I'm only a few hours in, but this game is really impressive. The graphics, voice acting, presentation, and combat are all off the charts. The latter has taken some time for me, with my old man brain and such, but it works well when it clicks.
I went ahead and bought it last night on a whim after doubting I was even into these kind of games anymore, but so far, so good. HZD kind of got in my head, as I fully realized it's a great game and a technical marvel...I just had no interest in finishing it when I got towards the end. I am finding Kratos a lot more fun to play than Aloy though, with the focus on brute power/melee combat and such, and also find his character a lot more interesting, so maybe that will help me keep me going. Atreus also has the potential to be annoying, but so far, the devs handled his implementation well. He's really helpful in fights, his lines are generally delivered well, and aside from some unnecessary screeching in battle, having him as part of the journey has been pretty great.
As for negatives, it's kind of strange how blocked off everything feels, considering it's a game that puts emphasis on exploration. Again, only 3 hours or so into it, but it feels everything is on a beaten path - like, a small boulder is an insurmountable roadblock to a demigod who can tear the head off of a giant beast. I get it, gameplay wise, but it just seems off.
Also, not crazy about the boating portions serving such an integral part to navigation (or at least it seems thus far). I'm just not finding these parts fun, and the water and mist graphics at the
feel rather unimpressive, compared to other things in the game.