Topic: God of War OT

@nessisonett I looked at my old save and it had 8 hours 30 game time so I'm assuming it didn't save after i beat the game because hltb has it pegged at about 9 hours. I played it in 2012 interestingly so I guess it's worth a refresher after 8 years!

The game looks sharp in HD, unfortunately the cut scenes are like compressed videos of game engine footage so they look pretty harsh but I guess that's just because they upscaled the PS2 version which probably had the cut scene compression

Zeus just gave me a power up and I recognised his voice and it is the same person who plays colonol Roy Campbell in MGS!

@ralphdibny I love it when I recognize a voice from a video game. I just saw a mobile phone advertisement that had the voiceover done by Claude Wallace from Valkyria Chronicles 4! 😆

@Th3solution nice! Campbell plays the gravedigger in gow too but he's sounds a lot less like campbell in that role

I finished GoW now, I think it was slightly better than I remember it. I think my only real gripe with it is that it goes on too long. Like maybe the gameplay is a bit samey, I think I'm not a big fan of these kind of fight loads of enemy type games, third person brawler or whatever you call them. I know there's lots of combos you can learn but at the end of the day, you just do what works, which is "push square" a lot and then press triangle if there is a man with a shield.

Overall I think it is quite cool though, the big baddies were really cool, Pandora's temple on the back of that banished wandering titan was awesome. There's so much about it that is just really cool but it is spoiled a bit by it's repetitive gameplay.

I actually quite liked Kratos and his perseverance, he didn't come across as just one note angry. He had a reason to take revenge, he was obviously a bit of a bad apple when he made his deal with Ares but I still felt for him when Ares took advantage in the way he did. But I think I really just liked how he refused to die until he'd had his revenge and his ultimate fate (before the Gods intervention) was really the only really fitting way it could end.

Generally the game reminded me a lot of Mortal Kombat for some reason. I think the blood and guts, the sounds of squelching and crunching, the long combo lists in the menu, the setting and supernatural elements with a real world motivation kind of had that MK vibe.

In terms of platforming, the most annoying bits were:

And

And

These bits had me saying the F word a lot. They were kind of good but I'm not sure if I had enough interest in the game to be hit with that level of difficulty. At least it wasn't combat though.

But yeah, good game but a bit repetitive. I can see why I didn't carry on with the series when I first played it 8 years ago. My play time was nearly 9 hours but it just felt like a lot longer. I kicked off GoW 2 right away after I finished so I didn't get sidetracked by any potential disinterest this time though!

@ralphdibny URGH THE SPIKE PILLAR CAN BURN IN TARTARUS

I’m really enjoying GoW 2018. I’m at the big open area now, although don’t have much free reign, mostly linear, but I can see how I’ll likely be hanging around here and returning to explore freely off and on. So far I really enjoy the puzzles and they haven’t been too difficult, just the right amount to keep it fresh but not frustrating. Combat has been great, and the story is coming together.

It’s just so fascinating how the Marvel Thor movies, Hellblade, the Vikings TV show, God of War, and now AC Valhalla all came around over the last few years when I previously hadn’t seen Norse mythology in any pop culture entertainment in all the years prior. As far as I know it just wasn’t a subject or setting that was popular before a couple years ago. Now, I think I’ve heard the term ‘Ragnarok’ thrown around in all these games and movies in the last 2 years that it threatens to become trite. But GoW manages to keep the setting and storyline really interesting so far, despite the potential for Norse fatigue lingering.

@Th3solution Some of the stuff later in the game is really cleverly done to make it fit with the mythology as well.

I thought the limited open world worked really well as it meant you could go exploring and find some stuff not related to the main story but, for the most part, the story does keep chugging along rather than being fragmented by your exploring.

@Th3solution You didn't tell me you were playing this?!?!? Where are you up to now? Which boss(es) have you fought?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Oh, yeah I just started a few days ago. 😄
I’m at the Lake and just beat a mini boss who was like a huge ape creature. I met the world serpent and the two dwarves. I’m now hanging out with the Witch lady and she’s apparently given me the ability to create those light bridges to open up new areas. So I’m not very far along.
I guess the bosses I’ve faced would be the first big troll, the Stranger, another big troll, and now that ape. I’m not sure if any of those actually qualify as “bosses” in the pure sense because I was able to beat each without too much trouble, but I am playing on easy. The enemy that gives me the most trouble is the disappearing ghost-like creatures that you have to stun before you can land an attack

There looks to be a really huge set of combat moves and options, especially with utilizing Areus to help. I’m really just starting to feel comfortable with the mechanics and the utilizing and equipping of the talisman things and choosing my skills to level.

I really like that the game has a lot more environmental puzzles and exploration and story moments than the earlier versions of the game, which seemed to be more non-stop action against hordes of enemies. Here so far there is plenty of down time and quiet exposition to spend just enjoying the journey.

@Th3solution Yeah totally, it's all about the journey, is it not? Let me know how you continue to progress, I'd appreciate a tag when you update us all about your progress next time. I reckon that Atreus is a vehicle to opening up Kratos' softer side, and shows what he can be like as a father, instead of just the all-out warrior, brutal and emotionless that we see in the initial trilogy.

@ralphdibny Yeah I finished the original GoW trilogy on PS3 & PS4. Have you played GoW Ascension? That's in my unfinished business section. GoW II, with Cory Barlog directing, was probably my favourite. I agree with you about the Hades level, those spiked pillars, both the ones you run along and the ones you climb are something that I found incredibly difficult on PS3, looking back, now that my skills as a gamer have somewhat slackened off due to lack of motivation to persevere and so on, I have no idea how I beat that level at the time and have no intention of going back to do so again. I reckon that GoW 2018 is much easier to beat than the games in the original trilogy. Did you know Barlog started off as an arts man for the original GoW game?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I sure will, my friend. I’m certain I’ll have lots of thoughts as I progress through the game that I’ll love to share.

@nessisonett 😂

@Th3solution interesting to read your thoughts on GoW 2018! My copy arrived in the post the other day but I still have 7 games to go before I play it lol

I feel like the Greek mythology was definitely more prominent in my upbringing with the various sources I've mentioned before (Disney Hercules, clash of the titans etc) but I'm sure I learned about both Greek and Norse mythology in primary school. I was definitely aware of Odin, Thor and Loki before I got in to the Avengers-specific parts of Marvel. I struggle to think of any 90s and pre 90s media that would've played a part in that awareness though.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic nice, nah not yet, I am working may way through all 7 or 8 of them in release order! So I've just started GoW2, then Ill play the java mobile game Betrayal, then Chains of Olympus (originally PSP but I have it on PS3), GoW 3 Remastered on PS4, Ghost of Sparta (again psp but on PS3), Ascension (PS3) and finally the 2018 GoW on PS4!

I feel like those difficult platforming parts definitely have a learning curve but I think I was getting impatient with them and kept dying. Definitely doable though if you ever decide to revisit the first game! It doesn't help that when you die loads it asks you if you want to switch to Easy Mode with (this only affects combat) in brackets. If it only affects combat then why is the game asking me when I keep dying on the platforming bits!

@ralphdibny Why not take it one step further once you've done all that and create Kratos in Dark Souls 3?

I hit a weird glitch in God of War 2 last night, I got hit with a freeze ray from a Gorgon at the same time as getting grabbed by a harpie. The left stick waggle prompt came up and I did it but it only got rid of the harpie status effect but not the Gorgon attack effect so I was stuck in one spot able to use attacks in slow motion but unable to move anywhere else. Super weird, I killed the baddies but obviously couldn't move on to progress so I had to restart from checkpoint. I had a Google for the glitch but could only find one video of it in YouTube with no advice on how to progress:

I think my glitch happened in more or less the same spot as that video too.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic haha I don't think dark souls is for me really, if I am already tiring of melee combat in an "easy" game then I can only imagine how bored I might get in something like dark souls. I'm sure Kratos was in a mortal Kombat or soul calibur game so maybe his presence there will have more relevance to me now that I'm working my way through his solo games

@ralphdibny Note to ralph - God Of War's (2018) combat was heavily inspired by the combat in Dark Souls. :S , Choose Easy mode, perhaps?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic should be ok on medium/intermediate, I never choose easy. I've played other imitations before like Jedi Fallen Order, it just needs to have an additional hook like being part of a familiar series for me to bother putting in the effort to play the game. It's not really a case of difficulty, just one of interest

@ralphdibny Very interesting perspective. Why do the Souls games fail to interest you? ,just out of....interest ?