This review contains spoilers
So, from what I hear, God of War Ascension is technically the first game in the timeline, but I figured I would start my first time journeying through this beloved series with the one that started it all. I've found that the original God of War is not without its frustrating or annoying bits, but it was still plenty of fun for me overall. Took me around 9 hours to beat the game over the course of a few days; I had a break from playing so I could focus on doing college work, so there's a noticeable gap in my playtime.
The combat of the original God of War isn't super deep, but it is a lot of fun. You get a surprising amount of moves that I didn't mess with the entirety of. I found that there were only a few I consistently used, though maybe there are people that like to use every move the game gives you. I was a little disappointed to see that you only get two weapons - the Blades of Chaos and Blade of Artemis - but they are pretty well implemented since each comes with its own play style that can be helpful for certain fights. The Blades of Chaos is your default weapon and the only one you have for a good portion of the game. Attacking with it almost feels like masterfully swinging around stretchy and nimble whips, if that makes sense. They have good range and they are speedy, but they are a little on the weaker side. Meanwhile, the Blade of Artemis is pretty much the complete opposite. Its a huge broadsword that is naturally slower than the Blades of Chaos but packs a lot of power. I liked using the second weapon just a little more than the first, but I still alternated between the two relatively often. You also get some cool spells over the course of your journey, gifted to you by the gods. These abilities are Poseidon's Rage, Medusa's Gaze, Zeus' Fury, and Army of Hades. I found that Poseidon's Rage was easily my most used one, its a big cone of lightning next to you that nukes enemies. Unfortunately I rarely ever used Medusa's Gaze and honestly I'm not sure why; its not like it isn't useful since you can turn enemies to stone and shatter them in just a few hits. I didn't use Zeus' Fury much, but there are segments in the game with archer enemies far away from you where it becomes really handy and even necessary in some situations. Army of Hades was a really handy boss killer and clears rooms with ease since, as the name implies, you summon a bunch of souls to just kill things for you. It takes a lot of your magic bar to use Army of Hades but its almost always useful whenever you do. Honestly I think all the special god powers you get are really useful in their own ways, but if I had to pick one that I just didn't think was all that worth using most of the time it'd be Zeus' Fury. Funny how the lord of the gods has the least interesting ability. Of course, there's also the famous quick-time-events that this game popularized. Most of the time, I think these added a valuably fun bit of flavor, but they could be really frustrating in certain situations. There's only three bosses in the game, but they all have phases that you need to win QTEs to advance in, and if you're having a hard time with them you just can't continue until you eventually get it right. The minotaur boss was an absolute pain in the ass for me with his QTEs since they have a very unforgiving time window and they involve moving the stick one at a time in different specific rotations. It's a lot more complicated for me to quickly react to "make a quarter circle clockwise" rather than "press Square", you know? I think the last real thing of note with the combat is that you have a special move-set for segments when you're climbing up walls/fishnets or precariously moving forward on ropes, but the basics are mostly the same as land combat. Overall, my only real complaints with the combat are that it can feel a little button-mashy at times and its annoying just how much of damage sponges the enemies can be, but I still enjoyed my time with it overall. It certainly isn't mindless and the game can put you on your toes easily by just sending hordes of monsters at you.
So, how about the level structure? I was a bit surprised by how this game has a good amount of platforming and puzzles. I think both were decently fun, I felt pretty accomplished at the harder parts. To be honest, I died way more in the platforming segments than I did at the actual combat. These parts can be very brutal, and I especially hated those parts that I can only call "tightrope walking", where you had to keep your balance walking on thin beams or pillars and you die if you fall. These returned quite a few times, usually deadlier and deadlier each time. Needless to say, I died in these segments probably more than any other time, and part of me kinda hopes there's less of them in God of War II once I get to playing that. As for the level design itself...frankly, there was a bit too much backtracking here for my liking. You have to go to the Rings of Pandora like four times at different points in the game and that was a bit overkill to me, although there is always a logical reason why you're going back to this area and you usually understand as soon as you see the familiar halls again. You can sometimes stumble upon areas you aren't able to access yet, which could be annoying in some cases but I did find it decently satisfying when I figured out the purpose at some point later in progression. As for the puzzles, there were a few times I had to look up the answer since I'm not the brightest at puzzle solving in games, but most of them were very doable for me and that was cool. My favorite puzzle was probably that one with the blocks in the Cliffs of Madness. You had to arrange the blocks in a way that covers the whole wall and I felt clever when I figured that one out. Overall, I liked this game's sense of progression, and both the platforming and puzzles were pretty fun. Made for nice pace breakers from the combat.
The story in God of War was really cool honestly. You get great narration and engaging animation in the cutscenes that look a bit dated but still look alright nowadays. Usually these cutscenes either show what's currently happening or give flashbacks into the backstory of Kratos. Basically, Kratos was a Spartan warrior who fought in many wars. In his battle with the barbarian king, he nearly died until he made the fatal mistake of calling upon Ares for help. Ares made Kratos serve him as his personal killing machine. This eventually led to Kratos being forced to kill his own family per Ares' order. As a reminder of this grievous act, his skin was turned white with the literal ashes of his family. This is sort of what sets him on the whole journey that this game starts with. Sometime after killing his family, he became a seafarer to help out the other gods of Olympus for 10 years. Kratos receives intervention from Athena when he demands her to tell him when the nightmares he suffers from will end. She tells him she has one final task for him: go to Athens to kill Ares. She promises Kratos that his sins will be forgiven, and so his arduous quest begins. Eventually Kratos overcomes every challenge thrown his way and kills Ares. He is forgiven, as promised, but he is still haunted by visions of the past that have never gone away. He goes to a cliff of Athens and jumps, planning on dying then and there, but the gods keep him alive. Seemingly left with no other purpose in life, Kratos goes to Mount Olympus and takes the former throne of Ares, becoming the new god of war (hence the title of the game). This is a brief summary of the story, there is more stuff that happens but this is the basic gist of the whole thing. I think this game's story actually sort of feels complete without a sequel, but I am speaking as someone who has not even touched God of War II yet. Maybe that game expands on this one in a satisfying way.
At the end of the day, God of War was plenty of fun for me. I know I keep saying that but I truly did enjoy my time with it, and that's mostly what I look for in a game so I'm satisfied. I will say that there were some frustrating parts and I think there could've been some fat trimmed out of the game. Sounds like a good candidate for a 4 star from me, eh? That's exactly what I'm giving it.
The combat of the original God of War isn't super deep, but it is a lot of fun. You get a surprising amount of moves that I didn't mess with the entirety of. I found that there were only a few I consistently used, though maybe there are people that like to use every move the game gives you. I was a little disappointed to see that you only get two weapons - the Blades of Chaos and Blade of Artemis - but they are pretty well implemented since each comes with its own play style that can be helpful for certain fights. The Blades of Chaos is your default weapon and the only one you have for a good portion of the game. Attacking with it almost feels like masterfully swinging around stretchy and nimble whips, if that makes sense. They have good range and they are speedy, but they are a little on the weaker side. Meanwhile, the Blade of Artemis is pretty much the complete opposite. Its a huge broadsword that is naturally slower than the Blades of Chaos but packs a lot of power. I liked using the second weapon just a little more than the first, but I still alternated between the two relatively often. You also get some cool spells over the course of your journey, gifted to you by the gods. These abilities are Poseidon's Rage, Medusa's Gaze, Zeus' Fury, and Army of Hades. I found that Poseidon's Rage was easily my most used one, its a big cone of lightning next to you that nukes enemies. Unfortunately I rarely ever used Medusa's Gaze and honestly I'm not sure why; its not like it isn't useful since you can turn enemies to stone and shatter them in just a few hits. I didn't use Zeus' Fury much, but there are segments in the game with archer enemies far away from you where it becomes really handy and even necessary in some situations. Army of Hades was a really handy boss killer and clears rooms with ease since, as the name implies, you summon a bunch of souls to just kill things for you. It takes a lot of your magic bar to use Army of Hades but its almost always useful whenever you do. Honestly I think all the special god powers you get are really useful in their own ways, but if I had to pick one that I just didn't think was all that worth using most of the time it'd be Zeus' Fury. Funny how the lord of the gods has the least interesting ability. Of course, there's also the famous quick-time-events that this game popularized. Most of the time, I think these added a valuably fun bit of flavor, but they could be really frustrating in certain situations. There's only three bosses in the game, but they all have phases that you need to win QTEs to advance in, and if you're having a hard time with them you just can't continue until you eventually get it right. The minotaur boss was an absolute pain in the ass for me with his QTEs since they have a very unforgiving time window and they involve moving the stick one at a time in different specific rotations. It's a lot more complicated for me to quickly react to "make a quarter circle clockwise" rather than "press Square", you know? I think the last real thing of note with the combat is that you have a special move-set for segments when you're climbing up walls/fishnets or precariously moving forward on ropes, but the basics are mostly the same as land combat. Overall, my only real complaints with the combat are that it can feel a little button-mashy at times and its annoying just how much of damage sponges the enemies can be, but I still enjoyed my time with it overall. It certainly isn't mindless and the game can put you on your toes easily by just sending hordes of monsters at you.
So, how about the level structure? I was a bit surprised by how this game has a good amount of platforming and puzzles. I think both were decently fun, I felt pretty accomplished at the harder parts. To be honest, I died way more in the platforming segments than I did at the actual combat. These parts can be very brutal, and I especially hated those parts that I can only call "tightrope walking", where you had to keep your balance walking on thin beams or pillars and you die if you fall. These returned quite a few times, usually deadlier and deadlier each time. Needless to say, I died in these segments probably more than any other time, and part of me kinda hopes there's less of them in God of War II once I get to playing that. As for the level design itself...frankly, there was a bit too much backtracking here for my liking. You have to go to the Rings of Pandora like four times at different points in the game and that was a bit overkill to me, although there is always a logical reason why you're going back to this area and you usually understand as soon as you see the familiar halls again. You can sometimes stumble upon areas you aren't able to access yet, which could be annoying in some cases but I did find it decently satisfying when I figured out the purpose at some point later in progression. As for the puzzles, there were a few times I had to look up the answer since I'm not the brightest at puzzle solving in games, but most of them were very doable for me and that was cool. My favorite puzzle was probably that one with the blocks in the Cliffs of Madness. You had to arrange the blocks in a way that covers the whole wall and I felt clever when I figured that one out. Overall, I liked this game's sense of progression, and both the platforming and puzzles were pretty fun. Made for nice pace breakers from the combat.
The story in God of War was really cool honestly. You get great narration and engaging animation in the cutscenes that look a bit dated but still look alright nowadays. Usually these cutscenes either show what's currently happening or give flashbacks into the backstory of Kratos. Basically, Kratos was a Spartan warrior who fought in many wars. In his battle with the barbarian king, he nearly died until he made the fatal mistake of calling upon Ares for help. Ares made Kratos serve him as his personal killing machine. This eventually led to Kratos being forced to kill his own family per Ares' order. As a reminder of this grievous act, his skin was turned white with the literal ashes of his family. This is sort of what sets him on the whole journey that this game starts with. Sometime after killing his family, he became a seafarer to help out the other gods of Olympus for 10 years. Kratos receives intervention from Athena when he demands her to tell him when the nightmares he suffers from will end. She tells him she has one final task for him: go to Athens to kill Ares. She promises Kratos that his sins will be forgiven, and so his arduous quest begins. Eventually Kratos overcomes every challenge thrown his way and kills Ares. He is forgiven, as promised, but he is still haunted by visions of the past that have never gone away. He goes to a cliff of Athens and jumps, planning on dying then and there, but the gods keep him alive. Seemingly left with no other purpose in life, Kratos goes to Mount Olympus and takes the former throne of Ares, becoming the new god of war (hence the title of the game). This is a brief summary of the story, there is more stuff that happens but this is the basic gist of the whole thing. I think this game's story actually sort of feels complete without a sequel, but I am speaking as someone who has not even touched God of War II yet. Maybe that game expands on this one in a satisfying way.
At the end of the day, God of War was plenty of fun for me. I know I keep saying that but I truly did enjoy my time with it, and that's mostly what I look for in a game so I'm satisfied. I will say that there were some frustrating parts and I think there could've been some fat trimmed out of the game. Sounds like a good candidate for a 4 star from me, eh? That's exactly what I'm giving it.