Hemwick Charnel Lane? Even then, vegetation is thin on the ground...
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God of War (2018) is everything I dislike about modern video games
- Thread starter Blackquill
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Hemwick Charnel Lane? Even then, vegetation is thin on the ground...
I can understand the OP. I liked the game, but didn't get why it was so highly reviewed.
I'm a BIG God of War fan, one of my favorite series, and was expecting this game to do something completely remarkable and unique to justify all the praising.
Well, it did great with Kratos character arc, but it wasn't anything that astounding or original. It didn't present an exploration of its themes in a very deep and thought-provoking way, but it was well written. I disliked Atreus though, couldn't see much personality from him, in my view he was more of a gear to the history than an important character by itself.
I really liked the combat, but the camera angle didn't proved to be useful, if it was than we wouldn't need indicators and people shouting to Kratos that he's going to be attacked by his back/sides. A wider camera angle, like Bayonetta or even like Uncharted, would be better.
The thing is, after seeing all the praise, I believed this game was going to ne this generation The Last of Us, but it wasn't. It didn't brought storytelling in video games to new heights, nor created a gameplay system that was groundbreaking for the developer (the old GoW were already great at this). It is, though, a good game and a great stepping stone for the franchise's new life.
I'm a BIG God of War fan, one of my favorite series, and was expecting this game to do something completely remarkable and unique to justify all the praising.
Well, it did great with Kratos character arc, but it wasn't anything that astounding or original. It didn't present an exploration of its themes in a very deep and thought-provoking way, but it was well written. I disliked Atreus though, couldn't see much personality from him, in my view he was more of a gear to the history than an important character by itself.
I really liked the combat, but the camera angle didn't proved to be useful, if it was than we wouldn't need indicators and people shouting to Kratos that he's going to be attacked by his back/sides. A wider camera angle, like Bayonetta or even like Uncharted, would be better.
The thing is, after seeing all the praise, I believed this game was going to ne this generation The Last of Us, but it wasn't. It didn't brought storytelling in video games to new heights, nor created a gameplay system that was groundbreaking for the developer (the old GoW were already great at this). It is, though, a good game and a great stepping stone for the franchise's new life.
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It is hilarious that you bring this up when the OP doesn't. By reading between the lines, you mean putting something in there that he doesn't hint at at all? OP mentions the meme and then goes and talks about invisible walls and visual cues.
I didn't realize invisible walls and visual cues were endemic of the camera chosen...
It is true that GoW has elements of other AAA SP games in it. What I don't like about a lot of titles it using trends because of their popularity and then doing nothing with them.
I actually think the RPG elements aren't very good in GoW. However, most aspects of this game are made very well especially the combat, camera and the story (including the father son relationship). It isn't just looking at the market and copying trends it is actually making them its own like with the open world that is a lot smaller to provide you with better content.
A game that I would actually call a combination of the worst parts of AAA SP gamign is AC:O.
It has a huge world with basically almost exclusively filler content, microtransactions and GaaS quests that change every week and are basically a little more dynamic radiant quests. AC is also becoming more of an RPG with Odyssey without making anything extraordinary well like a poor man's Witcher if you will.
I hope that made some sense at least. I think that not everything one can dislike is necessarily good criticism and while GoW (like any game) has its flaws, it definitely does a lot of things very well.
God of War in its current form - another singleplayer cinematic third-person game with its focus on narrative - wouldn't have happened if WWS wouldn't have so much success with these kind of games in the past, pretty much pioneered by The Last of Us. WWS learned from that and shifted the God of War name to a completely different game. The "reducing" part was made by you, not me. God of War 2018 objectively is a better game than all the previous iterations ever where. But that doesn't mean every person has to like this approach. It's not that hard to accept.
I stand to the point that God of War is like a perfected template of the games Sony has and still is been doing. Do I like these experiences personally? Not that much. Can I accept WWS is objectively creating the currently best first-party output? Of course.
But TLOU went from having the middle aged dad protagonist to the lesbian teenager protagonist. Horizon gives us a young tribal lady from the future. You play a kid and catdogbird in The Last Guardian.
Did you just take God of War and sort of Uncharted 4 and try to suggest they reflect all of Sony's output because their protagonists are middle aged (Kratos is middle aged personality wise in some ways I guess)?
My only complaint with GoW - and actually quite a few big games recently - is it took a long time for me to get into it. a really long time
I had the same with AC Origins but i know theres a great game so push through and its well worth it.
I had the same with AC Origins but i know theres a great game so push through and its well worth it.
Sorry OP but that's a big no from me.
Loved the new God of War. Could've done without the loot tbh but outside of that i really would only want a few ore enemy types and a handfull of bossfights more. But it was the first try and after the enormous success Part 2 wil be so much grander.
This game is my goty so far and in my top 10 of all time. The gameplay alone is so much fun and the rest is on such a high level that i really have to try hard to find a real down side.
Not every game is for everyone but i'm still sad that you don't like it. Really struggle to think about much they could do better.
Loved the new God of War. Could've done without the loot tbh but outside of that i really would only want a few ore enemy types and a handfull of bossfights more. But it was the first try and after the enormous success Part 2 wil be so much grander.
This game is my goty so far and in my top 10 of all time. The gameplay alone is so much fun and the rest is on such a high level that i really have to try hard to find a real down side.
Not every game is for everyone but i'm still sad that you don't like it. Really struggle to think about much they could do better.
All of this is so off that I'm not sure how to respond to it. It's just... wrong.
What about Sunshine? No character has really aged and I wouldn't call the story "mature". Comparing F.L.U.D.D to Ellie or Atreus is tenuous tbh.
Did you read the OP? He clearly elaborates on why he feels the presence of invisible walls are worsened by the chosen camera angle making it difficult to see the visual cues that there is one:
Whether you agree is a different matter, but the OP made clear why he feels this particular camera angle is problematic in this game and lessens the experience for reasons that extend beyond "every song game has this".
Sony just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about ResetEra (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in GameFAQs where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in ResetEra, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the ResetEra public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase GoW, nor will they purchase any of Sony's oscarbait games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Sony has alienated an entire market with this move.
Sony, publicly apologize and cancel all your games and make Ape Escape or you can kiss your business goodbye.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about ResetEra (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in GameFAQs where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in ResetEra, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the ResetEra public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase GoW, nor will they purchase any of Sony's oscarbait games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Sony has alienated an entire market with this move.
Sony, publicly apologize and cancel all your games and make Ape Escape or you can kiss your business goodbye.
Have you played the game? Cause the invisible wall issue is a load of bunk. And certainly not how the OP describes it.
I totally agree about the "rpg" elements and crafting, it was totally boring and nonsense...you always find better lot, so you just carry on untile its too hard or find a particular loot somewhere, no meaning on crafting anything just a waste of time.
I liked it less than prev games for other reasons, but overall i didn't find it so "bad" because its similar in things that other games do...
About the actual Sony pattern topic that looks like the trend: damn you guys probably hate Nintendo as hell if you have problem with similar patterns... (not a fan of N games myself, BUT these even if similar are greatly polished and fun to play, so similar pattern doesnt' mean bad.)
I liked it less than prev games for other reasons, but overall i didn't find it so "bad" because its similar in things that other games do...
About the actual Sony pattern topic that looks like the trend: damn you guys probably hate Nintendo as hell if you have problem with similar patterns... (not a fan of N games myself, BUT these even if similar are greatly polished and fun to play, so similar pattern doesnt' mean bad.)
Interesting. I find this game vastly different from any first party Sony game this gen. Since we're referring to TLOU, I can't remember TLOU handling puzzle solving, exploration, combat and set-pieces the same way God of War does. It's not even a linear game. Sure it's third-person, sure it has cutscenes but does that make it cut from a template? Respect your opinion though.
The bigger question is: was it worth doing the one-shot camera? I mean it works great to showcase these two characters and the blending of gameplay/cutscene. However, it's also limiting in certain ways. I remember these amazing scenes in past God of Wars when the camera pulled back to showcase the whole area (Kratos being reduced to this tiny dot moving about). Those are gone. Ironically, it feels more static due to looking over Kratos' shoulder most of the time than the actual static camera from past games. It also does no favour to the combat because it's too close, relying on red indicators when you're hit offscreen. If they're going to rely on this camera (which they will) they have to pull it back. This isn't Dead Space where it made sense and lend itself well to the on-screen menu and made you feel more claustrophobic+scared as a result. I feel there it was clearly designed and intended that way (said concept being borrowed by Resident Evil 4). Here... it just doesn't completely work for me. Same could be argued with Horizon: Zero Dawn in parts but the camera zooms out away sometimes to quickly see the next enemy. It isn't as bad there and the camera isn't as close. In short: we need to see Kratos's feet, allowing to ditch the indicators with the added field of view.
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The entire paragraph is OP detailing how exploration with the camera is terrible because of how Kratos takes up too much screen real estate and that coupled with the visual flourish it becomes hard to gauge where and what is accessible, making it more frustrating than not to explore. Things that could've easily been solved by... you know, pulling the camera back.
If you want to play ignorant to that part of the post, more power to you, but don't go around telling people that they're dying on some kind of hill for agreeing with OP's points just because the thing you decided to focus on was a "tired meme" that wasn't even brought up as a knock against the game but rather the fact that it's not a surprise to see Sony use it here when they've been using it for a bunch of their premiere titles. The point isn't that it's a bad concept, the point is that God of War compromises itself by poor utilization of it.
And so we've come full circle, getting back to my original post and noticing how hard it seems for some people to accept different opinions.
And yes, of course they have "other games". Never pretended anything different. Their AAA focus is definitely on these kind of experiences though.
I feel out of touch because I literally don't know what any of that means.
I definitely agree with this and it's something I'd consider a pretty wide spread issue too. GoW wasn't too bad for me, pretty much in after an hour, but can see it taking 2, 3 or even 4+ hours for some and it can kill some games for me before it really gets going.
That's the cycle with every highly acclaimed GoTG contender game.
For me these days if a game doesn't grip me damn near immediately I'll drop it. GOW didn't have that problem. I actually felt the opening was VERY strong. The game had a bit of a lull after but the opening was strong enough that the game had already pulled me in.
I'm playing it right now and I don't like the "finally getting somewhere just to be pushed back and start it all over again" story-mechanic but the game itself is fine. Not the best Sony exclusive but a solid title. Bloodborne is leagues ahead
That's called moving goalposts, you went from "Sony games are like this" to "AAA games only" but even then we still have games like GTS, BB and Detroit, you're basically dismissing other games to make your point better.
I mostly agree with you OP, and that have been incredibly alienating for me lately. I just don't get for these "experience" games. I didn't much care for last of us, uncharted games bore me to tears, new GoW just looks dull and streamlined in all the way I don't enjoy.
But they are the kind of games that are always put on the pedestal lately... If not for how DMCV trailer made this entire forum fucking collapse from all the hype, I would've resigned into idea that entire video game industry have shifted away from people like me. ALthough honestly, for the most part it really did. It's a world where there are 4 uncharted or any other *insert heavily set piece based cinematic experiences* but only one God Hand... sigh...
But they are the kind of games that are always put on the pedestal lately... If not for how DMCV trailer made this entire forum fucking collapse from all the hype, I would've resigned into idea that entire video game industry have shifted away from people like me. ALthough honestly, for the most part it really did. It's a world where there are 4 uncharted or any other *insert heavily set piece based cinematic experiences* but only one God Hand... sigh...
I'm totally with you - we will drop a game fairly quick if its not biting.
GoW was different as we had heard so many good things we pushed through - it took a good 5 hours for us to actually start enjoying it though.
GoW is my GotY this year, so far. That said, I agree about the RPG elements. They felt a bit unneccessary.
Whether you agree (or disagree) with the criticism(and whether you feel it has validity) is an entirely different matter to totally disregarding that the OP makes the context of his criticism of the camera very clear by highlighting multiple times why he feels it ends up problematic to the game. If you want to address why the "invisible wall issue is a load of bunk" by all means, but to say "It is hilarious that you bring this up when the OP doesn't. By reading between the lines, you mean putting something in there that he doesn't hint at at all? OP mentions the meme and then goes and talks about invisible walls and visual cues." is just totally ignoring and disregarding what was actually written in the OP which does indicate that yes, "the actual point [is] that the [OP believes] game's issues are endemic of the creative decision to employ it".
The issue is that you're making it sound like Sony are going out of their way to make games from this supposed mold. In the case of GoW, Cory had been wanting to make a single-take third person game for some time. He actually pitched the idea to Crystal Dynamics for a Tomb Raider game in that vein and they told him that it was crazy and that they didn't want to do it. He eventually made his way back to SSM and pitched them an idea with that concept and they went with it. So it's not as if it's some idea that he specifically cooked up for Sony.
So you barely played the game and know everything it has to offer?
Simply untrue, The game has 23 armor sets for kratos and the vast majority of those are high end crafted stuff. You can collect around 10 armor sets.
Firstly "2 levels"? what metric are you using to grade this the max level in this game is 9. If you are 2 below them you are 22.2% below their level. Of course you should be getting smashed.
You refuse to upgrade gear and then moan about getting beat...
Subjective nonsense. "Too colorful" "can't see things clearly"
Push to sprint sticks is a non issue, The R&M 9gag stuff is clearly bullshit and the "bad guy" critics are poor since Jeremy Davies did an incredible job and the writing is way better than most games.
I can't think of a single game that implemented any of the features better? I'd love to be told which ones did. As a companion Atreus was markedly better than basically all of them. The RPG mechanics work because for the most part you can ignore them completely slap on the highest gear you have and stride forward they are only really required in some of the later zones and when they are it's foe the sake of 100% The camera is far from and issue and at certain points the 1 shot stuff was super important.
Ultimately it sounds like you just didn't want to like the game or you wanted attention and to make a thread. I don't see any of the criticisms you made as valid other than it's not a game YOU liked and thats cool you can not like something but lets be real. This game isn't popular and well regarded and many peoples game of the year for nothing.
One of the games of the generation for me.
My only complaint is it ended and there is no DLC or sequel out yet. ;)
My only complaint is it ended and there is no DLC or sequel out yet. ;)
Sunshine was very much Nintendo's attempt of pandering to the PS2 crowd, and making Mario as much like GTA3 as possible.
– Americanized voice Acting
– Mature, big-budget, cinematic plot trying to emulate 'The Wire'. Opening with luxury airliners, vandalism, court cases, political intrigue, corrupt police, Bowser plotting and Mario being framed: opening in the Dockland is a clear homage to Season 2
– Giving Mario a gun
– The introduction of characters designed to appeal to older audiences, such as Toadsworth.
– Open world, urbanised, Rio de Janeiro/City of God themed hostile and oppressive setting.
– Trying to make the villains sympathetic because of the belief that Peach is Jr's mother.
Resistance 3 was good! I'd like to see Insomniac try making another FPS.
There are others examples lolWHY is this picture always brought up in Sony discussion?
Edit - Changed to a GTS pic to fit the exclusive deal :D
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Yes, the entire point that ends with an inaccurate assessment of invisible walls and visual cues. How could I ignore that entire bit about the game that's been misstated? Will you or OP provide me with examples (should be easy, OP makes it seem like a common occurence)? I'd like to see them since it doesn't seem to be any issue for most.
Because yes the game has a pulled in camera but it's designed around that so primary objectives and paths are never hidden. It doesn't have invisible walls hidden by the camera work, especially to the degree that OP is implying.
So, am I supposed to argue against something that doesn't happen in the game or...?
What? You just made a fake quote by me I never made. That's called ... Fake quote?
I said "games Sony has and is been doing". And so they are, with games like God of War, TLOU2, GoT or DS being prime examples.
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