I finally finished God of War. Overall a smooth, cinematic treat of gaming that I enjoyed, although today was more frustrating than average. It’s a shame to end on a down note, but here are really the only hiccups in what is otherwise a superb gaming experience.

I’m not particularly good at keeping my balance in real life, and this seems to translate over to puzzles on balance beams in video games. GoW has some areas that are a particular pain in the ass in this regard, since the camera moves as you walk the beam, which means that the direction you press the joystick changes as well.

There was another balance puzzle I got to at the end of today, which involved balancing on spinning logs with blades in them. Even with my lack of coordination, this would have been no big deal, if the designer hadn’t been downright cruel placing save points. I think I spent an hour and a half trying to traverse 90 seconds worth of puzzle.

But the real disappointment was the final boss monster, which was a surprise since the boss monsters throughout the rest of the game have been so outstandingly done. The final boss fight is broken into three stages, the first two of which are very well done and a lot of fun, if challenging. In the third, though, **spoilers** someone thought it would be a wise idea story-wise to take away your primary weapon and give you a new one, which is nothing like the old. Your magic is also taken away. As such, you’re forced to learn new moves and timing while fighting the toughest critter in the game. I spent a good hour getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter with parsley for garnish.

Visits to GameFAQs just convinced me I’m an idiot, because apparently everyone else thinks that the third fight is the easiest one. Fortunately, after five simultaneous pwnage events, the game will ask if you want to set the game on easy mode. After the 5th or 6th suggestion, I took them up on it and finally killed the mofo. Of course, even now I have a buzzing on the back of my neck that says I’m a chump, but I’ve grown to the point in my game-playing life cycle where I just don’t have the time for poorly designed boss mob encounters.

After winning the game, it unlocked God Mode. I gave it a shot (3 or 4, actually) but didn’t get past the first batch of monsters. Maybe it’s time to set down the controller and go get fresh air…