Zeno Clash 2, at it again part II

The gauntlet pings when aligned with the moon so while fighting at night you can place an enemy between you and the moon and it focus' the moonlight into a beam that will hurt enemies. a very weird fps mechanic. The game has a pretty day night cycle.

Instead of enemies being frustratingly invincible while they stand up from a ragdoll hit you are encouraged to "tactically" kick them while they are down. it has its own contextual animations.

There is a Minotaur wearing manskin as a cloak with a ring in its nose. This is important to me.

Ok jawbone crowns are definitely IN!

Stained golden statues of a one armed sledgehammer wielding dwarf adorn all prominent seaside cliffs. all facing the ocean. Note the tethered raven marker.

Many dwellings and settlements are adorned with crudely painted cutouts of pink mutants. Scarecrows i guess, i haven't met his likeness.

A crab man

When you complete the final moth pigment quest the final treasure you were promised is... moth pigment.
Which he tries to eat so his *precious* does not fall into your hands. I realised he is wearing a lion head cloak and the lower half of that lion is stuffed and mounted in the wall of his house.
Also... um. he has no arms so I guess its a mouth painting effort?
It is possible that the painting thing is maybe a scam and he is addicted to pigment?

The next town mission was a cripple asking for vengeance on the cruel bastard that tore off his leg a pig like thing. (he is also rocking a janky metal arm, but seems cool with it.)

 the reward is.... a length of chain. With a cut-scene and an adoring slow-zoom reveal. Chain-whipping ensues.
I guess this is a testament to the complete lack of organised industry and civilization in Zenozoik.
The buildings all seem to be either monumental efforts of individuals or small groups or gifts from the creators as this land is revealed to be a sanctury/exile.

"He removes the eyes of living creatures, so he can be invisible"

"I don't think they will be angry. I think they will just think its alright to hurt us"

Brawling seems to be commonplace in this world, but like many low density, isolated cultures (i'm thinking Maori and Micronesian communities) combat is about beating down and dominating the opponent, rarely culminating in death. In Maori culture killing an enemy, even an enemy clan member was punished by paying their family with your land. Islanders often made swords from palm spines and shark teeth which would cause horribly bloody but superficial wounds in combat ensuring convincing victory without death. This is because blood feuds and the loss of labor were recognised as harmful. Christianity offered killing weapons and eye-for-an-eye as a culpability escape clause, so missionary efforts were very effective and destructive.
(Link)

I say this because in Zeno Clash defeated enemies and unique characters are constantly returning both in the storyline and encounters. This makes Ghat seem like slightly less of a loose cannon psychopath soliphist. He mentions collecting mementos from opponents is his hobby which is preferable to collecting eyes or feet (both are present).

The world is Zenozoik
I think the Golem is bringing law to Zenozoik, a place previously ruled by each creatures innate nature and the benevolent strongarm of fathermother.


The city and its denizens:

this guy is a reference to medieval quacks or perhaps the ol dunce. "the stone of madness" is a famous painting documenting a classic scam in which the skull is bored into -trepanning- and through slight of hand a water chestnut is produced and deemed the cause of the problem. The victim is drugged or lobotomised and the quack is richer.

Heaps of pics here

The drinks here are labeled rooster-blood, and everybody seems to live on cheese.

There is a midget bag man AND a tall bag man in the city.

 The outskirts and its denizens:

There are  rocking palms on root-balls like Inflatable Punching Clowns. (not pictured)

Pothead has heart, but really sucks.

 (this is mother-father your parent/kidnapper who was the enemy for the first game, now your motherfather again and a broken husk of an ally)

(This guys purpose is to be a tree, he needs to stand still for the birds to trust him and attacks if you disturb him.)

I want to know this guys deal, he was in the first game and seems to be a drowned knight.

Barbarossa drowned in his armour, but it doesn't seem to be a reference.

This guy wants to finish his mothers obsession with making a grotesque sculpture out of dead goat-lizard-things so you help murder a herd of them. She starts a new sculpture, locked in her wordless purpose. He joins you and helps launch your walrus corpse yacht.