God of War Ragnarok
Discussion
Seems like this was not discussed on here yet... Is that any good?
I hated the previous God of War so much I gave it to a colleague at work, and so far the reviews of Ragnarok suggest it's also another overhyped Disneyland-like corridor full of void.
Any recommendation for a "new" PS4 game to fight cold season boredom?
I hated the previous God of War so much I gave it to a colleague at work, and so far the reviews of Ragnarok suggest it's also another overhyped Disneyland-like corridor full of void.
Any recommendation for a "new" PS4 game to fight cold season boredom?
point said:
Seems like this was not discussed on here yet... Is that any good?
I hated the previous God of War so much I gave it to a colleague at work, and so far the reviews of Ragnarok suggest it's also another overhyped Disneyland-like corridor full of void.
Any recommendation for a "new" PS4 game to fight cold season boredom?
Surely if you hated the first game you will doubtless hate the follow up ?I hated the previous God of War so much I gave it to a colleague at work, and so far the reviews of Ragnarok suggest it's also another overhyped Disneyland-like corridor full of void.
Any recommendation for a "new" PS4 game to fight cold season boredom?
The story is good. The voice acting is great, Odin in particular is fantastic. The pacing is all over the place, there's a part with Atreus in particular that while important to the story, is incredibly slow and feels like it takes forever to play out.
It's a game that makes the mistake of feeling like giving the player a longer story is best, when there are at least two or three chapters of the game that could have been cut entirely as they make no real impact on the story and just extend the length of the game.
The gameplay lurches from ok to bad, even awful in places. The combat is ok but enemies are too spongy. You won't really feel like a god of war when you have go pound a single enemy for so long to kill them. The power of Kratos in the cutscenes seems to be totally out of step with his strength in the combat gameplay.
People complain about the GoW games having now turned into glorified corridor games, but believe me, the open world sections are worse. The areas are small-ish, but often involve a lot of backtracking to see everything they have to offer and the layouts are confusing and boring to navigate.
One section in particular stood out because Kratos is hunting a beast, tracking it's glowing saliva on the ground. You see the creature's lair from a high vantage point and Mimir remarks as such. Then, climbing down and following the saliva up to a small pile of rocks, which anyone except a wheelchair user could cross, Mimir then says "Looks like the path is blocked, let's find another way around" . The path around takes another 15 minutes of climbing, destroying rocks, creating grapple points to swing over chasms etc. It totally destroys the immersion. These games are glorious to look at but that comes at the cost of being able to interact with or move through the environment except in very limited ways.
The level designs in the linear dungeons is ok, they make sense as you progress through them the first time, unlocking paths via puzzles, but when you need to revisit them for optional quests at the end of the game they are a nightmare to negotiate, especially as the game doesn't have anything like a proper map system. In particular, there's a mine in Svartalfheim and a jungle in Vanaheim that are a total pain in the arse. The lack of a "return to fast travel gate" function makes this even worse, as you have to go in ams retread your way out of evey dungeon you revisit.
The gameplay is simply too infrequent and too unsatisfactory to be worth playing twice, in my opinion.
The story is really all that makes the game worth playing tbh and I'd even struggle to recommend that unless you're an invested player with 20 odd years spent following Kratos, like I am. Before the game even released, the studio said it would conclude the Norse era of the game and that future games would visit different mythologies. I look forward to that, because I found the Norse thing quite dull.
The conclusion to Kratos, Atreus and Laufey's story was satisfying, but the really tantalising stuff they hint at in this game comes to nothing more than teasing. I really hope future games will see this big overarching story progressed more fully.
I do hope though, that Mimir will continue with Kratos, wherever they go. He serves as an encyclopedia of Norse wisdom, informing the player of who everyone is and the what and why of everything. While he presumably couldn't serve the same function in a different setting, his rapport and banter with Kratos is something I wouldn't want to see abandoned.
Alas, the only thing I'll miss about the Norse games is a few of the characters. In particular, I hope they can find a way to bring Sindri back somehow, or least give him a decent conclusion before moving onto the next mythology for the game. Man, I felt bad for that guy. .
Sadly, while I will inevitably play the future GoW games, I doubt Sony will move away from their glossy but shallow AAA template. Why derail the train when it's making so much money, even as Sony plead poverty over Microsoft buying Actvision.
When I saw the 10/10 ratings for this game rolling in, it reminded me how utterly wortless the big game journo sites are these days. How anyone could think this is a perfect game is beyond meme. Its a 6.5/10, maybe a 7 at best and that is only the excellent characters, dialogue and story that earn it that score.
It's a game that makes the mistake of feeling like giving the player a longer story is best, when there are at least two or three chapters of the game that could have been cut entirely as they make no real impact on the story and just extend the length of the game.
The gameplay lurches from ok to bad, even awful in places. The combat is ok but enemies are too spongy. You won't really feel like a god of war when you have go pound a single enemy for so long to kill them. The power of Kratos in the cutscenes seems to be totally out of step with his strength in the combat gameplay.
People complain about the GoW games having now turned into glorified corridor games, but believe me, the open world sections are worse. The areas are small-ish, but often involve a lot of backtracking to see everything they have to offer and the layouts are confusing and boring to navigate.
One section in particular stood out because Kratos is hunting a beast, tracking it's glowing saliva on the ground. You see the creature's lair from a high vantage point and Mimir remarks as such. Then, climbing down and following the saliva up to a small pile of rocks, which anyone except a wheelchair user could cross, Mimir then says "Looks like the path is blocked, let's find another way around" . The path around takes another 15 minutes of climbing, destroying rocks, creating grapple points to swing over chasms etc. It totally destroys the immersion. These games are glorious to look at but that comes at the cost of being able to interact with or move through the environment except in very limited ways.
The level designs in the linear dungeons is ok, they make sense as you progress through them the first time, unlocking paths via puzzles, but when you need to revisit them for optional quests at the end of the game they are a nightmare to negotiate, especially as the game doesn't have anything like a proper map system. In particular, there's a mine in Svartalfheim and a jungle in Vanaheim that are a total pain in the arse. The lack of a "return to fast travel gate" function makes this even worse, as you have to go in ams retread your way out of evey dungeon you revisit.
The gameplay is simply too infrequent and too unsatisfactory to be worth playing twice, in my opinion.
The story is really all that makes the game worth playing tbh and I'd even struggle to recommend that unless you're an invested player with 20 odd years spent following Kratos, like I am. Before the game even released, the studio said it would conclude the Norse era of the game and that future games would visit different mythologies. I look forward to that, because I found the Norse thing quite dull.
The conclusion to Kratos, Atreus and Laufey's story was satisfying, but the really tantalising stuff they hint at in this game comes to nothing more than teasing. I really hope future games will see this big overarching story progressed more fully.
I do hope though, that Mimir will continue with Kratos, wherever they go. He serves as an encyclopedia of Norse wisdom, informing the player of who everyone is and the what and why of everything. While he presumably couldn't serve the same function in a different setting, his rapport and banter with Kratos is something I wouldn't want to see abandoned.
Alas, the only thing I'll miss about the Norse games is a few of the characters. In particular, I hope they can find a way to bring Sindri back somehow, or least give him a decent conclusion before moving onto the next mythology for the game. Man, I felt bad for that guy. .
Sadly, while I will inevitably play the future GoW games, I doubt Sony will move away from their glossy but shallow AAA template. Why derail the train when it's making so much money, even as Sony plead poverty over Microsoft buying Actvision.
When I saw the 10/10 ratings for this game rolling in, it reminded me how utterly wortless the big game journo sites are these days. How anyone could think this is a perfect game is beyond meme. Its a 6.5/10, maybe a 7 at best and that is only the excellent characters, dialogue and story that earn it that score.
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