God of War (2018)

Having just played 2010's God of War III for the first time last year, I went into this acclaimed soft reboot with some hefty expectations as far as questions I wanted answered. The ambiguous ending of III felt as though it needed addressing. I had some idea of the themes I felt an entry in the series with Kratos acting as a parent again after so long should tackle. His vengeance complete, how does he sleep at night? How did he find love again after all these years? What's the current state of Mount Olympus now after what he did? How did he even get to Midgard, where this game takes place?

God of War (2018) doesn't seem too concerned about answering any of these. It wastes no time setting up a new journey for Kratos to embark on, this time with his young son Atreus. The first hour or so of the game had my head buzzing with all the questions above and more. I felt surely, after it finishes setting up the story we'll take some time to deal with the elephant in the room.

Well, no. From this point, the story kind of devolves to a series of MacGuffin-chasing subplots that feel only tangentially relevant to the central conflict at best. Many folks will be familiar with Toad's iconic line in Super Mario Bros "Your princess is in another castle," delivered just as Mario reaches what seems to be the end of his quest. God of War (2018) delivers similar rugpulls again and again while refusing to answer the questions I came in with. It was frustrating.

Eventually, I came to terms with the fact that these questions just didn't seem important to the writers. I enjoyed the story more once I did. Kratos isn't the bloodthirsty Spartan I came to know in the previous three games and his character development since then happened almost entirely offscreen. But if I put aside those hangups I could buy into this new character-- a father terrified of being a monster in the eyes of his son.

Even then, the story isn't perfect. As I said before, much of the middle part feels like padding to create a set of obstacles for the protagonists to tackle. The journey to Alfheim is the major offender here, but not the only one. When the story finally decides to have Kratos's bloody past come to light, Atreus's reaction is oddly muted. You'd think being told you're a god would result in a more immediate reaction from a child. But soon after Atreus goes full literal god complex in a way that seems a bit too sudden. The pacing here felt pretty rough for me, but I was glad to see the story refocus on its core conflict. Also, Mimir is super entertaining to listen to and carries a lot of the less interesting sequences.

It was the ending that really stuck the landing for me and pushed this into four star territory. It rounds out the story nicely with a slew of neat payoffs for learning experiences the father and son went through together earlier. Baldur and Freya's roles in the tale are brought to a brutal close that leaves just enough to be dealt with in a potential sequel. The finale also sets up said sequel pretty elegantly while wrapping up the game in a way that felt pretty damn satisfying in spite of my unanswered questions.

You'll notice I didn't really talk about the combat. That's because I don't have a ton to say about it. Early on I kind of detested God of War (2018)'s over the shoulder melee approach. Kratos feels clunky and sluggish in a way that's pretty annoying to pilot. I had more fun as I got access to more skills and tools to work with, but never really came around to enjoying the combat experience. 90% of the enemies you face are reskins of the draugr you fight early on. Most bosses are reskins of the first one-- a troll with a stone pillar. This game sorely lacks enemy variety.

Exploration is notably more fun. Side quests often felt overwhelming in difficulty compared to the easy main quest, but were properly fleshed out in terms of writing. There's plenty of optional loot to collect to make your weapons and armor stronger and while I never felt all that motivated to engage fully with the equipment system, you can build to prioritize certain playstyles and key stats, which is a nice bit of RPG style customization. I don't see myself digging into side content now that I've finished the game, but I had fun with the stuff I already explored and could understand wanting more of that.

So where 2018's God of War fails to serve as a great follow-up to God of War III in my eyes, it at least offers a fresh gameplay experience with a heavier focus on character-driven narrative for the franchise. I miss the old Kratos, to be sure. But I'm interested to see where they go with this.

Played on Steam Deck non-OLED.

Full discloser, I never played the original GoW series, but brought myself up to speed on Youtube etc.. before playing this.

This is an amazing game, and I now understand why so many people love this series and buy PS4's and 5's to play games like this, Horizon and Spider-man. Fantastic single player experiences, stunning visuals and gameplay. It's impressive that I could feel every hit of Kratos' axe even when I had rumble turned off. Really satisfying to play. Puzzles were light and just challenging enough, reminding me of Zelda in some parts.

The biggest issue with this version of the game in particular on Steam Deck were the crashes. Even though I thought I had dialed in all the settings well and locked the frames at 30 FPS, it crashed my Deck around once an hour or so, usually in transitions between areas. Unsure if just re-installing the game would have helped. Can't dock this game points for this kind of thing though.

Quite simply, the greatest action platformer ever made. Yes, graphics are amazing. The story was compelling and even quite moving at times. But the gameplay, and specifically that combat systems, are absolute perfection.

Swinging the axe was easy to understand and pick up, upgrades and abilities come steady and at just the right time, and combat optimization seems to just fall into place as I continue to encounter a widening variety of enemies. And the enemies! The enemy experiences aren't overwhelming in number so I get time to enjoy the scenery and take in the story, but still happen often enough so that enemy abilities and patterns just seem to meld into part of my muscle memory. Combat animations of characters, weapons, enemies, and bosses are just stunning and combining these with the sound design makes it unforgettable.

End game was a treat. I told myself that I could get the platinum if I worked at it; I did, and I did. The bonus zones (Muspelheim and Niflheim) were quite tricky at first; but with the help of guides (man I ain't got time to figure this shit out on my own) I realized what I needed to do to grind out upgrades in order to make the experiences easier (though by no means easy). By the end of each zone, I was zipping through them. But then the final boss brought me back to square one. And I kept at it, eventually learning the right patterns, and I eventually knocked her down to collect my first--and probably only--platinum trophy. Fuck yeah.

If there are any nits, it's that I wish there were more bosses. But who gives a shit. The story was great; art, animation, and sound design were ridiculous; and the gameplay was in-freaking-sane.

“Do not be sorry. Be better.”

God of War is one of my favourite franchises in gaming. Two of my most cherished gaming experiences from the PS2 era came from this property in the form of God of War 1 and God of War 2 which completely blew me away with how ridiculously EPIC games can get on the ageing console. When it came time to choose between the Xbox 360 and the PS3, the single defining factor for my decision to stay with Sony was the highly anticipated conclusion to the hack and slash greek saga of a man’s apotheosis and his quest for vengeance against the Gods; God of War 3 remains to this day 12 years later one of the most impressive display of scale and — for a lack of a better term — HYPE that I have ever experienced in a video game. A few years later I managed to catch up on the two PSP releases i.e God of War Chains of Olympus and God of War Ghost of Sparta, both of which take place before or in-between the original trilogy and were entertaining side outings on the portable platform — thankfully ported to the PS3 — that fleshed out the world more. Lastly came Ascension, a main-line prequel that many, including me, would consider the lowest point of the franchise — entertaining yet lacking and showing clear signs of franchise fatigue.

Heeding the criticisms, the team at Sony Santa Monica Studios led by Cory Balrog, who has been involved in the franchise since its inception and was the lead director of arguably my favourite one thus far— God of War 2 —, decided to take Kratos in a new direction and reinvent the franchise for its entrance on the PS4. Sony’s 2016 E3 conference opened with probably the best reveal of any game at E3 ever (it is one of my favourite E3 conferences too) and when the game finally came out, it was met with ubiquitous praise similar to the one I saw when The Last of Us came out. Woe to me, though, as I didn’t have that console and so I never expected to play it until it came out on the PC MASTAH RACE. So here I am, penning or keying my thoughts down after completing the latest entry in the franchise and the hype was real.

Story:

The game executes a lot of the elements superbly but where it surprised me the most was the story and the storytelling — both were sublime. God of War (2018) depicts Kratos as a grown and mature being having travelled to a different land after the events of the past games and living a quaint life as a family man with a wife and a son, the former of which just passed away and is where the game picks up. Her dying wish was for her ashes to be spread across from the highest peak in all of the realms which set Kratos and Atreus on a Journey they’ll never forget. This is the best example of a Journey in gaming storytelling I had the pleasure of experiencing in a long time. Dad Kratos and his Boy traverse a multitude of terrain and realms, meet characters and enemies from all manner of species and personalities, overcome a plethora of labours/obstacles, and throw a god-sized wrench into the grand scheme of things in this system of the Gods, ultimately growing their relationship with each other. A breathtaking experience through and through.

The subtlety of the narrative evolving with real-time dialogue during gameplay was superb. Seeing Kratos be a mature stoic father figure was something else and the care that went into the portrayal in every facet was awe-inspiring. BOY’s journey was also impressive as a youngling coming to terms with his inheritance and becoming his own being learning from his father’s succinct lectures on the journey. I loved the back and forth between Kratos and Boy as well as Mimir (in the later half of the game) as rarely did I traverse without having some banter or lecture or lore being given and that only added to the Journey element as well as made travel entertaining instead of tedious.

Out of all the mythologies I have experienced or learned so far, Norse is probably my favourite and to see that world brought to life in such a painstakingly detailed manner with modern technology had me enthralled. A ton of lore is to be found and read littered throughout the different realms. Without going into spoilers, I also liked the main antagonist when you learned the backstory and made the affair tragic instead of another asshole who needed to be taken down.

Gameplay:

I had an idea about how the game would play due to the gameplay footage I had seen but I was pleasantly surprised to witness the depth the game boasted in contrast with the previous titles on an overall scale. Gone is the locked overhead camera system in favour of a typical third-person view which admittedly felt weird at first but I soon grew to love it. It’s also an open-world favouring density over map size and I appreciated that immensely. There are a lot of RPG elements such as armour customization, weapon and stats upgrades, elemental/runic modifiers, level systems, NPCs and sidequests, and other open-world mechanics that go along perfectly with the reinvention.

I played it on Normal/Balanced difficulty and I still got humbled a lot, particularly in the early hours when I went exploring and soon realized I need to upgrade a lot before I can take down tough enemies placed around key locations — plenty of one-hit deaths. The catharsis was real when I returned after playing the main story a bit more and customized Kratos to my liking showing those pesky Travellers, Ancients and other beefed-up hostiles what the God of War can actually do. The Valkyries, though, were another matter entirely as they are by far the toughest enemies spread across the landscape acting as side missions and can drive you mad with the sudden difficulty spike — the story bosses felt like noob grunts in comparison. I also had the unfortunate luck of a faulty LB button on my controller requiring a lot more pressure to register a response which just so happens to be the block button and while I made do with it for everyone else in the game at the cost of my finger, the Valkyries felt insurmountable. Still, not giving up I did manage to beat four out of eight so that I may leave with some of my so-called gamer pride intact (will replay the game with a new controller someday and finish the job).

The combat is deeply satisfying with the new Leviathan Axe that acts as the standard weapon for Kratos. Throwing it and calling it back alone is a lot of fun. Then there’s the hand-to-hand combat with the shield giving you control of the brutal brawler Kratos which is again satisfying and extremely useful for stunning enemies for cool franchise-style finishers. Getting your classic weapon again and using it in this reinvented format was the best, though, and I just couldn’t get enough of it. The biggest surprise was BOY who I thought wouldn’t be much use at the start but oh boy was I wrong; upgrade BOY is legitimately OP at times and by far the best companion I’ve ever had in a game — so damn useful and his progress goes hand in hand with the story further adding to the experience.

The only real complaint I have is that the camera and the lock-on system can be a bit dodgy making tough fights frustrating at times. That and the fact that most of the other realms boiled to a single mechanic rather than fully fleshed areas to explore (the game did have budget cuts so that is to be blamed). A nitpick I have is that I would have liked at least one more weapon as previous games usually gave the player several to hack and slash with but perhaps the sequel will remedy that.

I did find it amusing that prior to now, I have strictly played these games on a PlayStation console yet this time I was playing it on PC with an Xbox One controller — thank the Gods for the controller support.

Graphics:

The franchise has always been at the precipice of graphical fidelity on consoles and this entry is no different. Without a doubt one of the most beautiful games I have ever played even though my old PC could only handle Original/Ps4 settings for a relatively smooth experience. More so than polygon count and texture detail, the art style of various locations and the colour palette is what impressed me the most. The world of Norse Mythology is beautifully brought to life in this outing. The terrain ranges from vibrant forests to glacial canyons to icy mountains to cave systems all littered with fantasy technology, architecture and ruins rendered in gorgeous artistic wizardry — Midgard, and to a lesser extent, Alfheim were wonderful.

The sense of scale — a staple of previous games — was once again immense when the game wanted to flex its muscles whether you’re fighting dragons, running around a corpse of a giant or conversing with Jormungandr (the world snake). The word EPIC personified. It’s a treat for the eyes.

Sound:

Equally as impressive as the visuals were the overall sound design and the attention to detail. Weapon attacks, especially the runic ones sounded powerful and impactful. The environments were brimming with natural sounds. The soundtrack was heavenly which is a standard for the franchise but man Bear McCreary sure did bring it all for a new type of music for this setting while retaining that God of War soul which is most apparent in the central theme — absolutely glorious.

The voice acting is also impressive. Christopher Judge took the reigns of Kratos and his booming voice and cadence in every situation were oh so amazing. Sunny Suljic as the voice of BOY-I mean Atreus is impressive too made even more so by the fact that he is a youngster and was playing off perfectly against a much older performer and giving the young character a distinct soul. Ellie from The Last of Us always comes to mind as the strongest example of a partner or tag-along in a game and I think I can put Atreus alongside her. Loved the voice acting of secondary characters as well, particularly Mimir and the legendary Dwarven smith bros.

Overall:

Even though I had not played this game a few years back when I gave Gears of War 4 a try but the sentiment that kept circling back to me was that I wish this franchise did something similar to reinvent itself just like God of War did as I sure do love that third-person shooter property (haven’t played Gears 5 yet so maybe that one is actually great). Having finished God of War, I’m just so glad and satisfied that not only did a franchise I love came back but it came back in an extravagant new fashion giving it new bearings to keep coasting along as the GOAT. Easily one of the best games I’ve played and it once again reinforces the fact that gaming with modern tech can take storytelling immersion to a level no other medium can reach — a masterpiece. I have no doubts Ragnarok is going to be another hit from the team and I’m looking forward to experiencing it whenever I’m able. Whether you’re new to the franchise or an old fan, this is a must-play. And if I were to rate my experience, I’d give it a full 10/10.

Other than the NES and SNES (and emulating Nintendo 64 games on the PC), I have never been a console gamer. So I have missed out on several console exclusives, including the God of War series. I was thus thrilled about the release of the PlayStation-exclusive 2018 God of War reboot for PC; doubly so because the game had won multiple accolades (several game of the year awards, acclaim from critics and players alike, etc.), including being called the defining game of that generation by several gaming outlets. After finishing the game, I think it is a good but overrated product with a lot of future potential. Most importantly, in spite of the epic production quality, the gameplay loop, which should be the most important criterion for critiquing any video game, is tedious and uninspired.

I will start with the positives. The game overworld is spectacular, the graphical fidelity is some of the best I have seen, the continuous single shot camera is technically impressive, and the narrative, characters, and dialogue are all compelling. There are multiple larger-than-life set pieces in the overworld that are unforgettable and deeply immersive (see attached images). The game also has one of the strongest starts in recent memory, with the boss fight with "The Stranger" being probably my favorite action sequence of all time. However, the spectacle of this starting (and some other) fight scene and the overworld stand in stark contrast to (and magnify) the tedious regular combat and the underwhelming exploratory gameplay, respectively.

The overall combat flows smoothly, with you getting more and more options to deal with enemies as you progress. However, since the combat scaling is broken on anything but normal, engaging with the full breath of the combat system (instead of spamming the same moves) will get you killed. The fixed over-the-shoulder camera is also frustrating, with Kratos' hulking frame taking up half the viewport, and the combat system making it almost impossible to perfectly dodge enemies coming from behind. The biggest disappointment with the combat is the (lack of) enemy variety. Although the dozen or so enemy types the game has are well designed with decent AI, I really would have liked more variety. This issue is particularly annoying for the mini-boss fights, with color-swapped versions of the same ogre and troll showing up repeatedly throughout the game. This lackluster enemy variety makes little sense given the insane production quality of the rest of the game. Finally, after the starting fight with "The Stranger", where mountains get torn apart, getting bodied by wolves in subsequent fights without any in-game justification is dumb and immersion breaking.

Although exploring the overworld is a treat for the eyes, the actual gameplay environments (particularly interiors) are repetitive and too linear for my liking. Any deviations from the linear path is to get to alcoves with yet another chest or irrelevant collectible to artificially pad the playtime (a AAA staple). There is almost no true platforming to speak of, with most of the climbing and jumping seemingly used to avoid loading screens; and the puzzles are boring and tedious. Having played other console ports to PC, this kind of gameplay is standard in AAA titles in this genre and is partly due to the constraints of the controller. When playing using a mouse and keyboard, things feel claustrophobic, both for combat and exploration. As an aside, the relatively small number of side characters makes this beautiful world seem lifeless, though there is some in-world justification for it.

Overall, God of War 2018 is definitely a cinematic experience, and seems to have been made with that goal in mind. The narrative and game world are extremely polished and the lore is fleshed-out and expanded upon in a natural way throughout the story arc. Overall, I think the reboot of this IP has great potential in the future and can be made even better by improving regular combat and the exploration of interior environments.

Actual Score: 3.5/5

I don't have a long history with God of War. I played the previous 6 games for the first time over the last few years. I liked the PS2 and PSP games a lot. The original was a great barebones revenge story with an amazing sense of scale, while it's sequel was bigger and better in every way except the story was more interested in world building than characters. The PSP games were neat because they worked at all: short and fast, with GoS having some solid storytelling (atleast for this series). I don't have the same fondness for the PS3 games. They are epic and entertaining, but meaner, and there is only so much time you can spend with a protagonist as unlikable as Kratos.

The 2018 sequel/relaunch is miraculous in how it pivots the individual elements of the series, while still feeling distinctively like God of War.

The combat is slower and more methodical, but still accessible, with plenty of depth for those who wish the master it. Focussing on a new weapon was a gamble, but the Leviathan Axe feels instantly iconic, and is satisfying in combat and as a means to solve "puzzles". The puzzles are basic, but encourage you to slow down and take in your surroundings,which are unsurprisingly astounding.

As someone whose interest in action games is limited to the resulting spectacle, GoW's use of scale has always been the primary reason I love these games. 2018 shifts the perspective to a modern 3rd-person angle, so that we are mostly restricted to a ground level view. Because of this the behemoths you encounter tower over you, feeling more Shadow of the Colossus then GoW. The downside is that it loses a little of its identity in the process, removing what seperated it from Sony's other titles.

The game is staged as a single long take, with the camera winding around during cinematics. They avoid cutting during fast travel, masking the load times by having you move through the world tree - a winding path where a door eventually loads. It's a neat trick, even if it's obviously a trick. I never felt like it served much of a purpose, but I admire their commitment.

Atreus is an excellent companion. It is touching and terrifying to watch his confidence grow, taking out enemies more efficiently. There is also a sense of humor its predecessors severely lacked. This is due to the deadpan delivery of Christopher Judge (motherfucking Teal’c!). Kratos no longer yells constantly about angry bullshit, but is a person capable of thought. The development of Kratos is the game’s strongest aspect. He is a man in recovery - deeply regretful and now struggling to be a father in the wake of the loss of his wife. He is not a good father – he is ill-tempered and impatient, but there is genuine growth. Baby steps, but he is Kratos after all.

I was surprised by the simplicity of the storytelling. While the scope of the world feels huge, the story is small and focused, fueled by the simple desire to spread the ashes of a loved one. This time Kratos isn’t hacking his way through a pantheon of gods. It wisely keeps its biggest names for the upcoming Ragnarok. "The stranger” makes an excellent villain. He is absent for much of the game, but makes his presence felt, is borderline indestructible, yet still refreshingly human-sized. The downside is that you will be fighting the same enemy types again and again. It is similar to the first GoW in this way.

GoW’s approach to women is an improvement, but there’s a long way to go. Kratos’ wife is merely a catalyst for the story, a device to facilitate a relationship between Kratos and his son. This is especially disappointing since everything we learn about her points to her being a worthy protagonist of her own game. The only woman in the game is Freya, the witch of the woods. She’s great, and I can’t wait to see what they do with her in the sequel. The lack of women combined with the heavy father-son focus makes the whole game feel like dad-lit. It probably helps if you had or are an emotionally distant father.

God of War is long. I enjoyed my time with it, but I don’t need this series to breach the 20-hour mark. It’s even longer than that, with side quests, optional realms, and all kinds of open-world nonsense. I didn’t fuck with Valkyries or the optional realms, since they are  combat challenges, but I will dip in again later to finish them off. Some of it is amazing – the way the explorable area around the Lake of Nine expands due to the shifting World Serpent is incredibly clever. And hey, stop dragon your feet and destroy that statue of Thor that the ghost mentions because there's amazing stuff nearby.

I feel obligated to mention the upgrade system. It sucks and I hated it. Everything is so incremental you never feel like you’re getting any stronger. There's also crafting.... fuck.

I got teary-eyed towards the end, and this is a God of War game. That alone makes this an unqualified success. While you don't necessarily need to play the others to enjoy this, it is beautiful to see a team come so far in terms of storytelling and characters. You can also rip the jaw off a Wulver (basically a werewolf) in a way that is super super gross, so it's nice to see Kratos is still doing his thing.