A lot of people in here are dismissing OPs post simply because this style of genre has been done before. You see the comments calling it last of us, dark souls etc.
OP is only saying that it's a radical shift for the SERIES, but people don't seem to understand that.
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.
I haven't bought the game yet, but it's hard to imagine it being any more notable than the numerous other series out there that have gone through the same process(some multiple times over, some creating their own genres, etc.). It's certainly a very successful turn for the series though obviously.
It's a 13 year old, well-known, well-loved series with six games following a specific formula and loop in the bag already. Such a radical change for something like that is very bold.
I know I'm being a bit dismissive, but how is making a radical change from what was a pretty great beat em up style action game into another Sony third person cinematic action setpiece game with some Witcher inspirations that bold?
The game's good, but let's not claim it's this amazing departure from other games other Sony studios have given us.
I thought so too but after ten hours in I find the melee combat to be horrible. I hate the controls for it and the camera was not built for this kind of combat. I have resorted to exclusively throwing my axe bexause I don't find anything else about the combat fun. And this is a darn shame because everything else about the game is amazing.
Agreed. The new direction blew up hard! Most people were worried about the final product but the commitment and passion paid off real good. I just finished the game and I still can't stop playing
That's a fair callout lol and I'm as cynical as they come around these parts, but the game really is that good. It is. Coming from someone who couldn't make it through any of the prior installments and doesn't think Sony is the second coming.
I remember when I first starting reading the old forum (around 2012), I would see a lot of people stating that they didn't trust reviewers and that they'd 'wait for forum impressions because they trusted the users' thoughts'. NO, don't do that! I love enthusiasts' forums but the hyperbole is often... a bit much. Lots of people are very invested in their chosen black box. I remember those initial The Order impressions on the old forum before the review embargo was up. Seesh. I feel for anyone that pre-ordered based on those glowing, excited impressions.
This right here is one of the things I KNEW would be an issue with the game as soon as they confirmed the behind-the-back camera was locked. I hate it when games have enemies attacking me from places when I can't see them, and having a really close camera always leads to that. It was a constant issue in Horizon, especially whenever you end up fighting multiple machines at once - only in Horizon it's doubly bad because Aloy absolutely sucks at dealing with anything that gets close to her.
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Yeah, I won't lie to you, I'm conflicted about it. On one hand, it adds to the challenge to have to have that extra level of spacial awareness.
On the other, you do feel like you get hit with alot of cheap stuff and if you compare it even to it' predecessors it does feel frustrating.
It's especially as the game is filled with Ninja gaiden style boss fights with multiple enemies throwing projectiles at you off screen as you fight.
Comparing it horizon though, I feel kratos has enough AOE, parry and evasion techniques (and attacks) that make things feel alot less annoying than that game.
Someday. Or if they give me a demo so I can try it without paying full price. Nothing I've seen of the game gives me any reason to risk not liking it at a $60 price tag. People yelled at me to give Horizon a chance and I still find it beautiful to look at and take photo mode shots in but just about the antithesis of fun to actually play.
Horizon felt about as generic as you could get, this game is plays half decent. I don't think it's absolutely incredible like people say, but the combat does open up after a rocky opening. The main weakness to me is the basic attacks don't flow all that well and sometimes the camera.
But there's attack cancelling into evasion, just guard and parries, witch time, brutal instant kills w/ a stun meter, juggling plus your AI partner is actually useful and can do ranged attacks with status effects on your command that also float. As far as weapons go the Leviathan Axe is essentially Thor's hammer and you can use it as both melee and ranged and throw and return it to you on command which is super satisfying. So you can throw the axe at one enemy, wail on another, call the axe back and it flies through enemies hitting them on the way back. Also a weapon from past games is available. Also you can customize a build with stats and perks, although I thought it was pretty meekly implemented.
That being said, I also don't think it's a 95MC game and as a single player title there's really no reason to rush out and play. It'll be discounted soon enough.
How is the combat better than DD? I mean just the sheer amount of viable build variety and how all of them feel good in that game compared to this one makes it one of if not the GOAT combat systems in an RPG.
I remember when I first starting reading the old forum (around 2012), I would see a lot of people stating that they didn't trust reviewers and that they'd 'wait for forum impressions because they trusted the users' thoughts'. NO, don't do that! I love enthusiasts' forums but the hyperbole is often... a bit much. Lots of people are very invested in their chosen black box. I remember those initial The Order impressions on the old forum before the review embargo was up. Seesh. I feel for anyone that pre-ordered based on those glowing, excited impressions.
Haha. After that whole debacle I literally sat with a timer next to me to time my playthrough. Took me five and a half hours to finish the game. I mopped up the last trophy and got the platinum within... six hours?
Just found the hilarious OP quote from the initial 'The Order Impressions thread' before the reviews went out.
Personally, I think it harkens back to Metal Gear Solid in terms of pacing, to Killzone 2 for its gunplay theatricality, and to Vanquish, for its replayability. It is by no means a short game, either.
It's a 13 year old, well-known, well-loved series with six games following a specific formula and loop in the bag already. Such a radical change for something like that is very bold.
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
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! :)
Same reason people make threads with titles like this one. It's how the OP feels about the topic at hand and both sides usually exaggerate to extremes.
I get what you're saying, I'm just adding that the completion of the quote opens up the conversation, as now we're talking in comparison to other series. It's the difference between "one of the most" (vague) as opposed to "the most overall" (specific).
That's a fair callout lol and I'm as cynical as they come around these parts, but the game really is that good. It is. Coming from someone who couldn't make it through any of the prior installments and doesn't think Sony is the second coming.
Same reason people make threads with titles like this one. It's how the OP feels about the topic at hand and both sides usually exaggerate to extremes.
My argument was still series specific. I'm saying it's a bold new direction for the series, I'm not saying it's done things no game has ever done before. That's not what I'm saying at all.
I know I'm being a bit dismissive, but how is making a radical change from what was a pretty great beat em up style action game into another Sony third person cinematic action setpiece game with some Witcher inspirations that bold?
The game's good, but let's not claim it's this amazing departure from other games other Sony studios have given us.
As another user said in this thread, I guess the core of the series' identity has always been brutal, satisfying, crunchy combat that's also very stylish and excellent to look at, and that much is still very much part of this game, if only in a very different way. Also, in spite of the change in camera, the series hasn't lost its jaw-dropping sense of scale and epic moments. That's why it's such a good reinvention, because in spite of all the changes, it doesn't alienate fans of the series.
While the game is a radical departure and is fucking amazing, I don't really feel that its bold in terms of its change. As others have said, they just went in the same direction that a lot of other Sony Studios went with their games. Horizon, The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Order(although that one failed to stick the landing), they all go for the same direction which is over the shoulder action adventure game that delivers an awesome(and usually emotional) narrative with amazing looking environments and great combat. The setting and combat differs but the structure is still there. These games don't really do anything new that other games haven't already done before, but they do what they do so well that they knock it out of the park with the entire package. And while I do see a lot of Sony's studios going this direction, I'm glad that they do. I love that they do these kind of experiences in their games, I hope they do more with different kinds of protagonist like maybe more women, people of color, and LGBT protagonist.
Well anyway, that's why I feel the game isn't so bold. At least within the context of the entire industry.
While the game is a radical departure and is fucking amazing, I don't really feel that its bold in terms of its change. As others have said, they just went in the same direction that a lot of other Sony Studios went with their games. Horizon, The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Order(although that one failed to stick the landing), they all go for the same direction which is over the shoulder action adventure game that delivers an awesome(and usually emotional) narrative with amazing looking environments and great combat. The setting and combat differs but the structure is still there. These games don't really do anything new that other games haven't already done before, but they do what they do so well that they knock it out of the park with the entire package. And while I do see a lot of Sony's studios going this direction, I'm glad that they do. I love that they do these kind of experiences in their games, I hope they do more with different kinds of protagonist like maybe more women, people of color, and LGBT protagonist.
Well anyway, that's why I feel the game isn't so bold. At least within the context of the entire industry. Within the context of its own series I can consider a more bolder installment.
Again, I'm saying it's bold for the series. I'm not saying it's the kind of game we haven't ever seen before. I'm saying it's the kind of God of War game we have never seen before.
I mean, they used an established franchise that sold not that well the last time, and made a sequel in the popular genre at the time, which is nothing new, really.
Look at the jump from Duke Nukem to Duke 3D.
Bomberman to Act Zero is the same.
Heretic to Heretic 2.
Even BotW is guilty of this, although they at least advanced the genre.
Prince of Persia too advanced it's genre.
Bold moves to me are this:
Warcraft to WoW
SMW to Mario 64
Banjo Tooie to Nuts n Bolts
It's really not. It's an amazing game, but the structure is still very faithful to the older games. The game is still very combat heavy, and that combat still revolves around combos and larger than life boss battles. Those boss battles are still very cinematic. Without going into spoilers, those bosses also share a lot of similarities (in terms of what they are) with past games. The game's also filled with light puzzle solving
The game has more heart, and is much more cinematic in an Uncharted or TLOU sort of way, but it still shares a lot with past games.
BOTW is a much bigger departure. You can finish that game right after the tutorial, skipping everything else the game has to offer in the process.
I mean, they used an established franchise that sold not that well the last time, and made a sequel in the popular genre at the time, which is nothing new, really.
Look at the jump from Duke Nukem to Duke 3D.
Bomberman to Act Zero is the same.
Heretic to Heretic 2.
Even BotW is guilty of this, although they at least advanced the genre.
Prince of Persia too advanced it's genre.
Bold moves to me are this:
Warcraft to WoW
SMW to Mario 64
I agree with this, part of the reason Days Gone looks so uninteresting is because it has the most typical looking AAA video game protagonist ever. Meanwhile TLOU2 has Ellie as the main character instead of Joel. Lost Legacy as well, was way more interesting because Chloe is way more interesting than Nathan Drake.
I agree with this, part of the reason Days Gone looks so uninteresting is because it has the most typical looking AAA video game protagonist ever. Meanwhile TLOU2 has Ellie as the main character instead of Joel. Lost Legacy as well, was way more interesting because Chloe is way more interesting than Nathan Drake.
I feel so bad for Sam Witwer. He seems like such a nice, genuine dude and he's saddled with playing Beardy McMotorcycle, one of the dullest protags I've ever seen.
As for Uncharted, I would totally play a hypothetical Lost Legacy 2 in a heartbeat, but I would not be upset if they dropped Nadine from it and gave Chloe a new partner.
Persona 2 -> Persona 3 was huge.
Addition of Life Sim stuff
Major visual style & music changes
Combat changes (All-Out Attacks & all that go with them)
And unlike a lot of these other examples, it's a numbered entry, not a re-imagining or spin-off.