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Official Heavenly Sword Thread - Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads

Pharmacy said:
quote for ban



quote for ban

quote for some ADD tablets

6heo65d.gif
 

CoG

Member
Finished it this week. Better than I expected, really. I'd give it an 80 - 85, where based on some reviews I was expecting a total dud. The cutscenes/voice acting were top notch. The game had a lot of technical difficulties which dragged it down, IMO. It really needed another six months in the cooker and it would have been great. I had no problem with the length of the game itself.

I hope there's a sequel because it could be a wonderful franchise if they take their time on it.
 

2real4tv

Member
Ive also played and defeated the game...very EPIC. I did not notice all the technical difficulties everyone experienced the only thing I did not like was the pause between cut-scences and some of the flickery shadows. I think the framerates issues are a little exaggerated...also the ending is one of the best endings definitely better than DMC4(still one of my favorites), but DMC4 has a better fighting system and the graphics of HS are some of the best on consoles. Hope they do a sequel.
 

Baron

Member
Been playing through my copy of the game I got from Amazon's sale - fun game, I hate the screen tearing with a passion, though. I just passed the part where Kai threatens to hit the guards' weak point for massive damage and laughed.

Really, really hate the screen tearing. It almost breaks the game, IMO. Such a pretty game, but it stutters awfully. Why is it so bad?
 

Guled

Member
Baron said:
Been playing through my copy of the game I got from Amazon's sale - fun game, I hate the screen tearing with a passion, though. I just passed the part where Kai threatens to hit the guards' weak point for massive damage and laughed.

Really, really hate the screen tearing. It almost breaks the game, IMO. Such a pretty game, but it stutters awfully. Why is it so bad?
which is why I was really hoping for a squeal, but it looks like that won't happen :(
 

BeeDog

Member
Baron said:
Been playing through my copy of the game I got from Amazon's sale - fun game, I hate the screen tearing with a passion, though. I just passed the part where Kai threatens to hit the guards' weak point for massive damage and laughed.

Really, really hate the screen tearing. It almost breaks the game, IMO. Such a pretty game, but it stutters awfully. Why is it so bad?

If I remember correctly, Nostromo (at the time a NT dev) said they didn't use any of the Cell SPU's for offloading.
 

SappYoda

Member
I have started playing the game this week too and I find the game pretty awesome.

WTF did the press think the game was about? Also I think this game has one of the best motion sensor uses of the PS3, I can aim my arrows perfectly thanks to this.

Also the game has awesome graphics, much better than today's multiplatform titles imo.

And the music rox.

And the combat system is fresh.

Damn I like this game a lot, screw the press.
 

TheFatOne

Member
Started playing this for the first time. I like it. The aftertouch has taking some getting used to though overall I really like this game.
 

2real4tv

Member
SappYoda said:
I have started playing the game this week too and I find the game pretty awesome.

WTF did the press think the game was about? Also I think this game has one of the best motion sensor uses of the PS3, I can aim my arrows perfectly thanks to this.

Also the game has awesome graphics, much better than today's multiplatform titles imo.

And the music rox.

And the combat system is fresh.

Damn I like this game a lot, screw the press.

Wait to you get to the awesome fight at the end.

The only thing I did not like about the game was the fighting mechanics.
 
dam I thought that Heavenly Trophy Patch was out for this game. The game had an amazing combat system great story and design. I think this game came out when
the press was licking MS's balls
and just trying to review every PS3 exclusive game as PS3
is not necessary
.
 
I would never buy this because of the framerate/tearing issues it has. While NGaiden Sigma has some tearing it is never frequent enough to detract from the experience. Not so with HS.

NGS >>>> HS
 

theBishop

Banned
Bearillusion said:
I would never buy this because of the framerate/tearing issues it has. While NGaiden Sigma has some tearing it is never frequent enough to detract from the experience. Not so with HS.

NGS >>>> HS

Maybe, but Heavenly Sword is a next-gen game, and Sigma is a polished up last gen game.
 
Bearillusion said:
I would never buy this because of the framerate/tearing issues it has. While NGaiden Sigma has some tearing it is never frequent enough to detract from the experience. Not so with HS.

NGS >>>> HS

If you are basing the comparison on combat gameplay alone....yes.
 

Dibbz

Member
Doesn't Sony own the IP? If soo then there could be a possability of a sequal down the line.

Actually a more important question is where is NT's new game? They put concept art on their site to tease but never actually unveiled anything. :|
 
Dibbz said:
Actually a more important question is where is NT's new game? They put concept art on their site to tease but never actually unveiled anything. :|

I remember the concept art and "We will not be making Heavenly Sword 2"

Sadface.
 

carlosp

Banned
hey this game rocks. The combat system is deeper then the press said. With all that blocking, counter attacks and stuff. I am right at the beginning right now and i did see any tearing. Does it get worst while the game progress?

ps. This game has indeed some of the best sixaxis use.
 
I'd love a sequel to this game. The screen tearing was my only real gripe (it was AWFUL), but the game was a great experience overall.

I know Sony owns the IP, but I hope they don't do a sequel unless they can get a few members from the original team working on the game. I'd like a similar combat system in the sequel, only fine tuned, plus a similar art direction and the seem VAs.

I've heard rumors of Sony Santa Monica taking over this franchise after they finish God of War III. I would NOT want this franchise to become nothing more than a God of War clone (as much as I love God of War).
 

NameIess

Member
makingmusic476 said:
I'd love a sequel to this game. The screen tearing was my only real gripe (it was AWFUL), but the game was a great experience overall.

I know Sony owns the IP, but I hope they don't do a sequel unless they can get a few members from the original team working on the game. I'd like a similar combat system in the sequel, only fine tuned, plus a similar art direction and the seem VAs.

I've heard rumors of Sony Santa Monica taking over this franchise after they finish God of War III. I would NOT want this franchise to become nothing more than a God of War clone (as much as I love God of War).

The Santa Monica stuff was just wishful thinking here on the forums...
Sony, Ninja Theory or Santa Monica has never mentioned a HS sequel.
I would love to see a sequel, but considering Sony's relationship with NT soured and Santa Monica has their hands full with the God Of War franchise a known money maker we may never see a sequel. :( I really do not want them to give the IP to a lesser developer and have something like Six Slant and the Socom debacle...
 
NameIess said:
The Santa Monica stuff was just wishful thinking here on the forums...
Sony, Ninja Theory or Santa Monica has never mentioned a HS sequel.
I would love to see a sequel, but considering Sony's relationship with NT soured and Santa Monica has their hands full with the God Of War franchise a known money maker we may never see a sequel. :( I really do not want them to give the IP to a lesser developer and have something like Six Slant and the Socom debacle...
Well, it was just a rumor. And Ninja Theory mentioned sequels before the game was even finished. They claimed it was to be a trilogy, and said they already had a rough outline of the story for the next game.

Also, God of War III is the end of the trilogy. It will explain why there are no more Greek gods in the modern day age, and Sony Santa Monica will have to work on another franchise after III is done.

Of course, none of that means anything.

I'm hoping Sony Santa Monica goes for a Norse God of War spin off, to be honest.
 

web01

Member
I just got this game.
The cutscenes have amazing graphics is it in real time? Because it easily stands up to
MGS4 if not exceeds it at times which is amazing considering it is a first gen ps3 game.
 
web01 said:
I just got this game.
The cutscenes have amazing graphics is it in real time? Because it easily stands up to
MGS4 if not exceeds it at times which is amazing considering it is a first gen ps3 game.
Some of them are pre-rendered, but you usually can't tell because they didn't need to be heavily compressed thanks to bluray.
 

AAK

Member
NameIess said:
The Santa Monica stuff was just wishful thinking here on the forums...
Sony, Ninja Theory or Santa Monica has never mentioned a HS sequel.
I would love to see a sequel, but considering Sony's relationship with NT soured and Santa Monica has their hands full with the God Of War franchise a known money maker we may never see a sequel. :( I really do not want them to give the IP to a lesser developer and have something like Six Slant and the Socom debacle...

Explain? I never heard this before.
 
2real4tv said:
Iam also curious how did they get HDR 4xAA and 8xAF working

It's actually not that hard, the biggest problem that HS had was the utterly abominable framerate. If you're willing to kill the framerate, you can do these things. I'm sure if Ninja Theory could go back and do things differently now, they would have forgone the AA and limited the AF to 2x or 4x and made the game have a decent framerate. It certainly would have played a lot better and people would have given the controls a chance instead of watching Nariko spin around at 5 fps and think she isn't responding to any button the player is pressing and give up in about 2 minutes of play. (She is responding, you just have to forget about how Kratos controls and learn how Nariko controls. They control totally differently.)

Yeah, I did end up finishing the game. Andy Serkis as Super Scenery Chewing King Bohan was too hilarious. I rented the game, finished it in about 4 days, and brought it back within the Blockbuster 1-week rental period.

HS did a lot of things right, but the things it got wrong, those were critical. The framerate, the pacing, the poor motion controls of the Kai sections (I slogged my way through them without turning the tilt control scheme off), the absurd difficulty of the final boss (I only beat him after I learned which forms I could cheese and which forms I just had to run away from constantly, and also that you have to wait until after you get hit by the energy bolts before pressing the button to reflect them back), and the abrupt length hurt it badly. It's one of those games which fell just short of being an instant classic. Instead it was rather disappointing by the end of the game.
 

lostxii

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
It's actually not that hard, the biggest problem that HS had was the utterly abominable framerate. If you're willing to kill the framerate, you can do these things. I'm sure if Ninja Theory could go back and do things differently now, they would have forgone the AA and limited the AF to 2x or 4x and made the game have a decent framerate. It certainly would have played a lot better and people would have given the controls a chance instead of watching Nariko spin around at 5 fps and think she isn't responding to any button the player is pressing and give up in about 2 minutes of play.

Yeah, I did end up finishing the game. Andy Serkis as Super Scenery Chewing King Bohan was too hilarious. I rented the game, finished it in about 4 days, and brought it back within the Blockbuster 1-week rental period.

Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration. I rented the game last weekend and the framerate never seem to hurt the gameplay. The only point where I noticed a significant framerate drop was on the last stage. I've seen a lot worse in games that are a lot less technically impressive
 

2real4tv

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
It's actually not that hard, the biggest problem that HS had was the utterly abominable framerate. If you're willing to kill the framerate, you can do these things. I'm sure if Ninja Theory could go back and do things differently now, they would have forgone the AA and limited the AF to 2x or 4x and made the game have a decent framerate. It certainly would have played a lot better and people would have given the controls a chance instead of watching Nariko spin around at 5 fps and think she isn't responding to any button the player is pressing and give up in about 2 minutes of play. (She is responding, you just have to forget about how Kratos controls and learn how Nariko controls. They control totally differently.)

Yeah, I did end up finishing the game. Andy Serkis as Super Scenery Chewing King Bohan was too hilarious. I rented the game, finished it in about 4 days, and brought it back within the Blockbuster 1-week rental period.

HS did a lot of things right, but the things it got wrong, those were critical. The framerate, the pacing, the poor motion controls of the Kai sections (I slogged my way through them without turning the tilt control scheme off), the absurd difficulty of the final boss (I only beat him after I learned which forms I could cheese and which forms I just had to run away from constantly, and also that you have to wait until after you get hit by the energy bolts before pressing the button to reflect them back), and the abrupt length hurt it badly. It's one of those games which fell just short of being an instant classic. Instead it was rather disappointing by the end of the game.

I never had a problems with framerate did not like the fighting mechanics though, if they can fix that, the game would be ace.
 

Mdk7

Member
Bought the game on Xmas eve, i beat it yesterday...
I LOVED the cutscenes, OMFG they're just sublime. The acting is truly the best EVER seen in a game.
The combat system is simple yet really satisfying, i liked it a lot...
Graphics are overall good, with some amazing places here and there.
Sound's a blast as well...

BUT

Kai's parts using the Sixaxis are just LAME. I hated those, really... they break the rhythm, they don't work as well as they should... a big huge MEH IMHO.
And the game is soooooo short. :/

I paid it like 10 Euros so i'm really happy i played it... back in the day at 65 Euros, no thanks.
 
Not sure if Folklore's 60 dollar material (though it IS a gorgeous game), but I had no issues with buying Heavenly Sword for 60 when it came out. The game's a ton of fun.
 

Compass

Banned
I bought Folklore for $30 new at Gamestop a few months ago.

I was thinking about starting HS tonight. I'm not expecting much, and have a feeling I'll be pleasantly surprised (so maybe that means now I am expecting much).

Norml said:

That looks a lot like Kid with black hair.
 

Ricker

Member
Kai was so awesome...the cut scene where she tries to get in the guarded door without knowing the password was hilarious.
 
duk said:
When is this puppy hitting $20??? :D

It was $20 on Black Friday at Amazon, which is when Zoidberg was finally able to pick the game up. I finished it over the Christmas holiday and traded it in. I turned off the sixaxis controls immediately. Overall I enjoyed the game and was glad I played it (but only for $20).

+ Phenomenal cutscenes (interesting story, tremendous voice acting and animation). Better than MGS4, IMO, and I love MGS4. Worth playing the game for.
+ Great graphics, especially in the aforementioned cutscenes.

- Tearing IS pretty bad.
- Game IS very short.
- Actual GAMEPLAY is sub-par, IMO. By the middle of the game, the "fighting" relies entirely too much on the counter button and stance mechanics, so that in most cases, you just stand there waiting to get hit so you can hit the counter button and kill your attacker. It's no God of War, DMC, or Ninja Gaiden, that's for sure.
- Too many damn QTEs. I'm getting pretty sick of these in games. I couldn't fully enjoy the cutscenes in many cases (such as any surrounding a boss fight) because you have to focus on the part of the screen in which the button prompts appear with your fingers hovering over the buttons or else you will miss one and have to replay sections of the fight. The cutscenes were so good I wanted to take in the whole screen and enjoy them but since you never know when the QTE will occur that's impossible.

So, overall, I'd say "awesome interactive movie", but mediocre game.
 

Zoc

Member
HS's faults are numerous and have been gone over many times, but one thing about the game I think a lot of people misjudge is the combat. It's one of those games that doesn't require you to have fun playing it to finish it.

You can just pick a move or two, use them constantaly, finish the game and bore yourself to tears doing it. If you try to mix things up, though, use the mid-air movies, counter, explore the different combos, the charged-up moves with the O button, it's really quite enjoyable.
 
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