First AAA game I've played for quite a while. Man I forgot how talented these developers have become in some ways. The story of the game didn't exactly hook me, in fact I found it to be underwhelming in some ways. It clearly has the sequel in mind which is good for the series overall but takes away as a standalone title I think. However it definitely had it's highs and knows how to craft some emotional moments and epic set pieces.

I really admire what this game does to keep you engaged. It created a world to be explored, but so impressively reveals it layer by layer that always feels approachable. Environments are beautiful and the puzzles are interesting enough for a game like this.

Extra content outside of the main story is not so interesting if you're not very interested in the lore, but it still doesn't feel much like filler, enemy/environment variety and ongoing dialogue helps with this alot.

The combat is excellent and satisfying, and the freedom to create a build, mixing and matching gear/stats to match your play style is designed extremely well. Hard difficulty gave me the perfect balance of challenge. I also give the game credit for the optional challenges that are substantially harder than the main game but still very fair and rewarding.

Overall, I was constantly having fun in the 40 hours I spent here, but I was hoping for a bit more in a some areas, I really don't feel like I know Kratos.

God of War (2018) is a really good game but it’s hard to not be cynical, disappointed, frustrated and annoyed. This is what happens when you put presentation and story above gameplay and player experience.

First of all I have to say that anyone that ever said anything like ‘God of War is grown up now’ or ‘God of War is now mature’ has a bad memory, didn’t play the older games or is being dishonest. Second, why is this a God of War game with Kratos? I get that using that name and character brings some history, depth and built in fan base but this could have been its own new IP with new characters. We all know how much the AAA gaming industry likes to take risks so of course they are rebooting something instead. Third, why the hell is this being considered as one of the greatest games of all time and getting such high praise? God of War is the perfect game to pair with popcorn and soda. It is a blockbuster game – big budget, fun, highly polished but kind of shallow and not really special, amazing or interesting. If God of War is peak gaming then are good super hero movies peak film?

Let’s get the obvious out the way this game has really high production values. It looks and sounds excellent and made my PS4 Pro roar like a jet. The voice acting, sound effects and music is great. Everything is highly polished but it’s not that interesting. I’m not a big fan of the games art direction, a lot of the environments feel very similar and level design is kind of bland. It mostly loses the original God of War trilogy’s personality, variety, epicness, scale, over the top action and gore.

The story is fine but left me a bit cold. It starts off okay, although too slowly, and it ends well. However the majority of the game is just meh. I didn’t connect with things at all and wasn’t interested in the characters. Don’t get me wrong there were some good moments, humour and I liked seeing their take on the Norse mythology, unfortunately though it’s mostly forgettable and this why the ending probably didn’t hit as it was intended to for me. Also Atreus is annoying.

The game play has some problems and choices I just don’t get and didn’t enjoy. The commitment to the camera and the close over the shoulder view just doesn’t work for the gameplay. Not being able to see what you need too isn’t fun and it gets even worse in close spaces or near walls. Why can’t Kratos jump? It removes verticality from level design and combat and means platforming is just put in the bin. Kratos climbs so slowly too. Puzzles are underwhelming. The difficulty curve is poor with spongy enemies at first and then things just get too easy. There is all this different stuff to find and so much for Kratos to equip. Why is this crap even here, what does it add other than monotony and padding? I do like the way combat feels. The axe is fun and it hits hard. Everything feels like it has great weight and momentum to it. It doesn’t reward you for playing well though and starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions before the games end.

I think the original God of War trilogy is better than this and enjoyed those older games a lot more. It’s sad to see God of War lose its personality and uniqueness and become another big, homogeneous, cinematic, story driven, single player experience like the others by Sony. For me God of War (2018) is kind of forgettable and doesn’t have any replay value. Of course it is a delight for your eyes and ears. Of course it is impressive. Of course it is enjoyable, worth playing and I recommend it. But it is definitely not top shelf gaming or deserving of a place next to the all time greats.

7.8/10

God of War is either a severely compromised action RPG or an absurdly slow-paced character action game. That said, the game looks incredible. The presentation is immaculate and surpasses even a lot of PS5 games. The filial follower premise is fairly well-written, although it suffers a bit from repetitive dialogue triggers. The first time I finished a gruesome overkill combo and Atreus said "I, uh, think you got him" I laughed out loud. By the fourth time I could only roll my eyes.

This repetitious padding infects the gameplay as well. Even in my relatively short time with the game I faced multiple redux bosses. There's an enormous amount of short backtracking to solve perspective-puzzles. I understand that loading screens are often hidden in traversal sequences, but there are just way too many of them. Level design demands exploring every dead end but loot rewards were hit-or-miss.

The voice acting and story are pretty compelling, but not quite good enough that I want to drop the difficulty and still suffer through the mediocre puzzle design. This is lowest-common-denominator gaming at its finest, with no rough edges and minor distinguishing features at best.

Enjoyment - 8/10
Difficulty - 4/10

Disgruntled Dad taking petulant Son to the movies. Thought provoking film. Must watch. Makes you think.
🏆

A must play for every ps4/ps5 owner. This this game shows the evolution of the characters in a way ive never seen before, its a fantastic piece of character development.

Gameplay is awesome with huge areas to explore and great challenges.
And the best is how gameplay follows the character development. For example, Atreus, he starts unreliable story&gameplay wise but the way the story progresses you see he mature and gain battle experience and so you will using him more cause he starts to be way more useful and indispensable.

Story is obviously great with alot of nordic lore to feed you.

Just replayed this in preparation for Ragnarok. As a fan of the franchise who grew up with all the games on release date (admittedly at an age I shouldn't have), I've always had mixed feelings about GOW 2018.

I know objectively this is the best game in the franchise, the best Kratos, the best story however as a fan it took me a while to adjust to this new style. Funnily enough, that is the big theme of this game. Moving on from the past, and accepting the future. When I first picked this game up, I kinda felt betrayed as a fan.

The gameplay was slow and stiff. For some reason they put an over the shoulder camera in an action game. There was no mention of Kratos' past, almost as if Sony/Santa Monica didn't care about that and wanted us to forget to appeal to new fans... And then THAT moment came. I wouldn't spoil it, but if you know THAT moment, it changed my whole perspective of this game. In fact, it made me realize that this game was made for the fans more than anyone else. I started to accept what they were trying to do with Kratos' character and his story. I finally understood the changes in gameplay and started to love it. This was the writer's masterful way of telling the fans they want to do something new with God of War, but to do that the fans need to move on from the past and accept the new future. This was a message only the fans of the previous games would have felt the full extent of while playing this game. Genius.

After replaying this I have accepted that this is definitely my favourite game in the franchise and I look forward to the Sequel.

I've never played any of the previous God of War games before, nor was I really interested in playing this one. However, after seeing it being sold for a bargain bin price, I decided to try it out and was pleasantly surprised with the journey it takes you.

From the very first moment I got to take control of the game, I was immediately taken aback by its graphics. Every single area of the screen is filled with stunning and careful detail, making it very easy to be immersed in the world of God of War. The best part of it all, the detailed graphics don't even hamper the loading speed at all!

The combat is also quite excellent, providing a challenging difficulty that's hard to master while also being accessible, without it requiring a demanding well-timed action. Normally, in these types of games, I would just button-mash my way through the fights, but the accessibility really made me feel like I was in control.

The one thing that I was looking forward to experiencing the most though was its story. Almost every single video I watched considers this game to be a storytelling masterpiece, unfortunately, I didn't quite have the same reaction as others. I actually found it quite simple, but simplicity doesn't necessarily mean bad.

I really loved the way it portrays the relationship of Kratos and his son Atreus and the way they develop throughout the course of the journey. I also found Atreus to be such a precious companion to the story and a very helpful character during gameplay.

The thing I really didn't like about the game though was the repetitiveness of the gameplay loop. It felt like there weren't really a lot of things to do aside from fighting bad guys. The amount of backtracking also made the pacing quite slow in some instances.


Even with some of its issues though, it still does make me want to play previous God of War entries, despite being completely different from this one, I'm definitely most excited about 2018's sequel, Ragnarok!

God of War 2018 is a gripping reinvention of the Norse mythos. The entire Norse world, with its broken relationships, cycles of destruction, and stories of control is a perfect place for Kratos to continue his story. Not just for him, but through Atreus as well. It is hard to talk about how amazing this story really is without diving into spoilers.

By far my favorite parts of god of war, even more than the story are the sound design and soundtrack. The soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary perfectly complements the epic nature of the game. It blends Nordic influences with powerful orchestral arrangements, creating an emotional and grand stage that elevates the game's storytelling. Along with the music every word from Kratos, clash of battle, and roar of a dragon is booming. The attention to detail in ambient sounds and character dialogue enhances the experience, making the journey feel all the more impressive.

The combat is both challenging and satisfying, vastly improved from the original games into a more refined and strategic experience. The Leviathan axe combined with Atreus' ranged attacks and combo moves encourage you to master skills and think quickly.

While the majority of environments in God of War are breathtaking and immerse you in the world, some areas feel slightly fabricated, detracting from the game's overall realistic vibe. The occasional overly linear level design feels like they couldn't figure out how to make the area feel believable which breaks immersion.

Não tenho ligação com a franquia, esse foi meu primeiro GOD OF WAR e meu game da vida e RDR2 e sempre ficava pensando como é possivel ele ter perdido o game do ano, porem nunca sai falando besteira sem ter jogado e agora eu entendi um pouco o porque. esse jogo é bom demais a construção de pai e filho em momento nenhum achei a historia arrastada, teve parte do game que eu parei de jogar e fiquei admirando a paisagem, a ambientação é excelente trilha sonora então nem se diga maravilhosa, eu só não gostei mesmo foi da dificuldade, que nao é dificil é massante quando é para ser um boss que é pra te da um desafio ele só te da mais dano e tem muito mais life e ele com aqueles mesmo 3 movimentos repetidos isso me meu uma broxada. mas é isso, continuo com o meu ´´GOTY´´ mas eu entendo perfeitamente GOW ganhar pelo tamanho que esse jogo é para os fãs da franquia, e certeza que eu quero jogar o RAGNAROK.

Depending on who you are, God of War 2018 is either a bastardized attempt to reinvent the series and its signature perpetually-angry misogynist lead by stripping it from its hack-n-slash roots in favor of a slower, more 'generic' gameplay style, or its the kick in the pants that the franchise needed to shake up its stale formula in lieu of something new with a deliberate, crafted vision and a stronger, more focused narrative. Of course, there are nuances to these viewpoints and the space between them, but generally, these are the loudest extremes you'll find in online discussions about this game.

Personally, I lean further towards the latter, although I can appreciate where the former is coming from. Indeed, Kratos gains a renewed purpose and lease on life in this soft reboot in the form of his plucky, ever-curious son, Atreus, as they journey across Norway together, centuries(?) after Kratos wiped Greece off the map. It's a narrative premise that's easy to be cynical about going into it—trying to make Kratos empathetic by giving him 'dad feels' does come across as a pretty transparent decision from the outset.

However, something I very much appreciate about GoW2018 is that it never really tries to redeem Kratos—it simply tells you who he was, shows you who he is now, and how he interacts with his son and those he meets along their journey together, allowing you to come to your own conclusions about him.

It's a great thing too, since I went into this game back when it was released somewhat bitterly after having just played God of War 3 and seeing a certain moment (if you know, you know) towards the end playout where Kratos pretty much crosses the point of no return as a 'redeemable' character, try as they very much did.

Instead, 2018 is very much Atreus's story, with Kratos playing the stern, powerful mentor who wishes to guide him along a more righteous path than his own. It's simple yet truly compelling storytelling from start to finish. The cast of characters you meet along the way only helps to sell that journey further, with Mimir being my personal favorite, dropping sagely wisdom, weaving tales, and dropping one-liners at appropriate intervals.

Yes, the combat is indeed a slower, more deliberate affair than its hack-n-slash past, appealing less to combo perverts and more to action-RPG fanatics. While it's clearly not a souls-like, it does take some appropriate cues from those games in terms of enemy encounters and combat strategy. It all works extremely well, and you can tell that it's the aspect that took the most time and effort to craft out of all. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've heard, this does not apply to enemy variety, with generally one new enemy type for each different realm you visit that then gets mixed in with the other ones. It doesn't spoil the experience, and it still keeps you on your toes, sure, but it does start to get a bit too familiar as the game goes on.

What's a bit more of a mixed bag in GoW2018 however, is the game's insistence on being a 'one-take wonder', which is to say that the entire game is made to look as if it's all in one, unbroken shot, with all the pros and cons that could come with such a decision. While yes, I do find that it aids the narrative and helps to sell it as a narrative and thematic 'journey' that the leads are embarking upon, the gameplay also suffers for it somewhat. Namely, fast travel is still fast(er), but it isn't instantaneous and can start to feel tedious, especially if you're grinding side quests.

This decision also means it is privy to frustrating disguised loading screens, such as squeeze-throughs and other less-fun traversal obstacles. Granted, sometimes these are there more to funnel the player into a particular area than load the next one, but in a game with a 'done in one-take' design ethos such as this, it's clear what they're meant for here.

Regardless, God of War 2018 is still a strong reinvention and compelling action-RPG on its own, as it has been since its release. There's room for improvement, for sure, but the foundation they have here is something for Sony Santa Monica to be proud of (as they well are).

9/10

This game has been on my backlog since I got a PS4 a few years ago and for some reason I just kept on putting it off. I was a damn fool for doing that. God of War is an incredible experience that anyone interested in video games should seek out. The gameplay is really fun, the combat is exhilarating and there's some great boss fights that can really push you to your limits, progression is also pretty good and it never feels like you're in one place for too long. Gameplay wise the game is great but the real star of the show here is the story and characters. Though the plot is very simplistic it ultimiately works in the game's favor and allows the focus to be on the games great characters, more specifically it focuses on Kratos and Atreus and their strained relationship with one another and that relationship is the best part about the game. My only complaint with this game is the skill tree, armor upgrade, and enchantment systems that just feel shoehorned in because the developers felt that every modern game needs to have those things, that being said though they don't take away anything from the gameplay, they just feel a bit unnecessary is all. God of War is an incredible experience and I can't wait to see what God of War: Ragnarok has in store for me.

Esse jogo foi um dos principais motivos pra eu querer um PS4 mesmo que tardiamente. E depois que eu terminei, eu entendi porque fixei tanto nele.

Não consigo descrever o tanto que esse jogo me impactou. O jeito que conseguiram renovar a franquia, dar uma cara nova mas sem perder a essência. O puta desenvolvimento de personagem que o Kratos tem, a dinâmica dele com e o arco de evolução e amadurecimento do Atreus. As reviravoltas.

God of War é o tipo de jogo que tu começa a jogar e não consegue parar. Tu simplesmente te perde dentro dele, explorando o mundo lindo que o game te entrega, descobrindo cada vez mais coisas e simplesmente sendo pego pela gameplay viciante. O sistema de progressão também que te fazer sentir o quão mais forte tu vai ficando e te fazendo querer upar cada vez mais.

Os diálogos, o jeito que a história consegue ser delicada e poderosa. A trilha sonora absurdamente bem feita e que te coloca dentro do clima necessário pra cada batalha e cada acontecimento. Eu tô simplesmente apaixonado.

Juro que queria fazer uma review mais técnica como eu vejo o pessoal que acompanho aqui fazer de maneira incrível e que eu também tento fazer com os outros jogos e falho miseravelmente, só que eu realmente não consigo botar em palavras o quanto eu amei o que esse jogo proporciona e o quão emocionado fiquei em diversos momentos.

God of War me lembrou do porque eu amo tanto video games e me fez pensar no tanto de jogo maravilhoso que eu ainda não joguei e preciso começar o quanto antes. Eu imaginei que eu fosse curtir pra caramba assim como eu simplesmente amava os do Playstation 2, mas eu real não esperava que eu fosse ficar completamente apaixonado pelo game desse jeito. Sei lá, acho que não sei mais o que falar.

Maravilhoso, foi uma experiência incrível jogar essa obra de arte. A narrativa é muito interessante, a trilha sonora nem se fala, é um absurdo de tão boa. A gameplay é complexa mas fluiu bem demais, além de ser bem satisfatória também. Se possível jogue no controle, é uma delícia.

Enfim, Acabou que fiquei com uma sensação de quero mais. Pensei que fosse levar mais tempo pra zerar mas a sensação foi de que passou muito rápido, agora é esperar sair pra steam o ragnarok.

Recomendo muito, Red Dead Redemption 2 ainda merecia o GOTY mas God of War não fica atrás, é um jogo incrível.

Inside of you are two wolves
+One of them enjoys a game at face value and tries to find things to appreciate about a product
-The other is a wanna-be critic who thinks he's smart for knowing what ludonarrative dissonance means, while also being a massive hater just because liking less things makes you seem more professional

I can't deny that I enjoyed this game. A lot of the things I'm about to pick on are pretty minor in theory, but they make up something about this game that I kind of hate

+A story that in all honesty is pretty compelling and entertaining. Its not the deepest thing you'll ever see, but I'd be lying if I said that I never felt anything in my playtime
+Has incredible acting performances and every important cutscene has the characters moving dynamically adding even more of a "real" feeling to these characters
+Why is this game actually pretty funny, I thought this would be filled with millenial-esque Josh Whedon humor
+Beautiful Art Direction
+Holy shit the fight cutscenes are so wacky I love them
-At the same time, this is one of the most obvious cases of videogame oscar bait I've seen (Can videogame writers please develop a new original idea beyond Dad-Son videogames)
-A rushed and tacked on conflict between Kratos and Boy near the 3rd act like this is some mid 2000s animated kids movie

+Combat is actually pretty satisfying. Every hit feels so crunchy and the animations are brutal
+Give me a Challenge difficulty felt pretty good for the most part
+Its no DMC, but I think that there's enough tools at your disposal to be able to pull off some pretty cool shit if you want to
-Obnoxious lite-RPG mechanics and a convoluted upgrade system
-The game wants to be the Last of Us so bad that it even uses an over the shoulder camera that does not work for a game like this
-A dodge roll that gives so many i-frames and costs no resources so that you can mash dodge and get away with it 99% of the time
-Every boss in the main game is extremely gimmicky and forgettable
- Every boss in the main game is extremely gimmicky and forgettable (Yes I know I wrote this statement twice, much like how the game also loves to reuse its bosses)
-Spartan rage is one of the lamest installs (in game, not in cutscenes)
-Weapon specific enemies
-Like a third of the game is going through boring walking segments where nothing goes on for the sake of "le cinematic feeling"
-Hold forward and occasionally press B to climb. We're going to make sure that you'll do this every 3 seconds
-My entire perspective of this game changed even more once I learned that they designed the game with people like DSP in mind

God of War to me is far from hollow corporate slop. There was clearly a lot of passion from individual devs and writers to make this game and there is a somewhat compotent vision that I respect. At the same time, its so obscured by the way that it tries to homogenize itself into the grey blob of AAA action games. Who knows, maybe when Ragnarok comes to PC, I might play it and see things differently. But for now, I think I'll forget I ever played this game and possibly forget I even wrote this review as well.

I do not understand the hype surrounding this game at all, it's not a bad game by any means but man the story is average af, the gameplay is pretty bland until you're getting the spartan blades in a very late section of the game and unlike the axe they're actually fun to use
the difficulty scaling in this game is horrible, I hate games that think that making each enemy bullet spongy is a good decision for increased difficulty
also I HATE when games guide you from start to finish, it feels sometimes like the game was meant to be played by actual toddlers
now for my biggest problem I had with GOW 2018, my god the cutscenes in this game are EVERYWHERE and most of the time they just break immersion and interrupt big moments like boss fights for example
there are just so many points that shouldn't have any of them to begin with I do not understand the appeal of games that have so many cutscenes in combat sections,it's simply irritating
after dissing the game for a bit it's time for the good things about it, the world of this game is freaking phenomenal and beautiful, the world building is also really great and character interactions are on point for most part
I liked the cast of characters this game offered, they're not amazing or anything but I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't enjoyed the it throughout the whole journey
lastly the last conclusion, it was super satisfying and the final boss was pretty great too unlike the other bosses and unlike these bosses they actually done a great mix of boss phases and cutscenes, it was a great finisher before heading to the mountain

In conclusion getting impressed by GOW 2018 is like getting impressed by Kim Kardashian's ass, sure it has a great shape and mass but man that shit's just plastic

it's not GOTY material at all but it sure is a good game, 6-6.5/10

Me at 11h59: "I can't believe Final Fantasy XVI has nothing to do with previous FFs, when you make a new entry in an established franchise, there are certain expectations to be met"

Me at 00h00: "Dad of War goes 9/10"

My burning hypocrisy aside, this really has nothing to do with previous entries in the series, gameplay-wise, and anyone who holds that against this game is honestly in the right.

That being said, I did have similar spots in my brain tickled: the combat is visceral and satisfying in a different way, and it provides impressive scale but also in a different way - instead of insane battles, you get some impressive locations and scenery and cutscene direction, the "one-shot" camera gimmick does its job in giving the story moments a bigger gravitas.

The camera during combat is the most common criticism, and while I do agree it can be an issue, I legit didn't think it was that bad. The inclusion of crafting and RPG elements are dangerously close to "generic AAA trope", but I think it's handled well, offering the possibility to create a few builds with slightly different playstyles.

Really, this Sony's "wide linear" design to their AAA cinematic games is just incredibly appealing to me. Does it make every game in their library homogeneous? Kinda, but at least they have perfected this one formula.

Though I don't think the story is amazing, it was good enough, and the smaller scale helped keep it somewhat refreshing. The references to the Greek games made me giggle like a fanboy.

I was shocked to see it's not a particularly strong game when it comes to the bosses, which is a bit of a crime for this series.