View: https://i.imgur.com/t2X4lmT.gif
Dunno why Poseidon was shittalking like that since Kratos killed Ares as a mortal, but I'll give him slack since this time, the Gods weren't helping Kratos.
I'm playing GOW 1 - 3 and GOW 2018 in anticipation for Ragnarok this year. I already played GOW1 and 2 through PS Plus. GOW3 is available through the streaming service, but I also downloaded it years ago when it was available, so I downloaded it and started again.
God of War 3 is an interesting case. Remastered, it still pops and looks great (though some character models are significantly better than others). Gameplay-wise, it feels very good and probably has the best assortment of weapons in the original linear games. And bosses such as Hades, Zeus, Hercules, and even Super Cerberus are quite thrilling to fight.
It's a very good game, but there are several things that hold it back from being an overall better package than 2 and 1, even if it does some things better:
- The pacing is a bit off. It's not as bad as I remember, but the game does a good job up until probably Cronos with giving you some puzzles, regular fights, then punctuated by a boss fight. However, at a certain point you go deep in the caverns and you're contained to the Labyrinth. And unlike Pandora's Temple in GOW1, this isn't a masterwork of level design; it's just different cubes with pretty easy puzzles in them and then a few fights. The fights are good, at least, especially that last BIG one after the "hope" dialogue with Pandora.
- A bit more on pacing: more in this game than the others, I felt the need to give it a break for a few days because it was a little too much. Because the game goes to lengths to really shock you -- first person Posideon kill, cutting off Hermes' legs, ripping off Helios' head, abusing Poseidon's princess (who was ALREADY abused by Posideon) -- you compound that with the feel of the combat, which is improved but also feels more visceral, particularly with the Nemean Cestus -- and you just need to break for a bit. The thing is, it's a short game, so it's honestly a bit strange to me that I'd need a break
- Also, there's something very weird about hearing those 'hope' lines in the game. In fact, the whole thing with Pandora's box containing hope is still a lame ending. In fact, the writing is a big step down compared to 1 and 2. A lot of lines try to sneakily be exposition.
- Still feels like Helios got shafted. Hermes wasn't much of a fight but at least it made sense considering what his powers were. But Helios was a very small environmental hazard in this game and that's it.
- I mentioned level design earlier, but the level design as a whole isn't as good as the first two games. While GOW1 is lacking in even mini-boss fights, it makes up for it with terrific level design and some really cool puzzles. Pandora's Temple remains a fantastic piece of work. GOW3 has much simpler level design, such as when you go to the Pit of Tartarus, go into one room, then a couple ramps declining down, and one gap to jump across to get to the Cronos fight. There's just not as much to it; it's like if the underworld from GOW1 (the design, not the difficulty) were much of GOW3. On the plus side, the Hades section I think has some good puzzles and design, and the garden with Hera is really cool.
- The part at the end where you have to run a lot after Zeus comes back to life and sucks away your power? Unnecessary and always a pain on replays. I remember ME3 doing something similar during dream sequences; maybe it was just the thing for video games to do at this time? Story-wise, it's unneeded, execution-wise, it doesn't really do anything or feel as if it has a purpose or theme, and it's just boring to play after a thrilling final boss. I think it could have went straight to the scene with Athena because while beating up Zeus one last time led to that memorable NeoGAF thread, Zeus getting offed by the Sword of Olympus (which he gave to Kratos to give up all his powers in GOW2) into Gaia's heart and the leaders of the Gods of Olympus being taken out simultaneously with the leader of the titans, was a fitting end by itself.
- Geez, is this game bleaker than the rest. It's not as if God of War is a happy series, but I feel it's not oppressively sad or tragic, and the latest God of War in 2018 had plenty of levity. But this one just feels sad all the time.
- This is probably the most subjective, but I feel the game has much less of a grand feeling to it. It's not that there aren't BIG fights or thrilling fights or anything like that, but the feeling of going through Pandora's Temple, or the feeling of first seeing Ares, or the feeling of the fantastic three-parter of the Sisters of Fate, or traversing so many different worlds in GOW2, just isn't there in a game that's mostly on Mount Olympus. There's a certain cinematic feeling of 1, 2 and 2018 that I don't feel in GOW3.
Despite all the issues, the gameplay and bosses make it a very good game overall because it's fun to play, and that goes a long way in a video game as we know. And some of the direction choices, like part 1 of the Zeus fight being 2D while shit goes down behind you, were great.
It just needed one of the original directors, I think, to stick the landing smoother. It was fun to play again, and while I can see myself playing through the original games again, I may just come back to play the bosses next time I get to GOW3.
