God of War--Initial Impressions *No Spoilers* (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Friday, April 20, 2018, 21:50 (2195 days ago) @ Korny

I'm a few hours in now. I just opened up the lake and met the second craftsman, for those that have played that far.

I have not been this into a game in quite a while.

First thing's first: Teal'c is the voice of Kratos! And it's amazing. A quick google shows me that info has been know for like a year now, but I didn't know it, and it was a great surprise when the game started and his name showed up.

Second thing: This game is gorgeous. Horizon: Zero Dawn gorgeous. Better, in a lot of ways, if just slightly less impressive because of its smaller scale. The area with the Witch almost literally took my breath away. While obviously technically beautiful, the art design of God of War is just stunning.

Now, the most important thing: Combat in God of War is good. Really, really good. I only played the demo for God of War III, so I have no prior experience with the game. So far, this combat is shaping up to be some of my favorite in any game ever. It starts slow. Honestly, I thought too slow, but I'm just now starting to get into more of the skill tree (and only just barely), and I've come to realize that it had to start slow. There are so many options and so much customization--if they went any faster with opening things up, I'd have very easily been overwhelmed. There is a surprising learning curve, but once I got the controls down (I swapped the X and O inputs for a slightly more natural feel), it is so smooth and very, very satisfying.

The combination between the axe and it's powers, throwing the axe, using Atreus to stun enemies, going into rage, using combos . . . It's a lot to keep track of sometimes, and the game absolutely doesn't screw around with enemies. This isn't Batman or Shadow of Mordor where the enemies all wait their turn and attack one by one. The enemies will swarm and surround you, attack simultaneously. There will be multiple ranged enemies firing at you, while a few random low level guys surround you and one or two bigger guys with attacks you can't block move in. I can't even really articulate how good all this feels.

If you were on the fence about this game, I would have to make a strong argument to jump off that fence and go get it. It might end up as my favorite PS exclusive ever, if it keeps going at this rate.