God of War The Official God of War Thread - Part 2

[Iceman]

My new favorite game.

Awesome! Think it is going to be for me too (about 7 hours in). Easily best ever action-adventure game ever and only the very best RPGs can compete for me.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

Game was great and definitely my candidate for GOTY (screw Elden Ring). HOWEVER, there's one little thing I need to gripe about:

Spoiler

Anyone else feel like they wanna pin Sindri against the wall and drill it into his thick skull that Brok's death wasn't Kratos and Atreus' fault? NOBODY could've known Odin was playing them for fools, and Brok wouldn't have died if he hadn't called out Odin's fake Tyr disguise in the first place! Also the "all you do it take" thing is bull****. Grief or not, Kratos and his boy have given Sindri PLENTY since the first game, especially reuniting him with Brok and saving the former's ass from a dragon! Ungrateful prick. I just hope he realizes how awful he's being.

 

[Snow Queen]

Nice to have photo mode added. Though I was hoping that, with the bit of a delay, they'd take the chance to upgrade it a bit more, maybe add the lighting system Insomniac and now Naughty Dog have been using, but it's nice it's there at all.

 

[TheWiseGuy487]

Game was great and definitely my candidate for GOTY (screw Elden Ring). HOWEVER, there's one little thing I need to gripe about:

Spoiler

Anyone else feel like they wanna pin Sindri against the wall and drill it into his thick skull that Brok's death wasn't Kratos and Atreus' fault? NOBODY could've known Odin was playing them for fools, and Brok wouldn't have died if he hadn't called out Odin's fake Tyr disguise in the first place! Also the "all you do it take" thing is bull****. Grief or not, Kratos and his boy have given Sindri PLENTY since the first game, especially reuniting him with Brok and saving the former's ass from a dragon! Ungrateful prick. I just hope he realizes how awful he's being.

Spoiler

I’m guessing you don’t have experience with this sort of thing.

People caught up in deep, unending emotional cycles, especially grieving a loved one, say and do horrible and irrational things (I should know; I’ve been there). He probably knows deep down that it’s not their fault, but he’s really hurting and doesn’t know where else to direct his anger and sadness, so he places it on Atreus and Kratos. He’s still processing it, so it’s going to take some time before he finally comes to terms with it and reconciles it, if he does at all.

Basically, don’t be too quick to judge. I totally get where he’s coming from.

This video explains it better than I could:

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Finally came around to finishing this game and it was really good, certainly an improvement on the first game, but with a number of disappointing things that made it fall short of greatness for me.

Spoiler

The best part of the game are the good character beats. Kratos is often a bit of a bore as a character but he can shine when he has someone interesting to talk to and I think Freya was a very good addition as a companion as she was often more interesting than Atreus. The best Kratos moments are towards the end when he gets to be vulnerable, since lack of emotional range is what limits his character.

Speaking of characters, they were in quite a range. Kratos and Atreus are like expected and, as said, Freya is great. Thor was cool and pretty interesting and, while I'm very disappointed that he didn't feel mystical whatsoever, Odin had a pretty good performance for what they chose to do with him. Brok and Sindri were a lot of fun as usual. Thrúd was enjoyable too.

There were some characters I found to be pretty weak though. Freyr felt too much like a modern dude and is one of the examples where the game's blend of old and modern doesn't fit well. Heimdall worked in that he truly was annoying but he had a really boring design and just didn't feel impressive at all, despite being powerful.

In general the gameplay was entertaining. The combat works well and the introduction of a third weapon was a nice addition. The puzzles are generally also entertaining and scratch that Zelda itch. The level design still has the quite limited feel of the previous game but it doesn't hurt things much but I noticed that I liked the more open northern area of Vanaheim more than any other place just because it felt more free and ripe for exploring.

I'll also give credit for writing the story so that Atreus spends time with the Aesir, so we get to see a bit more of them.

My biggest gripe is probably how the story set some things up and then didn't deliver very well on them. First there are things that made me feel like a movie that ran out of time, as characters like Angrboda felt like she got a big set up and then was hardly visible in the story again. Sure, the first encounter had an ending to it, but it still felt like a set up for more than we got. It's the same with Freyr, who feels like he got to do far too little, especially in order to make the sacrifice at the end really mean as much as it could.

They also did a lot of set up with fate and we saw that Kratos would die, but in the end they never really played on it and it just felt like all the talk about fate was wasted since there was no struggle to break it. They struggle to understand it but there was never any satisfying action to see them break out of the mold, it just gradually got to the point where they just did whatever they wanted. We didn't get a scene where it felt like Kratos would die and then something big manages to break their fated path, it just never was a thing in the end.

The two big battles that were hyped up also felt anticlimactic. You go through the effort to forge Draupnir so you have a chance to kill Heimdall, since he just sees everything that's coming, but then the battle felt like the spear was fairly pointless. You throw the spear at him and he easily catches it, and then you explode it in his hand which feels like the big thing that he would miss, but he just says "ouch" and the battle just goes on. After that point you've already shown your cards so he should just not catch it again, just dodge it, but things just go on and in the end you just beat him up since after a while he just stops being able to read everything you do, so clearly he was quite killable anyway.

The same goes for the fight with Thor. Thor toys with Kratos in their early fight and just eggs him on because he wants to see everything that Kratos has. We've also heard so much about him in the previous game, where he's so powerful that he one-shotted a giant that was the size of a mountain, etc. We get conversations between Atreus and Kratos where the former asks how they can hope to defeat Thor when Kratos was outmatched the first time and Kratos says that the difference is that they will do it together next time. Then the battle comes and it's just Kratos and Thor in a highly unremarkable fight in the small yard outside Odin's hall. You're fighting the guy that just hit Jormungandr so hard he traveled in time, and the most epic part of the battle is basically that a little bit of the wood of the front of the hall gets slightly damaged. That is extremely disappointing and it should have been made into a huge fight that spanned several areas and caused a lot of destruction. Kratos also just beats Thor straight up, so all the hype of how insurmountable the threat was amounted to nothing.

The story ending to the battle, where Kratos gets through to Thor that they can change and must be better for their children, was really good though. That is until Thor just dies like a chump, which did far more to further how anticlimactic Thor was than it did to add more heat to Odin.

Odin's battle felt better than the other two, but mainly because he's not a warrior and I never expected as much from that.

Writing this it becomes even more clear how I feel about this game. I know I had fun playing it but clearly I spent more time talking about negative things so it's obvious that the flaws came at quite cruicial points of the game and hurt my enjoyment of the story. That may be why I found the Crater to be the most fun area, since it was just exploring an area dense with things to do for fun rather than advancing the story.

 

[Iceman]

Alright on hols now and really looking forward to finishing this!!

 

[Jick]

Finally came around to finishing this game and it was really good, certainly an improvement on the first game, but with a number of disappointing things that made it fall short of greatness for me.

Spoiler

The best part of the game are the good character beats. Kratos is often a bit of a bore as a character but he can shine when he has someone interesting to talk to and I think Freya was a very good addition as a companion as she was often more interesting than Atreus. The best Kratos moments are towards the end when he gets to be vulnerable, since lack of emotional range is what limits his character.

Speaking of characters, they were in quite a range. Kratos and Atreus are like expected and, as said, Freya is great. Thor was cool and pretty interesting and, while I'm very disappointed that he didn't feel mystical whatsoever, Odin had a pretty good performance for what they chose to do with him. Brok and Sindri were a lot of fun as usual. Thrúd was enjoyable too.

There were some characters I found to be pretty weak though. Freyr felt too much like a modern dude and is one of the examples where the game's blend of old and modern doesn't fit well. Heimdall worked in that he truly was annoying but he had a really boring design and just didn't feel impressive at all, despite being powerful.

In general the gameplay was entertaining. The combat works well and the introduction of a third weapon was a nice addition. The puzzles are generally also entertaining and scratch that Zelda itch. The level design still has the quite limited feel of the previous game but it doesn't hurt things much but I noticed that I liked the more open northern area of Vanaheim more than any other place just because it felt more free and ripe for exploring.

I'll also give credit for writing the story so that Atreus spends time with the Aesir, so we get to see a bit more of them.

My biggest gripe is probably how the story set some things up and then didn't deliver very well on them. First there are things that made me feel like a movie that ran out of time, as characters like Angrboda felt like she got a big set up and then was hardly visible in the story again. Sure, the first encounter had an ending to it, but it still felt like a set up for more than we got. It's the same with Freyr, who feels like he got to do far too little, especially in order to make the sacrifice at the end really mean as much as it could.

They also did a lot of set up with fate and we saw that Kratos would die, but in the end they never really played on it and it just felt like all the talk about fate was wasted since there was no struggle to break it. They struggle to understand it but there was never any satisfying action to see them break out of the mold, it just gradually got to the point where they just did whatever they wanted. We didn't get a scene where it felt like Kratos would die and then something big manages to break their fated path, it just never was a thing in the end.

The two big battles that were hyped up also felt anticlimactic. You go through the effort to forge Draupnir so you have a chance to kill Heimdall, since he just sees everything that's coming, but then the battle felt like the spear was fairly pointless. You throw the spear at him and he easily catches it, and then you explode it in his hand which feels like the big thing that he would miss, but he just says "ouch" and the battle just goes on. After that point you've already shown your cards so he should just not catch it again, just dodge it, but things just go on and in the end you just beat him up since after a while he just stops being able to read everything you do, so clearly he was quite killable anyway.

The same goes for the fight with Thor. Thor toys with Kratos in their early fight and just eggs him on because he wants to see everything that Kratos has. We've also heard so much about him in the previous game, where he's so powerful that he one-shotted a giant that was the size of a mountain, etc. We get conversations between Atreus and Kratos where the former asks how they can hope to defeat Thor when Kratos was outmatched the first time and Kratos says that the difference is that they will do it together next time. Then the battle comes and it's just Kratos and Thor in a highly unremarkable fight in the small yard outside Odin's hall. You're fighting the guy that just hit Jormungandr so hard he traveled in time, and the most epic part of the battle is basically that a little bit of the wood of the front of the hall gets slightly damaged. That is extremely disappointing and it should have been made into a huge fight that spanned several areas and caused a lot of destruction. Kratos also just beats Thor straight up, so all the hype of how insurmountable the threat was amounted to nothing.

The story ending to the battle, where Kratos gets through to Thor that they can change and must be better for their children, was really good though. That is until Thor just dies like a chump, which did far more to further how anticlimactic Thor was than it did to add more heat to Odin.

Odin's battle felt better than the other two, but mainly because he's not a warrior and I never expected as much from that.

Writing this it becomes even more clear how I feel about this game. I know I had fun playing it but clearly I spent more time talking about negative things so it's obvious that the flaws came at quite cruicial points of the game and hurt my enjoyment of the story. That may be why I found the Crater to be the most fun area, since it was just exploring an area dense with things to do for fun rather than advancing the story.

I agree with most of it, even though I see this game as a masterpiece. It's a 10/10 for having surpassed my expectations regarding gameplay and story, but the anticlimactic final battle must be noted.

Spoiler

The final fight against Baldur takes us places. It goes up and down, sideways, involves a dead giant body, the world serpent...it just has more going on. The fight against Odin basically comes down to his basement, whereas I thought they would be taking us to the sky or between realms to trade blows in amazing fashion or we would be seeing craters being formed by his overwhelming magic abilities. Huge things flying towards us. A big show of magic and destruction. Even the final battle against Zeus felt more climatic and I'm not a big fan of that one.

Same for Thor. The first battle was amazing so I was expecting something at least on the same level.

Freyr's part didn't bother me but Angrboda did feel like there was something missing. It's like it had no payoff. I think I ended up connecting more with Thrud than her.

I still had so much fun going through all of that and I can't wait to do it again once NG+ drops.

Another thing is how Týr

Spoiler

can be found in every realm but Jotunheim. Maybe we'll get to see him there once we complete New Game +.

 

[Iceman]

Probably coming up to about 2/3 of the way through now and it’s as good as any game I’ve ever played. Should be finishing tomorrow. Given how many top series fell off with later entries, GoW has to be in with a shout for one of the best ever series.

 

[Iceman]

Ok didn’t finish, but will tomorrow.

I’m really into mythology material and this is one of the best representations in that area in any media. It’s the best action adventure game I’ve ever played. The only other games that can compete it with are greats for their time so their mechanics and visuals wouldn’t be as comparatively great in 2022. If I were to pick one discounting the scaling for time periods then this is no. 1. Also now my favourite solo series ever with no weak entries in the mainlines games.

 

[Iceman]

Finally finished this, absolute masterpiece! SSM just get better with every game. All the characters are amazing and have depth while even the minor supporting characters contribute a lot. Absolutely love this universe and I hope SSM just keeps making them.

 

[henzINNIT]

Really great game. Finished the story, got a couple of labours to finish up but this was really strong start to finish. It fixed basically all the niggles I had with 2018, which feels like a warm up in hindsight. Stellar sequel. Gonna miss it when I'm done.

 

[Jick]

Is it just me or Ragnarok

Spoiler

was utterly useless? He didn't destroy the gate. Sindri did. He didn't kill Odin, Sindri did, after the god was defeated. Ragnarok destroyed Asgard when the war was already over and won by the heroes, killing Freyr. He caused more harm than good.

So...

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Is it just me or Ragnarok

Spoiler

was utterly useless? He didn't destroy the gate. Sindri did. He didn't kill Odin, Sindri did, after the god was defeated. Ragnarok destroyed Asgard when the war was already over and won by the heroes, killing Freyr. He caused more harm than good.

So...

Spoiler

Yes, I think you're right and it to me it's yet another case of the game building things up and then either not delivering or under-delivering for one reason or another. It almost becomes comical that he still kills Freyr when they actually are on the same side here, unlike in the myth where Freyr is defending Asgard and the two actually fight each other.

I also don't get why they call Surtr Ragnarök. Ragnarök is an event, which is even stated in the name. Granted it may be silly to point that out given how much they have ignored or twisted the myths. It's just odd to me that they dig up something so obscure as Surtr's wife, and then they go and call him that.

 

[Iceman]

I thought it was just me and my small brain getting confused at things like that haha. Thought I’d misunderstood some stuff. Bit strange for sure.

 

[henzINNIT]

Spoiler

It seems fair to assume that Ragnarok did a lot to decimate the larger forces of Asgard while Kratos went for the big names. It is unfortunate to make his only major contribution killing an allied character though.

My only real complaint about the finale is the lack of imagination in the staging of the big Thor and Odin fights. GOW should have more flair. The Baldur fights were much more epic.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

Spoiler

Yes, I think you're right and it to me it's yet another case of the game building things up and then either not delivering or under-delivering for one reason or another. It almost becomes comical that he still kills Freyr when they actually are on the same side here, unlike in the myth where Freyr is defending Asgard and the two actually fight each other.

I also don't get why they call Surtr Ragnarök. Ragnarök is an event, which is even stated in the name. Granted it may be silly to point that out given how much they have ignored or twisted the myths. It's just odd to me that they dig up something so obscure as Surtr's wife, and then they go and call him that.

I read there was a significant amount of cut content surrounding those characters, so perhaps some of the nuance of their story was missing as a result.

 

[Iceman]

I read there was a significant amount of cut content surrounding those characters, so perhaps some of the nuance of their story was missing as a result.

Is there a need to cut content from a long game? Especially if it has a negative effect. It's not like a cinema where the amount of time sitting in one spot in one go without breaks is a factor.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

Is there a need to cut content from a long game? Especially if it has a negative effect. It's not like a cinema where the amount of time sitting in one spot in one go without breaks is a factor.

Yeah, usually it's about the pacing. I don't think it's so much about how long a game is versus how long it feels. If it ends up feeling like it's pulling focus from something more important, it might end up being beneficial to cut it.

I think it's less like cinema in that regard and more like a good book. Like you can have a long book that's gripping from chapter to chapter, just as easily as you can have a short book that keeps losing your focus because of the pacing. But I mean stuff gets cut from games all the time for a million reasons. We may never know with this one!

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, usually it's about the pacing. I don't think it's so much about how long a game is versus how long it feels. If it ends up feeling like it's pulling focus from something more important, it might end up being beneficial to cut it.

I think it's less like cinema in that regard and more like a good book. Like you can have a long book that's gripping from chapter to chapter, just as easily as you can have a short book that keeps losing your focus because of the pacing. But I mean stuff gets cut from games all the time for a million reasons. We may never know with this one!

Yeah, that make sense and I also heard some complain about the pacing in this game. That doesn’t affect me as if a game creates a great world I’m happy to keep doing cool stuff within it endlessly regardless of if focus is moving around (unlike in a good book where it can lose momentum when losing focus). The underlying main narrative of a game like God of War is massive to me, but I don’t mind hopping in and out of it at my leisure as I do a ton of side quests or exploration.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I read there was a significant amount of cut content surrounding those characters, so perhaps some of the nuance of their story was missing as a result.

That would make sense since I think the narrative has many points where it feels like they cut things, or didn't complete what they set out to do.

 

[Drizzle]

Yeah, usually it's about the pacing. I don't think it's so much about how long a game is versus how long it feels. If it ends up feeling like it's pulling focus from something more important, it might end up being beneficial to cut it.

I think it's less like cinema in that regard and more like a good book. Like you can have a long book that's gripping from chapter to chapter, just as easily as you can have a short book that keeps losing your focus because of the pacing. But I mean stuff gets cut from games all the time for a million reasons. We may never know with this one!

Just playing the main story didn't feel too long to me even at 20-25 hours, however long it took. I've played shorter games that felt longer but speaking for myself, I'd have been completely fine with a little more time devoted to the supporting cast we didn't spend a lot of time with like Freyr and Heimdall.

 

[Iceman]

Just playing the main story didn't feel too long to me even at 20-25 hours, however long it took. I've played shorter games that felt longer but speaking for myself, I'd have been completely fine with a little more time devoted to the supporting cast we didn't spend a lot of time with like Freyr and Heimdall.

Same here. Can’t get enough of them.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[Iceman]

Deserves to be a mega seller! SSM - just keep making amazing GoW games, thanks!

 

[Superhero 101]

Well deserved