God of War is a technically stunning game, rivaling the generations best in terms of graphic fidelity and presentation. But after that initial "wow" factor passed, I was left a little underwhelmed by the rest of the package in comparison.
Gameplay wise, you will see 90% of the combat the game has to offer within the first 5ish hours. Sure you can unlock some new moves, but the basic combos you'll be using are the same combos you have access to in the beginning. You'll also be facing a lot of the same enemies, right down to the same exact same troll mini-boss you have in the opening of the game.
I was having the most fun in God of War when I was figuring out a new enemy or when I was in a brutal boss fight putting everything Kratos has into a fight. Sadly there are only 4 "real" boss fights in the game that pull out all the stops, and one of them is a rematch. The opening fight against Baldur in the beginning of the game was probably my favorite out of them all, which is a shame. If there were more boss fights on the same scale as the one used to open the game with, I would have no problem counting this game as one of the generations best.
I also dislike when games don't show a cohesive focus or vision. In God of War's case, it loves to hide little collectibles around and promote exploration, but the exploration is so much worse than the story. Clearly God of War was developed with its story beats in mind, which has lead to the exploration aspect of the game feeling like it was added "just because that's what games do". I felt it was distracting more than engaging. That goes for the loot system as well.
The biggest "dropped ball" so to speak was the fact that some of the game's most interesting fights are found in the side content. There are hidden valkyries around the world map you can fight, but they are totally skippable. My question is why though? The same troll boss was used so many times, why not use the valkyries as some of those fights to freshen things up? It doesn't make sense. And as I said, exploration is just not that fun in this game. Breath of the Wild it is not. Hiding some of the best content behind the worst part of your game is baffling.
Purely from a technical perspective God of War is masterful. But it needed a bit more gameplay showcases to really make it stand out, so as it stands it's a great but not perfect game.
Gameplay wise, you will see 90% of the combat the game has to offer within the first 5ish hours. Sure you can unlock some new moves, but the basic combos you'll be using are the same combos you have access to in the beginning. You'll also be facing a lot of the same enemies, right down to the same exact same troll mini-boss you have in the opening of the game.
I was having the most fun in God of War when I was figuring out a new enemy or when I was in a brutal boss fight putting everything Kratos has into a fight. Sadly there are only 4 "real" boss fights in the game that pull out all the stops, and one of them is a rematch. The opening fight against Baldur in the beginning of the game was probably my favorite out of them all, which is a shame. If there were more boss fights on the same scale as the one used to open the game with, I would have no problem counting this game as one of the generations best.
I also dislike when games don't show a cohesive focus or vision. In God of War's case, it loves to hide little collectibles around and promote exploration, but the exploration is so much worse than the story. Clearly God of War was developed with its story beats in mind, which has lead to the exploration aspect of the game feeling like it was added "just because that's what games do". I felt it was distracting more than engaging. That goes for the loot system as well.
The biggest "dropped ball" so to speak was the fact that some of the game's most interesting fights are found in the side content. There are hidden valkyries around the world map you can fight, but they are totally skippable. My question is why though? The same troll boss was used so many times, why not use the valkyries as some of those fights to freshen things up? It doesn't make sense. And as I said, exploration is just not that fun in this game. Breath of the Wild it is not. Hiding some of the best content behind the worst part of your game is baffling.
Purely from a technical perspective God of War is masterful. But it needed a bit more gameplay showcases to really make it stand out, so as it stands it's a great but not perfect game.