Thoughts in comparison to GOW 2018.

[MrFudge]

Pains me to say it given I probably consider GoW ‘18 to be the greatest game ever made, but this was a considerable disappointment. Still a good game, but unfortunately I think the first was simply lightning in a bottle that they failed to recapture. 
 

+ The Aesir were characterised fantastically. The vile brute Thor and the desperately cruel Odin were perfectly devised.
 

+ Having Atreus summoned to Asgard under Odin’s eye was a great idea. Getting to know Heimdall/Odin/Thor and his family through a veneer of civility and cooperation worked far better than simply having them be purely antagonistic throughout. 
 

+ Atreus’ gameplay was fun, as was the spear. 
 

- I don’t want to blame it all on the new director, but within the very first hour it felt blatant to me that the personnel had changed. 
 

Every single heartbeat of 2018’s first hour was orchestrated to sheer perfection. The initial lifting of the log to display Kratos’ strength. The beautiful crescendo as his mysterious beloved is laid to rest. His first bout of Spartan Rage as Baldur turns to find Atreus. Every last moment that was meant to matter was revered with immense gravitas and might. 

 

Now, these moments were typically fleeting and forgetful. His first bout of rage is no longer spurred by a threat to a loved one, but merely to beat the shit out of a bear. He reveals he slaughtered his own daughter not in a brooding cutscene met by the swell of the score, but whilst he traipses along exploring. This should have been a pivotal moment in reconciling with Freya, yet it’s treated as just another piece of dialogue. Key moments failed to land and some weren’t even treated with importance. 
 

For those that appreciate the finer details there was a notable and distracting oddity. Kratos now being the one to write in the journal is uncanny; a small but unbelievable detail, with much of the text unfitting for his character. This might seem like an absurd complaint but it was their attention to and mastery of detail that let you know you were playing a truly phenomenal game made by phenomenal people. Being asked to believe that Kratos jots down paragraphs every time he encounters a new friend/foe belies his character and breaks immersion. 

The game as a whole felt like the work of an understudy that couldn’t quite grasp what made the first so special. 

 

- Much of the mysticism of ‘18 faded away and what took its place did not live up to expectations. Uncovering Midgard’s secrets for the very first time in tandem with exploring the deep scars of an older Kratos was unforgettable. Jormungandr’s reveal, Mimir’s tales of the Giants, haunting visages of Athena; it was world-building that matched any Soulslike. Familiarity eroded much of that away, but so too did the ungraspable scope of Ragnarok. This was no longer a personal tale of father and son venturing into an unknown world, every curiosity as intriguing to them as it was to you. This was a cataclysmic event in which seasoned warriors must barrel through event after event, much of the lore now being thrown at you rather than slowly unpeeled. 

 

- This impossibly large scope - a repercussion of neglecting a trilogy - also led to a general bloating of the game and dilution of its core. The first game had the luxury of only having to lay a foundation and it also had an extremely strong, focused ensemble of Kratos/Atreus/Mimir/Freya. This time we spend a lot more time with a lot more characters, a number of whom aren’t particularly interesting. With so much to get through the pacing can be off, with Ragnarok itself not even being given half of the time cherrypicking atop a yak was. Major story beats such as Freya’s forgiveness fizzle out rather than emphatically bang; others such as the unison of the elves or Fenrir’s rebirth are hastily done with little purpose - all because there’s simply too much for them to tend to. 

 

- Far too much of the game either took place away from Kratos or treated him as a side character. The reboot gave him a newfound depth begging to be explored and was an absolute revelation. Now he serves Atreus’ story…who really isn’t all that likeable. Kratos’ growth and maturity might serve the story they wished to tell, but it fails to entertain the way the eruption of his inner demons did. Clearly this was their intention, but much of this game no longer felt like God of War. 

 

- Losing all of Kratos’ skills was highly disappointing, especially with zero in-game explanation given. It took me over 15 hours to unlock a single Heavy Runic attack; likely one pasted from ‘18. They needed to build upon the brilliant platform they already had, but instead chose to deconstruct and then reconstruct it piece by piece, presenting each refurbished part as a reward. 

So that’s my comparison. For me, GoW ‘18 is the closest a game has ever come to being perfect. I came away with only a handful of tiny nitpicks. I have a number of criticisms of Ragnarok, the biggest of which are above and the rest I can’t be arsed to write down. 
 

Edited November 19, 2022 by MrFudge

[The Alchemist]

3 hours ago, Vault-TecPhantom said:

 

It's the fact that they spam too many different types in a single encounter that either a single weapon can't deal with efficiently (leading to switching), or there's too many different types of attacks coming at you simultaneously that require different defensive moves all at once, making it feel frantic. The enemy types should have been more spread out.

 

I don't think I've encountered a single fight in the game that I would consider overly frantic. Of course there are fights where you need to switch between weapons quite often, but I thought that was kinda the idea? It would become boring very quickly if you only ever needed to stick to the same weapon for every fight. A lot of games do this. The idea is that it introduces the need for strategy. I don't know if you've played Horizon Forbidden West, but weapon switching in that is a lot more prevalent than it is in Ragnarok, but even there it isn't much of an issue because it's done well, as it is here in my opinion. 

 

The other point about too many types of attacks coming at once could be a problem, but it isn't something I've experienced. Most of the big fights have 2-3 types of enemies at the most and it's never done in such a way that you get overwhelmed. Most attacks you just block or dodge or use your shield defence to cancel. It's pretty consistent and quite balanced throughout in my opinion. I find that if you do happen to need a bit of a breather from the action, use your companion as much as possible to draw the attention away from you. Rolling away using X is another easy but very effective trick too. 

[mega-tallica]

10 minutes ago, The Alchemist said:

 

I don't think I've encountered a single fight in the game that I would consider overly frantic. Of course there are fights where you need to switch between weapons quite often, but I thought that was kinda the idea? It would become boring very quickly if you only ever needed to stick to the same weapon for every fight. A lot of games do this. The idea is that it introduces the need for strategy. I don't know if you've played Horizon Forbidden West, but weapon switching in that is a lot more prevalent than it is in Ragnarok, but even there it isn't much of an issue because it's done well, as it is here in my opinion. 

 

Exactly, it was the idea. So you're not just using one weapon the whole time and neglecting all the others. Further diversification from the first game where it's more emphasized here to use all the weapons at your disposal especially against the tougher bosses where it's absolutely necessary to take advantage of all weapons' runic attacks. For more generic enemy fights, you can get away with using just one weapon in most cases. Blades of Chaos was my weapon of choice through most of the game since you can do damage to multiple enemies at once and it's best used during larger group fights but yet, you get bored and switch weapons anyway. 

 

The combat is more chaotic but you have everything you need to deal with it which creates a more engaging combat experience in my opinion. The first game's combat was very limited in comparison and they should be different, it's a different game. I feel like many people just wanted and expected the same exact experience they had the first time with the 2018 game and because this game is different (and IMO better in most ways), they have a hard time accepting those differences and view them as faults instead. 

 

If Ragnarok came first and the 2018 game came second instead, the 2018 game would also be getting claims of being disappointing like Ragnarok is now. Ragnarok's only fault is that it came 2nd in line after the genius that was the first game which instilled such high expectations for the 2nd game. An expectation that was never going to be met for some. Both games are some of the best ever made so any critique of either is just making mountains out of molehills. 

[InsomniWrench]

On 11/15/2022 at 6:21 PM, InsomniWrench said:

I haven't finished yet, I think it's good but I'm disappointed so far. 

 

Most people seem to hate them but the Atreus parts have been my favourite so far, I'm way more interested in his story and him trying to save his dad and figuring out what the right thing to do is. The world feels so much less immersive than GOW 2018 and I think the main reason for me is there's a lot less dialogue going on as you go about the game.

 

In GOW 2018 Mimir always went into long stories whenever you found things, locations, or were solving puzzles. In this one it's just "good thing you learned the runes", or "ah, remember this from last time", they tell you the puzzle solution immediately, or Kratos just grunts.  At least in the Atreus parts there's constant conversations going on as you play and I like the bow and arrow more than Kratos' weapons. They also try to go for more comedic moments in this one and most of them don't land for me.

 

The combat feels exactly the same to me, I don't know why people are saying it's such a huge step up, maybe my playstyle just isn't making use of whatever changes they made. I do like the spear but it isn't powerful enough right now for me to use it a lot. I also find the bosses to be more of a trek than a fun, entertaining fight like GOW 2018.

 

Then there's the story elements others have touched on here. Freya spending a large chunk of the game trying to kill Kratos and then they're suddenly back to the way they were in the last game. Visiting new locations doesn't have the wow factor of the last game for some reason and some of the new characters feel really jarring compared to the tone of the previous game and parts of this game.

 

Just finished the story and I thought it improved a lot later in the game, I really loved the ending. I'd still say 2018 is better but this was still a great game overall. The Atreus parts were still by far my favourite as well.

 

The dialogue and tone changes were still my main issue but loved the combat once I got the spear and a few upgrades

 

Massive props to them for putting so much variety in as well, enemies and side missions never felt too repetitive and there were plenty of combat styles to chose from. A lack of variety in these things wouldn't greatly change my opinion either way but it was clearly a lot of thought and work went in which I appreciate.

[dieselmanchild]

I might be a victim of recency bias here because although I remember it being a great game, I really don’t remember too many details about the story in GoW 2018. I also haven’t fully finished the story yet as I’ve been off working on side content the last day or two.

 

With those things in mind however I will say that I am thoroughly enjoying Ragnarok and it feels like a bigger, better game in just about every way. I think the story and lore is more interesting this time around, the cast of characters is even better, the writing is fantastic, with the banter and adventure dialogue covering a wide range of emotions from funny to sad and nostalgiac and is filled with a lot of nods to the history of the classic GoW games. The gameplay and graphics feel exactly the same to me, besides some welcome quality of life adjustments, and the combat feels just as rich and epic as ever, with tons of depth and customization.

 

When I get a PS5 I’m going to have to go back and play 2018 & Ragnarok back to back so I can compare them accurately, but as it stands right now I’d say that Ragnarok is a much more exciting game. When it comes to the greatest works of entertainment, very few sequels ever manage to reach the same heights and capture the same magic as the first entry in the series, but Ragnarok pulled it off imo. It’s a hell of a sequel. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by dieselmanchild

[PotrikBerger]

A lot has been said in posts before this one, so I won’t write too much.

 

pacing seems a big discussion point. I don’t know if it’s because I’m coming into this straight from games like a plague tale: requiem and Gotham knights, but the pacing here is a joyful speed compared to both of those. Hell, just being able to run i realise is taken for granted after requiem.....but that’s a whole other rant for another post. I’ve not got to the end quite yet, but aside from ironwood section ( there no getting around it, it’s incredibly dull....but don’t all games have this section? Normally it’s a slow walking dream or annoying underwater section), I’ve had no problem with pacing. The story has me completely, and this doesn’t happen very often. Most games I will skip the vast majority of cutscenes (not sure I watched more than 5 in forbidden west for example). I don’t even know if that’s an option in this game because I haven’t tried. 

 

ultimately this feels like a direct continuation from 2018. In the best of ways. All the best things like combat, environments, battles and weapons have been perfected to make them all that little bit better. The addition of verticality in fights and so forth is wonderful to play with.

 

i do disagree with comments that characters haven’t grown or matured. I think they have. I think this story path feels more loose because one of the main themes I’m getting from this game is that it’s not about good or evil and they learning things are never that simple, they understanding it’s about people, their choices and motivations. If there isn’t a clear baddie and we aren’t the clear goodies, goals and objectives can feel a little less clear cut and true. But I feel at least that is kind of the point of this journey. We don’t know for sure if what we do is ‘right’ or not. 2018 we just had to get to a mountain, ambitions In This game have evolved greatly.

 

This and Elden Ring are the best games I’ve played on ps5 this year. ‘I was a teenage exocolonist’ being the best surprise I’ve played and I’m only mentioning it here because I think it deserves some attention lol

[matigrosso91]

I won't write much because too much was already said. I'm on the side of thinking this is a better game in every aspect compare to GOW 2018. The story plays some things in a very different way than i expect it, and i liked that. The variety of gameplay between Kratos and Atreus, but also the variety of companions feels very fresh.

[Vault-TecPhantom]

On 19/11/2022 at 6:10 PM, The Alchemist said:

 

I don't think I've encountered a single fight in the game that I would consider overly frantic. Of course there are fights where you need to switch between weapons quite often, but I thought that was kinda the idea? It would become boring very quickly if you only ever needed to stick to the same weapon for every fight. A lot of games do this. The idea is that it introduces the need for strategy. I don't know if you've played Horizon Forbidden West, but weapon switching in that is a lot more prevalent than it is in Ragnarok, but even there it isn't much of an issue because it's done well, as it is here in my opinion. 

 

The other point about too many types of attacks coming at once could be a problem, but it isn't something I've experienced. Most of the big fights have 2-3 types of enemies at the most and it's never done in such a way that you get overwhelmed. Most attacks you just block or dodge or use your shield defence to cancel. It's pretty consistent and quite balanced throughout in my opinion. I find that if you do happen to need a bit of a breather from the action, use your companion as much as possible to draw the attention away from you. Rolling away using X is another easy but very effective trick too. 

 

 

I have played Horizon Forbidden West and I think you've made me realise exactly why this combat style in Ragnarok doesn't click for me whereas in Horizon it does - it's the camera. In Horizon Forbidden West the camera is perfect for that sort of combat and enemy behaviour is such that they are always in view. It's very easy to see and plan on the fly how you're going to approach each encounter, and the attack patterns are such that Alloy has room to activate her special moves without taking damage when doing so. In God of War Ragnarok, even with the indicators it's very awkward having to react to enemies you can't see and often the arrow indicators were actually wrong. It's not just the trash mobs though, it's the bosses.

 

Everyone loved the Valkyries in 2018 because while they were difficult, they were fair and exciting to beat. They were a test of your patience and your discipline. A defensive, careful playstyle was rewarded.  Lock-on was mandatory since the moment you took your eyes off them , for instance, to rush to a dropped health shard that was when the game would punish you for your desperation by having them launch a devastating attack.  Here, most of their equivalents are easier but the three that aren't - you'll know the three I'm talking about if you've got there - have such BS in them. I mean, they literally break your lock-on and zip out of camera view behind you so time is lost just repositioning the camera and locking on again. What kind of boss fight is that?  I remember the final one threw a "ball" while standing right next to me leaving me no time to counter it with a throwing weapon so I had to run/ dodge. Of course, the moment I evaded the ball the boss decided he was gonna rush me at the same time so, no matter what, the game had decided I was going to take damage one way or another.

 

Just so you know, I didn't use any combat accessibility assists or turn the difficulty down because, quite frankly, I shouldn't have to. There was never a need for this in the 2018 game so I can't help like feel the designers here created a problem and then provided a cheap solution by giving the player menu options. 

 

[Montyzu]

On 19/11/2022 at 2:44 PM, MrFudge said:

- This impossibly large scope - a repercussion of neglecting a trilogy -

 

Congrats, your analysis was very well written and sums up almost everything I think about the game.

The major problem imo was the decision to not make a trilogy, this clearly had a huge impact in the game overall pace, to much things to show to many knots to tie but not enough time to do it. Like you said events that should have been a major story point, Fenrir returning too but most importantly Kratos/Freya coming to terms especially Kratos sharing not only his past which he doesn't like to do not even to his family or closest friend (Mimir) but also his most painfull memory (killing his old family) was made just as a normal conversation when making your way to the quest marker.

 

Changing a bit from the story, I feel that this game is far more unfair compared to '18. I have played '18 on very hard and also am playing Ragnarok on very hard and this time there is just so much going on at most fights that is close to impossible for the player to escape some situations the game puts you in. Projectiles curve midair to hit you, enemies do 180º to hit you, they all charge you at the same time doing different attacks, and Kratos being "heavy" to control in opposition to like Elden Ring combat makes so you just can't deal with everything since you are not fast enough to chain dodges and often get hit on recovery because it has so few iframes. There is also no reliable way of stopping enemies attacks since hyperarmor is way to frequent, more often than not not even heavy runic attacks can stop enemies from charging at you, hell, I lost count how many times I got killed during heavy runic attacks because not only the enemy hyperarmor thought it but combos me before I regain control.

Adding to the "reset" of the skill tree, I don't really mind to be honest, what I do mind is the complete removal of fist and shield combat. Using your bare fists and your shield to stop enemies or build the stun bar was not only an effective way to deal with some situations but also very fun. They gutted the shield skill tree and put the abilities one by one in different shield items so you can never use more than 1 shield skill at a time.

Edited November 22, 2022 by Montyzu

[mrmorden76]

On 14/11/2022 at 3:36 PM, Deluziion90 said:

There’s only 2 things that annoy me

- mimir: BEHIND YOU, LOOK OUT, BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!

- Combat sometimes feels a bit bad against bosses. Doesn’t feel like you get invincible frames like dark souls which got my ass kicked multiple times.

- Did I mention? Mimir needs to stfu in combat

 

Back to topic. I love it. Feels like I’m in a massive series on netflix. I can tell why some people feel it takes to long sometimes but goty for me.

 

Or, if you get caught by a flame attack (like against those insane 'the hateful' optional enemies) "You're on fire Kratos...It will pass...". Funny the first couple of times, quickly gets tiresome.

 

I've completed the story and now working towards the plat. Overall i'd say it's slightly inferior to the first game for three reasons:

- A rushed final act and disappointing final boss

- Clumsy combat at times, seem to have less ability to control fights with multiple enemies and projectile attacks seem waaay overpowered.

- The map is STILL awful to navigate

 

Still a great game, the motion capture/dialog/voice acting is stunning, music top notch and graphics as good as anything. Just hasn't quite 'wowed' me like the 2018 game. 8/10

(9/10 for the first game. I never score a game 10/10 because there is no 'perfect game'. Even Zelda: Ocarina OT had that water temple...) 

 

 

[mrmorden76]

On 19/11/2022 at 5:44 PM, MrFudge said:

- Losing all of Kratos’ skills was highly disappointing, especially with zero in-game explanation given. It took me over 15 hours to unlock a single Heavy Runic attack; likely one pasted from ‘18. They needed to build upon the brilliant platform they already had, but instead chose to deconstruct and then reconstruct it piece by piece, presenting each refurbished part as a reward.

 

I was a bit puzzled by that. The older games always had a plot device to explain Kratos losing or not having abilities. Here they could have kept them and maybe have more powerful enemies to balance things out. Just add more runic attacks to find rather than re-finding the same ones. I used Ivaldis Avil throughout 2018 and guess what? I've used it as my go-to HR in this game too which feels a bit lazy both on my part and the developers

[archer7rays]

2018 is better. Ragnarok still a great game, but too much characters for me. Odin is boring, looks like enemy from assassins creed, not the god of war. so.. 2018 is the best

[Pinion1313]

Pretty much everything after the first fight with Thor was underwhelming.  Freya whining about Odin for most of the game. The very long and pointless Angrboda section.  NPCs talking constantly and calling out things they shouldn't over and over.  The very lame representation of Ragnarok.  I liked the first game a lot but I should have waited for a massive price drop before buying Ragnarok. 

[staylost]

It’s kind of strange seeing all the Atreus gameplay hate. His gameplay sections were my favorite sections of the game. They were fresh, I liked his character, and enjoyed the quick and nimble combat. This game ain’t perfect or as good as 2018, but I never had any complaints about Atreus or his gameplay.

[mrmorden76]

On 30/11/2022 at 3:18 PM, staylost said:

It’s kind of strange seeing all the Atreus gameplay hate. His gameplay sections were my favorite sections of the game. They were fresh, I liked his character, and enjoyed the quick and nimble combat. This game ain’t perfect or as good as 2018, but I never had any complaints about Atreus or his gameplay.

 

Agreed. Though the Iron Wood dragged on a bit (odd you can't seem to fully explore that post story) I found Atreus more fun to play than Kratos, who seemed sluggish and underpowered till late on.

[UnhallowedBlood]

I really enjoyed the game, but most of the criticisms here are pretty accurate. Some things that bothered me [Spoilers ahead]:

-They botched the Muspelheim Trials big time. Being forced to replay the lesser challenges numerous times with no variations in order to unlock all of the final challenges isn't fun in the slightest; it's bad design used to artificially extend the length of the game by halting your progress. I'm not sure if they ran out of ideas for new challenges or ran out of time, but based on reports I've seen of some severe bugs--ie, the Gna quest glitching out and not registering properly, craftable hilts bugging out--it is likely they had to rush the game out in time for the holidays and couldn't polish and flesh it out in all the areas that needed it.
-The prospect of being able to explore all 9 realms sounds incredible, but once you revisit them during your collectible cleanup you notice how much some of them are lacking (bear in mind this actually ends up being only 8 realms since, you know). Even though this is a pretty big game, this makes it feel small in a weird way, especially since most of the areas are incredibly linear.
-I thought for sure Fenrir was going to have a bigger role in the story, especially during Ragnarok seeing how he's the one who kills Odin in the actual mythology. Instead, his role in the story became practically nonexistent after they brought him back, and Angrboda got to be the hero of the day despite doing little more than existing throughout the game. It felt like a huge missed opportunity.

Overall I still really liked the game, but after finishing it and letting my thoughts dwell it feels like it could have been so much more. I don't think this is completely the fault of the devs either. The story they covered here with Ragnarok is just such an insanely ambitious concept that I don't think any developer could have fully done it 100% justice. They could have stretched these events into two whole games and there still would have been countless missed opportunities where they could have made the game even bigger and better

[FocusDR]

Couple of boring moments but post story/end game is so satisfying. Map traversal is a bit frustrating and the sheer amount of collectibles tested my patience. 
But I enjoyed the game and was motivated to get the platinum unlike 2018. Didn’t enjoy playing as Atreus but luckily it wasn’t much gameplay. My favourite part of the game was using the spear. Quite a good story line although some of it didn’t seem quite relevant.
GOTY? No. 

Enjoyabje? Yes.

[Dangisuckatgamin]

I honestly am not sold on any other game now thanks to this game. It's dreadfully boring and Atreus' parts to me are not enjoyable in the slightest. 

Will hold off on all future titles of GOW until I watch gameplay and definitely will not buy them for more than $30 now. I am struggling to even finish the game thanks to the pacing.

[Sikutai]

This will probably be similar to Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West. The first game was something new and you sat spellbound in front of the TV. Part two in both games everything has been improved and is better in every aspect, but that feeling of the new is no longer there.

[Vault-TecPhantom]

7 hours ago, Sikutai said:

This will probably be similar to Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West. The first game was something new and you sat spellbound in front of the TV. Part two in both games everything has been improved and is better in every aspect, but that feeling of the new is no longer there.

 

I think Ragnarok is a step backwards in many ways whereas Horizon Forbidden West definitely improves on Zero Dawn's gameplay (less so story). However, I think the problem with Forbidden West is that its most significant improvements are basic quality of life issues and it doesn't really innovate or take note of what its competitors are doing within the last 5 years. I don't think it's a coincidence that the two games that have eclipsed both its debut and the sequel were games with minimal hand-holding where players could explore the world naturally. Guerrilla should take the hint next time rather than criticising Elden Ring for its alleged "bad quest design".

[ZZ383]

Elden Ring did have bad quest designs. Neither Elden Ring or Bloodborne eclipsed Horizon. Different genres for different people. 

4 hours ago, Vault-TecPhantom said:

 

I think Ragnarok is a step backwards in many ways whereas Horizon Forbidden West definitely improves on Zero Dawn's gameplay (less so story). However, I think the problem with Forbidden West is that its most significant improvements are basic quality of life issues and it doesn't really innovate or take note of what its competitors are doing within the last 5 years. I don't think it's a coincidence that the two games that have eclipsed both its debut and the sequel were games with minimal hand-holding where players could explore the world naturally. Guerrilla should take the hint next time rather than criticising Elden Ring for its alleged "bad quest design".

 

[Vault-TecPhantom]

17 minutes ago, ZZ383 said:

Elden Ring did have bad quest designs. Neither Elden Ring or Bloodborne eclipsed Horizon. Different genres for different people. 

 

 

I wasn't referring to Bloodborne. I was referring to Breath of the Wild which was released around the same time as Horizon Forbidden West.

Elden Ring sold more copies that Forbidden West, has a legendary metacritic and won game of the year. Its release was a cultural moment. How many awards was Horizon nominated for?

I'm not saying Horizon doesn't have its fans. It does. I'm one of them, in fact. But both Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild elevated the open world genre to another level. 

[Boorish]

12 minutes ago, Vault-TecPhantom said:

elevated the open world genre to another level. 

Elden Ring lost its open world charm to me post Liurnia. I could pretty much predict what kind of dungeon I had found and what kind of enemies will be in it. For someone who didn't find them fun, it was kind of tedious to complete them given the game was littered with them. Similarly the underground area was cool at first, and then was just too big for its own good. It just hides its size and content, but it's still very much a traditional open world design; just with a different presentation layer imho. I will give this to it that each area feels different from the other areas in the game, but Horizon does that too. At the end of the game I had the same open world fatigue as any other open world game.

[yowzagabowza]

I just got the 100% today and there were definitely some things about the game that bugged me but for the most part, it was an awesome game. 

 

First, I loved how fast and fluid the combat was. I played on "pretty mode" like I always do, but still marveled at how smooth it all was. 

The voice acting was fantastic. The animations were fantastic. 

I enjoyed the new spear weapon once I got it upgraded. Stabbing an enemy and then popping the spears to send them flying was very fun.

I like Atreus' parts. His was the only interesting story. Is he guna be a bad guy or what? What will he do with Odin? The part where he puts a giant's soul in the snake...I don't know Norse mythology so that was a surprise later on, haha. 

I also liked his combat. There wasn't a ton of it, but it was quick-hitting while it lasted.

Oh, and Brok is a certified bad ass. His interaction with Tyr was done perfectly. Fit his character in the best way possible.

 

Some bad things now, haha.

The map and compass suck. Backtracking sucks. Not being able to pin any location I want sucks. Not being able to fast travel from anywhere sucks. They could have given Kratos one of those escape stones that Sindri gave Atreus and let him use that. 

Ironwood was a total drag and I was falling asleep through the second half of it. Holy crap.

I thought we were going to be able to get the last part of Brok's soul and we never did.

We spend a lot of time getting that damn mask for Odin and nobody even put it on. Then Atreus breaks the damn thing and we never get to see inside that green crack. I was really interested in their take on whatever was in there! 

The final battle and all of Ragnarok was a real let down. I beat all of Odin's forms first try? That should not happen. It should have taken way longer to even get to that part, we just kinda zoomed along til Sindri (in his emo phase, but I liked him that way) opens the wall and we're in. I'm still not sure why the whole world wasn't destroyed. I guess because they used Kratos' blades and not the wife to form Ragnarok? I think they mentioned that. 

Enemies hitting you from behind (we desperately need a counter for those), bosses breaking your lock on constantly, companions not shutting up and ruining puzzles.

Too much comedy and fourth wall breaking, mostly in the first ten hours or so. 

And I'm not a fan of this "mature" Kratos, either. You can't chide someone for wanting revenge and then preemptively KILL A GOD because a picture told you he's going to hurt your son. I don't need Kratos to be a pussy. I didn't even like when "Hope" was in the box at the end of GOW3...

 

But I don't want to harp on the bad stuff. I loved the game and a good way to see how good it was it to go ahead and play something else, haha. See the difference in quality. 

Just don't even THINK of making Atreus the main protagonist next time. No freaking way. 

[ZZ383]

10 hours ago, Vault-TecPhantom said:

 

I wasn't referring to Bloodborne. I was referring to Breath of the Wild which was released around the same time as Horizon Forbidden West.

Elden Ring sold more copies that Forbidden West, has a legendary metacritic and won game of the year. Its release was a cultural moment. How many awards was Horizon nominated for?

I'm not saying Horizon doesn't have its fans. It does. I'm one of them, in fact. But both Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild elevated the open world genre to another level. 

 

The only thing Breath of the Wild did was unlimited stamina and climb anything. It had a shit plot, a shit core mechanic, and nothing you did even fucking mattered. It is the worst Zelda game. Don't bring it up as a great innovative open world game when it can't even do the most basic of game things right.

 

Horizon Zero Dawn didn't get the love it deserved because 'ooh shiny new zelda game on a shiny new nintendo console.' It was a little too fair to the competition with its release window, which did hurt its sales. Elden Ring is loved by critics and its fanbase. It certainly wasn't a cultural moment. Demons' Souls 6 wins a bunch of awards, same as God of War 8. It figures they'd get some return with their very long history while building an even larger fanbase and hype with every new release. Horizon Forbidden West is the second game in its franchise and was certainly strangled by its cross platform release. Guerilla is still figuring this out and is shaping up the third game to be a finale, something the other two franchises can't figure out. 

 

At The Game Awards 2022, Horizon FW went up against God of War Ragnarok or Elden Ring or both in every category it was nominated for, 7 in total. Weirdly it wasn't nominated for Best Score/Music which GOW:R won, despite having no soundtrack and only one actual song, completely out of context of the game as it plays during the credits, which they performed live.

 

Why didn't HFW win anything? Because the people voting on it didn't think it deserved it over the other two hugely popular titles. Citation: "Winners were determined between the jury (90 percent) and public voting (10 percent)."  Horizon doesn't have 2 decades worth of content and fans to back it up.  But then Genshin Impact beats all of them in a full public vote. 

 

There's a lot of let downs in Ragnarok. Lots. Seeing how it won so many "awards," makes me think the people in charge are optimists instead of neutral on what is good/bad/acceptable. It had good voice acting and was dutifully rewarded for that, but this thread isn't for comparisons between other games. This is only for God of War versus God of War Ragnarok.

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by ZZ383