It has nowhere near the speed, polish or depth of those games in my opinion. Playing the new God of War is just making me want to boot up God Hand again instead.Also, the combat really is very much to the taste of one who might like character action games like DMC and Bayonetta. I mean, it's not combos and numbers based, but it does rely on you stringing together actual combos (not just numbered combos). And it's brutal, stylish, and feels really satisfying. It's the game's biggest strength too. Based on what you like (judging from your posts), I'd say you should give it a go!
Nothing about Planet Smasher said was wrong (and I usually disagree with him massively on gaming tastes!). The game is basically every Western AAA cliche thrown into a game with obscene amounts of polish and graphical fidelity.I too have had preconceived notions about games I didn't play and later turned out to be totally wrong about them.
I feel like Super Mario 64 is an even better example of a bold departure that worked.
Put simply: I like stylish action games, and this new one completely abandons the genre in favor of some weird Last of Us/Dark Souls hybrid that doesn't seem to emphasize the strengths of either game it's been inspired by. It looks overly weighty and Kratos slides and pivots around mid-combo like he's a puppet rotating on a turntable, and the removal of jumping and air combos doesn't help either. It's a weird hybrid of "realism" and fantasy that I just don't particularly have any interest in. Being forced to drag around an AI companion for the entire game doesn't hold much interest for me either.
Also, the close-up behind-the-back camera angle makes me nauseous. I hate games that overuse shaky-cam during gameplay to make themselves seem more cinematic or immersive - all they do is give me migraines.
TL:DR version - I just can't particularly see anything in the new game that makes me want to play it, whereas there are plenty of changes that make me not want to.
Not everyone feels that way. I still like the Classic GOW formula a lot. :/Bold is the wrong word. It wasn't bold to change up a tired formula that even the most devoted (hi) were done with. Was it radical? Very. Is it THE MOST radical? I don't think so. It plays with a lot of pretty well worn tropes, both thematically and mechanical. It sounds reductive (I don't mean it to be) but it really is Souls meets Naughty Dog in a lot of ways. It's very different for GoW, but it doesn't feel like something entirely NEW. Kratos is still melee fighting monsters, solving light puzzles and doing some traversal in a fairly straightforward manner.
I think for BOLD, it's absolutely BotW. We're talking storied, legendary franchise, decades of precedence, hardcore fan base. It is absolutely a bold move to shake that up to such a huge degree.
In terms of radical departure, I think it's gotta be RE4. They change their game so much it basically invented a new genre of shooter. It doesn't get more radical than that.
I feel like Super Mario 64 is an even better example of a bold departure that worked.
It's easy to forget because of how successful the game was, but Mario 64 had almost nothing to do with the previous games, in gameplay or structure or progression. Only the surface details are similar.
It was very different, yeah, but it shared the main aspects of its predecessors (open world mayhem, cop chases and stuff). God of War has almost nothing in common with its predecessors.
Yeah, but they released 25 years (I think) before Uprising. Also, that doesn't really qualify as an established series.
It was very different, yeah, but it shared the main aspects of its predecessors (open world mayhem, cop chases and stuff). God of War has almost nothing in common with its predecessors.
GoW is a result of Sony not greenlighting a GoW sequel though, really. You can thank the abomination that was Ascension.It was very different, yeah, but it shared the main aspects of its predecessors (open world mayhem, cop chases and stuff). God of War has almost nothing in common with its predecessors.
Bold is the wrong word. It wasn't bold to change up a tired formula that even the most devoted (hi) were done with. It plays with a lot of pretty well worn tropes, both thematically and mechanical. It sounds reductive (I don't mean it to be) but it really is Souls meets Naughty Dog in a lot of ways. It's very different for GoW, but it doesn't feel like something entirely NEW. Kratos is still melee fighting monsters, solving light puzzles and doing some traversal in a fairly straightforward manner.
It's not particularly bold or radical. It's merely following the cues of every other big AAA game of the last five years or so.
I do, too, but if Sony had come out and went "here's another GoW, also it's just like all the others" a lot of people would have yawned. People already backed away with Ascension. That formula was tapped out.Not everyone feels that way. I still like the Classic GOW formula a lot. :/
Yup. It doesn't have to be a huge bold shift to be a great game. We're still in hyperbole phase though, so I expect this kind of thing to continue for awhile.Yeah, this is what I was thinking really. It's a great game (that much is obvious to anyone) but bold and radical? No.
Never thought I'd say this, but I'm grateful Ascension happened.GoW is a result of Sony not greenlighting a GoW sequel though, really. You can thank the abomination that was Ascension.
But it's not the only one doing this, BOTW and RE4 don't feel at all similar to the previous entries in their series, the latter specifically during development changed so radically that they literally made a new IP from that idea. You literally couldn't even manually jump in past Zelda games, let alone explore true open worlds in the 3D games. in fact, literally some of the design decisions in God of War can be traced back to RE4. Hell go back further and you have some titles transitioning to 3D and massively changing as a result, like Mario 64 or OoT, the latter again, is still an influential title.... That's why it's bold.
We're both using the same arguments for different conclusions. Not sure we're gonna have much to discuss here.
It's not particularly bold or radical. It's merely following the cues of every other big AAA game of the last five years or so.
Okay, I'm having a hard time refuting this one, but I guess I can say this- at least the surface details were similar? I don't know, I guess I'm saying Super Mario 64 expanded the core idea of Mario games to almost unimaginable levels, but there was still plenty it had in common with its predecessor, even if most of that was, as you said, surface details. At the risk of repeating myself (again), God of War doesn't even have that much in terms of similarities with its predecessors. It's a completely new genre for the series.I feel like Super Mario 64 is an even better example of a bold departure that worked.
It's easy to forget because of how successful the game was, but Mario 64 had almost nothing to do with the previous games, in gameplay or structure or progression. Only the surface details are similar.
That's a lot of hands on analysis for a game you haven't, well, played at all. I don't think judging a very tactile and interactive game by footage is a good idea. It's not The Witness, where the gameplay can be seen and experienced. I say this as someone who agrees with you somewhat and loves loves loves character action (more than Sony adventure games like God of War is) too.
It's the honeymoon period of a new release. I await the inevitable "God of War was actually just ok" threads.Wow, people are really liking this new God of War aren't they?
Oh, I see. That I do agree with, yeah. There's just a lot of peeps coming out of the woodwork and saying stuff like "the old games were never good to begin with", and stuff like that with the new GOW out there. I love the older games and feel the need to defend their honor, lol. But yes, there really was nothing else to do with the OG formula, and it was clear they'd run out of ideas by Ascension.I do, too, but if Sony had come out and went "here's another GoW, also it's just like all the others" a lot of people would have yawned. People already backed away with Ascension. That formula was tapped out.
Not a single person in the entire universe would do such a thing.Don't try and downplay previous GoW technical achievements now.