God of War- 2018's Horizon Zero Dawn-tier game? (Gaming)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Thursday, April 12, 2018, 02:32 (2205 days ago)

So God of War comes out next Friday, but the review embargo lifted tonight. So far, it has a 94 Metacritic from 75 reviews (0 mixed, 0 negative).

Having never really liked any of the God of War games that I tried (not big on the mindless hack n' slash genre), I'm now super curious, especially since it's simultaneously a sequel and a complete reboot of the franchise (in terms of gameplay, style, story, and even genre, it seems). And the weird/neat thing is that it's being rebooted by the very same developer that started it all (Santa Monica Studios).

I have only delved into two reviews for it so far:
IGN's, which gave the game a 10/10, and Skill Up, who goes beyond that to call this game... well:

Now, hyperbolic statements like that are usually something that gives me pause (especially since Skill Up goes on to state that he didn't completely love The Last of Us, Uncharted, or Horizon Zero Dawn, which is usually a clear sign of deep-seated mental issues), but he goes on to explain why he feels that way, and I can sort of understand where he's coming from, given his previous perspectives.

What I took from both reviews:

-The game is not-quite open world, but has tons of optional explorable areas, with real challenges that reward those explorations, and which often flesh out the world.

-You can pick and choose several playstyles, and the game has ways to reward and flesh out those playstyles, while giving you lots of room to experiment and change the way you play.

-The game is meaty, but doesn't drag on or ever feel boring (25-42 hours is the normal completion rate, depending on whether or not you check out the optional challenges).

-The story is solid, and characters (Heroes, villains, supporting cast) are interesting and multidimensional.

My curiosity was piqued when the gameplay trailer was released (dat ending!), but now it's sounding like a must-buy.

Anyone here a fan of the series?