>C:LoS player
Better not be Franchise.
>don't mean cuhrayzee
The Sword of Damocles hasn't fallen yet.
>higher potential
What do you imagine this means? Just beating things efficiently? Surely not pure speed. Definitely not variety for its own sake, either. Really, you don't see too much of the potential without some restriction to how strong we can become. Higher settings are a must (and probably with other things weighing the player down).
>see less in PAIN+
A bit too restrictive (don't get to see some of the tools on display as a consequence). NUR+ tends to strike a sufficient balance to show the healthiest portion of what's going on (without getting ridiculous shit happening like MAX petrification spells used to BTFO certain encounters in seconds *charming in its own way*).
>infinities in GoW1
So many things just give it up without needing to put work in to keep that up (a few ask for just a bit more and the rare few escape that Hell). Breeders job at a snail's pace to it as their only real defense (while having the most pathetic wake-up of all time in exchange).
>most varied and useful
>GoW1 BoC
AA isn't quite a 360 launcher, but it is an auto-rise. Not all that potent. Has some merit for CotG10 and sequence breaking. AO is about in the same boat as the air option for a potential bounce (rare). CoC is pretty bad on the ground, but more workable in the air (dedicated animation really hurts it along with lacking DMG for the risk with low hit properties *no extension this time*). Rising Helios is pretty crap for similar reasons. Falling Helios seems like it does the job of air CoC better (can hit above and below us to an extent). No extension in this entry. Like AO, not OP in this entry. LotF is the oddball. A charge move for the weapon. Done without the charge it is a small AoE with meh DMG. Fully charged and it is a large AoE with a strong hit property (knockback) and good DMG. Having an exploit for the air version to insta-full charge helps (not so much the bug with super slow recovery).
If going beyond just the face button (block specials), it becomes more true to be sure. Evading special overriding the jump canceled evades is no big loss (decent gain with a mini-pursue off a bounce). MoH isn't quite all it should be in terms of DMG (even with landing a multi-hit version of the ender) or hit properties (at least it can knockback), I feel. Still, the means to have or bypass the flourish is cute (optionally chaining from it into t3, as well). Hermes Stomp is a bit whatever in combat (rarely would you use that to offensively get out of the sky quickly as it doesn't have strong hit properties or do notable damage *would be nice if height factored*). Hermes Rush is a good get-in attack chaining into quick t1 (don't think it lead to quick T) aside from being superior for rapid movement. Unlocking the follow-up (Thrust) feels underwhelming, but it is less for the damage and more for the option to extend into s6 or t0 (or quick T). Fury is total shit (doesn't even orb milk or build crazy RP to make-up for being what it is).
Hades Reverse is tied into the weapon, which can be counted in its favor. No i-frames, but you can cancel pretty well into and out of these enders (s6 and t0). Just be aware you can't do it more than two times in a row (without pause). Think the counter just won't come out. Balancing of Normals is its own thing (stronger here *though no double hits for heavy enders*). RotG isn't as usable as RotT nor does it offer as much 'armor'. It matches it in most other regards. The matter of DMG is where they most differ. There are scenarios where RotG would be weaker (1.0 modifier being doubled is just 2.0, but a 1.0 moved to MAX via lvl2 RotT skips to 3.0 *were it in GoW1, it would be 4.0 with BoC*), but generally the doubling being Power % based means trouble for the enemy (can take said x4 to x8). Unique moves about match this output change though a little iffy (and bugged). TotF covers a healthy portion of the screen. Shields get to eat shit (not so much when Artemis does it, but that's another story) by way of bypass (not breaking, sadly). No weird stuff like Inferno, but the MAX ability (AB) for infinite MP during the super state is really something...provided you've got the other tools to compliment it.
NOTE: Not really sure you can count OH as part of it. If you did, OH redirect would be unique to it. No alt.OH, sadly.
>Artemis
More than I care to say with this one right now. While tied for my favorites (SoD), it is also tied for the worst (CoH). Tech is what gives it a leg to stand-on. I've discussed before how it might have been improved.
>don't change much
PR probably shouldn't have started with more than the ground AoE. Upgrading to air coverage (into the heavens *and depths*) would have been sufficient for lvl2 along with slightly more DMG and blast radius. lvl3 is probably where the full extent gets unleashed (mashing for more hits, more DMG and more coverage).
>MG
Need to have a good understanding of enemies, RES, openings, cost, build-up, shake-off, break-out time, etc. An advanced spell for expert players to be sure. Invalid for some foes entirely (not just bosses) hurts the appeal. Working to get multiple foes at once is great for efficiency, but asking a lot without boundaries, taunts, etc. on a spell that doesn't let you move while using it (or air use anything other than Flash *seems weird they felt GR couldn't be cheaper on the ground for the risk in exchange letting us use the safer air version at a price...perhaps with the same insta-drop trick as LotF*). Pretty sure the GR of this entry didn't hit high into the sky (like the visual implies). Doesn't have GB, but that move was crap anyway. Stare is at its most efficient in this entry. Being able to stack Stare while firing off Flashes is a nice boon, too.
>CoO improves
Each time? The ground version got a slightly better execution in GoWII (BoA). Don't think CoO changed it. GoWIII took it to its peak (BoE gives it a 'lvl2' version). GoS downgrades it. GoW:A makes it a fire element special (thus it is super gimped against any non-elemental move by comparison).
>as does heavy special
I could probably agree to TR being better than the original RH (not by much). FH is still probably the wiser tool (though it is neat to on-landing explode with air TR *another case where drop distance should have counted for something*). Can't recall CoO doing anything with it. GoWIII made it much more usable (ignoring the BoA version *ground TR got buffed for what level it is, but not enough to compete with what t2 offers*) and created nonsense like air TR blenders on large crowds/big boys. Neat. GoS had some other shit, I think. Don't really remember it, frankly. GoW:A had a ton of other shit, but all elementals on that input (even with utility, they suffered for a bad oversight in scaling).
>S is inconsistent
Often not great. GoW1 had a good college try. GoWII downgraded it into a set-up for a run (attempt to make-up for losing R1 that obviously falls short). CoO...slapped? Don't think there was much to it. GoWIII had some crappy flourish into a RotT light ender callback (not strong enough nor did it allow a branch into heavy or a bypass of the flailing). GoS got the ender of RotF as a ranged poke notable for the most cost efficient way to plant bombs, so the utility can be respected (though T was great for that and offered a launch *launching was not always good in that one thanks to certain hit reactions...especially with Keres Wraiths*). GoW:A made the ground version okay (another CoC), but the air version (AO) is very strong (and chains well into the air held heavy *rare, too*). Air held moves aren't common let alone without the block. A light version no less.
>always sucked
Sadly, true. The recovery is too long for such an unsafe and slow evade attack. It needed to come out FAST if only for a single shockwave (slower if charged for multiple would have been fine *they need to ALL be able to hit, however*). DMG probably would have been more interesting if NOT Power % tied. The bounce on it means little without being able to capitalize. Attacking through obstructions is done better by other things. Losing evade into quick t1 or quick T wasn't worth it.
>peaked in GoWII
For an overall consideration, that's probably true.
>best heavy special
>BH
Even with CC making it safer, I disagree. Good to go through cover, bounce things and ranged chip certainly. PS wasn't that outranged, gave the much more valuable knockback (for OP collisions), ignored Power % (a boon in many cases), came out faster, was more air ready, etc. The main advantage of MotK is just for sequence breaking (IJ). DR competes through having good Power % and non-Power % at a decent speed with superior range. Not being able to direct downward/upward hurts just a little (unlike the case with PS). PS was also a default.
>best light special in the series
>BH
What? Again, even with CC (and only talking about the ground) that is quite the statement. It isn't even like the final hit becomes the Homerun it ought to have been for all the dial-up (spin2win). The dps isn't there (compared to heavy normal spam). Won't even keep most foes behaved. Compared to other subs in the series using L1+s, let's see what we've got. The shitty slap of SoD ain't much even when MAX'd to Alter, sadly (not a fully realized move). Probably still beats BH with good use of an exploit for multi-altering. BoO's thrust special is dogshit (it clearly loses). Should have impaled the target and drained them (exploding their body on kill) if not allowing the option to toss the impaled at others (when small enough). Could have been our combat heal option. Artemis obviously just has another spin2win (doesn't require pausing to access its cancel, at least). Cestus has knockback (and can rapidly damage Onyx for more utility) to help its case on yet another spin move (otherwise lacking). CoH sucks (as is often the case, sadly). NW does an auto-rise 360 AoE launcher, which is a pretty decent tool. AoS L+s is just a 'Million Stab' that benefits from a built-in cancel (for the ground version). Not great for dps, but cute. Doesn't block while attacking, so not all it could be (no extension for a hard thrust to knockback, either *not even mashing for even more stabs*). If allowing for the other light special (R+s) you get infinite use projectile. No hit properties is a blessing in this entry. Sufficiently strong in its role to compete. GoZ gets the big punch. Simple, but the damage and hit properties...
>saturated specials
Meaning what? I definitely felt it was a waste to have weapon swap/switch types.
>tied to spells
This hurt (especially when it came time for multi-cast type spells *TB, heads, etc.*).
>Cestus was good
It was okay (carried by how Onyx was treated). Rather unremarkable. The CG was way too bugged (and rarely in a good way). Limited growth didn't do much for me. Having a Power % spell was cute, but knocking things into the air (if light) where most of the follow-up would miss isn't my favorite thing. At least we were invincible during this (would have to be WAY stronger if that weren't so).
>Items
They had difficulty with the 'complex' spells that casuals wasted MP on in their limited efforts, so nerfed versions with an infinitely regenerating unique unit was devised. While a cute idea, I really wish it didn't rule out spell versions entirely.
>lacking BP
GoW lacks it, but PS2 version has cheats that bypass that (GoWII also has this, but has NG+ as well). GoWIII does indeed require a bug for it.
>culmination of ideas
As you say, it never came to be.