To be clear, this is NOT the end of Golden Souls 2, but after this you’ll have seen all the weaponry the mod has to offer, and all of its weapons minus the hidden weapon I’m leaving you to find. And frankly I think the finale of this is something best experienced, so consider this the conclusion of my deeper look at the series, and if you want to see how it ends? Well…Go play it! So let’s have a look at the final worlds I’ll be going over: The Mountains and the Sky!
It’s a big world, but I gotta leave some of it for you to see…
Out of the forests, but now we get to go mountain climbing. And within seconds we got a new demon type to worry about, the Mole!
Being a mole, you can only hit him when his head pops out…
This jerk rapidly moves around underground, only popping his head out to lob projectiles at you. You have to be quick on the trigger to hit him, and he’s just as quick himself, so be ready for a lot of annoying times with this diggy jerk. You’ll also see more BEEEEEEEEES! They showed up back in the Forest and I forgot to mention them, but they suck. Small, quick, annoying because they don’t just fly straight at you for their attacks, they got it all. Apply shotgun when they get close.
This revenant’s about to get hit by way more than a love tap…
So, I got bad news, and good news. The bad news? This is the last weapon of Golden Souls 2. The good news? It’s a good gun, a VERY good gun. The Cupid is a devastating long range hitscan rifle that pierces through all targets in the path of the shot, and does a whopping 400 damage to them all! No RNG on this one, buddy! This gun is a solid 400 every time you shoot it, so anything with 400 or less health is dead in a single shot, with beefier enemies going down in a reliable number as well. And it’s got a scope for those long range shots. I love the Cupid, even if ammo for it is a bit on the rare side, this gun is an absolutely satisfying sniper that is great for those long range problems you need dealt with quickly.
After Pretty Petals Peak where you get the Cupid, next is Mount Mirror, a level with two sides that is very Link to the Past inspired…
Mount Mirror features Light and Dark sides, with portals connecting them…
Mount Mirror will have you constantly slipping through portals between Light and Dark versions of the level, with their own enemies, and things you use in one world (like switches) potentially affecting the other. It’s a great level, but it does introduce one of my least favorite enemies…
Heavy Revenant. Because regular boneheads weren’t bad enough…
The Heavy Revenant is a nightmare of a Revenant, armed with a shoulder cannon that fires a shotgun like spread of high velocity explosive rockets. While they don’t home in on you, they move so fast that if you aren’t moving, you’re probably dead. The only saving grace is you get a very easy to notice warning when one takes aim at you. Trust me, you’ll know.
Oh yeah, y’know what’s fairly common with mountains at really high altitudes? They get super chilly. And this one’s no exception. The Mountain world also serves as…the ICE WORLD! Because you can’t have Mario without ice, and more importantly…Ice physics.
I hate ice physics, but this level use Earthbound’s “Snowman” theme, so I forgive it.
Ice, Ice Imps that take multiple kills to permanently dispatch, freezing water that rapidly drains your health…Yeah. This gives you plenty of reasons to hate the cold. What’s that? A potentially warm house off in the dist-No wait it’s just another haunted mansion, and this one’s also frozen.
Rimy Residence is yet another haunted locale…But this time it’s also an ice level!
You know what to expect here. Lots of hunting for golden spiders and finding out how to get further in, as this level bars your progress at every corner with ice you’ll have to melt to get further ahead. All while dealing with the usual spooky foes. It does however, lead to one of my favorite Fortress levels.
Arctic Alacazar features a mixture of indoor and outdoor not unlike some other fortress levels, but this one’s outdoor section is a nice, big open area instead of the usual platforming nightmare you would expect a Fortress to throw at you. Don’t worry, plenty of that is indoors.
The indoors features plenty of deadly traps and freezing water to deal with intruders…
…While the outdoors features an expansive, icy killing field!
All in all, you’ve got everything a Fortress level should. Challenging enemies, nasty platforming full of death traps, and the outdoor courtyard area is a nice added bonus. But of course what would an ice area be without an awful, ice area themed boss?!
Boss fights…On ice!
Frostfiend is another case of “The arena will probably kill you more than the boss itself” as you’re fighting above a pool of freezing water that will end you in moments should you take a dip. Not that the boss itself isn’t a threat, as he’s armed with ice projectiles, spreading ice projectiles, and a full on freeze thrower attack. You have to keep moving, but in this arena, that’s just as likely to kill you as standing still since you’ll be slip sliding all over the place. And what little cover you DO have melts away in the second half of the fight, so have fun with that. Once you get past him, well…What’s above the mountains?
…The sky. It’s the sky.
I’m okay with a tribute level to the Beatles. Yellow Submarine *is* included…
THIS HOWEVER IS NOT OKAY. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS.
Yes, Lakitu themed Pain Elementals that release demonic Spineys. This is a thing. And it is just as awful as it looks given the fact I would say these spikey jerks come out WAY faster than the Lost Souls ever did. So while the Beatles themed level to start us off is great, this particular enemy is and will always be hated, it’s a Pain Elemental. It’s our JOB to hate Pain Elementals, people.
Wait, Mario didn’t do THIS until like…The Wii U?
Sweet Sugary Skies is a level themed after, well…Sweets. If you’ve played Mario 3D World, you’ll be in familiar territory here, complete with music you’d expect. It’s certainly an interesting choice for the sky world, but nothing bad. Though it does bring back the Jellyfish…Ugh. The Jellyfish.
And next is the level I bet EVERY Donkey Kong Country 2 lover has been waiting for. Well don’t worry, you weren’t forgotten.
Yep, Bramble themed level. And you know exactly what DKC2 song plays here…
As you would expect, Overgrown Brambles is full of pointy hazards with the usual jumping fare this mod throws at you. Complete with bramble tunnels where touching any surface that’s not a floating platform is a pointy death. But at least the music’s really good, right?
Then we get the Haunted Level, which certainly feels like something Castlevania given the music choices…
Crescent Moon Manor is a very vertically oriented haunted level with some tough jumps, and all you’ve come to expect at this point from a haunted level. Vanishing blocks make an appearance here to make the jumps even tougher, nevermind the fact this is a mansion in the sky, so one false step in some cases could mean your end. …Oh hey what’s this pipe organ doing here?
I’m sure it’s safe to play a tune on this. What’s the harm?
…Welp that was a poor decision.
On one hand, I have to go through this nightmare now. On the other hand, we got Bloody Tears from Castlevania as our music, heck yeah.
This section is terrifying due to being entirely suspended over a void of instant death. One missed jump = Quickload time. Once you do get past this, it’ll be onto the fortress of the sky world, which uh…
…Which way is up again?
Tower rewoT is all about up and down being interchangable as you have vertically mirrored sections accessed via portal switches, not unlike the Mirror Mountain from the last world. And at the end is another boss fight with an arena that’s got instant death all over it.
Azazel is basically a flying Baron, over a pit arena. With very little room to move. And as such you’ll need to be extra careful as you dodge and try to shoot him out of the sky. You know the drill here, so good luck, and take that demon down!
And with that, I bring an end to my look at Golden Souls 2. There’s still two more worlds beyond this and quite a few bosses to get past…But frankly? The end of Golden Souls 2 is something you need to experience yourself. So go get it already, and know that some of the absolute best of this Doom 2 mod lies beyond what I’ve shown you. The finale is something else, and you need to experience it if you enjoy Doom in any form.