Guardians of the Galaxy, episode three 'More Than a Feeling' review - Can it ever be more than a feeling?

Three episodes down and Guardians of the Galaxy is no less enjoyable.

More That a Feeling really is just that. What started off as a story with weak characters, bitty-dialogue, and strained gags is blossoming into something rich and truly enjoyable.

All that's needed now is for the fundamental mechanics of the game to catch up and offer something a little more interesting to work with.

When I'm tired and thinking cold

You begin where episode two finished, stepping into the mysterious temple and right into another of Quill's memories of his mother.

This has been going on for the past couple of episodes, but this time we get to see a little bit of Gamora's past. By doing so we understand more about the rift between her and her sister, Nebula.

Once the song and dance is over you step out into the actual temple, find an ancient casket, open the lid, and out pops Mantis who you'll know if you've seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Aside from being overwhelmingly pure, she also reveals some crazy information about Peter and the Eternity Forge which I won't spoil for you.

Your fellow Guardians are still in complete disarray as they deal with their conflicting interests and personal desires, and that's kind-of what rules this episode. It's very much about trying to keep your team together.

Sometimes you'll do this in a comical montage with some more 70s jams and quick-time events, and sometimes you'll actually have some pretty deep conversations with them. Shock horror, you can't make everyone happy.

The silliness and the seriousness is balanced out pretty well, and I think Mantis really helps that. Given her emotion-feeling abilities she's outright blunt which can both help and hinder you at times.

The newer, more complex combat style is continuously enjoyable. It doesn't baby you too much, using ultra-quick and multiple buttoned commands to wreck some fools. It's just a shame it's in short supply.

I hide in my music, forget the day

As excellent as the character-building and progression is in More Than a Feeling, the story is still a little wonky.

The main conflict is whether to enhance the Eternity Forge and unlock its true potential, or to destroy it so it can't ever fall into the wrong hands.

Granted, a few of your crew want to use the Forge to bring back their dead loved ones but the negatives of that decision far outweigh the positives. With Hala on your tail, and an army of dead Kree ready to go, it felt like a bit of a no-brainer.

Or, perhaps I'm just totally heartless.

There's also a lack of things to do outside of babysitting your teammates. Compared to previous episodes there's very little exploring - or anything other than keeping your crew from arguing, actually.

The pacing suffers quite a lot. Like this season of Game of Thrones, there's a lot of areas that are left blank and others which seem to happen in the blink of an eye.

Considering Hala is still hunting the Forge, and the Guardians are barely holding it together emotionally, you'd think there'd be a little more urgency in the plot.

Instead it winds up being more of a bus trip to your local down the road rather than a perilous journey across the galaxy.

And dream of a girl I used to know

More Than a Feeling has its ups and downs. With jolted pacing, filler story, and a surprisingly blasé explanation as to why Quill was seeing visions of his mother.

But, it's saved by its continued exploration into the characters and excels by adding Nebula and Mantis to the crew.

I can only hope that the decisions made throughout the series actually affect the ending of the final episode, like in The Walking Dead Season Three, as opposed to leading it back on roughly the same path.

Guardians of the Galaxy, episode three 'More Than a Feeling' review - Can it ever be more than a feeling?

More Than a Feeling has some fierce positives and big negatives, but its character building and script pulls it through, making the wait for episode four that much harder
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Emily Sowden
Emily Sowden
Emily is Pocket Gamer's News Editor and writes about all kinds of game-related things. She needs coffee to function and begrudgingly loves her Switch more than she lets on.