"Untangling God Of War" - An Absolutely Breathtaking Analysis Of Santa Monica's Masterpiece

Brock2621

Brock2621

Member
I ran across this channel a while back but it rarely is updated, however probably the best analysis of God Of War or almost any game I've seen on YouTube dropped and I just gotta implore you guys to check this out. I feel this (and the channel as a whole) deserves more attention than it's getting).



(P.S. To mods, I have zero affiliation with whoever this is and am not promoting my own work (although I WISH this was my work 😂)
 
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Lokaum D+ said:
i miss the GORE and the epic boss battles :(
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I dunno if I necessarily miss the gore, I mean it was still super violent and ripping the wolves faces in half from their jaw was super gory; but I was SO enthralled with the story and having a 4 year old son myself this story hit to my core.

Tucking him into bed at night and then jumping into this world to see Kratos trying to teach his son that he doesn't have to choose to be the negative things he passed on to him resonated deep. Honestly challenged me to be a better person for my son.
 
36 mins... alright it gets a chance. But Youtubers who think they are justified for rambling on for hours in the name of "analysis" can fuck right off.
They are mostly rank amateurs and the sheer length of some of these pieces indicates a ludicrously inflated sense of the value of their opinion.
 
Clear said:
36 mins... alright it gets a chance. But Youtubers who think they are justified for rambling on for hours in the name of "analysis" can fuck right off.
They are mostly rank amateurs and the sheer length of some of these pieces indicates a ludicrously inflated sense of the value of their opinion.
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Give it a chance, I learned a ton about the mythology through this as well and the challenges the writing team had to face when removing key characters
 
Nice one OP, I'll check this out!

Also, can I suggest Matthewmatosis on YouTube if you're not familiar. He creates wonderful analysis videos of various video games, he's incredibly eloquent and insightful. Here's his God of War analysis to link you to his channel:

 
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It's hard to argue that this could be the best game of the last generation. I'm personally torn between this and a few others - Bloodborne, Persona 5 and a maybe a couple more.
 
Krisprolls said:
Game of the last generation for me. A masterpiece on every level from story, gameplay, actors, graphics, sound, music...
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Agreed although I haven't played TLOU 2 yet... waiting for the inevitable PS5 upgrade at this point. But I highly doubt it'll hit me like GoW did
 
Brock2621 said:
Agreed although I haven't played TLOU 2 yet... waiting for the inevitable PS5 upgrade at this point. But I highly doubt it'll hit me like GoW did
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TLOU2 is a great game and a technical marvel. But the story is convoluted and extremely dark. I'd say God of War is the better game overall.
 
Captain Toad said:
It's hard to argue that this could be the best game of the last generation. I'm personally torn between this and a few others - Bloodborne, Persona 5 and a maybe a couple more.
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I would put Bloodborne and TW 3 above it, but yeah, it's pretty much perfect in almost every aspect as games rarely are

It could have had more enemy variety and more bosses ... but that's it, really

Pacing was pitch perfect, acting, story, graphics, gameplay, all phenomenal

PS: I really want to understand eventualy why Persona 5 is so beloved. I hated what I played of the game. Horrible pacing, horrible dungeons, unlikable characters, simple turn-based gameplay. Never clicked, and I really tried.
 
GoW became one of my top 3 games of all time. Such a masterpiece of a game. I still replay the Sigrun battle in Give me God of War from time to time. The combat system is so good.
 
I was like "meh I am too much of a Whitelight fanboy to watch another critigue" and then sat through it all, very nice
 
Shmunter said:
Will be so far out of the launch window that hopefully there is no looking back
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Jimbo already spoken.

You don't answer a direct question about your biggest game in the past gen being completely exclusive for ps5 with a fucking "we will see". (Or something like that)

I'm not a native english talker, but that answer is a dead giveaway if ever saw one...
 
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Captain Toad said:
It's hard to argue that this could be the best game of the last generation. I'm personally torn between this and a few others - Bloodborne, Persona 5 and a maybe a couple more.
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I think I had more fun playing GOW, but TLoU2 plagued my mind for weeks after. I give them a tie so I don't have to choose.
 
Krisprolls said:
TLOU2 is a great game and a technical marvel. But the story is convoluted and extremely dark. I'd say God of War is the better game overall.
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Yeah this was my assumption, I have to be in a specific mindset to play these types of games. I kinda like a little bit less heavy escapism in the little free time I get
 
One of the best game ever made. Hopefully the sequel will follow unlike TLOU2 that was very inferior to TLOU1. But i trust SSM they never disappoint.

Speaking about that, since Jimbo and clown hermen are too busy porting playstation games to PC instead on implementing on ps123 BC, i would love a collection of all GOW games, p23 and PSP games included, i would insta buy that.
 
Lokaum D+ said:
i miss the GORE and the epic boss battles :(
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Gore was toned down drastically (not completely though), but battles...
GoW 2018 boss battles wipe the floor with everything I fought against before (and that includes... all GoW games)
 
llien said:
Gore was toned down drastically (not completely though), but battles...
GoW 2018 boss battles wipe the floor with everything I fought against before (and that includes... all GoW games)
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yeah i ll have to disagree with u,i cant remember any epic boss battle in GOW 2018 , there is some good fights, but they are far away from epic.

other thing is the lack of bosses, its Baldur, Thor sons, some big trolls, Valkiries ( Secret Bosses ) and that it, thats what u call "wipe the floor" ?

This is an epic boss fight is



u have a entire map to fight the boss, u need to fight enemies, avoid colossus attack, do platforms while fight inside the colossus, a lot of things happening in the back ground imo this is what make a epic boss fight, not just the difficult of the boss.
 
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The Valkyrie battles were fantastic. With the Epic music in the back and the Vallyries giving trouble to a God of War. Those battles were definitely epic, not to mention the lore behind it was good.

God of War 2018 is a game that has it all. Solid gameplay, new combat mechanics that are slower but more brutal and fit the more epic long fights you have with Valkyries for example.

The music was amazing, graphics top notch, brutal combat, good upgrade system and a great fucking story that makes the next game one of the most anticipated games ever.
 
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Valkyrie is just a sponge damage enemy, they do a lot of damage and they have a pattern of attack and that's it , they put a good fight but its not epic boss battle.
 
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Lokaum D+ said:
yeah i ll have to disagree with u,i cant remember any epic boss battle in GOW 2018 , there is some good fights, but they are far away from epic.

other thing is the lack of bosses, its Baldur, Thor sons, some big trolls, Valkiries ( Secret Bosses ) and that it, thats what u call "wipe the floor" ?

This is an epic boss fight is



u have a entire map to fight the boss, u need to fight enemies, avoid colossus attack, do platforms while fight inside the colossus, a lot of things happening in the back ground imo this is what make a epic boss fight, not just the difficult of the boss.
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Perhaps we differ in what constitutes an "epic" fight.
All we had before was "enemy is possibly very big", kill some trash, it almost felt like squishing bugs, when there is some pre-defined sequence, quickly react by pressing on one of the handful of buttons, when prompted. And that's it.

As far as fighting very oversized things in GoW 2018 goes, I recall only drake (and that wasn't my favorite fight, to put it softly, so perhaps I'm simply into different things).

Fight mechanics is... really epic in 2018. Well, not on normal levels perhaps (it's been a while I did it), but NG+ GMGOW difficulty is as epic as it gets. Muspelheim trials, and, of course. Valkyries. Queen fight on GMGOW is a 10+ minutes of non-stop, quickly-die-if you slacked, action.

There was some choreography in old GoW too, but now it's at a whole new level. Axe is amazing. Runic attacks, charms, other gear allows you to drastically change your style, all that adds up to (my personal) "epic" feeling.
 
Negotiator101 said:
Can't agree at all, was expecting a masterpiece but instead got a repetitive overly long game with a mundane story.
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You won't find many people who agree with you here. Then again, your post history checks out, it seems you're mostly a Xbox fanboy, so I'm not sure you're the best person to review Sony exclusives :messenger_beaming:
 
Krisprolls said:
You won't find many people who agree with you here. Then again, your post history checks out, it seems you're mostly a Xbox fanboy, so I'm not sure you're the best person to review Sony exclusives :messenger_beaming:
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Best game of last year was TLOU2, I'm no fanboy in fact currently I own a low spec PC and a PS4Pro. I appreciate people have different opinions and respect that, maybe you should too.
 
Negotiator101 said:
Can't agree at all, was expecting a masterpiece but instead got a repetitive overly long game with a mundane story.
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There are aspects that feel repetitive, sure (like the trolls) but I'm more interested in why you think something that resonated with me so deeply is "mundane" in another's eyes; could you expound a little on why you quantified it as mundane? Also had you played through the previous mainline trilogy in the franchise?
 
Lokaum D+ said:
yeah i ll have to disagree with u,i cant remember any epic boss battle in GOW 2018 , there is some good fights, but they are far away from epic.

other thing is the lack of bosses, its Baldur, Thor sons, some big trolls, Valkiries ( Secret Bosses ) and that it, thats what u call "wipe the floor" ?

This is an epic boss fight is



u have a entire map to fight the boss, u need to fight enemies, avoid colossus attack, do platforms while fight inside the colossus, a lot of things happening in the back ground imo this is what make a epic boss fight, not just the difficult of the boss.
Click to expand...





I have not played through god of war 2 for too long.

GoW 2018 has no real boss battle, not in the same sense other GoW games do, and that annoys me.
 
SCB3 said:
Joseph Anderson did a really analysis of the games a few years ago that I really enjoyed
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If it's the guy I am thinking of he also actually criticized the game, instead of just jerking it off.
I really disagree that the game is a '' masterpiece '' I think it's one of the most overrated games of the generation and didn't really do anything original or interesting.
But I can at least respect someones praise for the game if they don't act like a total fanboy about it and actually acknowledge some of its flaws.

llien said:
Gore was toned down drastically (not completely though), but battles...
GoW 2018 boss battles wipe the floor with everything I fought against before (and that includes... all GoW games)
Click to expand...

The game overall has a more PG-13 feel.
I still find it strange how Freja didn't feel like Freja from actual Norse Mythology at all, she's literally the goddess of sex, fertility, beauty etc but she's just some rando hag in that weird stitched leather gear that people for some reason associate with Vikings ( looks more like a cavewoman ).
Like I am not saying that we need to use prostitutes to stop doors from falling down or weird shit like that like in past games, but it's still a game revolving around old mythology which is full of sex and nudity.
But I really get the feeling that the '' reboot '' is meant to be PG-13 and that we won't really get any gore or nudity anymore because it's '' mature '' now.

I don't really mind it too much if they want to change things and be more '' serious face '' sorta like with the Tomb Raider reboot, but the whole '' we're growing up now '' narrative is just really insufferable and annoying to me.
Even NRS with MK has been pulling that which is just hilariously unselfaware.
It's like if you need to tell everyone how deep your game is then it's probably not that deep.
 
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I'm glad it abolished the forced shitty camera angles of its predecessors. Those weren't cinematic; they were just shitty.
 
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