Full spoilers for both Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. No other spoilers from other titles should be posted here. Thanks! :)
This thread is the third in a series of LTTPs detailing my time with all the mainline pre-Ragnarok God of War games. The other threads are here:
God of War (2005) - https://www.resetera.com/threads/lt...eaming-the-quaint-and-great-beginning.657970/
God of War 2 - https://www.resetera.com/threads/lttp-god-of-war-2-an-objectively-superior-sequel.665113/
God of War 3 -
God of War: Ascension -
God of War (2018) -
So... two more God of War games played until completion:
And, really, I'm not sure what to think. These games felt so inherently tied to their era, to the restraints of portable gaming and prequels, that neither have truly left that much of an impression on me either way. They're not experimentally janky yet surprisingly well-done like the first game, nor are they polished grand adventures like the sequel. They're just... God of War games, and that's a weird thing to feel right now, as I move on to an entirely new generation in the series. As such, I chose to write about these games in a singular thread, instead of singular ones like the other, Santa Monica-developed titles. Without further ado:
Chains of Olympus
If both of these games are fairly forgettable, then this is the most... forgettable. Now, that's not to say there aren't merits here. In the context of a PSP game, the game looks very impressive - being closer to the PS2 original than I really thought it could have. However, whilst the graphics are close to the original, almost everything else is as well. The game, despite offering a fair amount of 'new' additions to the gameplay, is very much identical to what came before - warts and all.
However, if this game is to have an identity of its own, it's that it's very much the God of War formula cut down to its very core. Puzzles are incredibly limited, platforming is - jokingly - almost non-existant, and the environments are really as basic as one could ask for when coming from that first title. There are literally only three bosses in the entire game, even. One of them being the obligatory - and kind of stale at this point - opening level boss. Now, these aren't necessarily a bad thing... but in this case it kind of was. Every level being a series of combat sequences, followed up by linear corridors and basic climbing sections, does not evoke the same feeling of adventure and grandness as the original. Similarly, whilst God of War 2005's bullshit moments were just that, they were also similarly memorable, and also occumpanied by some truly inventive and unique moments to boot. There's just... nothing like that in this game. With the 'non-combat' gameplay really just amounting to a very, very basic mirror puzzle. Something that can be excused given the portable origins, but is definitely harder to deal with in 2022 on a big 4K TV.
Though, despite that, the game is still that same God of War action, and that's still really fun in its own right. This time, however, I had to play on Hard (Spartan, God, Titan, whatever it's called this time lol) Mode to get the Platinum and, man, did this get frustrating at times. This being portable, the camera was as much of an enemy as the enemies themselves - notably so given that very few of the returning, and even new, enemies felt as if they had been balanced to accommodate for smaller arenas and a limited camera. Similarly, this game - being the first one I beat on Hard - highlighted a fairly major flaw in the entire series' combat for me. That being how, due to the extreme lag after rolling, the high numbers of unblockable attacks, and the propensity to getting stun-locked by enemies, the combat is just... not that fluid. There are so many combos, but because of those above issues you barely - if ever - really make use of them. Often enough going for the tried-and-true Square-Square-Triangle. Whilst some combat encounters were satisfying to beat, I honestly cannot say that I had a better time here, than in the limited camera-space of Norse God of War.
Despite all that, there is still a story in here. One that... just happens. It's there. It does its job. It was very clear to me that Ready at Dawn did not prioritise story in this as, overall, there's less story than the very limited one found in the first game. Kratos defeats some Persians and then, suddenly, the sun falls out of the sky and smoke starts spewing everywhere. 5 minutes later the smoke ain't a problem anymore (seriously though, when I got the trophy for "Defeating Morpheus," I was baffled) and... now you gotta go get some primordial fire... and now you gotta escape from Hades again... and now Persephone was the villain all along! Things just kind of happen with Kratos himself having barely any agency. Even the final choice - of whether to stay with Calliope for like five more minutes before everyone dies, or save the entire world - is a dumbass choice only a Life is Strange fan could appreciate.
However, this story isn't without any merit. It did give us one of the most unintentionally hilarious QTEs of all time:
"Mash O to push your child away," is as absurd as the bombastic music playing behind a moment that's supposed to be touching. Whilst I must admit that these games have a more nuanced story than simply "KILL GODS!!!!"... I'll never say that they're great at tones.
Oh, and fuck the final boss fight and its unskippable cutscenes.
Ghost of Sparta
Now... is this to Chains of Olympus as God of War 2 was to 1? Yes, and no. Yes, because like God of War 2 it manages to improve in a significant number of areas. Most of which being the general presentation and the story, which I'll talk about in a moment. Genuinely, I am shocked that this was even possible on PSP. It sometimes legitimately has better technical artistry than some modern Switch games, and that's not a console-war hyperbole moment. The game manages to capture almost all of the scale seen in God of War 2, with graphics that managed to get framedrops (and screen-tearing... something I do not miss in modern times) from the PS3. It also, unlike Chains of Olympus, presents a significantly more diverse range of locales. Though with the weird downside of things getting all Dark Souls 2, where all of the following images feel like they're placed literally right next to each other:
(Again... this is all I could get. Google is legendarily shit at finding decent screenshots of games...)
It was also interesting to see some - fairly rudimentary - attempts at creating truly cinematic set-pieces. Of course this is a post-Uncharted God of War, so it makes sense that they'd be here, but it's still surprising to see what is - at heart - a PSP Game doing shit that's even at half the level of those titles. So, yeah, whilst the game looks the part... I'm honestly not sure whether it plays the part. The "arenas are too fucking small yet too big for the camera," issue is still here and worse than ever because, for some god-forsaken reason, Ready at Dawn decided to add more unblockable and nearly undodgeable grab attacks. The wraiths this time are even worse than usual, especially on hard where a single grab can take a quarter of your health bar even with the most rapid of mashing.
Whilst Chains of Olympus was the God of War formula cut down to its very core, this was... not that. Platforming is back, with climbing sections, parkour sections and more being significantly more plentiful. Set-pieces are, as mentioned above, much more frequent. Locations are more varied. There's more bosses. And so on. However, to me, this all felt like Ready at Dawn was translating the God of War formula whilst still heavily limited by the constraints of the platform. Climbing sections are many but incredibly brief. Puzzles are, again, very very limited. Bosses are often just regular enemies but with a new skin and a few new moves (though this is a problem inherent to all the games, I'm starting to think). Locales are brief and you never get to 'know' them like you know the Islands of Creation, or Pandora's Temple.
Now the story is a definite improvement over the original. Kratos had some agency, for one. His motivation of finding Deimos is, at the very least, something that's set up from the beginning - instead of set up in the final level of the entire game. However, it still very much feels like all the worst aspects of how these Greek games tell their stories, without many of the positives to back them up. This is mainly seen in how pretty much all the characters Kratos meets along his journey are more plot points than anything. Deimos, this game's entire reason for existing, has two scenes. One where he gets angry at Kratos. And another... where he gets angry at Kratos before immediately forgiving Kratos only to die moments later. Kratos' Mum is literally just a quest-giver. Thanatos, despite having more lines than Ares, is really just there to be a final boss. It's becoming quite obvious to me just why Sony Santa Monica, and Sony in general, wanted to move towards more deep and lengthy narratives... because there really isn't much to go on in either of these games.
It's also clear to me that both games really, really struggled with trying to fit themselves into the relatively closed stories of 1, 2 and 3. Neither are truly consequential to the plot (for 3 I don't know, but I'm assuming not), and many of the story elements are forced into place by characters acting like utter dumbasses. See: Ares and Athena capturing Deimos instead of just killing him right then and there. Both definitely feel like side quests.
Now...
Seriously though... it is weird. This time it's the "press up to throw your ghostly childhood self at a mirror," QTE. One that you have to do four times in a row. Each time, just lobbing that child into that mirror until it finally cracks. Just... how odd.
Platinum/Challenge of the ____ Thoughts
Generally, these two did not serve that much of a challenge when it comes to getting the Platinum. None of these games do. However, I must admit that the "Challenge of the Blank" things are getting a little long-in-the-tooth. Not because they're not satisfying, but because there's always that one that is just fucking bullshit. In these two, those are the ones in which you have to defeat a number of enemies without being hit once. Something that is fine in the modern GoW games as, despite the limited camera, every attack is telegraphed well, there's little in the way of random ranged bullshit, and dodging is significantly more viable. In this though? You just have to kind of cheese it. Be very patient and lay that cheese down like it's macaroni. It's just not fun at all. What I'm basically saying here is that these things:
Can fuck off.
Ghost of Sparta's trophies also had some of the weirdest ones there. The "Make her scream," trophy - where you have to make a titan scream for an entire minute - was as annoying as it was childish. Less annoying, but still incredibly childish, was the sex minigame related trophy - with this being the most bombastic one of them all - and the mandatory collectible you received by doing it three times in a row. I tells ya what that was not a comfortable trophy to get whilst I had family in the house for Christmas, nor was it really comfortable in general. But I'm not really at liberty to make a full judgement on them, so I'll leave that to others. Not annoying, but still grindy, were the trophies that required you to just grind a shitton of kills in the Combat arena. Literally no challenge but I still had to do them for that sweet, sweet Platinum.
In general though, I am questioning a little whether my desire to get a Platinum for all these games - in as short a time as possible - is truly a good one. I am following a guide for each one to make sure I don't miss any Gorgon Eyes or Feathers, and after the first two games I'm having to play these on Hard for the very first playthrough. Yet, despite that, I don't think I want to go into 3 and Ascension by abandoning that idea... so I won't. Unless there's something awful in either of those games that means I won't want to do them. In that case, feel free to tell me them here.
Concluding Thoughts
The portable God of War games are a weird bunch. Now that 'portable-only' consoles have been practically dead for years at this point, they represent a breed of games that simply doesn't happen anymore. When a smaller title arrives, it's very rare and - often-enough - just as bombastic and impressive as its parental title (see Uncharted Lost Legacy). These inherently limitedand small experiences are simply not a thing anymore, with DLC perhaps being the only real substitute. Honestly, I don't know whether I miss them. Playing them in the modern day, they're very much a "completionist's" game. One for weirdos like me who want to play all of what a series has to offer when they get the desire to play through them. Yet, I can imagine that back then (I was alive then, but I was mainly a DS gamer), games like these were nice to have, and impressive in their own right. I don't know, and despite this being the longest LTTP thread so far, these games are definitely going to be kept in my mind as more historical relics, than the epic adventures of the PS2 games.
Oh, and I gotta say that it's nice being able to play these natively. Streaming was OK, but even at the 720p these games run at the image is just so, so much better when playing on original hardware. If I ever have any desire to replay these games, I'll definitely buy the first HD collection on PS3 (if the store's still up by then...).
Now... Ascension or 3 next? Ascension is, technically, worse than 3 (and the only one I'll have to suffer through at 30fps...) - though graphically it's the best-looking Greek saga game. It's also another prequel, something that might be a bit weird to play after finishing the entire saga. However I've already played a post-3 game in Ghost of Sparta, so perhaps I should go back and play that instead, given that it'll likely be a step down in some areas compared to Ascension. I don't know, and some help here would be appreciated :D
Thank you for reading! Expect the next LTTP on whichever game I decide to play next... sometime next year.
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