Introduction
Game Info
It's Ryse: Son of Rome, Crytek's not-so-Crysis baby which was featured as an Xbox One launch title. What began as "Codename: Kingdoms," a tech demo built around Kinect in 2011, was born into this world a quick-timey, repetitive, hack and slash title with surprisingly very little Kinect support. We follow Marius as a mysterious force beckons him to cut off the glowing limbs of his foes to save his mythical Roman Empire from collapse. There isn't too much development info to this game other than that. Despite Ryse: Son of Rome being trumped up with direct support from Microsoft through media coverage an even a post-launch competition, the game was not very well received by reviewers and consumers alike. There are hints that Ryse 2 is in the works, but Crytek is playing those cards close to its chest, especially after Microsoft failed to boost their first iteration of the IP over the top.
LP Info
This is my first major LP (outside one or two forays here and there) so I'm expecting some gentle sempais on this one. Criticism is definitely welcome and will be taken into account. I intend to shuffle the cast of co-hosts around each episode as this game doesn't require too much thought except a basic understanding of previous plot points. The game is the PC release played at 30fps at a resolution of 1920x1080. My apologies for those hoping for a 60fps playthrough... Just think of it as my poor attempt to simulate that classic Xboney feel we all know and love.
Collectibles will be featured in their own individual posts after each episode. Look for a link to each underneath the corresponding episode link in this post.
Extras
-Ryse: Sword of Damocles is a 3 part animated comic series offering more detail into Leontius' story to Marius about the made up mythical General Damocles and his revenge on those who abandoned him on the battlefield. I would highly suggest watching the first episode before reading these for context purposes, but in the long run, the Damocles story, in itself, adds very little to the over-all plot of the game.
-Xbox/Crytek's Pathetic Easter Egg Hunt - I've alluded to this before, but Crytek and Microsoft originally ran a contest to send signed merch and discs to the first people to find all the easter eggs hidden in the game. For the most part, they all suck. One easter egg remains undiscovered however, despite the game having been both an Xbox One launch title and been released on PC. Most players had trouble finding them in the first place so a guide was issued. With the hints, players were able to discover the first 3 listed, but the final easter egg, existing in the last chapter of the game, remains undiscovered to this day. I even spent time looking for it myself during this LP run and haven't been able to make heads or tails of it, though I do think I know where it is... Triggering it seems to be the problem...
Thread Notables/History 101
-Calax teaches us about sex in Roman society and some sexual myths regarding the real Emperor Nero
-TheBravestofLamps lets us in on Roman naming customs and why we just use historical shorthand for most famous Romans
-Astro Nut discusses the real Boudica and her motivations, tactics, and subsequent defeat against the Romans
Videos
I. CRYPTIC DAD AND THE FATE OF ROME (Chps. I & II) (Co-host: Tyty) [52 min]
II. LORD OF THE RYSE: THE TWO TOWERS (Chp. III) (Co-host: Poorly Written Novel) [42 min]III. REAL TALK ON AN AQUEDUCT (Chp. IV) (Co-host: Detective Grey) [40 min]IV. CLEAVING CLEAVAGE IN CLEVELAND (or Nevada) (Chp. V) (Co-host: Skippy Granola) [37.5 min]V. HE IS RYSEN (Chp. VI) (As hosted by: Tyty & Poorly Written Novel) [42.5 min]VI. MARIUS' NIGHTMARE IN BOOBLAND (Chp. VII - Pt.1) (Co-host: Tyty) [28.5 min]
VII. THE DARK KNIGHT RYSES (Chp. VII - Pt.2) (Co-host: PoorlyWrittenNovel) [31.5 min]VIII. MARIUS IS FUCKING DEAD (Chp. VIII - FINALE) (Co-hosts: Tyty & PoorlyWrittenNovel) [44.5 min]