God of War (2018)

I must say that I didn't play the old games, so I don't really know the story of Kratos and how he got to arrive in the nordic realms. I played this game with a blank pillow of information about Kratos's tumultous past and it didn't make me feel lost. I've played it, mainly because I've heard about it that it's very good and well praised. I didn't regret it.

This game is very good and it has all the elements that you need, that makes an already good game, great. Everything is perfect. The game is not short, but also not too long for it to become boring. It has a phenomenal storyling, with a lot of plot twists and great character development, especially the supportive character named Mimir. Also, the gameplay is awesome, because it's not repetitive, the game having a linear note to it.

Definitely God of War (2018) is one of the best games that I've ever played.

This is a comeback for the ages, my guys, holy shit. LIke, imagine somebody stopping you 10 years ago and saying "Man, the new God of War will win GOTY in three years", my honest reaction would have been something along the lines of "Pffff, that franchise is dead on the water, man. What are they going to do? Put Kratos against the Norse gods? pffffffff, yeah, imagine that shark jump being any good. Ja."

Well, my straw-man hypotetical ass would have been handed to me because it is not only an excelent game, but immediately became one of my top 5 titles ever. Without a doubt. Straight to the top. Among the GOATs. Fundamentally changed me as a person this bitch.

For somebody who invests themselves as much as me into the narrative of a game, this God of War delivers in dividends: the tense and sad start, building the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, the wonderful side-characters, an astounding low-stakes villain, the nostalgia of games (and mechanics) past, THE GORGEOUS WORLD AND MYTHOLOGY. This game caught me in the first two hours and kept its grip until the very end. I was LITERALLY SAD when I reached the 100% mark because I wanted so much more, even that (kind of) cheesy reveal at the end made me giggle, being so cheesy but so fucking endearing. Hell, since the first Dark Souls I have not felt this way about a game. I want to jump to Raganrok right-fucking-now.

It does not escape to me the fact that the platinum trophy is titled after that incredible moving piece of music from Yusuf Cat Stevens, and at this point I am kind of obligated to say that, of course, father-son relationships are almost always complicated and sinuous, even in best-case scenarios. And for what is worth, even if you like that dynamic in this game or not, one can only appreciate the place of honesty you feel this story comes from. A very frank, honest portrayal of fatherhood and grief and repentance and breaking cycles. You rarely get to see such heart in a comercial, triple AAA game and it is so great when it happens. All my love to the Santa Monica Studio, they outdid themselves here.

It's a good game. You'll probably like it. Not my favorite of these cinematic games, but a nice addition.

Story is well-told, well-acted, well-written, etc. Some minor pacing issues near the end, but overall, a good story. A bit predictable in most of its plot beats, but that means you'll rarely have a bad beat, and you might even have some good ones here and there!

Combat is fun and flashy, you'll probably have a good time with it. I do find it has what I call the hamster-wheel problem - lots of moving parts, but not a whole lot of meaningful choices. You're free to tweak your RPG stats with armor and accessories all you want, but I find it doesn't really change the way you play all that much (unless you look up specific builds, I guess.) It's hardly a sin, but it renders all the RPG looting/crafting/accessorizing a bit inconsequential. Definitely feels like it was done more for the dopamine boost of seeing number go up, rather than giving the player meaningful choices over how they play the game. Still, hardly a sin.

World design is a mix of linear level-based sequences, open-world exploration, and climactic set pieces. Not the most inspired design, but a good time nonetheless.

Visuals are obviously a high mark, and the one-shot camera is a technical marvel, though you can kinda tell where the trade-offs were. Long load times on PS4, plenty of moments where your movement is slowed in order to let the next area load, plenty of roadblocks where the characters talk to fill time while the game loads the next area. It's an impressive technical showcase, but technical showcases never come without tradeoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I played this game through three separate times and finished it 100% each playthrough. I had a good time. I had fun. Just... not much more than that.

La verdad, pocas veces un juego me llamo tanto sin haber jugado o visto nada de el, por mi parte, puedo decir que esta entrega además de haber sido una jugada bastante arriesgada, logro estar a la par o ser superior a lo que es y siempre fue God of War, un apartado visual artístico alucinante (lo jugué en pc, mi pc no es una pc de la nasa pero tiene un rtx 3060 por lo que no es una tostadora, en si el juego se ve muy bien),una jugabilidad super refinada y bien firme a la hora de moverte por el mapa o a la hora de combatir, como siempre God of War contiene un buen puñado de sangre y kills bien sangrientas y agradezco que ha dia de hoy aun se mantenga eso, por ultimo, la historia, el lore y la conexión de dos mitologías hacen que este juego sea una de mis experiencias videojuegiles de las que guardare durante bastante tiempo en mi corazon de niño rata. (pido una disculpa por no poner una imagen, el juego me dio problemas de crasheo últimamente por lo que les dejare una foto de kratos cuando paso por latam)

God of War 2018 did perhaps the one thing that I thought was impossible at this point and that is make me care about Kratos as a character. Up till this game Kratos, like so many video main characters, wasn't so much a character as a characture. In this game Kratos is elevated to a sympathetic father trying to find a way to relate to a son he has never connected with. Through this relationship with his son Kratos becomes one of my favorite video game characters of all time when he would never have made that list previously. The story also has plenty of big set pieces big bombastic moments, incredible performances and writing that is on par with the best games have to offer. Sony Santa Monica was also able to take the combat from the original trilogy and update it in a modern way that works while still having elements that make it feel familiar.

Quite simply GoW 2018 is one of the best feel good, fun, and moving stories told in video games with amazing combat, graphics, and exploration to back it up. This is one of the best games ever made.

I've just completed the platinum trophy for this game, I have liked it enough to go for 100% completion and didn't get bored in the process.

Everything just flows together so nicely, the beautiful environments, the interaction between father and son, the engaging combat, the lore, Mimir's stories, it's all just delicious. I was pleasantly surprised as well that it's not a fully linear experience but you have a large world to explore and many treasures/secrets to uncover.

The optional Valkyrie boss fights were great as well even though I did "suffer" quite a bit with some of them.

And it's perfectly polished as well, I have only encountered 1 bug in my 74-hour completionist playthrough.

We've all heard how good this game is so i dont think i have to explain that anymore. For me the game was almost perfect. I do miss the old god of war moments where kratos was frickin insane but this new kratos is also really good. Very different game and kratos and yet somehow they managed to nail it.

If it was just based on pure story and writing i would give it a 5/5 but sadly the boss fights were so repetitive and felt like re-skins (not felt like, they literally were re-skins).I heard they have fixed that in god of war ragnorok so cant wait to play whenever that releases on pc.The combat felt really weird at first, took some time for me to get used to it. It could be because i startd it right after sekiro which had butter smooth combat.

In short, Very good game with brilliant gameplay,visuals and story.Oh yeah the visuals.I think that's what I loved the most. Everything is so vast and huge, it looked amazing. Some scenes even jaw dropping.(the entry to that ice place with a dead giant on it).

A nivel historia me ha resultado bastante agradable, con sorpresas y con una relación paterno filial que se desarrolla sin sorpresas para el tropo que es, pero satisfactoriamente. El combate está bastante bien, aunque es un poco repetitivo y los controles en general no son tan fluidos como podrían exigir los niveles de dificultad más altos. La exploración en la trama principal está correcta, la parte de las misiones secundarias y los objetivos extra (valquirias, dragones...) no tanto, es una excusa para rellenar que no aporta nada realmente.

En general, es un juego notable (sobresaliente en el apartado gráfico) y con un guión bastante mimado y que cumple. La relación entre Kratos y Atreus es lo que se lleva el protagonismo, pero el juego está algo lejos de ser una un sobresaliente con matrícula. Que no es malo, pero le falta chispas por aquí y por allá.

I played this on a PS4 slim. It played very smoothly and the whole experience was on a different level from other releases around the same time. I was aware of the previous games from the franchise, but never played them when they release so I've never gone back. I'm glad that I caught this one when it was new.

The gameplay, music, story, and character development made such a rich experience. My biggest complaint was that it ended too soon. Like a lot of games, when you get further into the game, the difficulty begins to ramp up and I had some frustrating encounters, although, I didn't reduce the difficulty to just move past a particular encounter. In some cases, I may have been beating my head against higher level enemies.

Some games may pride themselves on the scale and openness of their game, but God of War feels like a distilled option. The graphics, combat mechanics, voice acting, and pretty much everything about the game is done with a refined level of perfection. Open worlds can sometimes lead to a confused sense of direction. This was not a problem here and it was a nice break. When you have multiple open world games in your backlog, sometimes it's nice to just follow a path to unravel a story.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the abilities or armor unlocked. They added to the game, but if I put it down for a few months, I had to relearn all the skills. And when I say all the skills, I mean about 4 core abilities that worked for me. The armor looked incredible, but there was confusion about the upgrade system for me. The game ended and there were upgrades out of reach. This may have been some reluctance on my part to explore other parts of the game, or maybe reserved for New Game+.

If you don't already own a PS4, this is another reason to consider it. The game looks amazing on a basic PS4 2 years later. If you're like me and didn't play the previous games, this one will make you anticipate any future release that may be in development.

God of War (which we will refer to as Dad of War to prevent confusion) sought to remake a crude yet effective form of character action game that made waves but might seem a little dated storywise now. Does it pay off? It PAYS OFF.

Taking place in the Nine Realms, Kratos lives in seclusion with his son Atreus. Right after the death of Kratos's wife (again), they go on an adventure to the highest peak in the realms to spread her ashes. A much more emotionally serious storyline comes with a much more mature Kratos and much more mature character interactions. Kratos is no longer blinded by rage with the gods, but focused into a wise warrior who still has much to learn. His relationship with his son changes and eventually grows strong throughout this game, and every single idle conversation and defining set piece counts.

Game-wise the game presents a strong challenge above the original - Kratos may use his new axe with ranged and melee capabilities along with barehanded brawling and the return of some old weaponry. His son starts off a bit weak but eventually becomes a very capable support archer who can pull away an enemy or two during combat. He's one of the better sidekicks who is very useful, especially near the endgame fights. Enemies vary in strength but Kratos can find equipment, special talismans, and special attacks to use in combat that go from a bare-bones simplicity in the beginning to a dizzying array of offensive options. The bosses are a bit fewer than we're used to, but the set pieces and challenge are near-perfection. Right from the first powerful battle to going toe-to-toe with dragons to the vicious Valkyries themselves, every fight will put up a FIGHT.

The game contains a very expansive but directed open world, with nothing too confusingly lost as the world slowly but surely reveals more to itself as the story progresses. It's exciting to see an area you previously discovered suddenly feel new and fresh and full of life, and Dad of War combines this and several different magical realms for travel.

As for graphics and music, the music is somber when it needs to be and genuinely thrilling when it wants to get you hyped. The world and every character and moment all looks gorgeous as well - there are points where it becomes obvious this game pushes the PS4 to its limits, and the results are a treat for the eyes. Glowing elf realms, fiery peaks, delicious snow effects - this game has quite the spectacle.

There are times where the game's challenge can bare its teeth (Muspelheim, Niflheim) as well as reward fair exploration, but this game is pretty much the best that the God of War series can be at this point. Recreating Kratos into a character we want to see grow and protect his son is a miracle of storytelling, and it helps that the game delivers everything I want to see from a solid action title.

Wow. Stunning and breathtaking. Every moment of playing this game changed my outlook on gaming and what a true story driven narrative should include. The story was gripping, intelligent, full, and emotional from start to finish. It didn't feel like it lagged at any point. For a hybrid linear/open-world game, it had just the right amount of side quests during the main story to keep me playing and completing everything as I went, but not too much to lose interest. The combat was a first for me, and it was done so well here. It created for me an interest in this style of gameplay that I never had before. Playing this in 4k HDR is absolutely worth it and I highly recommend doing so if you have the opportunity. I purchased the God of War PS4 Pro on release day, and purchased a new TV the next day. For a month, I was stuck on this game and my eyes were glued to my TV. I'm so grateful for this masterpiece and my impulse decision to upgrade to a special edition console for a game series I had never played.

This blew me away. Thank you Mr. Barlog. I'm looking forward to the next game.