Saturday, October 19, 2013

Another drop of story after Wellspring wrapped up

I'm not sure how I feel about the drip-brewed style of story telling in Pandora's Tower

On the one hand, revealing a bit of the story after each tower suits the game's restricted in-game world. I mean, you never have to run between the towers, you just choose your destination and appear there. This limited travel makes the game into a collection of locations. As such, limiting the storytelling to scenes seen after each tower's master has been defeated makes sense since it makes each block of the story into a collection of nodes rather than something that moves continuously like something unravelling (or travelling over an overworld).

On the other hand, only telling the story in bits tossed to the player after each tower's cleared means you have to finish each tower to learn it. 

As much as I'd prefer a less controlled release of the game's story (it's shaping up to be quite interesting, just as twisty as that of any dramatic anime), the game's bit-by-bit method does build up a lot of anticipation. 

Of course, the anticipation I feel for the next bit of the story as I near a tower's master is probably making the game's story appear more interesting than it would be otherwise. 

The most recent wrinkle, the revelation of the "Other World" supposedly under the towers (or accessible from the valley found beneath them) brings a lot of possibilities to mind. Not to mention the revelation that the masters are living weapons created from living things paired with Elena's dreams after she eats their flesh. The little boy featured in most is probably the base for one of the masters, or so I'm guessing at the moment. 

Speaking of masters, the one sitting atop Wellspring Steeple offered almost more than ample challenge. Actually, much to my surprise, the fixed camera might have made it easier. After all, in most 3D Zelda games, the camera has a terrible habit of locking onto Link so that the boss is obscured from sight - especially after Link's been knocked down or back. And the boss atop Wellspring Steeple? It knocks you down a lot. 

As if it wasn't enough that the master flesh on this thing is in near constant motion, it's constantly spraying jets of water at you and launching venomous bubbles that lower the power of your attack. Plus, when its health starts to get low it sprouts tentacles and sees fit to fire more and more of those bubbles off. Not to mention the beast's cornering you, or the fact that the only assailable piece of this master is its juicy, yellow flesh. 

It was a fierce battle, but a successful one for me. Since it's only the third boss of the game and there must be at least 10 more it leaves me wondering how the next one will prove difficult. Perhaps I'll need to use the environment to my advantage or reflect an attack to deal damage. Until I learn the next tower's name all bets are off about the next master. Though, thankfully, Wellspring Steeple's boss was not a fish at all but a kind of tentacle-concealing spiral shell. So who knows what's up next.

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