This game was really good. I had a lot of fun playing it. However, it need's a final coat of paint. There are a lot of details that are missing, especially from the cut scenes and animation. The foundation is all there, it just needs that extra finish.

The main thing I love about this game is the freedom it gives to perform stunts. One moment in particular stood out to me: During the winged boss fight, I was holding onto the tip of the left wing and I was running out of stamina. I needed to get to it's other wing to finish the fight, but the boss started making a right turn. I could have taken the safe route by climbing down the wing, but instead, I let go of the wing and slid down to the other side. Sliding down the wing of a giant flying creature, a thousand miles in the air, with wind rushing past me felt so epic. The moments like that made this game exciting and satisfying to play.

I have mixed feelings about the survival aspect of the game. Parts of it were fun, but other parts were tedious. It would be interesting to see it integrated into the boss fights more. Like maybe having a fight lasting so long that you need to camp out on the bosses back, or in a cliff-side cave while a giant creature stomps around outside.

The story didn't feel compelling enough. It took away from the cinematic nature of the game. The main character was unexpressive and I couldn't figure out why she was pursuing her goals. That was probably the weakest point of the game. It's tempting as a writer to make stories intentionally vague because it makes it come across more poetic. However, if nobody knows what's going on, then it's very difficult to empathize with the characters. This completely wipes out any chance for a deep emotional response from the player. For a game who's main selling point is epic and jaw dropping scale, a vague story only takes away from that WOW feeling.

The extra polish for the cut scenes would help emphasize that WOW feeling, but the story needs to be more emotionally engaging as well. That being said, I had a lot of fun playing this game and I would love to see more.

TL:DR: 7/10 - Frustrating frozen fun found from first fight forward until finish.

For those still reading. This game is basically Shadow of The Colossus in the deep Nordth, on a mission to save the world from a never ending winter. The game is much smaller than SotC and swaps mounted travel, for a grappling hook and glider. On Legendary/Survival difficulty I did not feel like I could really take in and appreciate the world as much. I was on a mad dash to make it from one boss to the next -stopping of course to kill champions and strip the landscape bare to the extent i was able to- all while constantly freezing to death.

There are spitting worms, frozen, undead warriors, banshees, champions (mini boss), boars and bunnies a plenty to slice, club, and shoot for loot. The precious loot you'll need to craft and upgrade so you can better survive the harsh, unforgiving landscape. Survival mechanics on top added an immersive layer of difficulty that was coupled by some frustrating limitations (I'm looking at you cooking) Berries and scavenged bread made up the majority of my diet, as cooking meat and mushrooms requires campsites that are scattered throughout the landscape, you're not able to craft cooking implementations all by your lonesome... which I have issues with. It created an undo stress and prevented me from being able to get better benefits from food I needed, all because I, the survivalist, couldn't make a spit out of all the wood around me.

The combat with minions is clunky/floaty and could be improved on. The presence of a lock-on does help with melee combat, but distance and gap closure is iffy. You're best to get right up on your enemy before spamming melee. There is no block or parry so dodging is your best friend. Melee and Archery don't take any stamina, but running, climbing, gliding, and dodging do. Stamina management is KEY to survival, so I put all my totem upgrades into stamina and relied on dodging to not get hit.

While trying not to die of frost and hunger, you'll notice the landscape is beautiful. Ancient ruins and abandoned camps pepper the environment. Trees sway in the wind, and the sudden and powerful storms impact your vision and ability to traverse the terrain. Your character leaves deep trenches in the snow as the struggle through. This eerie, haunting landscape still has a peaceful beauty. Some areas hint at a forgotten history frozen in time. The area surrounding boss 4 in particular is one of my personal favorites, the atmosphere is great and really shows the love and effort put into the visuals. Each boss fight is unique and usually involves activating a mechanism to stun the boss, or help you to reach them in some way. Each boss is a puzzle of both, how do I get on it, and what do I do once I'm up there. The feeling you get from scaling these titans is on point with this game.

Praey for the Gods wears it's inspiration proudly and I salute NO MATTER STUDIOS. I hope they make more games in this vein, as the set piece moments are wonderful and really gave me that SotC feeling I loved so much. While the story -and ending especially- leave a lot of questions, I came to the game to climb and fell titans, and that's what I really enjoyed. Great job and I hope to play another!

- Overview -
Heavily inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, you are small and seemingly insignificant person in the eyes of the world, and are tasked to take down these massive, hulking, almost otherworldy beings, where others before you have failed. Praey however builds upon this with the inclusion of a breath-of-the-wild style world and ancient ‘Nordic’ theming (I’m not well versed enough in Nordic-knowledge to be sure it is Nordic).

- Story/feel; 3.5/5
While there are short collectable notes scattered throughout the game, from NPCs long since dead, telling of their exploration across the lands, their history, and fruitless attempts to contact their friends, a fair bit of work has gone into the diagetic storytelling; destroyed boats next to rivers, deserted camps, paintings on walls that hint at methods previous adventurers used to take down the bosses.
With their motivations never explained, the character before the game is yours to create. You take over as they make their way towards the first boss. Once felled, you end up in a mysterious cave, depictions of various ‘gods’ plastered on a wall. Your first foe; disappears and the next is highlighted. Of course, there is nothing is there to stop you from walking out on this job to make your own life – hunt, pr(a)ey for survival, live off the land – and similarly nothing is there to stop you going after whichever goliath you come across in your travels first, forgoing the intended order. Because of this, it is very easy to get in over your head, and this may frustrate some players. Personally, I love it. Thre are no character levels, only your equipment and the equipment you have crafted and upgraded. Everything can be beaten, but dark souls this is not.

- Gameplay loop(s); 2.5/5
The primary loop is lifted almost straight out of Colossus; Make your way across the map to the boss, figure out how to get *onto* the boss, figure out *how* to kill the boss (though they’re all done in a similar manner), lather, rinse, and repeat. The secondary loops however, also have you hunting animals for meat and craftable materials to keep yourself alive, active, and warm, giving you a little more to do than Colossus did on the journey. However, for those that consider this needless busywork (or for one reason or another do not wish to include this); the difficulty sliders are adjustable enough to remove the need to hunt, repair weapons, stay warm, etc, while still getting the same difficulty of enemy that others would.

- Mechanics; 3/5
Climbing is a fairly big point of this game. Well, exploring is in general. I have previously compared this game to Colossus and Breath of the Wild, but unfortunately, this is where the game falls short. At its best, the climbing is serviceable. I never really /enjoyed/ climbing; it was a means to an end. Unfortunatly, there are also times when the terrain is such that the character may get stuck on odd geometry, or not react as you expect. While – for the most part – this is fine, when needing to clamber around giant creatures on a dwindling stamina meter, finding yourself unable to move in a specific direction for an unknown reason (or grabbing something you didn’t mean to, or not jumping off when you did...) is frustrating. Though it has the heart, this game lacks some of the polish of a triple A (but I think it’s developed by two people, so I’m willing to give them that).

You also have at your disposal a ‘hookshot’ style grappling hook. The limitation of where you can and can’t shot your hook can be also a little frustrating, but it is also understandable from a gameplay perspective. Personally, I would have chosen not to include it, even if getting thrown off a giant beast only to spin around, finding a spot to hook, and pulling yourself back is a badass feeling.

The adjustability of the other mechanics in the game is a pleasant addition, and I chose to play with them. Eating isn’t a requirement to survive, but it does help your stamina regenerate faster. Temperature is a much bigger factor; with biting winds and sudden storms, it is all too easy to die to hypothermia, so make sure you always have some sticks for a quick fire, potions to help warm you up, or even just well-crafted insulating clothing.

- Music & noise; 3/5
Outside of fights, there is generally little music; the game choosing atmospheric wind and the crunching of snow. Inside of fights however, the music gets very bombastic, and fits quite well.

- Graphics; 3/5
It looks good. It’s not stunning, but isn’t going to win any awards either. Nothing really feels out of place.
I did however appreciate being able to make tracks in deep snow, and having them stay there. It’s a little thing, but I did spend a few moments trying to draw things, and noticing the back-and-forth I made in the snow during boss fights was an enjoyable touch.

- Overall; 6.54/10

Generated using a weighed scoring system based on my own preferences:
Story & Feel: 3.24/4.5
Mechanics: 1.8/3
Music: 0.3/0.5
Graphics: 1.2/2