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Post by Sarge on Mar 28, 2019 10:18:49 GMT -5
Two more dungeons down. Went to the volcano area, got my stuff there, then went to an island dungeon via ship and beat it, too. Think I've only got one more crystal dungeon, then the last one to head to Death Adder. I've tried to stay away from guides, but I have checked a few things when progress came to a screeching halt and I've spent far too much time trying to uncover secrets. Like finding out that, oh, you need upgraded Earth Magic in the volcano area to uncover secrets. Yeesh.
Speaking of magic, that's one of the more maddening things about the game. You have to use Earth Magic in particular to destroy rocks to uncover secrets, but since magic is rather limited, you can't actually do much of it. You end up saving all your vials for hunting secrets, and can't really use it in combat, unless you want to grind out more vials. It's a terrible setup. To add insult to injury, Earth Magic can also perform the role of the boomerang in Zelda and stun enemies. But you won't use it much because it's so expensive. I also got a healing spell, but, surprise, surprise, it's very cost-prohibitive. Three vials for (maybe) three hearts? Ouch.
I know I'm griping a lot about the game, but I definitely want to finish it. A lot of games are often easy to categorize: good, bad, meh. But this is one of those truly frustrating ones that feels like it could have been great. Instead, seemingly small decisions had ramifications for the enjoyment of the entire game, and it sucks.
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Post by Ex on Mar 28, 2019 12:23:44 GMT -5
Instead, seemingly small decisions had ramifications for the enjoyment of the entire game, and it sucks. It seemed to me that Golden Axe Warrior wasn't playtested very well, thus its gameplay balance is so misaligned. I agree with you that GAW could have been a good game, but as it stands it's just a frustrating experience. I realized if I were to finish the game, it would have purely been out of spite.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 28, 2019 12:32:13 GMT -5
I don't think I'm doing it entirely out of spite at this point, more because it's just one of those games that I've always wanted to finish. Which I guess is its own version of spite, since I'm in for the long haul at this point. I still don't think it's a terrible game: indeed, I'd say it clocks in above average. If I had to give it a score right this second, I'd probably give it a 6/10.
While Nintendo doesn't always put out the best games, it does feel like they spend significantly more time polishing their games than most. I think that was part of the revelation of their FDS triumvirate of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus (although less the latter). Despite their age, they showed surprising care in their design, and don't feel spiteful for the sake of it, or worse, because they just didn't care to get the little things right.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 28, 2019 22:55:20 GMT -5
GAW is done, peeps! Whew. Anyway, about the only thing that really changed towards the end was my ability to tank more hits... but you're gonna need it, because the last dungeon has fun skeleton blade tossers, the clams that serve as this game's Darknuts, more Wizzrobes than you can shake a stick at, eyeball laser dudes... yeah, it gets a bit much. Better have healing on hand. They don't drop a lot of health, but they do drop magic, so you can use your crappy healing spell. And that does only heal two hearts for three vials. Ouch. Speaking of the clams, you can only hit them from the front, as opposed to the Darknuts hitting from the sides or behind. This is amazingly obnoxious from a design standpoint, because you have to be in their path to hit them. The game gives you a Balloon at the end which gives a more detailed map, right about the time you don't need it. C'mon, guys! Anyway, I probably spent 11 hours on this game, and while I'm glad I did, I have no doubt I will never play it again. At least not in this form. A hack would make it a lot better for sure. I'm locking this one in at that 6/10 point, although it's a hideously uneven, spiteful 6/10. And I will forever fight anyone on the Internet that has the gall to claim that Golden Axe Warrior is better than The Legend of Zelda. Because of the small, yet significant changes in the formula, I will claim it's worse from an objective standpoint, and have the ammo to back up my case! Unless, you know, that person just likes finicky combat or something. I mean, weirder things have happened.
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Post by Ex on Mar 29, 2019 0:54:11 GMT -5
Golden Axe Warrior is a 6/10 at best. I'm locking this one in at that 6/10 point, although it's a hideously uneven, spiteful 6/10. Well I'm glad we both agreed on the score.
I'll commend your fortitude for sticking with the experience to the bitter end. I agree that there's no rational sane way that GAW is better than LoZ. Blind brand loyalty can make people say some silly things.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Mar 29, 2019 7:07:20 GMT -5
A claim of "Golden Axe Warrior is better than Zelda" really gets my hipster senses a-tinglin'. That's like a Brothers Duomazov level opinion.
You guys are way too generous with ratings. I'd give the game a 4/10 tops.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 8:00:37 GMT -5
I thought GAW was the first game in the series, but it's actually the fourth entry and is also quite different from the previous games. Apparently, they are all side-scrolling beat-'em-ups. Not sure if they were also aping some NES title and if they were more successful at it.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Mar 29, 2019 9:02:02 GMT -5
Golden Axe is a legendary (and good) arcade beat 'em up series. Worth checking out.
Warrior is just a half-baked spin-off, Sega's ill-fated attempt to ride the Zelda gravy train.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 29, 2019 10:29:44 GMT -5
I can never figure out which ARPGs bonesnapdeez is going to like, haha! Anyway, yeah, Golden Axe was very popular in its time. Was it the first belt-scrolling fantasy beat-'em-up? I can't remember.
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Post by Ex on Mar 29, 2019 11:07:56 GMT -5
You guys are way too generous with ratings. I'd give the game a 4/10 tops. My 6/10 takes in all aspects of the experience. It has very nice graphics for an 8-bit A-RPG. There are some good ideas like verbose NPCs (instead of cryptic NPCs in LoZ). The OST's not bad. There are small villages with shops, inns, and save-points. Most of the overworld layout is enjoyable to explore. There's plenty to like about GAW. It's two big problems are its bad combat, and unintuitive yet necessary item placement. Those two sore spots were worth knocking off 4 points from the 10 for me. That said, GAW VS LoZ? Yeah that's a joke. LoZ destroys GAW.
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