4/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of God of War.

I originally played and platinumed this game back when it released in 2018, and at the time I remember thinking it was one of the best games to have ever come out. A lot has changed since then. I jumped into this game after playing through all of the contemporary Spider-Man games, and the first thing I noticed was the movement. It felt more tank-ish; almost borderline sluggish in comparison. I think it's a bit unfair to compare games sometimes, and I soon became more accustomed to the movement and combat, but it's hard not to notice how this game moves after playing a game that gives you more freedom and control. The game feels way more linear and tight than I remember. The story is tight, the world is fairly small, and travelling through this world is serviceable at best, but boring at it's worst. The amount of jumps, shimmies, and climbing walls that require one button press, moving the analog stick, and some awkward animations is a little too high. That being said, the game still shines in it's story and combat. The story, while at sometimes a bit melodramatic, is incredibly told and well acted. Having the backdrop of Nordic mythology was a great choice for the series. While the story leaves more questions than answers, having this story be a more intimate tale told about the relationship between father and son was a choice that I appreciated. And though the story told is more small and intimate, the mythos behind all of the characters and the world feels big and dense. There's a fair number of twists and emotional moments with big pay-offs. The scoring is incredible, and compliments the aforementioned moments very well. The combat started slow for me, but it's quite obvious that is by design. It's a system that is very easy to understand, and it slowly builds on top of itself to create a slightly more intricate combat system that leans to feeling fun while still maintaining a very cinematic look. Having Atreus as a companion during combat was a well implemented mechanic that allows the player to command arrows for a stun effect on enemies, and creates some cool moments as well (Atreus leaping off of Kratos' back to attack enemies). I liked the different enemy types in the games, and though there isn't an absurd amount of different enemy types, there is enough to keep the combat engagements somewhat varied. In this particular playthrough, I feel like I mainly fought three different enemy types: Draugr (undead soldiers that are firey and contorted with nature, Dark Elves (almost humanoid bug-like creatures that fly around and can blind the player), and Reavers (two different types of soldier enemies, either regular Reavers or Hel-Reavers). In addition to these enemies, there are some boss-type enemies, such as the famous Trolls, Valkyries, and ogres, and they offer a greater challenge when engaging them in combat. There's also the main boss battles, and this is definitely where the combat looks the best. These encounters feel a bit elevated in their cinematic look and feel, and are a blast to experience. The Stranger battle at the beginning is still one of my favorite moments of any game I have played. Though the combat was engrossing by the end-game, I never liked the equipment or loot system. It feels good to upgrade the Leviathan Axe (and other weapons) and visually seeing the axe getting upgraded is quite satisfying, however, Kratos' armor, the enchantments, talismans, and etcetera all feel a bit convoluted in the scheme of the rest of the game. It's cool that you can visually change Kratos' armor, and it's cool that armor gives different stats, but the way this information is communicated to the player does not feel satisfying or easy to understand for the most part. Equipment rarity is represented here, but there were times when the game was telling me that "better" armor would actually decrease my overall character level and stats. It was unnecessary (IMO) to have this pseudo-RPG armor system in the game. Hopefully this system get's an overhaul in Ragnarok. Side content. I did all of the side content the first time I played the game, but this time, I only did one side-mission. I feel like I remember most of the side-content for the game. As you progress through the game, more and more side-content is unveiled by the world changing and as you unlock more tools at your disposal. I always will appreciate a game that has an ever changing world, as it continues to engage interest in the environment and begs for exploration. I just didn't explore too much this time around, as I was able to recall a decent amount of the game. I remember there being some cool stuff there, whether it be the dragons or the Valkyries, but this time around I did not feel like trying to navigate the open-world as that aspect was not as fun to me this time around. I mainly replayed this game for the story; I wanted to be prepared for God of War: Ragnarok. I think this game is great, and I think exploring the game to it's fullest extent is very satisfying on a first playthrough. I think the dialogue and conversations that are had between Atreus and Mimir during the slow moments of the game (boat rowing and climbing) are interesting and "spice up" those moments. The combat is engaging and cinematic, and the story and mythos is the major highlight of the experience. The fact that God of War: Ragnarok is a PS4 title is a little disheartening, as I would have liked to see what a PS5 God of War would have looked like and improved upon, but nonetheless, I'm hoping that having the new experience will be engaging from bow to stern. And, I greatly hope that the shortcomings this game has will be improved upon. I also hope the great moments in God of War (2018) are further emphasized and improved upon. Console Played On: PS5 Game Played: 03/2024 - 03/2024 Review Written and Published: 03/12/2024