a consistently great action adventure game marred by some infuriating narrative and combat design choices; the devs here clearly decided that ‘more is more’ and chose to have Kratos constantly coming up against 3 or more enemy types in one fight (one will be up high firing random shit at you, another is down on the ground with the ability to teleport behind you and a third is some random worm that self destructs). this wouldn’t be so bad if the camera allowed the player to see more than just what’s directly over Kratos’ right shoulder, but instead we have this very rigid 3rd person shooter angle that felt fresh in 2018 and a little bit dated here - I found myself wanting the classic God of War combat from 2005 to suddenly make a heroic return mid-game. 1-on-1 is where the combat gets a chance to shine and the most memorable and fair challenges exist.

on the narrative side, every other character you come across during this end-of-days tale insists that you still have time to explore before (insert huge story moment that definitely shouldn’t leave much time to faff around), but this is first and foremost a narrative-driven experience in which the side content will regularly put the foot firmly on the brakes. it’s a pain because the side content is all great and usually offers the only opportunity for certain characters to actually open up and speak to Kratos (and vice versa - Kratos tells stories about events from prior games which is delightfully unexpected). it’s a lose-lose situation derived from a story that needed a bit more time in the oven.

this is an overly critical 4/5 but when studios/games like this come along and aim (and often hit) significantly higher than the competition, it sometimes opens up more room for critique. If you enjoyed God of War (2018) you will absolutely have a good time here, no doubt about that

replay before Ragnorök:
the camera in combat presented far more issues than I remember from my initial playthrough and the narrative pacing is questionable at points; plenty has been discussed of Atreus’ annoyances but Kratos proves just as frustrating in the first half of the adventure in which he desperately needs to get a grip and talk to his son (this is, of course, an intentional character choice, but it labours too long, too on the nose). on the other hand, it only takes Atreus all of about 15 minutes to start acting out of line when he discovers his true nature.

but, the game is undeniably the definition of epic with its sprawling environments and characters rendered in an absurd level of polish that you’ll only find from a few other studios. stunning music that proves to be every bit the equal of the original trilogy and combat that hits like a massive brick to the face - God of War (2018) is a special game that embraces the past even when you don’t expect it to