Apotheon - 2/20 hours

Apotheon is probably the most gorgeous game I've played since Braid. Every frame looks like one of those ancient Greek pots, with the stark black against a muted earth-tone and very stylized, almost abstract representations of people and animals. Of course, as a modern interpretation of an ancient art form, it's not restricted to just what the Greeks had access to, and the levels that add blue or green to the color palette are just as eye-catching.

It's a style that very effectively captures a mood and genre. I don't feel like I'm playing a story set in the real world. I just immediately buy into the idea that this is an epic myth, of the sort that a blind troubadour might tell around a camp fire.

This sort of stylized art is, in fact, so universally effective that it makes me wonder sometimes why games ever use anything else. Which isn't to knock realism. It's just that when I think about games with memorable graphics, I think of things like Windwaker and Broken Age and for a realistic game, it really takes something with distinct world design, like Bioshock to even make it on the list. I suspect realism is simply less risky, and that the reason arty games like Apotheon seem to have such a high success rate is just because the weak ones get weeded out earlier in the process.

I haven't gotten too far into the game yet, so I'm unwilling to commit 100% to an opinion about Apotheon's gameplay or story, but so far they seem pretty solid. The combat is a simple two-button affair, but each of the weapons handles differently, and so the nuances of timing and weapon-arcs make it deceptively strategic. The weapon breakage is not my favorite mechanic in the world. I tolerated it in Breath of the Wild and I'm tolerating it here. I will concede that it has forced me to use different types of weapons and learn their subtleties, and thus is working as intended, but it's still a pain in the ass.

Where the story is concerned, the only comment I'm willing to make right now is that it seems a lot like God of War, except the protagonist isn't an asshole. I'm not entirely sure I trust Hera, who appears to be acting as my patron, and I'm wary of a late-game twist that totally changes the meaning and context of everything I've been doing. But for now, it's pretty enjoyable to storm Olympus and hold the gods accountable for their neglect of the Earth.