![]() ![]() Again, this is something that could have been fixed had Thongs of Virtue been an actual sequel, rather than the second half of a game. The menu kept a nice list, but eventually I was running twenty missions simultaneously and I lost track of who gave me whatever objective I had just completed, which required me to fast travel a few places before I could figure out what went where. A lot of the missions, both side and main included, are much more spread out over the course of the game. The context is almost always hilarious whether you’re opening a passage at a church by burning books in a hexagram, serving an eviction notice to peaceful monks, helping a bunch of bacon prospectors, or paying a prostitute to dress up like the previous game’s antagonist, Deathspank rarely fails to amuse. Much like its forbearer, missions usually boil down to about five categories errand boy, kill and collect get behind a lock, scouting, and use or combine an item in a relatively intuitive manner. Missions remain conceptually impressive, but mechanically flawed and repetitious. A bummer, for sure, especially for an 8-10 hour experience. The music is disappointing because it’s largely composed of tunes from the previous outing The ambient electronic music that accompanies Deathspank as he travels and the jingle that overtakes it when he goes into battle are straight from the previous game, though the melody does shift and change some toward the middle of the game. While not a technical powerhouse, Deathspank looks quite good for a downloadable title. War torn battlefields, snow peaks, a zombified Wild-West are just as, if not more, imaginative the previous game’s fantasy themed environments. Much like the rest of Deathspank, bosses don’t do anything too special in terms of mechanics, rather it relies on the ridiculous context to make it enjoyable.ĭeathspank’s look, which featured a wildly animated Deathspank poking around vibrant set pieces and 2D, almost paper-like architecture remains impressive. Boss encounters seem a bit more intuitive for instance, you’ll have to combat a pirate who has the power to make Deathspank drunk along with a senile nun who happens to inhabit the body of several interface-afflicting idols. ![]() Traces of strategy are invoked through attack chaining and the usage various finite weapons, but Deathspank’s combat still favors melee and ranged slaughter over intense strategy. ![]() D-pad and face buttons are mapped to an item in Deathspank’s inventory, be it weapons, potions, or stat boosts. It’s there (and more visible in the later third), but the purpose of Deathspank remains consuming the ridiculous lengths of witty dialogue scattered throughout the NPCs.Ĭombat is also pretty much the same deal. The plot, while more focused on the elusive Thongs of Virtue than whatever I was looking for inthe previous game, is still mostly incidental. Concerning your opposition, leprechauns, bearalopes, and stoopid animals from the previous game are still in play, but Thongs of Virtue, more often than not, opts for different aggressors robots, soldiers, aliens, pirates, ghost-cowboys, and Santa Claus all factor into the narrative. Find a town full of people or a random passerby on the road who needs a favor, and give in to Deathspank’s undeniable obligation to be a hero. Its structure is almost exactly the same. Some jokes fell flat (the people he helped were often more funny than the hack-ish Deathspank), but it was so unlike anything else that it got a pass (from me) on its occasional lack of wit. The game was at its best when Deathspank either misunderstood the problem and accidently left the NPC worse off than before, or when you got to watch and NPC’s subsequent reaction to Deathspank’s egregious heroism. Dialogue trees always featured a regular, quest-advancing option laced with mild absurdity, but simultaneously boasted multiple insane and/or non- sequitur responses for no purpose other than to amuse the player. Penned by Hothead, one of the few developers in the business whom legitimately understand humor, it succeeds instances of actual hilarity. Hothead didn’t feel the need to wait that long for a follow-up, and now Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue is upon us.ĭeathspank’s greatest strength was the quality of its writing. I had had enough of the game and, despite an encouraging ending, was fine with waiting a year or so for a sequel. The easy of accessibility and gorgeous presentation aided my persistence, but by the time it was over I was content with its content. It didn’t have much to do with embracing its ups or ignoring its downs, but rather my inability to see a list of potential tasks and an obsessive compulsive disorder/mandate to complete every last one. Deathspank was one of the few games (that I didn’t have to review) where I managed to get a 100% completion percentage.
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