Exploring is rather simple. You tell your navigator where you want to go…and he takes you there. You can choose in what order you want to complete the game’s main quest line. The biggest problem with open world exploration in Action-Adventures (I have Ben Croshaw to thank for this) is that each world must be similar. Doing this makes any selection the right one but it flattens the difficulty curve. Thanks to terrible AI and easy combat the game maintains no challenge. Each world exhibits a different artistic style, a swamp, a city, but they all play out the same. You enter world. You find who you are looking for. You complete quests through dialogue and combat. You leave world after defeating boss. There is no mini map either. To determine where you are going and where goals are located you have to constantly pause the game and select map. It slows everything down. High points are speckled throughout, a philosophical debate and arena battle; however, they don’t alleviate the repetition.
Now, let me apologize in advance for this next paragraph. I’m afraid it is going to be repetitive, so, I am sorry. Let me sum up combat.
Mace + Exacerbation of X button = Victory
Sword + Exacerbation of X button = Victory
Spear + A + Y = Victory
Now the game isn’t difficult to control. Liquid did a great job at mapping simple commands and keeping everything from getting complicated. The problem with the lack of complication is seen above. Bosses require a bit more work but everything is unintuitive. It feels like a paddle ball except the string is really short and the portion of the paddle that faces the user says “I’m with stupid.” Combos don’t connect. Their range of motions push the enemy away before it’s complete and shields auto-block. You can break shields but at the beginning it’s like trying to get Sega to admit Sonic is past his prime. Later weapons hasten shield destruction but by then the clang of weapon on shield will be firmly implanted in your brain. The Argonauts join you in your quest and aid you in combat, but like this sentence…they are an afterthought; except Pan.
Liquid definitely didn’t polish some of their design choices but their leveling system is intriguing. Numbers are replaced with deeds. Completing quests and killing foes gives Jason a form of currency he can devote to his patron gods. There is no quantity assigned but the greater the deed the more points awarded. This awards aspect points that can be spent to acquire god powers and passive abilities. While the system reeks of originality the combat system destroys any desire to use. When you throw spears or use some of the projectile god powers it’s difficult to determine if your abilities are having any effect. Nothing besides blood and enemy models that hold their arms near death alert you to the damage you are putting out. Honestly, I just kept pressing X.
I feel sorry for Rise of the Argonauts; mature RPGs are hard to come by. The interesting yet predictable narrative is buried deep within poor design choices. Weapon selection occurs on the Argo only. (This is purely ascetic, since you can kill everything by pressing X). The frame rate suffers during combat and town exploration. Overall, with all of the issues, I felt that the game needed more time. I was able to complete the game but only because it’s about 10-12 hours long. Hopefully Liquid learns from their endeavors. Their attempt at changing some of the elements we have come to accept as concrete is welcome. However, they need to take into consideration the elements they don’t change as well. I would recommend renting the game first since you can beat it in three solid gaming days.
