Man I'm completely confused. Only played through the first one, but seeing the genre bending and viking theme is really weird, but at the same time really cool.
That was the position GoW was in. People would have cried out if it was more of the same, and the other half of the camp would have cried out if it was a new take.
There's no appeasing everyone. I personally dig the new approach. Staying static only hinders progression of the medium.