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Hot take: Why I don't like the new God of War - now fight!

Cashon

Banned
Lol most overrated game of all time has top notch production values and a good story according to you?

Interactive movie? You may not personally like the combat gameplay but it’s very well regarded in general and there is a ton of it.
I never said it had a good story, but that the story is a major reason for why people liked it.

But yeah, a game can have excellent production values and the best story of all time and still only be an okay game. You suggesting otherwise kind of validates my point that people ignore the gameplay issues and focus on the story and cinematic nature of it as reasons for it being so good.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
When the extent of the gap is that severe? Yes. People can say otherwise, but they'd be lying.
Yeah, you have no idea what this word means. None of the points you made are objective and going, "No, I'm right," doesn't change that.
 
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Robbinhood

Banned
They couldn't make two more games on the old formula.

The new games completely reinvented the combat and gave us a combat system that isn't found anywhere else. I'm very happy we have both styles.
 
I never said it had a good story, but that the story is a major reason for why people liked it.

But yeah, a game can have excellent production values and the best story of all time and still only be an okay game. You suggesting otherwise kind of validates my point that people ignore the gameplay issues and focus on the story and cinematic nature of it as reasons for it being so good.
No... anyone who dismisses gameplay doesn't deserve to be taken seriously, but that is not what is happening. In general the gameplay is extremely well regarded by most people. You are taking your dislike for it and extrapolating it into everyone just ignoring mediocre or worse gameplay, and that is not the case at all. YOU are the minority in not liking it. Most people do not see gameplay issues that need to be ignored.

The only theory you are validating is that people take their own personal preferences to universally call something under or over rated.
 

The Stig

Member
OP isn't wrong.

I happen to love ALL the games. Funnily enough I just finished GoW3 remastered on my PS5.

It really is a different type of game and I totally get where OP is coming from.
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
I’m not a fan either but I haven’t really analyzed why. Should be something I like so I’ve kept returning any trying to play through it. Not going to anymore though. Most people love it so safe to say we are outliers.
 
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Cashon

Banned
No... anyone who dismisses gameplay doesn't deserve to be taken seriously, but that is not what is happening. In general the gameplay is extremely well regarded by most people. You are taking your dislike for it and extrapolating it into everyone just ignoring mediocre or worse gameplay, and that is not the case at all. YOU are the minority in not liking it. Most people do not see gameplay issues that need to be ignored.

The only theory you are validating is that people take their own personal preferences to universally call something under or over rated.
Anyone calling anything over or underated is an opinion. There is no universal over or underated, so naturally anytime these words are used, it's suggesting an opinion.

The important thing is whether or not the opinion has any real basis for existing, as opposed to only existing to to justify ones purchases or fandom. Mine is based on observation of what people actually talk about when reviewing or discussing this game, particularly when it is seemingly contradictory.

Which game is this review from?
"However, maintaining its scripted, linear storytelling means that when [the game] must relinquish control outside of combat, it does so only enough to allow for the most basic of interactions with its world. Between lengthy cutscenes, there are long periods of restrained movement where you’re meant to simply walk, taking in the sights and listening to character dialog. It’s an issue that’s somewhat mitigated by the fact [the game] is just so damn polished, so there is plenty to keep the eye occupied, but this too suffers from diminishing returns as the super-scripted segments strip you of any freedom. Constantly being ripped from gameplay to cutscene to restrained walking segment back to cutscene is a pervasive whiplash of false starts."
 

Raonak

Banned
The new god of war games are a lot better than the old ones except for big setpieces.

The level design is better.
The combat is better.
The story is better.
The characters are better.

The old games were also very long in the tooth. You had 6 games with the exact same gameplay. The series needed a revamp. And it got it.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
The gameplay of 2018 is just good.

The gameplay in GoW-III was great.

But it’s the contrived, poor writing that really undoes the new games.
 

Perrott

Member
That's totally understandable, as the new God of War games are two very mediocre works of game design in which the gameplay and level structure are always at odds with the story and the characters.
 
Anyone calling anything over or underated is an opinion. There is no universal over or underated, so naturally anytime these words are used, it's suggesting an opinion.

The important thing is whether or not the opinion has any real basis for existing, as opposed to only existing to to justify ones purchases or fandom. Mine is based on observation of what people actually talk about when reviewing or discussing this game, particularly when it is seemingly contradictory.

Which game is this review from?
"However, maintaining its scripted, linear storytelling means that when [the game] must relinquish control outside of combat, it does so only enough to allow for the most basic of interactions with its world. Between lengthy cutscenes, there are long periods of restrained movement where you’re meant to simply walk, taking in the sights and listening to character dialog. It’s an issue that’s somewhat mitigated by the fact [the game] is just so damn polished, so there is plenty to keep the eye occupied, but this too suffers from diminishing returns as the super-scripted segments strip you of any freedom. Constantly being ripped from gameplay to cutscene to restrained walking segment back to cutscene is a pervasive whiplash of false starts."
I appreciate the additional context, I think I took 'gameplay' to mean combat, and you were talking more about everything besides combat. I actually love those quiet moments in the game, but that is just personal preference, yours is just as valid.
 
I like new GOW more. Better combat, better story but maybe in sequel they should stop focus on father and son relationship. All it need is epic/giant boss fight. And new moves, GOWR keep all old ass moves from 2018 version.

I always feel old GOW combat lack of challenge and boring if you play too much. Don't have that issue with mew GOW.
 

SHA

Member
the dark side of the moon is not literally "dark" its called dark because that side of the surface is never visible from the earth. otherwise it's just the same as any other side of the moon (and temperatures on it are the same as any other part of the moon)


That's fair, I've seen this criticism a lot, so I'll just give you quick reasons why I like Ragnarok more (you don't have to agree, I know most people don't, just sharing my take):
  • Better enemy variety (2018 sucked at this)
  • Better boss variety (2018 sucked at this)
  • Better variety in environments thanks to the multiple realms (2018 sucked at this)
  • Combat feels more agile and mobile thanks to the options like grapple that they added in (but on the flip side they changed how a lot of attacks worked, so I guess this part is more subjective)
  • generally a better sense of spectacle (ragnarok is a joke, but the parts with the wolf, or the first Thor boss fight, are all closer to the old style of god of war than anything in 2018)
  • the spear is a fantastic addition to the combat
  • the new traversal options are much better than the boat (except for the fucking yak)
  • while the story is fucking stupid, the story in old god of war games was fucking stupid too, that's what I like and want from god of war. stupid, fun high octane action. ragnarok doesnt get all of that right, but it does feel closer in spirit to the older games than 2018 did
If you want to find who favors the cinematic approach over gameplay ask who would like to see a TV series or a movie of that same game.
 

Cashon

Banned
I appreciate the additional context, I think I took 'gameplay' to mean combat, and you were talking more about everything besides combat. I actually love those quiet moments in the game, but that is just personal preference, yours is just as valid.
That review is actually from The Order 1886 (IGN) and that was a common complaint from that game. For some reason, however, that complaint doesn't carry forward to God of War 2018 despite, clearly, that part of the review applying to both games.
 

Cashon

Banned
If you want to find who favors the cinematic approach over gameplay ask who would like to see a TV series or a movie of that same game.
There are exceptions (games that don't really have a story, but have endearing characters, e.g., Super Mario Bros), but overall I agree with this. The Last of Us on HBO, for example. If you really like playing games as opposed to just watching cinematics, why would you choose to watch the show at all? Just play/replay the game instead (which itself is still highly cinematic, a path that Sony has been following since Uncharted).
 
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A.Romero

Member
They are simply different games it just happens that it carries the God of War branding.

I don't think an old style GoW would have the same commercial success as the new one and Sony probably knows this too but it's hard to understand for us old gamers.

Funnily enough a similar thread suggested by the forum's engine is titled "FFXVI is God of War 4 and I Am STOKED" and it includes a post with an excerpt with an interview with Yoshida stating that indeed GoW was an influence:

OP, what you said was obvious and I agreed, but sadly you got piled on from most people here.

Fortunately for you though, we now have confirmation saying just as much and it’s coming straight from the horse’s mouth…

“Can you talk a little bit about some of the games that have maybe inspired or influenced the development of Final Fantasy 16? So personally I see a little bit of God of War and The Witcher, and I'm curious if they were references for you while you were developing it.

Yoshida: I love the two games, especially God of War. The craziness of the boss battles in God of War, when it was a more traditional action game, is just... The game design is so different for each stage, and the boss is so unique, everything is made with power, and you can feel the power. So, while I personally also really like the most recent God of War games, I look back further to the original God of Wars, and especially the boss battles in those, how the boss battles are all crazy, they're all different designs for each, they're all unique, they're all over the top, and in getting inspiration from that and creating our Eikon versus Eikon battles to kind of have that same feel.”

While funnily enough the boss battle aspect was received well, you can read many opinions that are not that stoked about FFXVI.

I like old GoW games but the last time I tried to go through 3 in the PS3 remake I didn't finish it again, despite really enjoying it when it released. I just don't think there is space for a AAA game with those mechanics anymore.
 

[Sigma]

Member
The fucken armor hunts are stupid and realms are boring to explore. By the time im like 50% done, im already ready for the game to be over. And the story kinda sucks. The best thing about the new God War in regards to that is Mimir talking about the lore. The boss fights are mostly eh, they do lack that scale. The combat is alright but it's not fun enough over time for me.
 
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Muffdraul

Member
I liked the OG GoW games, but I didn't love them. Thought they were decent. GoW 2018 surprised the shit out of me, I paid almost no attention to previews and just casually bought it when it came out. Loved it a lot. And I especially loved imagining how in the grand scheme of things, GoW 2018 was really just a piddly ass little prologue to the REAL SHIT that was about to go down, and goddamn I couldn't wait for the sequels. Sad to say, all in all Ragnarok didn't give me as much of a boner as I hoped. Victim of my own hype I suppose.
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Sigh* no, you're wrong. The new ones tell a far better story
Youre Wrong John C Mcginley GIF

The New ones are your modern Amazon Prime TV Show compared to the late 90's/2000's Summer blockbuster movie of the original trilogy
 

zeldaring

Banned
Sigh* no, you're wrong. The new ones tell a far better story, the combat is more impactful and less of a hack and slash "feel" the old games had.

Could they add more scale? yea, probably, but thats it.
Agreed i much prefer the new GOW gameplay. combat is impactful and requires way more skill and thought, vs just button mashing in the old GOW. story is also much better.
 
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tmlDan

Member
Youre Wrong John C Mcginley GIF

The New ones are your modern Amazon Prime TV Show compared to the late 90's/2000's Summer blockbuster movie of the original trilogy
People in this thread, including you, are fundamentally arguing in bad faith saying the game parts (set pieces, combat, boss battles, weapon variation, RPG aspects etc) are bad or worse than the old games.

You're flat out wrong, i cannot see how the old games are better at all.
 
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GametimeUK

Member
I much prefer the old God of War games. I was so burned out on the series that I skipped Ascension. After playing 2018 I decided I wanted classic God of War so I played Ascension for the first time and had way more of an enjoyable time.

I also find it crazy that I was burned out on God of War as a series, but if you add up the gameplay hours (according to how long to beat) if you were to play God of War 1, 2, 3 and Ascension on a normal playthrough it would take you less time than beating just God of War 2018 and Ragnarok.

I find that insane.
 

Laieon

Member
I like 2018 and Ragnarok a lot story and atmosphere-wise, but definitely preferred the arcadey gameplay of the original trilogy and its spin offs.
 

Rockman33

Member
I feel pretty similar. I like the new ones but I loved the old ones. Haven't gone back in a while though so I might be romanticizing them.
 

squidilix

Member
I just dropped less than 2 hours.

- Bad FOV Camera
- Many ennemis come behind
- bad combo with Weapon
- Camera RE4 Style (seriously?)
- Shitty mecanics light RPG
- Compasses and other shit to explore
- Ennemy with level (yeah, wtf what i'm playing ?)
- SLOOOOW

After 5 years, I don't get it... I hate modern game jesus christ...

But at least, Kratos is crying 10/10 BGE.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
the stories are much... nicer? rather than the rampages that kratos was on in the originals. kratos has a whole party of chattering companions who are always quipping and monologuing about something or the other.
Sounds like every franchise now. They barely even have recognizably different morality systems, they all carry the same current-day horizon of moralizing for every single campaign even if the game's supposed setting should make it clash diametrically with today's views--and the same case of boring supporting characters, plus the absolutely nauseating idea that you want companions blabbering on in games, or "cinematic" things like narrow passages and slow-walks to build some kind of narrative moment or tension.

Doom 2016 already feels so long ago... it was like one final island to hold onto in a generational sea of horrible corporate-mandated staleness & monotony across the medium.
 
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SenkiDala

Member
I kind of agree with you OP.

God of War PS4 and Ragnarok are great games but they are... standard, basic, I dunno how to say... It's like most of the Disney Star Wars series, it is empty of all craziness, it checks every "must have in a AAAA 202X game" check box but personally I finish them (and I get the 100% or 99%) but after a couple of week I forgot almost everything of it.

It depends on tastes of course but it is how I feel about it.

Artistically it is beautiful though but the game itself, the gameplay, is just basic, nothing special.
 

RAIDEN1

Member
I tried getting into 2018 God of War, (never played any of the others before) and as much as I tried I just couldn't connect with the game, some of the battles were just plain tedious even if you switched the difficulty level lower than normal....haven't got around to trading it in, well aware I won't get much for it.....but I am finding going through Mass Effect 3 for the 2nd time a hell of a lot more enjoyable..
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
People in this thread, including you, are fundamentally arguing in bad faith saying the game parts (set pieces, combat, boss battles, weapon variation, RPG aspects etc) are bad or worse than the old games.

You're flat out wrong, i cannot see how the old games are better at all.
Question Mark What GIF by MOODMAN

Sigh* no, you're wrong. The new ones tell a far better story
I never said anything about Gameplay
But here's my two cents.
Yes the gameplay in general is better in the new games
But the way the story is told and how it is presented in the old ones elevates them above it as a whole.
A God of War Remake in the style of GoW2018 would shit all over both.
You get me?
 
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Salz01

Member
I like the older games better too. Liked it when Kratos was just destroying stuff left and right. Newer games have less spectacle and more talking….


I also liked finding the sex mini games…. Sue me.…
 
There's nothing about OP's opinion that is controversial.

The PS2/3 era GoW titles were undoubtedly superior. Even GoW had to be toned down when wokeness arrived and began it's siege on gaming.
 

Hoddi

Member
I played through all of the originals earlier this year and they're still genuinely fantastic. I liked GoW 2018 well enough as a standalone game but it was definitely missing something for me in comparison. It's a perfectly decent game but not the 10 that people make it out be.

In any case, I found it refreshing to play the old games because they were so unapologetic. I haven't played Ragnarok yet but I already know that Loki won't be impregnated by a horse. GoW 2018 took itself too seriously and I think it was a misfire.
 
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Yoboman

Member
This isn't really a valid point for anything, the last classic GoW game (not counting Ascension as that was more of a side-game) came out in like 2010 on a significantly less popular console in an era where the gaming landscape was considerably smaller, and this applies even more for the first two games (PS2 sales aside obviously).
Its not that the series ever got stale, its moreso that gaming got more mainstream and corporate, and I think if anything 2018 is a shining example of that. Much less edgy and brutal, more focus on story and slow hand-holdy stuff, very railroaded gameplay, and derivative gameplay. Granted as I said before, its still a good game, but I cannot shake how obviously mainstream it is over the older games.
The amount of revisionist history on the old GOW games is astounding

These were the games that were strictly linear with next to no adventure elements, QTEs galore, under developed defensive, countering, movement mechanics. They were notoriously called button mashers because the combat was so shallow. They failed over 6 games to make an interesting weapon that wasn't just a spin off of the blades.They tried to shoe horn in some of the worst platforming mechanics in history. Also the story was garbage after the first game and they spent 6 games just retelling the same trauma in different ways

I loved those games but they were a tier below current GOW and were entirely carried by the insane spectacle they squeezed out of the old PS2 and PS3, and by the time we got to Ascension that aspect wasn't enough to carry how simple the rest of the product was anymore

We also got 6 of them in the span of 8 years. They made that formula as overused as they ever could have
 
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Hoddi

Member
I loved those games but they were a tier below current GOW and were entirely carried by the insane spectacle they squeezed out of the old PS2 and PS3, and by the time we got to Ascension that aspect wasn't enough to carry how simple the rest of the product was anymore
I think the spectacle is exactly why people loved them. Replace Kratos with a random ninja fighting against an army and none of these games would be particularly memorable.
 

Yoboman

Member
I think the spectacle is exactly why people loved them. Replace Kratos with a random ninja fighting against an army and none of these games would be particularly memorable.
That's my point. They were shallow, all flash no bang. This was fine when GOW was the only game doing this. But everybody else caught up and it left nothing special about GOW

Modern GOW is a far better, more rounded gaming experience that doesn't rely on QTE spectacle
 

Hoddi

Member
That's my point. They were shallow, all flash no bang. This was fine when GOW was the only game doing this. But everybody else caught up and it left nothing special about GOW

Modern GOW is a far better, more rounded gaming experience that doesn't rely on QTE spectacle
I suppose that's fair. Sometimes I just want a dumb action flick and the old games did that for me. They were a bit like a Roland Emmerich film in that sense but it's also why I loved them. I missed that in GoW 2018.
 

Akuji

Member
Super fair point imo.

Love 2018 and ragnarok is on my list when my home theatre in Finished ... so it will probably stay on that list :/
 
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