I think it just depends on who's playing the game. I just can't stop playing it. I have only two more areas to heal, I miss two lightseeds only for now which means I have more than 800 hundred.

I have never ever gotten bored playing this game. It is nothing like Assassin's Creed and to me it is even one of the two best games I've played this end of year (along with Tomb Raider). The sensations are great, the graphics are simply amazing, the game really makes you care about the two characters (at least that's how I feel) and the enemies are really classy The background of the game is also very rich and man, I just think this game rocks. :p

In short, however surprising it might sound to you, there is absoultely nothing I don't like about this game (except maybe the flying power which handles like crap). It sure could be a little more difficult but I'm having such a great time that I don't even care. I'm ready for a sequel, but judging from what I can read on the forums, it's not likely there will ever be one... Unless I am not alone. :(

No offense Sath, but Assassin's Creed both played and felt a lot worse than PoP. The combats sucked even more, the acrobatics were pointless in that it was even less challenging than in PoP (yes it's possible). The only things I liked about the game: the graphics and the historical background (though I think the story sucked, talk about a story that doesn't pull you in). I still managed to enjoy it but it's a game I sold the moment I completed it. Like I said, it all depends on who's playing the game. ^^

What I don't understand is what is so difficult about adding DIFFICULTY SETTINGS.

I mean... Okay so you wanna make an accessible game and not be patronizing to first timers, fine. Make "Normal" rediculously easy and have "hard" be for those that actually wanna play the game.

It's one of the most fundamental truths about any game, that overcoming obstacles, being rewarded for your efforts is KEY. That doesn't have to mean Ninja Gaiden of balls-shurikenly satanic opposition, but it does mean risk/reward on the simplest level.

As recently as today me and my nephew played some Rainbow Six Vegas in co-op and decided to replay a few levels to restart using the "realistic" setting for difficulty. Because we're elitist assholes? Not really, but because there was no real reason to take it slow and be tactical. We sort of ran around gunning people down to left and right without communicating. That isn't stimulating, that isn't *fun*.

Different games can do this different ways. Mario Galaxy never goes nuts and redecorates your genitals, but there's the slightest sense of accomplishment woven into everything you do. If you spin around to knock out a goomba, there was the chance of not timing that right and instead being hit. If you thwirl up the stem of a flower, that's not just about pushing a context sensitive button once and watch it happen.

At every point in a game you gotta balance that sense of your participation against the hurdles the game produces.

So WHY not just fix AC by making guards kill you in one or two blows like they were meant to (said at one of the assassillion E3s that game was shown) and remove some of the stupid easy hiding places when the player choses "HARD" instead of "NORMAL". When did that stop being viable!? The result would be you running like a fucking nutter because guards would actually pose a threat, and getting away would be rewarded with yummy still aliveness and actually feel like it mattered.

In this game it seems like even less of an effort is required to make things more rewarding for players that know what they're doing, because Elika is essentially the sole.... cake... of which.. this.. is a walk.


I'm in the exact same position right now as I was when AC was out and I was equally disappointed by that game's critical reception. I ran out and got AC eventually and I'm sort of glad I played it.. but man it was dire. With this I really dunno what to do.

The irony is that now Assassin's Creed 2 has the opportunity to fix what I was sure this game would get right over AC.

Difficulty setting is your friend Ubi. You give us a rediculously easy open world BG&E2 and I will EAT YOUR HEARTS.

I understand why you found the conversations tiresome in AC but I really don't see the problem in PoP. They do make the characters more interesting and it simply sucks you in: you learn a lot more about the world you're in, it makes the whole thing a lot more believable.

Sure, the games does not offer incredible cinematics MGS-wise, the editing is definitely not bold, it never feels like an action movie as in Uncharted. But the conversations offer a lot more than in other games, in terms of content I mean. It does a lot to add more depth to the characters. The players who don't use the on-demand dialog function are missing out.

I think you have issues with voice acting and dialogs in general. ;)

Don't get me wrong, I won't mind if the guys at Ubi decide to make the gameplay of the sequel deeper than it is now (by forcing the player to push more buttons to do things fro example, instead of simply making everything feel kind of automatic) but, contrary to AC, I have enjoyed every single bit of the game so far. I obviously hope that the sequels to both game will come with some improvements, but to me, they have more work on AC than on PoP. :)

I thought you meant the dialogs were also tiresome in your first playthrough, my bad. ^^

I wonder which game would deserve one story-wise. ;p

I've posted my detailed impressions on the game's thread (game forum) on the French side if you're interested. If I'm not mistaken you speak French so you should be able to understand the essence of what might have been a modest review article. ;)

http://www.gamersyde.com/forum_3_28110_4_fr.html

I purposely don't mention the game's flaws (I'm fully aware that there are some) because I wanted to point out the pleasure I've had to play the game. It's been entertaining and I'm really considering a second playthrough (I have almost completed the game, I only need to kick Ahriman's tree's ass ^^). :)

Thank you. :)

For me, the game is still worth buying at full price because of the experience it provides. I mean Ico was a bit short too and really not difficult and above all, there was no replayability, still not playing it would have been a huge mistake at the time. PoP is just the same to me. :)

The reason may be that you need Elika's magic here. I think you're not supposed to grab him. Use Y (or Triangle).

Um, I'm wondering something. Do you ever fall? Like, do you mess up jumps at all?

Because if people going on about how easy it is simply refer to the way you get to re-do jumps with no punishment, then that won't bother me at all!

So the question is, to clarify; are jumps ever tricky? Have you guys actually borked a jump or a section of platforming?