3/5 ★ – vr_'s review of God of War: Ascension.

Relatively decent, had probably some of the most interesting locations and large set pieces, but for some reason combat controls were changed / simplified which was kind of a bummer The story is pretty much inconsequential, and there's a distinctive lack of dialogue or meeting characters, something which made the older games more notable, as meeting NPCs to occasionally break up the combat felt like a reward. As a result the game felt kind of barren and empty. Even though the narrator is back, she’s so sparsely used, I forgot for most of my playthrough. There also seems to be a lack of distinctive music, either than the first game’s theme in key moments. Definitely feels a bit undercooked, but not enough to be completely enjoyable The plot tries to be meaningful, and while there are some additions to the God of War lore, it's for the most part inconsequential. Even though other games weren’t always clear on why you were going through all the different areas and doing all these puzzles to reach your “goal,” in Ascension, I felt that disconnect even more, as I barely understood what was happening moment to moment, even though I was following the main plot. Even though the areas look nice, and are probably the most unique to the series so far, I never really felt like I understood why I was in the places I was. I did not like the time jumping narrative, as it made a relatively simple plot feel disjointed.I couldn't even remember when I apparently killed one of the bosses because it was pretty nonchalant. My biggest complaints gameplay wise is the reworked combat controls, lack of distinctive weapons (just elements for blades of chaos) and the pretty bad platforming. I died in this game more from missing random jumps or hooks to swing from. I also think this game was a little obsessed with swinging from your chains. It's cool in moderation, but it eventually starts looking ridiculous with Kratos swinging around like Spider-Man…One thing I’m torn on is the more interactive grabbing insiders on mini-bosses, they looked pretty cool, and were a lore more gory than what we got in prior games, nut after the second or third time, they got a bit tedious. I did however like the magic system in this game, as I used magic way more than I did in the prior entries. I think this game gets a worse wrap than it deserves, and honestly for how good it looked, it should have been remastered on the PS4, as I’m sure a lot of people skipped it. It definitely deserves another shot or chance to be remembered. At its worst, it's a decent hack and slash, and at its best, it has some great set pieces. I probably could have enjoyed it a lot more if it got the God of War III Remastered treatment, but in its current state, it's a decent enough game.