I'm around 15 hours into God of War
and I have to say, this is a much bolder re-imagining for an established franchise than I have ever seen in this industry, personally.
Games like Breath of the Wild, Resident Evil 4 (or 7) and the like were huge changes for their respective franchises, but even though they were radically different from their predecessors, there was still quite a lot that they retained, not just in terms of nebulous concepts like the "feel" and "atmosphere", but also specific gameplay mechanics or design philosophies. This new God of War, though, is just so different from the Greek era games. I mean, it still feels like a God of War game thanks to its tone, Kratos, and the general nebulous "feel" of the experience, but in almost every way that can be put down on paper, this is nothing like the previous GoW games.
The only similarities I've been able to spot are very minor things- like repeatedly pressing O to lift heavy objects at times, or pulling levers and stuff, or spike hazards in the environments, or upgrading your health meter via collectibles. And it all just works so well- most, if not all, of these changes are for the better, I'd say. Probably for the first time ever, I'm having as much fun playing God of War as I am gawking at the scope and spectacle (if not more so).
Even if this massive re-imagining hadn't worked out, I'd say SSM would still deserve props for the huge risk they've taken. Good thing it paid off though, because so far this is one hell of a game, and if the rest of it is as good as it has been up until now (or gets better, like I suspect it will), it might end up becoming one of my favourite games of all time.
NOTE: Please use spoiler tags in your posts whenever applicable! :)
EDIT: A lot of you seem to be misunderstanding (I guess I wasn't clear about what I was trying to say), but I'm not saying this is a completely new way to play games. Not even close. It borrows heavily from other genres, even other Sony first party titles, as many of you have pointed out. I'm saying it's a bold shift for the series, not for the industry or for video games as a medium at large.
I just dispelled the black fog and now I'm inside the heart of the mountain, just used the giant pulley thingie to go to the higher level with the flame jet traps in the beginning
Games like Breath of the Wild, Resident Evil 4 (or 7) and the like were huge changes for their respective franchises, but even though they were radically different from their predecessors, there was still quite a lot that they retained, not just in terms of nebulous concepts like the "feel" and "atmosphere", but also specific gameplay mechanics or design philosophies. This new God of War, though, is just so different from the Greek era games. I mean, it still feels like a God of War game thanks to its tone, Kratos, and the general nebulous "feel" of the experience, but in almost every way that can be put down on paper, this is nothing like the previous GoW games.
The only similarities I've been able to spot are very minor things- like repeatedly pressing O to lift heavy objects at times, or pulling levers and stuff, or spike hazards in the environments, or upgrading your health meter via collectibles. And it all just works so well- most, if not all, of these changes are for the better, I'd say. Probably for the first time ever, I'm having as much fun playing God of War as I am gawking at the scope and spectacle (if not more so).
Even if this massive re-imagining hadn't worked out, I'd say SSM would still deserve props for the huge risk they've taken. Good thing it paid off though, because so far this is one hell of a game, and if the rest of it is as good as it has been up until now (or gets better, like I suspect it will), it might end up becoming one of my favourite games of all time.
NOTE: Please use spoiler tags in your posts whenever applicable! :)
EDIT: A lot of you seem to be misunderstanding (I guess I wasn't clear about what I was trying to say), but I'm not saying this is a completely new way to play games. Not even close. It borrows heavily from other genres, even other Sony first party titles, as many of you have pointed out. I'm saying it's a bold shift for the series, not for the industry or for video games as a medium at large.
Last edited: