Finally hit my 2.0 k/d for MP, took a hot minute cause it plummeted immensely when camo-grinding as well as deliberately reverse-boosting just to see how bad it could possibly get at low-elo (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyftel9rSNM )

The MP this year is made for the sweatiest of tryhards (i.e. people who spend time in-between games optimizing the shit out of a loadout to create something absolutely bullshit to play against)
This means if you also like to take the game little too seriously, be prepared to play against iron sight/1x sight "quickscopers" as well as people who abuse the hell out of peeker's advantage who will laser you in sub-300ms.
That's not to say that these are the only types of players you'll come across but if you strive to be decent at this game, there is a lot of corny behavior you will come across.

Netcode being mediocre and SBMM being strict are still the same old, it is what it is.

Generally, I like it. The MP is made pretty reactionary to MWII's where the meta there was to either camp or dropshot every kill. I enjoy what SHG's doing with the MP aside from making snipers OP as shit.

God of War Ragnarök is a game that marks me coming full circle in a way. A few years ago, when this game was revealed I thought it looked really interesting despite being a massive Xbox fanboy at the time who still believed in console wars (unbelievably cringe, I know). Pair that with the critically well received and GOTY winning first game and my interest in these games and PlayStation as a whole was at its peak, so I bought a PS4 and the first game alongside it. Unfortunately, I got distracted by all the other games I wanted to play on the console and despite buying both games pretty early, didn’t actually get to them until this year. I lamented about how long it took me to actually get to these games in my review for God of War 2018 and I still do now, I simply do not know how I put off two incredible games like this for so long. Ragnarök specifically is everything I could have ever asked for from a sequel to 2018 and manages to tell one of the most powerful narratives I’ve experienced in gaming as well as just being a damn fun game.

While initially I thought the gameplay in Ragnarök was gonna be a straight rinse and repeat of 2018’s, I was surprised at how much they added to it. Starting with the good the game really took the criticism that many had with the first game and instead of reusing bosses and the same kinds of enemies ad nauseum, instead added tons of really cool boss fights and several different types of enemies each with their own weaknesses for you to figure out. The combat is just as satisfying as it was in the first game and certain new weapons and skills you obtain over the course of the game go a long way to make it remain so. There also just feels like there’s a lot less annoying puzzles to deal with, allowing the game to focus mostly on action which I felt was a really good call. But then there’s my complaints with the gameplay, chief among them being the sections where you play as Atreus. While Atreus is certainly an interesting and divulging character in this game it just felt like to me there was nothing that the game could do to make him as satisfying and fun to play as as Kratos himself is. Instead of using a badass axe or twinblades, Atreus simply uses his bow to beat up enemies which feels kinda weak and unsubstantial, he also just has a much smaller pool of moves that he can use due to his skill tree being much smaller than Kratos’ so it just feels like he designed to be inferior. His sections feel much shorter to make up for this and they do often have some very interesting story stuff going on so that’s a plus as well, but typically whenever I played these sections I just wished I was back playing as Kratos instead. My only other problem with the gameplay is the slow pacing of it, at least when it comes to traversal. The settings you explore in this game are really interesting, but a mission often consists of exploring a certain path and fighting a boss at the end of it, only to traverse back through that path to get back to the gateway that leads back to the main hub. It’s a tiny bit exhausting to have to go back through the area you just explored on foot with no way of fast travel or faster traversal to get you back through and all you’re really get from it is more dialogue among the characters, but still it’s not a huge issue and doesn’t take away from the game all that much.

God of War Ragnarök’s narrative is in a lot of ways the absolute polar opposite of its predecessor’s and yet the fact that both can tell such effective and emotional stories is an achievement that the writers at Santa Monica should be proud of. Instead of a simplistic and small stakes story of a man and his son taking his dead wife’s ashes up a mountain Ragnarök opts to tell the story of a father and son coming to grips with the end of the world and its approach to telling this story is just as cinematic and heavy as it sounds. Kratos, despite learning to be honest and open with his son in the prior game is still not a perfect father, he is still deeply untrusting and overprotective and those are things that become a driving force between him and Atreus throughout the game. Atreus on the other hand is deeply curious about the world and about who he is, seeking the truth no matter what the consequences might be and rushing hastily into situations instead of using his judgement like his father has taught him. Both are flawed characters, and this estranged relationship, despite being in the face of the end of all things no less, feels like the real conflict of the game that must be solved. Of course there are other characters that enhance the game as well, Freya’s search for revenge and meaning after Baldur’s death in the first game is interesting, Brok and Sindri’s drama with each other and their clashing lifestyles is really good and has some surprisingly heartfelt and dramatic moments to it, Thor as a character is a really interesting parallel to Kratos and the drama within his family is deep, and Odin’s endless quest for knowledge and the things he has done and will do the obtain it makes him a really intriguing character and villain.

Despite the deeply interesting plot and characters though, I think where God of War Ragnarök really hits home is in its themes. Although it’s been years since her death, we’re shown that Kratos still mourns Faye and with his own death prophesied about and presumably on the horizon he has dreams of her seemingly becoming for him to join her. This portrayal of grief that is seen throughout the game, specifically in moments of great indecision for Kratos’ character is incredibly realistic and well realized. There’s also overlapping themes of revenge, regret, and the idea of being better. Several characters throughout the story have reasons to seek revenge on other characters, whether its scene in Freya and Thor’s anger towards Kratos at the beginning of the story, or virtually everyone’s lust for revenge on Odin throughout the story, everyone in this game has been wronged and seek to deal with it in the worst way possible. When given the chance at revenge each in their respective ways however, the message then becomes one of how past mistakes do not define a person, how forgiveness can open far more doors than petty revenge can, and how striving to be better than the one who hurt you is one of the hardest but most satisfying things you can do, and the moments where certain characters realize this are some of the most powerful I’ve seen in all of gaming.

Having finally played both of the modern God of War games like I planned to years ago when I expanded my interests I can say without a doubt that they have two of the most powerful narratives and satisfying combat in any game I’ve played. Though there are just a few slight gameplay flaws that hold Ragnarök back from perfection it was still an unforgettable experience from start to finish and one I’m glad I took the $300 plunge on those few years ago. I’m uncertain where this series will go next but I will be there on day one to continue the adventures of Kratos and Boy when it arrives.

Existe dois tempos no mundo dos videogames, Antes de The last of us e Depois de The last of us.

Eu sei que parece exagero esse título e muita gente que não gosta de TLOU pode acabar negando muito isso, e ta tudo bem discordar. Porém, é um tanto quanto inegável que os jogos mudaram muito desde que The Last of Us foi lançado, seu jeito cinemático seu estilo de contar a história e toda a forma que a trama nos envolve, foi SIM algo revolucionário pra época que foi lançado.

A primeira vez que joguei The Last of Us foi la no PS3 e quando eu vi os gráficos e o estilo de gameplay desse jogo na época eu não consegui nem reagir direito, sabe foi um SUSTO daqueles grandes eu senti como se eu tivesse vendo pessoas na telinha, eu me encantava com os personagens e eu me envolvia na história cada vez que passava, detalhe: eu tinha apenas 10 anos de idade.

E eu até cheguei a fazer uma review aqui bem porca do título original la do PS3 que eu falei umas besteira, então nessa aqui vou me corrigir e vou pontuar tudo o que eu não pontuei.

Mas enfim, 10 anos de idade foi a primeira vez que eu joguei TLOU e agora que eu tenho 20 anos, pude rejogar essa obra que eu tanto amo em seu remake.. remake esse que sinceramente, é espetacular.

De primeira eu já senti aquela coisa de assustadora nos gráficos né não tem como não se assustar, a gameplay eu não posso dizer se teve tanta mudança da do PS3 já que eu joguei ela a muito tempo, mas posso te afirmar que a gameplay dele é parecida com a do 2 mas um tanto mais lenta e travadinha. Ah e um adendo: se você jogar com o Dualsense, os gatilhos adaptáveis são maravilhosos e dão uma imersão que vale a pena, eu não sei se isso atrapalha pra fazer outras run de uma maneira mais hardcore e etc, mas pra mim que jogou o jogo de forma casual achei fantástico.

O som e o silêncio e a ausência de vida se fazem presentes na ambientação do jogo, a versão de PS3 já tinha esse clima de tensão que nos deixa sempre com um pé atrás sobre aonde a gente vai pisar, mas o remake colocou isso em outro nível, até porque a qualidade de áudio de hoje em dia aumentou bastante, então agora o jogo ta muito mais limpo e traz uma experiência bem mais forte no lado de terror.

A história bom.. eu nem preciso dizer nada, todo mundo já sabe o quão incrivel e magnífica é a trama de The Last of Us, mas ainda assim eu quero dizer o quão divino esse jogo é. Cara, todo personagem que é apresentado pra você no jogo, é construído de um jeito extremamente cuidadoso e completo. Você se encontra com muita gente ruim, com muita gente boa, e todas elas tem uma personalidade forte marcante que fica na sua memória de uma forma ou de outra.

E não só de personagens eu gostaria de dizer aqui, eu também gostaria de elogiar a construção da sociedade nesse jogo. Já escrevi histórias e histórias então eu sei um pouco sobre o quão é difícil desenvolver uma sociedade no mundo que você ta criando. The Last of Us pega ali o modelo de nossa sociedade que conhecemos, e coloca ele em um estado de caos, e cara ela fica MUITO bem feita, a gente passa por varias facções varias pessoas tentando sobreviver e tudo é muito VIVO, algumas pessoas optam por métodos extremos de sobrevivência e outras optam por algo mais pacífico, você vai entender quando jogar, só tenho dizer que é perfeito o jeito que o mundo é representado nesse universo.

Bom.. já puxei muito saco né? Enfim, se quiserem jogar TLOU fiquem ligados que a versão de PC (qual eu joguei) ainda não ta la 100% e você pode passar por alguns bugs e crashes, a maioria dos bugs que passei foram só engraçados (como por exemplo personagens duplicados) e o crash se resolveu depois de um tempo. O jogo é tempo mediano você pode durar 14 horas ou mais pra zerar jogando no normal, mas eu jogando no muito fácil finalizei em 8 horas e 37 minutos, visão tropa!