I've always thought the old God of Wars were massively overrated by mainstream media outlets.
They definitely are. They were 100% all style and zero substance, all glued together with awful stories, cutscenes and characters. Like, if it wasn't for the setpieces where you have almost zero input or the extreme violence, no one would have given a shit. But they are definitely guilty pleasures, and I enjoyed my time with them.
That said, this game is apparently completely different so I don't think it's fair to compare how they are being treated by the critics.