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"Keep your expectations low boy!" I didn't and was disappointed.


ain_sr

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All I heard was praises about this game and it was an absolute GOTY 2018 for some as well. If this wasn't enough it propelled Mr. Cory Barlog to a celebrity status as well. Naturally, my expectations climbed Mt.Olympus.........only to have the fate of Kratos at GOW 3 end :(

What I enjoyed about the game:

1. Making Kratos a great character than ever before

2. Atreus

3. Leviathan Axe 

4. Great supporting characters

5. Incorporation of Norse mythology

6. Amazing graphics, sound and animation

 

However many things turned me off:

  1. Map, If it's going semi open world at least have a decent map or way-point tracking(by highlighting the path). I get that they want to encourage exploration but at least give some freedom once the story is over. It's so annoying to get the collectibles after the main story.
  2. Missing 'epicness' of GOW games with varied boss battles 
    Spoiler

    (only 1 boss with 3 fights!)

     and enemy types. In this aspect I liked the previous GOW type bosses more where you gained new power on victory. Along with the set pieces these spoils of victory was something that I relished much more than just blockbuster visuals.
  3. Overall same GOW  story structure , just when you are about to reach the goal you are thrown back to square one.
  4. Micro-managing Armor and weapons so much that if one is not well equipped without exploration there is a good chance it would be very difficult with some enemies in the story path.(RPGs not my cup of tea).
  5. Story seemed just a outline sketch for future installments of the franchise.
    Spoiler

    No concrete answers about Kratos after GOW 3, how did he survive?

    Freya almost going psycho. Something seemed off about how they handled this parent-child relation theme at the end.

    In a post-MCU world they should have had an appearance by Odin or Thor, to set itself apart. As the MCU versions are  now ingrained hence it was quite difficult to not think of the MCU versions.

    6. B&S(

    Spoiler

    Brock and Sindri

    ) often seemed too gamey for their own good.

I believe they have taken a step in the right direction by focusing on Kratos as a multidimensional character and putting him in Norse mythology. I hope the next one from the current team gives a more dense story along with gameplay improvements where they lagged this time. For those who haven't played this yet, better wait till the sequel.

Edited by ain_sr
To put my views more clearly
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From your negative points, 4 turned me off the most by far. It really hurts the game, especially considering all the great things about it you rightly listed.

For point 5 however, you might want to check out the secret ending. If you know it and meant they should have done more than that, I misunderstood you.

 

For point 2, the first boss battle certainly was absolutely epic, maybe even in the top 10 of the franchise. Others, indeed, not so much.

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I also had pretty high expectations going in, but ended up hating most of my time with it. I especially hated the switch to the RPG inventory management bullshit.

 

Definitely one of the most overrated games around as far as I'm concerned.

 

1 hour ago, ain_sr said:

6. B&S often seemed too gamey for their own good.

 

What's B&S?

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1 hour ago, Valkirye22 said:

 

But come on.... Telling people to stay away because it didn't quite sit with you? Even admitting the GOTY praise it got AND the fact is was praised and successful enough to muster a multi-million dollar sequel that will take years of top devs to create?

It is by all means worth trying, and is in no way a bad game because it is unfinished, unpolished, mindless, boring, glitched, mtx infested or otherwise. You simply didn't like it as much as a lot (a lot) of other people. That stab at it was really undeserved.

I am telling people to wait as the next one will probably come out in two years, as it being a sequel most of the assets and mechanics are already in this game and won't be required to be built from scratch, plus PS5 seems to have quick development time. Playing this one after being bombarded with the high praises it surely gonna raise expectation. And by the end, the story would definitely feel like it was missing a something and many more elements have been put aside for the sequel.

 

1 hour ago, Infernopommes said:

From your negative points, 4 turned me off the most by far. It really hurts the game, especially considering all the great things about it you rightly listed.

For point 5 however, you might want to check out the secret ending. If you know it and meant they should have done more than that, I misunderstood you.

 

For point 2, the first boss battle certainly was absolutely epic, maybe even in the top 10 of the franchise. Others, indeed, not so much.

 

Yes I enjoyed the first encounter the most and I agree that  it was visually epic but it should have been able to make the player feel epic as well(Example being GOW 3 and even Spiderman PS4). It seemed like fighting a drunkard without much of a tactic involved in it, it was just keep rollin' and hittin', plus no reward for victory. This is exactly the kind of boss battle one expects in a completely story driven game like UC or TLOU. I do hope they keep it's gameplay prowess intact next time. Otherwise, it would feel like having just the GOW skin while everything inside is Unhcarted i.e great story, characters and visuals but a limited gameplay variety.

Edited by ain_sr
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There is a reason why this game got so praised, and is not for sticking pure to the genre.

 

The epicness was the same, and can’t wait what level will bring the sequel (you might want to check out the hidden ending).

 

I don’t get what is the problem with armor and weapons, it doesnt even scratch the level of some RPGs, I barely noticed anything, actually it was very simple, even though I often play RPGs.

 

The game will obviously not be a 10 for everyone, but the story was really good, focused entirely on a father-son relationship that develops really well (kudos to Atreus). I reckon by your words that you haven’t explore too much side content, but the relationship can be better appreciated by stretching it out with side content (I guess, at least thats how I experienced my game and it was great).

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I was dead set against this game from all the info we got right up until release day, when I bought it and loved it.

Im a big fan of getting single upgrades as you go and not having to deal with loot. I don't even like that word. That being said, I really didn't think this get went overboard with it and I liked doing the quests to obtain all the different armours. 

The first boss fight was so incredibly well done that it is my favorite of the series. The rest were great, too, just not as amazing.

When you meet the big snake, his voice is also super cool.

I liked exploring for treasure throughout the game, but exploring post game was not fun. That's a spot where the whole uninterrupted camera shot got in the way. Just let me hop around the map, dude.

I also would like some info on how Kratos survived and made it to Midgard. Apparently Mimir says something like "if a man wants to put the past behind him, he walks North. Do that long enough and you end up in Midgard." I sincerely hope that's not how they intend to address the situation, haha. I'd love a smaller game that contains his journey from the cliff to Midgard.

 

Its one of my favorite games ever from my favorite franchise ever and I really thought I'd hate it until I played it. People should absolutely NOT wait for the sequel, they should get this ASAP.

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My case is the contrary. I was certain that they would fuck up this game and would be faced with much criticism, and was really surprised with the amount of positive reviews. Played 1 year later with low expectations and not knowing what to expect (I was able to not spoil myself, and had only seen the first trailer that released in 2016 I think), and had to agree: the game is really 2018 GOTY.

Maybe I'm biased, since I was a diehard fan of GoW (still like it, but not so much like on the PS2 era), but I couldnt find a single thing to complain about. The way they changed Kratos, the realms, the exploring, the atmosphere of the game, liked everything. I'm eager to play the next installment. 

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2 hours ago, ain_sr said:

All I heard was praises about this game and it was an absolute GOTY 2018 for some as well. If this wasn't enough it propelled Mr. Cory Barlog to a celebrity status as well. Naturally, my expectations climbed Mt.Olympus.........only to have the fate of Kratos at GOW 3 end :(

What I enjoyed about the game:

1. Making Kratos a great character than ever before

2. Atreus

3. Leviathan Axe 

4. Great supporting characters

5. Incorporation of Norse mythology

6. Amazing graphics, sound and animation

 

However many things turned me off:

  1. Map, If it's going semi open world at least have a decent map or way-point tracking(by highlighting the path). I get that they want to encourage exploration but at least give some freedom once the story is over. It's so annoying to get the collectibles after the main story.
  2. Missing 'epicness' of GOW games with varied boss battles 
      Hide contents

    (only 1 boss with 3 fights!)

     and enemy types. In this aspect I liked the previous GOW type bosses more where you gained new power on victory. Along with the set pieces these spoils of victory was something that I relished much more than just blockbuster visuals.
  3. Overall same GOW  story structure , just when you are about to reach the goal you are thrown back to square one.
  4. Micro-managing Armor and weapons so much that if one is not well equipped without exploration there is a good chance it would be very difficult with some enemies in the story path.(RPGs not my cup of tea).
  5. Story seemed just a outline sketch for future installments of the franchise.
      Hide contents

    No concrete answers about Kratos after GOW 3, how did he survive?

    Freya almost going psycho. Something seemed off about how they handled this parent-child relation theme at the end.

    In a post-MCU world they should have had an appearance by Odin or Thor, to set itself apart. As the MCU versions are  now ingrained hence it was quite difficult to not think of the MCU versions.

    6. B&S(

      Hide contents

    Brock and Sindri

    ) often seemed too gamey for their own good.

I believe they have taken a step in the right direction by focusing on Kratos as a multidimensional character and putting him in Norse mythology. I hope the next one from the current team gives a more dense story along with gameplay improvements where they lagged this time. For those who haven't played this yet, better wait till the sequel.

About the map... You have to realize that this is not Assassin's creed or something like that where you just follow waypoint and it takes you where you wanna go. This style of open world should encourage you to explore on your own and REMEMBER the path you took to get somewhere. The map is in my opinion very well made and it can't be done much  better because of the level design. It reminds me of Tomb Raider in that aspect. In my opinion GOW has some really epic boss fights and they encourage you to combine skills you have learned, especially in end-game fights. Another thing I wanted to mention is that studio had very limited resouces so they weren't able to create as much different bosses as they wanted so they recycled some of them... you probably know which ones. About MCU characters, I know they are very popular but how would you make a game based on Norse mythology without implementation of Thor and Odin? In my opinion studio presented Baldur extremely well and I have no fear that Thor will be good as well. Btw, why it is a problem if the same gods appear in both universes? I won't argue with what you said about armour and rpg elements because some people love that and some don't, they can't please everyone. I'm not a native speaker so pardon my poor english. 

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16 minutes ago, Bone0709 said:

About the map... You have to realize that this is not Assassin's creed or something like that where you just follow waypoint and it takes you where you wanna go. This style of open world should encourage you to explore on your own and REMEMBER the path you took to get somewhere. The map is in my opinion very well made and it can't be done much  better because of the level design. It reminds me of Tomb Raider in that aspect. In my opinion GOW has some really epic boss fights and they encourage you to combine skills you have learned, especially in end-game fights. Another thing I wanted to mention is that studio had very limited resouces so they weren't able to create as much different bosses as they wanted so they recycled some of them... you probably know which ones. About MCU characters, I know they are very popular but how would you make a game based on Norse mythology without implementation of Thor and Odin? In my opinion studio presented Baldur extremely well and I have no fear that Thor will be good as well. Btw, why it is a problem if the same gods appear in both universes? I won't argue with what you said about armour and rpg elements because some people love that and some don't, they can't please everyone. I'm not a native speaker so pardon my poor english. 

Agree different type of game! Of course the game is not a 10 for everybody but how many times can you make the same game? Same combat .. Same everything really! So a change was welcome :) That is why gears and so many other xbox games are like Meh now cause they seen that game for 15 years now ;)

Edited by Titanomachy_75
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I was one of the people who kept his expectations low for this one. I wasn't interested in the father/son angle, I wasn't especially interested in Norse mythology, and I wasn't interested in the de-emphasis of operatic violence. 

 

I was utterly blown away by how good it is. It caught me in a feedback loop I don't think I've experienced in fifteen years of gaming. Some of my friends have spent years with games like Destiny and The Division, and I've never understood how they can just play the same game for hours on end without getting bored. God of War '18 is the closest I'll get to feeling the same way. It's like the level designers were able to predict exactly what I was thinking as I played: how to get somewhere, how to kill something, whether I wanted to spend some time gathering resources or just press on with the main story. Not once did I feel like I was doing filler content, or something I didn't want to do. I played at my own pace. Combat gets progressively better, a perfect blend of skill and strategy, and the platforming gives you a chance to take a breather and appreciate the stunning visuals. 

 

For all the praise God of War '18 received for the story and themes - for 'growing up' - it's still a game that puts gameplay first. Every reaction it got from me felt fully earned. I don't care for GOTY lists, but this one probably deserved every award it got. For me, it was like reading a novel where every single word has been laboured over: not for the pretensions of the studio or the demands of the critics, but for the player.

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2 hours ago, yowzagabowza said:

I was dead set against this game from all the info we got right up until release day, when I bought it and loved it.

This is somewhat an interesting pattern I think with all media in general. When you are skeptical about something and it turns out to bee good then the goodness it amplified by the previous expectation. Similarly if you have a set expectation(contrary to what The Man said) and it doesn't meet it then one is bound to be disappointed, I guess that's what happened with me in this case hence the title. For example I liked Detroit Become HUman very much as the last QD game I had played was Beyond two souls. Thus, our expectations somewhat influences our perception. It was quite a fourth wall breaking moment for me when Kratos said those lines! 

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1 hour ago, ain_sr said:

This is somewhat an interesting pattern I think with all media in general. When you are skeptical about something and it turns out to bee good then the goodness it amplified by the previous expectation. Similarly if you have a set expectation(contrary to what The Man said) and it doesn't meet it then one is bound to be disappointed, I guess that's what happened with me in this case hence the title. For example I liked Detroit Become HUman very much as the last QD game I had played was Beyond two souls. Thus, our expectations somewhat influences our perception. It was quite a fourth wall breaking moment for me when Kratos said those lines! 

My favorite 4th wall line was when he said "much has changed, it's best not to dwell on it" right near the beginning.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

I have to force myself to play it and while I play it all I can think is how good the first two games were and that I should replay them again. This almost feels like a generic action game, gone is the epicness and the special atmosphere of GoW. Character jabbering gets on my nerves, I try to ignore it most of the time. There is too much armor types and runes and skills and whatnot, it is overwhelming. The story and the character motivations are nonsensical, no surprise there.

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Just to offer a contrary point, I ended up really disliking the first three games - Possibly because I came to the series late & ended up playing each back to back (yeah, don't do that!), but overall the story across the first three games pretty much boils down to Kratos being angry at himself/being fooled & having a bit of a tantrum. He should probably have just gotten over that by the end of the first game tbh.

Obviously I have boiled that down into a pithy comment about the overall theme of the games & is somewhat in jest, but I did find myself eyerolling through the third game a lot after getting through the first two & in fact, didn't even finish it on PS3. Only on coming back to it on PS4 some time later could I actually get into it a little & somewhat enjoy it.


However, God of War PS4 (or GoW4 if you prefer) was much better - Kratos was still very much a broken man, but in a much better & more believable way. The story was a lot better fleshed out & the action was great for the most part. Sure, there was a little bit of repetition in some of the enemies, but you could say that for any 3rd person action game (or any other game in general that has you running through multiple enemies for that point). 

 

As for the Boss battles, although they were a royal pain in the ass, the Valkyries & trying to work out the 'right' way to beat them was much more satisfying to me than defeating the arm of some large god. 

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On 28/03/2020 at 0:52 PM, ain_sr said:

 

  1. Map, If it's going semi open world at least have a decent map or way-point tracking(by highlighting the path). I get that they want to encourage exploration but at least give some freedom once the story is over. It's so annoying to get the collectibles after the main story.

 

Exploring in this game is so tedious that I just put it off. I had aimed to get the platinum but it can just wait until another time. The thing that got me the most is if you go back to the starting area of the game, it takes away your compass because you didn't have it at that point in the game. I kinda just wanted to stop right there, after that. Exploring linear-ish level designs is so silly when they all have to be traversed in a certain way. It was more of a chore than fun. You had to traverse the world in the way they wanted. I will always remember the treasure chest that looked like it was behind a breakable wall but it wasn't and I have no idea how to get to it. It's in the area where you have to go inside to get a hoist up the mountain. Uncharted tier level design with the aspirations of Far Cry collectable hunting? Sometimes, it doesn't just work. 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Played GOW 3 remastered and it wasnt overly into it , expectations were low-ish . Its quite slow paced and being honest after the 1st couple of hours i was struggling to get into it . Then it started to pull me in when the game opened up and id got the hang of it and got used to the camera . Couple of annoying niggles here and there but those aside its an amazing game , 1 of the best of the PS4 era for sure , Massive upgrade on GOW 3 .

 

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  • 5 months later...
On 3/28/2020 at 0:11 PM, TheArcadeKid said:

I was one of the people who kept his expectations low for this one. I wasn't interested in the father/son angle, I wasn't especially interested in Norse mythology, and I wasn't interested in the de-emphasis of operatic violence. 

 

I was utterly blown away by how good it is. It caught me in a feedback loop I don't think I've experienced in fifteen years of gaming. Some of my friends have spent years with games like Destiny and The Division, and I've never understood how they can just play the same game for hours on end without getting bored. God of War '18 is the closest I'll get to feeling the same way. It's like the level designers were able to predict exactly what I was thinking as I played: how to get somewhere, how to kill something, whether I wanted to spend some time gathering resources or just press on with the main story. Not once did I feel like I was doing filler content, or something I didn't want to do. I played at my own pace. Combat gets progressively better, a perfect blend of skill and strategy, and the platforming gives you a chance to take a breather and appreciate the stunning visuals. 

 

For all the praise God of War '18 received for the story and themes - for 'growing up' - it's still a game that puts gameplay first. Every reaction it got from me felt fully earned. I don't care for GOTY lists, but this one probably deserved every award it got. For me, it was like reading a novel where every single word has been laboured over: not for the pretensions of the studio or the demands of the critics, but for the player.

I'm actually worried about starting another playthrough again.  The last time I did a playthrough it turned into 3 lol.  Waiting until at least a release date announcement for Ragnarok so I can experience it on my PS5.  I've not had a game that I immediately started a second or third playthrough immediately after the previous one since MGS3 or MGS4.  My favorite game of the PS4 generation by a long shot.

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