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

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Saturday, April 21, 2018, 10:19 (2409 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I'm roughly as far into the game as you are... maybe a tiny bit further, but pretty close.

So far, I'm really enjoying it as well. But I would put forward a caveat or two. (no spoilers)

The game is great so far, but as a fan of the franchise, I have to say it doesn't scratch the same itch as the previous games. That's not a criticism, really. It's just a different thing. Its got more in common with The Last of Us than the previous God of War games. As someone who absolutely loves The Last of Us, I'm totally cool with more of that kind of game. Plus the traditional God of War formula is certainly a bit played out and dated at this point. However, I do find something lacking in this game, and I think it comes down to the combat.

I think the combat in this new God of War is very very good. But the combat in the original franchise (particularly in GoW 1, 2, and Chains of Olympus) is some of the best videogame combat ever. Sure, if you played those games on easy or normal, they could be reduced to button-mashing. But on the harder difficultly levels they required an intense amount of precise timing as well as strategy. And within that, controlling Kratos felt wonderfully satisfying. The controls were always super snappy and responsive, and Kratos himself was a whirlwind of speed and power. High level combat in the original series was a blur of constant motion, with attacks and combos and counters all chaining together in a non-stop flourish of destruction.

Combat in this new game just doesn't flow that way. It can't. The move set is just built differently. And even if the move set were closer to the original, the change in camera angles means the player can't have as much situational awareness as they could in the previous games (which feels very intentional, to me). It's much more start-stop-wait-repeat in its rhythm, now. Closer to Dark Souls or something in that vein. And that's great too. Again, not a criticism at all. Just a very key difference between this game and the rest of the franchise, and one that I think is worth considering or at least being aware of for longtime fans.