This game has been a joy to play from start to finish. There were a few griped from me such as the default walk being dreadfully slow especially when there were large and rather pointless areas that you were forced to traverse though, but this is forgivable seeing as how the rest of the game was so magnificently executed.
our final area of the game past the "Rake Lady" sees us finally getting to the lair of the Mountain King that kidnapped our older sister in the first act.
After dispatching the guardian of the island by vanquishing the "Rake Lady" we complete our paddling without any further attacks.
In lieu of excessive cinematics this game employs a method that I much prefer in getting you to sit still long enough to listen to the narration. You have a task to do while it talks to you, in cases past it was simply walking from one place to another, in this instance you are using both R and L buttons to continue rowing the boat. This simple instance of giving you something to do rather than just sit in your chair and wait, is something I really wish more games would do.
That brief respite of color and sunshine doesn't last long though and we soon find ourselves back in the spooky woods with, well I guess they are brambles all around, which I suppose is very fitting given the game's name.
As has often been the case prior in this game you find yourself performing a very simple puzzle whose only purpose is to keep you occupied while you continue to hear the narration that is kind of wrapping up the story for us. I can't stress enough how much I prefer this over being forced to watch a short film telling me about why I am here and what I am doing.
Why don't more games do this? I can't be the only one that gets so fed up with endless cinematics interrupting gameplay.
on the other side of that simple puzzle we end up in a bedroom that is meant to be a part of the lore and here is where we find one of the only perplexing puzzles in the entire game. There are items all over the room, some of which have roman numerals on them and a clock that has no time yet on it. I will admit that I got frustrated about what the heck any of this means and looked up the answer online.
As it turns out there are 3 portraits there next to the bed and if you go from left to right there is an item in each that has a corresponding item in the room you are in. Find those items in order and then remember the roman number on them. Change the clock to the corresponding time and you have the answer to the puzzle and another door opens.
you almost never really "fight" in this game because you are really small compared to the things that are around you. Instead they have these sequences where you are meant to time where you run in order to avoid being squashed or blown away. This time is is from the shockwave of a fire being stoked in an armory of sorts. It's not that difficult to figure out: Look for cover in the distance and run to it between the flashes of light. Even a noob idiot like me was able to do this in just a few tries.
Once you get through that we find ourselves at an ominous door that has that o so familiar look of something really powerful being on the other side.
Sure enough, as soon as you manage to get the door open - which involves yet another really simple puzzle, you start to hear the labored breathing of something that you probably don't want to face. The narration starts to talk more about the Mountain King and well, I think the time for the final battle is finally upon us.
I'll depart with a little piece of time saving for people out there that is one of the only other flaws I have found in this game and that is the sword you can see in the distance right above these words. To me, this is not illuminated enough to be evident that it is important. once you cross in front of the mountain face you are only able to fully see it for a second or two and then you are too close to it to realize that it is important. I spent a good deal of time wandering around wondering where the hell I was supposed to go and then accidentally jumped on it and grabbed it.
The game does a pretty good job of indicating what items are important at every other stage of the game but in this one part they provide a rather huge "runnin around area" that doesn't really indicate where you are meant to be going.
Once you climb up that sword we are just a few steps away from facing the creature that this entire adventure has been all about.
