All things God of War

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

So before the new one arrives, what are everyone's thoughts on the franchise as a whole?

My recent playthrough of the main trilogy certainly cemented its status as one of the greats for me. I absolutely adore the combination of gorgeous art style and excellent camera design. The simple act of traversing the environment and progressing from setpiece to quiet section to setpiece feels satisfying. I'm also a bit of a mythology buff and seeing a modern media franchise devote itself so firmly to a specific setting is a treat in and of itself. In the same way that Bloodborne wears its Victorian / Lovecraftian inspiration on its sleeve and carves its own artistic niche in the process, God of War looks and feels like a mythological rendition of Ancient Greece. Last but not least, the bombastic score also plays a large part in making everything come to life. Wonderful.

One other thing that stood out to me when revisiting these games is how the symbiosis between level design and suggestive camera work helps to gently guide the player along the main path and subtly tease the location of various secrets along the way instead of relying on intrusive tutorials and objective markers. This is the kind of thing that you just don't see in modern games with overloaded UIs.

The combat in these games gets a lot of flak from purists for its simplicity but I find it to be perfectly adequate within the context of the overall experience, especially when considering the enemy variety, responsiveness of the various tools at your disposal and quality of the boss fights. Fun and visceral, if not terribly complex or technical.

Simple concepts overall, but oh so well executed.


I would be lying if I said that the artistic changes in the next installment didn't make me a bit melancholic at seeing such a unique visual identity being discarded in favor of a much more conventional presentation style, but I'll certainly try and go into the game with an open mind. There are a few directors who deserve the benefit of the doubt, and I think Barlog is one of them.

Bring it on!
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by Alex79 »

I've played the three main games and the two PSP ones. The only one I've not done is Ascension, which I've had on disc for years and never bothered with. I think I got a bit burned out with playing those fives games within a couple of years. I only came to the series with the 1&2 HD remasters on PS3, but I really did love the games. Epic fights, just brilliant gameplay all the way through.

Despite this, I have failed to get excited about the new game whatsoever. I really can't work out why. I love the series, the new one looks incredible and has had an amazing reception. But I'm just not interested in it. Its just bizarre.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: All things God of War

Post by Suits »

Having never played any of the previous games - I'm getting on board with this.

Solely down to the glowing references it has received so far, I may add.

I've stopped short of reading any further into reviews, as I very rarely read reviews nowadays for fear of spoiling things for myself.

I'm even upgrading to a PS4 Pro for the occasion.

I'm looking forward to it.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Alex79uk wrote: April 18th, 2018, 12:21 pm The only one I've not done is Ascension, which I've had on disc for years and never bothered with.
Quite frankly, you're not missing out on much. Ascension is by far the worst of the bunch in my opinion. Repetitive and uninspired in pretty much every aspect as well as lacking the polish that makes the others so compelling and fun. It has a handful of nice moments, but that's about it. Even as a massive fan of the series, I don't see myself ever bothering to replay it.

Suits wrote: April 18th, 2018, 12:34 pm Having never played any of the previous games - I'm getting on board with this.
Great! Looking forward to your impressions, then. :)
deacon05oc

Re: All things God of War

Post by deacon05oc »

I’ve always loved the series. I recently replayed Chains of Olympus and I’m working on Ghost of Sparta. I’m really looking forward to this new one. I might be seen as a Kratos apologist, but while I look forward to his reinvented self, I will admit that one of the things that I like about the prior games is how every once in a while, you get little peeks underneath the rage. I think of moments like the climax of Chains of Olympus, all of Ghost of Sparta and even the end of Ascension with his reluctance to kill his only ally through that game. They could all have been better writtten of course, but while I won’t argue that Kratos had been a one-note character, I always liked that about him a little bit. That being said, hurry up April 20th!
arry_g

Re: All things God of War

Post by arry_g »

Finished God of War III tonight. This means I’ve finished the whole series except Ascension and obviously Friday’s new addition.

III was my favourite for sure.
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by Simonsloth »

I love god of war. I’ve played every iteration on release which I think helped avoid the fatigue which sometimes sets in as they were quite spread out.

I agree that the camera has to be one of the best in any game series. The cinematography is inspired and really gives the game a sense of scale which seems all the more impressive when you realise how old some of the games are.

Strangely because it’s been so long the new game hasn’t built up as much excitement as it probably should have. I’m wary about buying it on Friday as I think it’ll sit on my shelf unplayed whilst I work through key items in my backlog first. It’s strange because I used to be a queue up at midnight type person for this series.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Fair warning: Careful when browsing YouTube. Nothing like stumbling upon a massive spoilery thumbnail while watching a completely unrelated video early in the morning to put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by ratsoalbion »

This happened to me with a TV show last night. Grrr.
deacon05oc

Re: All things God of War

Post by deacon05oc »

KSubzero1000 wrote: April 20th, 2018, 9:33 am Fair warning: Careful when browsing YouTube. Nothing like stumbling upon a massive spoilery thumbnail while watching a completely unrelated video early in the morning to put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
Yes! I saw something this morning. I don’t know if it was true or not, but still. I hadn’t even searched God of War for that reason and still it popped up.
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by Simonsloth »

This means I have to buy this now! I hate spoilers!!!!!
User avatar
macstat
Member
Posts: 372
Joined: November 24th, 2015, 1:12 pm
Location: Wrocław, Poland
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by macstat »

I'm about 9 hours in :P I woke up, took day off and went to my nearest retail to buy it :D.
What is safe time before we could start discussing anything here?
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by Alex79 »

I should think as long as you use spoiler tags it's fine!
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

macstat wrote: April 20th, 2018, 7:43 pm What is safe time before we could start discussing anything here?
I don't know what the official policy is, but I don't have a problem with it as long as you use spoiler tags properly.
It might be a few days off before we can all contribute, though.

I've played for several hours as well. Game is gorgeous. Exploration is fun. Combat is not clicking.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by ratsoalbion »

Be sensible, considerate and use spoiler tags please folks.
User avatar
AndrewBrown
Member
Posts: 357
Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by AndrewBrown »

Based on the first four hours, if you're into the Tomb Raider reboots or Horizon Zero Dawn, you'd probably appreciate Dad of War structurally. Obviously it's got a more brutal and melee-focused combat system, but otherwise I think it compares very favorably to Tomb Raider.
User avatar
macstat
Member
Posts: 372
Joined: November 24th, 2015, 1:12 pm
Location: Wrocław, Poland
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by macstat »

I'm gonna wait a couple of days before discussing the story. No point in "discussing" it if most of the people just started ;)

I'm on a fence with combat as well. Combat controls are not what i expected. Strangest choice is strafing in left/right instead just moving in given direction (like in Assassins Creed or Horizon Zero Dawn). The second option would give you more control over a battlefield, easier more fluid reactions to all sorts of flanking (and you get surrounded constantly). Kratos is no spring chicken, he's not really fast, his roll doesn't cover as much distance as Alloys. You do have cute little instant 180 on d-pad down, but because I need to move my thumb from stick to do that it's not that intuitive to me.

It's not a major complain though since i rarely needed to repeat a combat section more than one, but I constantly catch myself thinking "oh man, I wish it was a bit different"
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

macstat wrote: April 21st, 2018, 7:33 am You do have cute little instant 180 on d-pad down, but because I need to move my thumb from stick to do that it's not that intuitive to me.
Just fyi, you can change it to LS down + L3 in the options, which is somewhat more intuitive.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: All things God of War

Post by ratsoalbion »

After playing it with the default graphics setup from the off on PS4 Pro, I had a look at the performance mode last night, as well as turning the film grain and motion blur from 10 down to 0.

I think I prefer it this way overall. To me it now looks more like a game and less like a movie, while the combat looks and feels more immediate and less chaotic at the higher frame rate and without the visual confusion that motion blur can create.

Obviously very much a case of horses for courses and it does feel a shame to drop from 4K to 1080p, but I recommend that people fiddle about in the options to find their optimum preferences.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: All things God of War

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Meanwhile, my base level PS4 is howling in agony from simply looking at the main menu screen.
Post Reply