you like Green decks.
7. Bellows Breath
The new Repeat mechanic offers a more dynamic way to interact with opponents. Bellows Breath is one of these, being able to clear a Battlefield of smaller units in the early game.
6. Trinity Force
One of my favorite new equipments from the set, Trinity Force is one of the few cards that allow you to store extra points. I can see this making waves in Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman, as his Legend ability buffs defending units. In the Origins meta, the deck was great at holding to score points, and looks to be the same situation with Spiritforged.
5. Piercing Light
Like Bellows Breath, this can be an early game removal spell for tempo, or an easy two-for-one later on. Kai’Sa, Daughter of the Void typically ran two to three copies of Falling Star, so I can see this finding a home in that deck too.
4. Ferrous Forerunner
Ferrous Forerunner is a big body that continues to pressure your opponent even after it dies. Doing its best Wurmcoil Engine impression, this guy will spit out two 3 Might Mech tokens upon death, allowing you to maintain your board presence.
3. Called Shot
Even if Called Shot had 1 Energy cost, I would consider extremely powerful. At 0 Energy and sporting the Repeat mechanic has convinced me it’s the best draw and filter spell in the game. With a ton of ways to generate Gold tokens to help pay Power costs, this card is positioned to be seen in every Purple deck.
2. Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel is essentially copies four through 6 of Zhonya’s Hourlgass, which has the same effect. This, however, is an equipment, so it comes with a +1 Might buff and costs a Power to equip to a unit. Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman is still poised to be a contender with Spiritforged, and this card is one reason for that.
1. Ezreal, Prodigy
While Draven, Glorious Executioner is easily the strongest deck in the Spiritforged meta, many lists are playing Ezreal, Prodigy, which is the best card in the set for my money.
Purple is undoubtedly very strong, and Ezreal’s effect allows you to filter through your deck and a lot cards early, and fits into a few other archetypes nicely.
Like Origins before it, the second set is already sold out on Riot’s online storefront, but you can order through TCGplayer at pretty high markups if you’re desperate to secure the goods.
How Soulslinger’s Indie Team Brought Custom Mocap to Xbox
Ede Tarsoly, Founder of Elder Games
Summary
Hungarian indie studio, Elder Games, employed an at-home mocap setup.
Hundreds of animations performed by the studio’s founder and his wife.
Arrives today on Xbox Series X|S.
Hey, I’m Ede Tarsoly, the Founder of Elder Games. I’ve been the vision keeper and main developer on my roguelite FPS Soulslinger: Envoy of Death – and what may surprise you, I’ve also been one of the two motion capture actors in it as well. In the game, all the male characters are played by me, while all the female characters are played by my wife. Today, I’d like to tell you about our setup, our process and how we were able to create custom animations with a mocap setup as an indie developer.
How my Childhood Curiosity Became my Studio’s Strength
I’ve been fascinated with motion capture ever since I was a kid, I always watched the extras on DVDs. The behind-the-scenes stuff was sometimes more exciting to me than the films themselves. I saw motion capture first being used in “The Lord of the Rings” and I knew right away that I really wanted to do this sort of stuff. However, the setup that needed to be involved was unattainable for a very long time. I continued watching a lot of content about the topic, and my passion never really faded away.
By the time the technology had become more available, and I finally had the opportunity to buy a motion capture suit, thanks to my publisher Headup, I was prepared. I’d basically been preparing for this my whole life!
We use a setup, where you put straps around your wrists and your head, and wear a suit on top, that marks every joint with a sensor. The gloves are put on separately and are much more sensitive.
Through a custom router all the data is fed into the computer. In a nutshell, as soon as you move, there’s a real-time representation of you on the screen that moves with you. I hit record, and it immediately captures the motions.
From Weeks of Preparation to One Day of Performance
The preparation phase always takes the longest. I usually know six months in advance what’s likely coming up, unless things change during development. It’s “develop, develop, develop” until a cutscene comes up, and I’ll do nothing else for two or three weeks except that one cutscene. Then it’s back to development, which is of course still the biggest part of my work. We’re still making a game, not a movie.
Especially for longer prerendered cinematics, I need to know well in advance. The 3D models, scripts voice lines all need to be ready.
Our writer, Michelle Clough, creates a very detailed script right out of the gate. She usually adds little notes like “make this cool,” which then is up to the voice actors and me. It’s always a collaborative effort, where we try to come up with something to make the script shine.
I usually choreograph an entire scene from start to finish. For example, I’ll note that a character comes in from the right while another comes from the left, so I have to walk a certain number of meters. Practicing the movements before recording usually takes three to four very intense days, repeating it over and over until it’s perfect. For example, the intro scene of the pirate character – I could tell you the entire conversation of it by heart, I’ve listened to it so many times – is an uncut two-minute scene that needed to be meticulously prepared, down to the last motion.
But it’s not just the script and stage directions that need to be good to go. One thing I learned early on from the extras of old Disney DVDs, is to send the script to the voice actors, record their performances, and then animate to the voice performance afterwards. That way, actors can perform freely instead of lip-syncing to pre-made animations. The actors already embody the characters so well, that listening to their recordings on loop while performing really inspired my motions during mocap.
Additionally, I also developed a distinct motion style for each character. The villain is very upright and calculated. The main character is closer to my natural movement. The pirate is very animated and expressive. I’m not an actor, but I try to make each character as unique as possible. Zombies and skeletons are my favorite though, with their twisted, exaggerated motions.
After all the preparation and practice, recording day is just one day. Thanks to all the preparation, I usually have the perfect recording after two or three takes. Then, I import everything into Unreal. From there, it’s about placing the camera and characters, which usually takes another two days.
Making the Invisible Visible
During motion capture, weight matters. If you pretend to hold a gun, the motion feels artificial. This is why I worked with a metallic replica of the revolver in the game. It’s heavy, so when you move with it, your body compensates naturally, and the motion looks real. Another character has a huge knife, so we tried to find something in the house that matched it and ended up using a big bread knife.
For the scenes where props can’t help you, we had to be creative to make non-existent things exist. For example, there was a scene where a spell pulls the character backwards. My wife tied ropes around my arms and pulled me while I resisted. In mocap, it looks like magic pulling the character. In another instance, for a floating enemy, I simply stacked boxes and acted on top of them.
We also did some stunts. I put a mattress on the ground for scenes where a spell knocks the character back. As it turns out: falling looks quite silly until you try to do it correctly. Of course, you instinctively try to protect yourself, but that looks bad in-game. While the end result looks great in the game, I don’t think I’d recommend this method to anyone – and I probably wouldn’t do it again!
Doing It for the Game
Overall, even while it takes a lot of time, effort and organizing, I really did enjoy every second of it, because it is something I deeply care about. A lot of people ask how I can do so much programming, writing, choreographing, and acting and I always just tell them: “It’s easy, because it’s for my game.”
I’ve only used my setup for Soulslinger: Envoy of Death so far but having a remote capture kit has already influenced what kinds of projects I’m thinking about next. It’s a strength of our studio, and I really want to plan even more projects around it. I’m so excited that Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is finally launching on Xbox Series X|S today. It is truly a work of passion, from the code to the self-recorded animations. I hope you will enjoy my wild west roguelite FPS experience and have as much fun with the game as we had creating it
DEATH IS CALLING – WILL YOU ANSWER?
Become an Envoy of Death, able to unleash the incredible powers that will make you the most dangerous soul in Limbo. Upgrade your character’s abilities to become the ultimate Soulslinger and take on thrilling challenges in a bloody war against the criminal cartel of the afterlife!
MEET STRAY SOULS AND MAKE ALLIES OR ENEMIES
Step into the rich and immersive world of Haven, filled with mysterious NPCs who hold the secrets to its dark history. Be wary of the allies and enemies you make as every encounter might shape your journey ahead. In this mesmerizing western-fantasy world, you will experience a tale of despair, loss, and one man’s obsession with cheating death itself.
CRAFT YOUR WEAPONS AND RISE TO VICTORY
Forge your own destiny with every run by crafting powerful weapons and unlocking permanent upgrades in Haven. Grow stronger with every new challenge and become an incredibly deadly gunslinger. Get ready for a fast-paced rogue-like FPS experience you won’t ever forget!
KEY FEATURES:
• Fast-paced, story-driven roguelike FPS set in random sequences of rooms built in a unique western-fantasy world
• Customize Soulslinger through a deep upgrade system
• Experience a tightly written story filled with loyal allies and charismatic villains. The story adapts to what you do in the roguelike gameplay
• Tons of gun fodder creeps that attack in waves, spiced up by challenging elite mobs
Violent weather is about to hit the Rust Belt, as developer Embark Studios has revealed a first look at the new Hurricane map condition coming to Arc Raiders.
The studio pulled back the curtain on Shrouded Sky, its next major content update, with a post on its website. It comes with a sneak peek at how hurricanes will tear through maps like Spaceport, promising what already looks like the most dangerous weather the southern Italy-set video game has faced yet.
Powerful Electromagnetic Storms and wintery Cold Snap conditions have had players seeking shelter before, but Embark says Arc Raiders hasn’t seen anything quite like this. Starting with the launch of Shrouded Sky February 24, Raiders may be subjected to strong winds that will have them rethinking how they approach PvP and PvE.
Searching for topside resources and blueprints during a hurricane will have players fighting both with and against the wind. Running with the storm could provide a small speed boost, for example, but running against it will result in slowed movement and drained stamina. Raiders can also expect everything from gas grenades to trailblazers and other throwables to behave differently when winds pick up.
One look at the trailer makes it clear visibility will be low during a hurricane, but Embark says Arc Raiders players will want to be wary of debris, too. However, like with most other map conditions, the increased threat level means more opportunities to find better loot, with today’s post teasing Raider Caches and relics of the First Wave for those who brave the storm.
Shrouded Sky is Embark’s major update for February and follows the January Headwinds update. While that relatively small content drop added a solo vs. squads queue option and the Bird City map condition, Shrouded Sky is said to come packed with a Raider Deck and map update, as well as a new Arc threat, which we may have gotten a small glimpse of toward the end of today’s trailer. Players can also expect to reset their ranks once again with the launch of the next Expedition the following day.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Developer Mega Crit has published a new animated trailer for Slay the Spire 2, revealing four-player co-op and an early access release date of March 5, 2026.
The sequel to the studio’s beloved roguelike deckbuilder reappeared with a two-and-a-half-minute trailer today. Alongside the promise to bring a host of new features to Early Access players on Steam in just a few weeks, the footage comes mixed with a stylish animation that almost looks like it could stand alone as its own TV show.
As the trailer’s silent hero falls in battle, we see others come to their aid, revealing that players won’t have to fight through Slay the Spire 2’s dark fantasy world alone. Gameplay featured in the footage highlights combat encounters for up to four players, with Mega Crit explaining in a blog post on Steam that the multiplayer mode will feature its own specific cards and team synergies.
While Early Access is said to come with new cards, characters, events, relics, potions, abilities, alternate acts, and more, today’s trailer shows off how some of these new mechanics will offer chaotic twists on the original formula. The footage also teases an additional new character to look forward to.
“For 1,000 years, the Spire lay dormant, its secrets buried and its horrors forgotten,” an official description for Slay the Spire 2 says. “Now, it has reopened, hungrier and more dangerous than ever, devouring all who dare to ascend.
“New perils demand sharper strategies, relentless cunning, and unwavering resolve. Outwit the Spire’s brutal trials and uncover the truths hidden at its peak.”
Slay the Spire 2 is Mega Crit’s follow-up to its massively popular 2019 original and was announced in 2024. Although a delay saw its release date move from late 2025 to this March, fans will no doubt be excited to hear they’ll now only need to wait two weeks before going hands-on when it comes to PC via Steam March 5.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
If you haven’t yet already, there’s no better time to start monster huntin’ than now. Starting today and running through Saturday, Best Buy is offering the Monster Hunter Wilds PlayStation 5 game for for just $19.99. This is by far the lowest price I’ve seen for the wildly popular PS5 game, the previous low being $30 during Black Friday.
Monster Hunter Wilds for PlayStation 5 for $19.99
It’s easy to see why Monster Hunter is one of Capcom’s best selling IPs. Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest game in the franchise and continues the series’ trademark action-adventure gameplay of hunting down fearsome monsters and grinding for better loot. This open-world game offers dozens of hours of exploration, exciting combat, excellent creature design, statisfying loot progression, and most importantly, cats! According to How Long To Beat, the main story takes 17 hours, with another 13 hours to tackle all of the sidequests. Completionists should expect to spend a whopping 90 hours to reach 100% and attain that Platinum Trophy. At just $20, it’s absolutely worth adding to your collection.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Love Eternal’s Uncanny Mix of Precision Platformers and Psychological Horror
Brian Kwek, Founder at Ysbryd Games
Summary
Run, jump and flip gravity to escape the mind of a selfish god.
Themes of isolation and childhood struggles in a treacherous world.
Experimental narrative channeling influences from Silent Hill to Satoshi Kon’s filmography.
Love Eternal,releasing on Xbox One today,is a psychological horror platforming game set in a mysterious and ancient dilapidated castle, which serves as the prison of our abductee protagonist Maya. The predicament of Maya, an American teenager who gets spirited away in the middle of dinner from her suburban family home by a callous and jealous god, is quite the emotional whiplash for anyone, but to what end must Maya endure these trials?
Today I’ll dig into the diverse influences and ingredients that the developers of Love Eternal, brlka, mixed together in order to serve up an unsettling journey with an experimental narrative where you truly won’t know what next to expect.
For starters, brlka, comprised of siblings Toby and Sam Alden, conceived of Love Eternal as an evolution to an older platforming game they made together, simply titled Love. The original Love, made almost a decade ago, shares mechanical roots with Love Eternal in that both are platformers in the vein of masocore (a portmanteau of masochism and hardcore) inspired from the 2000s freeware era of games like Jumper, an early platforming game by Maddy Thorson long before the likes of Celeste, and the Knytt series from Swedish developer Nifflas.
screenshot of the original Love
These masocore challenges – and the effort required to overcome your initial apprehensions at seemingly insurmountable platforming arcs – traditionally serve as a meditation on a rhythmic cycle of failing, observing one’s mistakes and mental lapses, and returning to the breach. With Love Eternal, however, brutality in platforming is the scaffolding for Toby, the game’s principal programmer and designer, to hang the quiet terror of the game’s narrative dressing.
screenshot of Love Eternal, released today
Love Eternal’s influences gel together with considered curation – yet it’s also accurate to say, “These are just the movies and TV that Toby was watching at the time of development!” Either way you see it, the influences that run in Love Eternal’s blood include significant works from the esoteric works of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, particularly “Pulse” (2001); the fever dreams of “Twin Peaks” season 3 and “Paprika” (alongside all of Satoshi Kon’s other animated movies); and the inimitable 1998 anime “Serial Experiments Lain”.
The common thread is how these pieces of media parlay psychological horror, even though horror wouldn’t be considered each work’s principal genre. As it appeared to Toby, psychological horror was seemingly underrepresented in precision platforming, and they decided to use horror to express the narrative in deeply uncanny ways.
Toby has described the essence of the Love Eternal experience as the feeling that one gets after experiencing a nightmare that, when described to another person, that other person would not find immediately apparent as to what was scary about the nightmare, even though one’s direct participatory experience of the nightmare is charged with a curdling unease.
To my eye, having seen the Aldens repeatedly discuss their development journey, the themes of Love Eternal have emerged organically during development, rather than being explicitly designed into the game. For example, the theme of isolation stands out through the visual design and structural composition, with the cavernous environments of the god’s castle imposing upon the miniscule Maya who is comparatively only a few pixels tall.
The juxtaposition of Maya – who is still a child – and her isolation in the vast castle ruins viscerally convey how children often lack physical and mental autonomy, and must submit to the whims and mercies of higher powers, parents or otherwise. Taken from the view of an adult – and likely worsened if a player has the experience of parenthood – Love Eternal’s lens of childhood is abstractly horrific.
There’s horror even in the experience of a child learning to inhabit and occupy their own body as it grows and contorts in unexpected ways, though that horror isn’t explicitly violent. Even simple experiences like losing your baby teeth as new ones push out, or the awkwardness of reconciling with the image of one’s rapidly morphing body during puberty can be strange and unnerving markers of growing up.
Such is the flavor of unusual, lightly grotesque expression of body horror conveyed by Love Eternal’s gorgeously expressive pixel aesthetic and animation. This is all crafted by Sam, a professional animator and artist whose experience spans across work like the aforementioned Love to well-known franchises like “Adventure Time”.
Through character animation, Sam pushes how characters’ bodies can be depicted in pixel art, forming a sense of the uncanny with his subtle explorations of how even mundane things might move and writhe. As an example, not too far into Love Eternal’s introductory stages, Maya will come face to face with a distorted version of her father with freakishly elongated limbs, and even in the confines of pixel art, watching this man creep around like a spider (and not like your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man) tended to raise some hairs amongst those who’ve already experienced the demo of Love Eternal.
This uncanny aesthetic dovetails into Love Eternal’s mechanical and narrative pillars for an experience that careens from somber, melancholic and ominous to bizarre, spine-chilling and occasionally unhinged. Ultimately, the team at brlka and I are confident that just about no one will be able to predict the ways in which the experience of Love Eternal unfurls its twisted tendrils.
We’re excited for players to gear up for the unrelenting challenges and eerie narrative of Love Eternal, now that the game’s out on Xbox One today!
Wander a castle built of bitter memories in LOVE ETERNAL, a psychological horror platformer with devious trials and an unsettling, experimental narrative.
Run, jump, and reverse the flow of gravity itself to escape the mind of a selfish god in this challenging precision platformer. Play as Maya, a child stolen from her family on the whim of a lonely, forsaken deity, and make your way through over 100 screens filled with spikes, lasers, switches, and traps as you unravel the horrifying secret of your new prison.
Will you find your way home, or wander these halls carved of memory forever?
I’ve played all of the God of War video games, including that one with the Reject Your Child quick time event, and that crappy mobile game from back in the Bush Administration. I played at least one game I only half remember of the God of War card game. I was a Kratos main in PlayStation All-stars Battle Royale. I like the guy, is what I’m saying, as a sort of cathartic avatar of the Id taken to its very tragic limits in Greece, and as a clunky conversation starter about guilt and finding power in something other than grievances in Midgard. But I can’t recall ever wondering “I want to know more about pre-Ares Kratos’ teenage years.” And as an answer to a question I would probably never ask, Sons of Sparta is a pleasant character rehabilitation of a largely unlikable guy couched in a largely boring adventure about Kratos learning the value of responsibility.
It’s also a pretty mediocre metroidvania, clearly taking the form and function of these games but failing to meet the high bar set by the titans of the genre, let alone bringing anything novel to this specific experience. You’ll move through colorful locations, doing the kind of running, jumping, button pressing, object pushing, and monster slaying that will be second nature to your inner Belmont, but you’ll do so at a pace so slow that it makes the journey feel like aimless wandering, fighting through hordes of baddies with combat that tries too hard to be special but ends up crowded and cloying.
I found this young Kratos to be a well-meaning, earnest guy piously (maybe naively so) devoted to the gods and the stubborn defender of his younger brother, Deimos. These are better times for the pair, who have just been granted permission to leave Sparta in order to adventure through and protect the surrounding lands at their own leisure. The well-written banter between them, and the other young people living in the Spartan agoge, reveals the Kratos that could have been, a charismatic, duty-bound leader that is tough when necessary, but also introspective, open to learn, and most jarring of all, funny.
Combat, for better and worse, was the most reliably compelling thing going on for a lot of the game. Kratos has a lot of offensive options but none that really resemble the God of War’s barbarism.
Even the brief moments of pre-Ares pledge adult Kratos in Sons of Sparta, who is telling his daughter the happenings of the game as a fable while she’s grounded, reveal a man who actually has capacity to love his wife and child in the present, and not just be consumed by rage because of their passing. They banter back and forth in the background as notable in-game events go down, and the way Calliope will cast doubt on the seemingly tall tales of her father, or follow up on moments that either seem contradictory or wrong was charming in the way The Prince attempting to recount his journey in The Sands of Time was.
Ultimately, these don’t really save the story from feeling dull and rote. Sons of Sparta is full of interesting characters that you meet after long stretches of not very interesting travel and exploration. The many locations that Kratos and his brother romp through, like the fiery foundry of Daedalus or the dense and spooky Veiled Bog, look good but there’s nothing all that special or memorable about them. A lot of them seem to be begging to tell the story of what got them to the state they’re in, like a haunted Winery that is covered in a goop and being possessed by Grecian Ivan Ooze, or a farming village where all of the residents have been replaced by cultists. But Sons is content with just marching you through a place in service of one long goal, to find a missing student of the Agoge, without stopping to elaborate on any of these side stories.
The around 20 hours of my journey was a lot of me wishing I could know more about a cool place I was in, knowing the best I was going to get was a blurb in the lore compendium, checking off every single Metroidvania trope without really any hope of seeing much innovation on the concept. The only “new” idea Sons has about the genre is when the player can expect to gain the signature abilities these games are known for. There’s no explicit right or wrong time to gain mechanics, of course, but I went about 10 hours before gaining the ability to drink a healing potion and got a double jump a few hours later, things you might expect to do at the beginning of similar titles. But you spend so much of the early parts of Sons of Sparta running such rudimentary obstacle courses that every time I gained something like the ability to sprint, I felt like I had to wrestle through a fugue state to give it a fair shake.
Combat, for better and worse, was the most reliably compelling thing going on for a lot of the game. Kratos has a lot of offensive options but none that really resemble the God of War’s barbarism. Armed with a spear and a shield, you’ll mash a single attack string, poking and bashing enemies into submission. Normal attacks cause spirit orbs to float out of your targets, which fill your gauge that can be used to turn your blows into spirit attacks, doing less damage but generating health orbs and significantly more stun meter, which you want to build especially on stronger enemies as a stunned opponent is one that can be executed.
I immediately missed the attack paths of the other series’, that let you mix light and heavy attacks or control tempo with delay strings. Instead, you can equip different spear shafts that change your combo-enders, providing one big damage attack but very few of which stand out from one another outside of this. One adds a Brad Pitt-style leaping spear thrust that gives your combo a little more range, but I didn’t find fussing over the right last hit to be worth much.
Instead, the real effective ways to spice up your damage dealing comes from attaching different spear tips that add passive effects. They unlock active abilities as you upgrade them. Not all spear tips are made equal and there are clear stand outs, like one that extends your reach. The reach-extending one’s active ability made every attack hit twice for a brief period of time. These have a more dramatic effect on your playstyle than the shafts, but I rarely strayed away from this tip as it seemed to clearly be the most versatile. I didn’t find many opportunities to get the most out of some funkier ones like the poison tip or ice tip, which do damage over time and slow enemies, respectively, as they’re effects never gave me a clear enough advantage against tougher enemies that seemed just as dangerous under these conditions.
Pommels can be added to the bottom of the spear to give Kratos another active ability, these being more like special attacks that spend your spirit meter to do. The differences between these were more dramatic – one allows the spartan to deliver a flurry of thrusts in quick succession while another sends him marching, spear swinging in wide arcs around his body. I changed these up the most to adapt to challenges because each felt tailored to handling specific sorts of the threats.
The most dramatic offensive tools are those that come from the gifts of the god that Kratos and Deimos invite themselves to possess. These operate like spells that, mostly, give Kratos options he can’t get from his spear and shield – namely good ranged options like Apollo’s sling that lets you launch pellets of solid light at foes, or Hestia’s shrub whose leaves toss bouncing flames. They also double as keys to specific sorts of locks that litter the vast world of Laconia, Apollo’s light can power specific generators and Hestia’s fire can burn away prickly bushes. But in combat, they are often your strongest and most restricted tool, limited by a magic gauge that can’t be refilled through your attacks like health and spirit can.
There’s quite a lot of ways to attack the enemies of Sparta, many little ways to modify these, and even more ways to grow and change these modifications through the upgrade crafting system. But so few of these options have remarkable gameplay consequences that incentivized me to explore past my early game habits. I didn’t even consider upgrading any of my spear tips past the level required to get their special abilities, and that was only just so I could see them in action. That isn’t to say the combat is easy, per say, but most of your most effective battle plan is to mash attack when able, after getting a safe moment or two to do so.
Enemies can be diligent and lethal, attacking often and in groups, requiring you to get pretty familiar with Kratos’ powerful defensive tools in order to survive. The parry is great for breaking up combos and putting stun damage on a foe, but it isn’t so strong that you autowin the skirmish after a successful swat, like some other games that might reward a good parry with a free execution. You still have to stay locked in, because the enemy will recover quickly to get back to the beating. Dodges, and the handful of follow up attacks that you can nail after, are necessities as well, and mixed together can make getting out of tougher binds feel rewarding. All of these actions can be modified or enhanced through equipment as well – shield rims can make counter attacks stronger or simply raise your armor and make you tougher to take down, for instance.
Losing in scenarios where multiple enemies might hit you with different kinds of attacks at once always feels like whatever the Greek word is for bullshit.
Bad guys get a little too cute with the kinds of offense they can dish out, though. Most action games feature enemies who flash red to denote an unblockable attack, but Sons of Sparta can feature enemies with a whopping four different kinds of special attack conditions, modifying whether an attack can be blocked but not evaded, ones that guard break but can be parried, or ones that you can defend in no way shape or form outside of simply not being around when it happens. This maximalist approach to defensive Simon Says creates too many variables in combat with lots of foes, and losing in scenarios where multiple enemies might hit you with different kinds of attacks at once always feels like whatever the Greek word is for bullshit.
Boss fights turn the screen filling attack machine up to 10, which is definitely a change of pace They don’t start getting tricky until about the last third of the adventure, but those baddies make you earn through extended chains of pattern recognition and reflex checking bullet storms. The easier ones in the earlier in the game can be more disappointing on the difficulty side, but what all bosses share is that they further remove the opportunity to take advantage of many of your offensive tools, since they seem to be largely immune to status effects and don’t have stun bars.
