Rise of the Argonauts Updated Impressions
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We had a chance to see a few of the game's early areas in action, including the island of Mycenae, which is ruled by Jason's embittered father-in-law. Apparently, Jason's journey will take place across multiple well-known Greek kingdoms, which he can approach in any order, though Mycenae seems to have a good mix of role-playing and action elements. The denizens of the island loved their princess, and they blame Jason for her death--you'll see people on the street spit on him while dogs growl angrily. Liquid Entertainment's Charley Price explains that each area will have a different theme and inhabitants that will act differently toward Jason and his crew. Mycenae is both a center of commerce and a warlike place that has both a sprawling, vibrant marketplace and a rough-and-tumble arena where the invincible hero Achilles reigns supreme at the top of the tournament ladder.
In the streets of Mycenae, we had our first encounter with some Ionian thugs who had little respect for royalty and were itching to pick a fight. This gave us a chance to see the game's dialogue system, which generally offers four dialogue options in most conversations, each one assigned to one of four gods that Jason can follow: Athena, the goddess of wisdom, whose attitude is reasonable; Ares, the god of war, who tends to be more belligerent; Hermes, the god of trickery, who tends to be more deceitful; and Apollo, the god of the sun, who tends to be more sympathetic. Your devotion to each of these gods will define how Jason develops as a character; like in most role-playing games, you'll have a series of quests to perform, and once you complete any task, you can stop by a shrine and dedicate the quest to any of the four gods. Doing so earns you favor points with that particular god and will unlock a successive series of both active and passive abilities that will make Jason more powerful over time. You'll also be able to look up at the sky at any time to see the progress of your tasks in the constellations of stars--completing a specific set of tasks will fill out a constellation and net you additional rewards, as well.
