Evaluating Game Mechanics, Gameplay, and Scenarios: Asgard's Wrath 2

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Here, I wanted to talk a little bit and give my opinion on the game you're watching on screen. I also want to remind you why I make these videos: the purpose of this channel is, above all, to work on the development side of games or video games. That's why, once I finish playing some, I like to evaluate them.

In this case, it's an RPG/adventure game, and I'm interested in talking about some mechanics that, obviously, one could replicate, improve, change, adapt, or see if they're worth implementing in any title one wants to develop.

I want to make it clear that, for me, this is the best game I've played so far in the Meta Quest series. It's immense, has tons of options, a lot of variety, and, most importantly, it doesn't get repetitive or tedious, at least to a certain extent, but that depends on each person.

To date, I still haven't finished it. I thought I was almost at the end, but it turned out to be just the beginning of another chapter. I've been following an online guide when I get stuck, and I'll talk about that later. I thought I was going to finish it because both playlists (from the channels I follow) reach more or less the same point... but then I realized I didn't.

Tunnel Mode Is Essential

This is another very important point: tunnel mode. Not all games have it, unfortunately. And it helps a lot. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the game.

Here you can see a bit of gameplay, and I loved it. It feels like you're really taking advantage of these types of devices, where you really become involved with what you're doing.

You have complete freedom to swing your machete left and right. You carry two weapons: a kind of axe and a cleaver. The downside is that there's no fundamental difference between the two. Later on, you unlock the whip, which you can throw like "Thor" (like in the Marvel movies), and it returns to you when you request it, which is excellent. But both weapons (axe and sword) have the same functions.

For practical purposes, the axe is simply a smaller sword. There's no clear distinction, so you always have two swords... a bit repetitive. I think they could have used another type of weapon that really felt mechanically distinct. But hey, in the end, they're equivalent. That was one of the aspects I didn't like very much.

Good graphical balance

Moving on to another point: something I really liked about the game is that it looks pretty good, compared to other graphical horrors out there.

It's a huge game, with many polygons, many objects. You can see the trick here: for example, the meat that appears at the beginning (unfortunately, I didn't capture it well) looks terrible. But if you compare it to the main character, he has much better graphical quality.

Although they placed it very early in the game—and therefore it's the first thing you see—the most important thing is interacting with the character. The rest (like the meat or the oven) loses graphical quality, which is logical, in order to optimize and run well on these devices, which, as I've mentioned in several videos, have very limited power compared to a PC or a dedicated console.

Typical RPG Problems and Other Details

Let's now talk about the downsides or the room for improvement. This is an RPG-style game, with all the advantages and disadvantages of that genre.

One disadvantage is that, although we move through very large environments, contact with surfaces and details is rough. This area isn't polished much. This is typical of titles that aren't corridor-style.

Unreachable Positions

An example: my partner died (although you can't see it), and he tells me to give him a potion to revive him. But he's in an area I can't reach. Things like that should have been better polished. Clearly defining which surfaces are accessible and which aren't is essential to avoid these errors.

Invisible Fishing

Another curious detail (although I didn't record it): there are minigames, like the fishing one. The first time I caught a fish was when the water split, God-style, like Jim Carrey in The Almighty, when he divides the soup. A dead fish appeared there, and I was given an achievement: "My first catch."

These are somewhat silly things, which don't suit the game very well. The achievement system isn't very polished.

The Whip-Sword: Loved and Hated

My biggest complaint is with the blessed whip-sword.

For combat, I love it. But for interacting with the environment, not so much. The whip-sword is used to latch onto triangular surfaces. The problem is that, even aiming directly, you sometimes can't reach.

In a section with blades, for example, you have to latch onto those triangles quickly. If you don't, you'll be killed. I replayed that level about 20 times, no exaggeration, because I couldn't latch onto them properly. It wasn't a matter of skill, but rather that the whip wasn't long enough.

And that, for me, is a gameplay flaw, not a difficulty flaw. It's an excellent mechanic but poorly executed. They should have made the range more user-friendly, or at least made the feedback clearer.

Poorly executed puzzles

Another criticism: the puzzles. Some are interesting, but the problem lies in the execution.

For example, in one of the last ones I made, you have to move around a shape without repeating the same path or touching illegal points. But the points are so close together that, using the controller, you often accidentally touch one, and everything resets.

That really annoyed me, especially with the heron puzzle. Sometimes it reset, and I couldn't understand why. It's more a collision or hitbox issue than a skill issue. They should have spaced the circles a bit further apart. That would have made the minigame work much better.

Difficulty Between God Mode and Mortal Mode

Here, "God mode" also comes into play, as you're creating a shot between two characters. This would be, so to speak, the mortal. God mode is when you're looking down on the mortal.

One of the problems I encountered is that sometimes you're looking from one point—let's say I'm looking at a statue from God mode—but the player in normal view is looking somewhere else. So, when you switch from one to the other, you always get uncoordinated. It's a pain because you have to regain your bearings and think, "Where the hell was I looking?"

Since we have all the space available, it gets tedious. What I would have done is, if I'm looking in this shot, whether in God mode or normal mode, when switching to the other mode, the player would stay looking at the same point, not somewhere else. Because you get uncoordinated easily.

Another problem: here you can see I have another of the companions. This scene was also difficult for me to progress through. So I ended up following an online guide, which I don't like to do in games, but sometimes I have to, because otherwise, it drives me crazy.

This character had already appeared twice: once to get to this room, and then here, where I'd already spoken to him. Afterward, I had to move some towers, and some green marks appeared that I didn't know what the hell they were. It was a character ability, but since I was never told, I had no idea what to do.

In the end, what I had to do—and I only learned this from the guide—was to grab the character (who was there before) in God mode, hold him with one hand, and press a button with the other. This created a kind of affiliation with the secondary player, and from there you could use his abilities. But this isn't explained anywhere. You're like, "What do I have to do?"

Of course, you've already used this mechanic before, because this would be the third player to join your team. But you forget, or it's simply not that striking. The accessibility aspect of the game—that is, the tips about what you're expected to do—is seriously lacking here, and this is repeated constantly.

Mechanical Problems and Confusing Puzzles

As I mentioned, there are also problems with the sword, and I'll give you more examples. This is repeated in other scenarios. As I also said, with the little balls, the game always fails a bit to make you understand what the hell you have to do. And yes, that can be considered part of the difficulty: understanding the puzzle.

But for me, the problem isn't that the puzzle is difficult, but rather that you have no idea what to do. Ideally, it's like any other puzzle where they show you what to do; then the difficulty lies in achieving it, not in blindly figuring it out.

For example, this one was really hard for me. If I didn't see the guide, I would never have guessed that I had to grab the monkey and do the trick I told you about. And this is repeated a lot.

Visual Issues and Mesh Breakage

Here again, we have huge puzzles or overly large stages where it's not clear what to do. You can also see display issues. When you're on a floating surface, the mesh breaks. At one point, as soon as I turned around, you could see the shield piercing the mesh. I don't know why they didn't fix that. It was a huge technical problem.

Throwing the axe or sword could be improved.
Here's another example. I have to pick up something with one hand and, with the other, throw the axe or sword at the glowing button. And even though I'm aiming more or less correctly, it doesn't reach. After trying 30 times, at some point I hit it.

So, it's not just aiming. Sometimes the projectile falls meters away from where I'm aiming. Clearly, there's a problem with how they calculated that physics.

Another example: I hadn't seen a lever on the left that was the key to lowering some water elements. I thought I had to press a little button there, and I spent half an hour hitting it. Then I realized it wasn't that button, but the lever. Design flaws like that make the player feel frustrated. It's as if they designed the environments without considering how they'd perceive them while playing.

Excessive Loading Screens

Another criticism is that the loading screens are a pain. I don't understand why they put in so many. It's not a graphically demanding game to justify it.

First, you have a screen with a background image. Then, a black screen. Then, you're thrown into a room with three giant witches who don't do anything, and then you have to go through a tunnel of light to get to where you really were.

In other words, there are three loading screens before you can continue. I think it's horrible. Ideally, when you load, you'd be taken directly to the save point, not to a halfway room that doesn't provide anything.

Very bland companion characters

Another thing I would have liked to improve—and something that always fails in this type of RPG—is the companions' dialogue. It's too repetitive.

For example, the tigress, who is a woman-tiger, she always repeats the same thing: “Look at me! Look at me!” every time you call her. And when you ride her, she says, “What a shame I only have two legs…” Please change that line! What's the point of adding about 15 more lines?

Yes, there are unique lines when you're on a mission or something special, but overall, there's very little line. This character—a mix of eagle and human—fails at that. Otherwise, as I said, it's an excellent game. But these are things I'd fix if I wanted to copy a similar mechanic.

Part Two: More of the Same, But a Little Worse

I thought I was almost done, which was both good and bad. I have a habit of getting bored of games quickly. At this point, the exotic, the interesting, was gone. It's all about “hitting everyone with a machete.”

Now they have you play with another character, a kind of female fish. Every time you pick up a harp, which I liked because it changes the gameplay a bit, the character sounds like it's spitting. It's unpleasant.

The monkey companion returns as a mount, but everything feels the same. The new weapon (the harp, which is like a fish's tongue) is more tedious to use. It has fewer features; you can't attack with it directly. With the other character, you could dual-wield and perform more varied attacks. Not here.

It seemed to me that instead of moving forward, you regress in options. That harp works like the whip you used before, but without as many advantages. It feels limited. If they'd given me, say, a bow or something more interesting, I might have finished it. But doing the same thing again with this character didn't seem right to me.

Also, going back to the whip part, everything becomes a bit robotic. You always end up scratching everyone with both weapons, as fast as possible. It loses its charm. Like when you had to put your hands like little pieces in Batman to glide. A silly thing, but hey, it's just details.