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LittleAngryDog · Mar 19, 2018

Danjin44 said:
I might be skeptical about actual combat but one thing I hope they still keep from pervious GOW series the crazy puzzles and traps like in pandora temple from original GOW.

I hope the puzzles are more difficult than the puzzles of the Uncharted series. They are stupid in Uncharted. Anyway ... GOW4 must be a God of War. New elements, new graphics, new characters, new mythology, new mechanics of gameplay, but must always be a God of War.

LittleAngryDog · Mar 19, 2018

Can anyone tell me if the PS5 would be able to deliver a God of War with graphics of the level of this commercial CGI released today?

I think the graphic art is the same. The difference is in polygonal density, animations and lighting.

Bryank75 · Mar 19, 2018

mckmas8808 said:
No way this game takes 40+ hours to beat. Just no way.

Yeah, my bad 25 to 35 depending on how much side stuff you do... I was just guessing previously

DavidGzz · Mar 19, 2018

LittleAngryDog said:
Can anyone tell me if the PS5 would be able to deliver a God of War with graphics of the level of this commercial CGI released today?

I think the graphic art is the same. The difference is in polygonal density, animations and lighting.

Maybe if it released in 2022 at $499. I don't see a console releasing in 1-2 years for $399 having those visuals.

LittleAngryDog · Mar 19, 2018

LittleAngryDog said:
Can anyone tell me if the PS5 would be able to deliver a God of War with graphics of the level of this commercial CGI released today?

I think the graphic art is the same. The difference is in polygonal density, animations and lighting.

DavidGzz said:
Maybe if it released in 2022 at $499. I don't see a console releasing in 1-2 years for $399 having those visuals.

Direct X 12 support Ray Tracing. Look at this:

DavidGzz · Mar 19, 2018

That just makes me want Cyberpunk 2077 to be a next-gen only game.

LittleAngryDog · Mar 19, 2018

DavidGzz said:
That just makes me want Cyberpunk 2077 to be a next-gen only game.

Cyberpunk will be a cross-gen game. The max power of the next gen games we'll see in Ucharted 5, The Last of Us 3, God of War 4(2º), etc.

Refreshment.01 · Mar 20, 2018

Darak said:
I disagree with the notion that the choice of a camera model does not dictate, or at least heavily influence, the combat design of the game. If that's not what you are implying with your original post, perhaps I misread it, but it seemed to me like you were dismissing criticism of the camera choice as if that didn't have anything to do with the rest of the game's design.

i never said the contrary, in one of my replies even point out that combat encounters are handled different in old GoW and the 2018 one. What i answered to is pretty clear and it's in the 2 previous posts in case you want to read it again.

Darak said:
Fair enough, but that's still a very different beast. Experiments are welcome, but they are best done with new franchises with no need to mess up the identity of an established one.

This is very debatable with many counter examples. Just look at Nintendo and how some of their oldest and most important franchizes remain relevant due to how experimental they tend to be with them. Zelda, Mario, Metroid et al.

Darak said:
Well, I enjoyed those QTE at the time. They were not without fault, and I think the sequels improved the design. In fact, judging by modern standards, I think the games would have been better if they replaced them with some kind of direct, fast grab kills with some rewards. Something like last Doom's gory kills, which was probably inspired by beat'em-ups to begin with.

i think so myself also, QTEs when adequately handled can benefit a game. The Doom 2016 case is funny on how ironic it all is, since Glory Kills are basically QTEs yet everyone loved that go figure. Other games like RE4 and Red Steel 2 made great use of them also.

Darak said:
Ninja Gaiden used a mix of directed, corridor travelling, and free form cameras depending on the scene. They worked hard in order to ensure you weren't attacked very often from offscreen (and I'd still argue that many times they didn't succeed, and as a result, the camera is not one of the strengths of the game). If I recall correctly, the sequel tended to use the directed ones more often, but I may remember that incorrectly.

Ninja Gaiden 1 even had a dedicated trigger to move the camera behind Ryu's back and yes, in some cases the camera was fixed (for wall jumps for example) but combat, which is the center of our discusion, worked with a more free and player influenced camera than the originals GoW or DMC. Interestingly Ninja Gaiden favored more defensive gameplay than DMC and apart from block stance had a roll, just like this game seem to have.

Darak said:
The camera angle heavily influences a game's design, to the point were certain genres are not well suited to certain cameras, at all. A beat'em-up is not well suited to over-the-shoulder free cameras.

Sure, there are plenty of experiments and examples out there. There are turn-based team tactic games which are played in first person, not to mention every other crazy combination. And sometimes an amazing game can prove everybody wrong and make a genre work using a different camera (most people would say platform games couldn't possible work in 3D with a free camera before Mario 64). But the only serious attempt I remember of a beat'em-up with free camera was God Hand, and it didn't succeed.

Actually God Hand uses an over the shoulder camera and is one of the greatest Beatem Ups ever created for the people that bothered to play it. The reason for that is that it uses the Resident Evil 4 as template of all things >:-D. It even recycles a ton of assets from that game. So there you go... 2 action games of different genres sharing an over the shoulder camera and engine, 1 a Beat'em Up the other an action horror game.

Darak said:
I think Doom 2016 introduced many changes but still kept the identity of the original. Doom 3, in comparison, introduced many new things, but failed to keep that identity in many ways. Even then, the new Doom was in a good position to innovate.

I don't think the new God of War keeps the identity of the series, judging by the footage available and info given by the developers (which should be plenty enough).

(Sorry for the lengthy post, but I felt the need to clarify my points since my last post seemed a bit harsh.)

Guess we' ll see about GoW 2018. But the main focus of GoW games was combat, spectacle and it's interpretation of mythology. And these aspects remain still.

Now, the Tomb Raider Reboot is a good example of a game that lost it's identity when it decided to reinvent itself up using the base of a modern cover shooter. Platforming and exploration were too integral elements of the franchize to be left behind.

bitbydeath · Mar 20, 2018

Getting a lot of good previews and the gameplay looks fine although i will miss the blades but what is with the orange blood?

TheDuskwalker · Mar 20, 2018

Refreshment.01 said:
This is very debatable with many counter examples. Just look at Nintendo and how some of their oldest and most important franchizes remain relevant due to how experimental they tend to be with them. Zelda, Mario, Metroid et al.

Experimental, but still a lot of the core is still there. Super Mario Odyssey was still Mario 64 style, but the addition of enemy possession just gave you a lot more, but Mario himself still felt like a updated 64, it was basically the Mario version of Majora's Mask, which itself still played like Ocarina of Time, just with more gameplay and improvements added. Metroid when Prime was created was still very Super Metroid just with a fist person perspective to make her arm canon work the best in 3D. Even Zelda Breath of the Wild still had lots of Zelda flavor, heart upgrading, 3rd person melee combat (just now with more weapon types, but original type is still there) with other weapon staples like bows and bombs, main story still being about beating dungeons and then the showdown with Ganon at Hyrule Castle (just with the linearity removed, although that's not new to Zelda either). Hell, while you may not get a dungeon item you still get a dungeon ability, so that's even still there in a new way Not even jumping was new to Zelda, and I'm not even talking about Zelda II (although Zelda II is a good comparison for this situation, which wasn't exactly a bad game for its time either).

The thing with God of War, which I pointed out a few pages ago and you didn't get with my Castlevania comparison from the other, is with the new God of War it isn't just about the new camera and if the new combat is better, worse, or different, and freshness vs staleness, there is also the fact that outright half of God of War is gone. There is no more platforming and scaling objects, or no jumping at all, hell Kratos needs a kid to throw down a chain for him to climb up a tiny ledge now, which is also odd from a story perspective given his past adventures.

If Uncharted 5 (I use this comparison since Ascension went full Uncharted with climbing) came out and was no longer a third person shooter with platforming and climbing, but now just a corridor first person shooter without a jump button/platforming/climbing, would you still say that was a good thing if the actual gunplay was better in first person, or would you be mad that the other half of Uncharted's gameplay is completely gone, not reworked or redone, but outright gone, even if the new first person shooting itself was still good or even better than the third person shooting of the originals?

Iced Arcade · Mar 20, 2018

Looks a lot different but I felt the series was stale for a bit now. Probably buying a pro with this honestly

Refreshment.01 · Mar 20, 2018

TheDuskwalker said:
Experimental, but still a lot of the core is still there. Super Mario Odyssey was still Mario 64 style, but the addition of enemy possession just gave you a lot more, but Mario himself still felt like a updated 64, it was basically the Mario version of Majora's Mask, which itself still played like Ocarina of Time, just with more gameplay and improvements added. Metroid when Prime was created was still very Super Metroid just with a fist person perspective to make her arm canon work the best in 3D. Even Zelda Breath of the Wild still had lots of Zelda flavor, heart upgrading, 3rd person melee combat with arrows and bombs, main story being about beating dungeons and then showdown with Ganon at Hyrule Castle (just with the linearity removed, although that's not new to Zelda either). Hell, while you may not get a dungeon item you still get a dungeon ability, so that's even still there in a new way Not even jumping was new to Zelda, and I'm not even talking about Zelda II (although Zelda II is a good comparison for this situation, which wasn't exactly a bad game for its time either).

Thing with God of War, which I pointed out a few pages ago and you didn't get with my Castlevania comparison from the other, is with the new God of War it isn't just about the new camera and if the new combat is better, worse, or different, there is also the fact that outright half of God of War is gone. There is no more platforming and scaling objects, or no jumping at all, hell Kratos needs a kid to throw down a chain for him to climb up a tiny ledge now, which is also odd from a story perspective given his past adventures.

If Uncharted 5 (I use this comparison since Ascension went full Uncharted with climbing) came out and was a first person shooter, but now just a corridor shooter without a jump button/platforming/climbing, would you still say that was a good thing if the actual gunplay was better in first person, or would you be mad that the other half of Uncharted's gameplay is completely gone, not reworked or redone, but gone, even if the new first person shooting itself was still good or even better than the third person shooting of the originals?

Actually there's nothing for me to get, if you bother to read my replies again, you'll notice the post mainly adressed the issue about the camera perspective and how much or not it takes away from this entry being less of an action game. To quote this paragraph for the 3rd time:

"...It's pretty disappointing because there are no longer many third person action games, specially with high production values, but narrative adventures with an over-the-shoulder camera are a dime a dozen".

And the above was thoroughly covered in my replies, that's basically it.

Now, you debated the Nintendo franchizes as examples, however you left out very important ones that i already mentioned in a previous post.

Zelda -> Zelda II is a gigantic transition possibly comparable to what we see with 2018 GoW. Interestingly enough you mentioned the removal of jump button in GoW, yet original Zelda & LttP jumping was not an essential mechanic with the transition to 3D it was automated and with Breath of the Wild it introduced a jump button. Would you use the omition or presence of jump mechanic to consider one less of a Zelda than the other? And let's not forget the complete control and UI overhaul of the DS games which had it's share of criticism.
Mario 64 to 3D World, the former exploration focused the latter working more similary to the traditional 2D ones in a 3D space. So much experimental, that these games have a clear division among followers on what's the best execution of the 3D Mario games.
2D Metroid -> Prime -> Other M. 2D Metroids more platform based with faster traversal, Prime games more combat oriented with slower deliberate movemet, Other M a hybrid between the 2.

Anyway, the above is not even relevant to what i was arguing originally but i think it was worth adressing since there has been more experimentation in Nintendo games than your examples suggested.

About your Uncharted example and pertaining GoW what one needs to ask is what are the core elements or what elements are more integral to the experience? Uncharted platforming is more of a presentation trick than actual platforming since it's of the "automated variety" popularized by Ubisoft with thier take on Prince of Persia, but more over in Uncharted's case devoided of the relience on timing, clever obstacle/level desing and acrobatics. It works more of a change of pace thing. In Uncharted's case shooting is the more relevant mechanic.

In GoW 2018 case, platforming seems to be absent but the combat, light puzzle solvingand mythological themes seems to be in place. How good or bad that is, i haven't made any judgement on it. Again see what i was replying to in the first place.

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

bitbydeath said:
Getting a lot of good previews and the gameplay looks fine although i will miss the blades but what is with the orange blood?

It looks like a soft censor for the series. There's still blood when you hit a lot of enemies, but in the previews at least, when you cut or make something explode, they end up spewing a bunch of orange or greenish "blood". You know, because we're all more mature now or some rubbish. The fact that the game is full of enemies that are of varying elemental types doesn't really change that, and almost seems like a way to justify it being intentionally toned down.

DavidGzz said:
This entry may lose some old fans but will gain a lot of new ones. The ones like me, who are looking for slower more methodical melee combat similar to souls. This post will have many rolling their eyes, and that's fine by me. I love how meaty the attacks look and feel.

It being over the shoulder and having a dodge doesn't make it Souls like. Also, can you please show me which Souls game allowed you to juggle enemies in what appears to be jello, or one that has the severe lack of feedback going on that appears in this preview? Slower God of War is just slower God of War. Doesn't make it any more methodical or deliberate. Just slow.

TheDuskwalker · Mar 20, 2018

Refreshment.01 said:
Zelda -> Zelda II is a gigantic transition possibly comparable to what we see with 2018 GoW. Interestingly enough you mentioned the removal of jump button in GoW, yet original Zelda & LttP jumping was not an essential mechanic with the transition to 3D it was automated and with Breath of the Wild it introduced a jump button. Would you use the omition or presence of jump mechanic to consider one less of a Zelda than the other? And let's not forget the complete control and UI overhaul of the DS games which had it's share of criticism.

It was, funny enough just like this it was a action/adventure game (well and part platformer in GoW's case too) transitioned to a RPG game. We also know how history went for Zelda II.

Actually when I was talking about jumping I was talking about the Gameboy/Gameboy Color games, which had a item that allows traditional jumping, and it was pretty important, and those games were a continuation of ALttP, then they kind of regressed in that area when in 3D and later handheld 2D games, and then finally brought it back in BotW. So Breath of the Wild didn't introduce normal jumping to action/adventure Zelda. Only if the jump button turned it into a platformer instead of a action/adventure game.

The DS Zelda's were still very traditional gameplay, that's more of buttons vs. touch vs motion debate, but I get the point, however given there acclaim compared to other Zelda's its not doing any favors as a defense for GoW.

Mario 64 to 3D World, the former exploration focused the latter working more similary to the traditional 2D ones in a 3D space. So much experimental, that these games have a clear division among followers on what's the best execution of the 3D Mario games.

Experimenting by making 3D games more like the 2D games....... but in the end both types still were all still based around the same core gameplay of Mario himself, so the debate was more about linearity from point A to point B vs. exploration for 3D Mario.

2D Metroid -> Prime -> Other M. 2D Metroids more platform based with faster traversal, Prime games more combat oriented with slower deliberate movemet, Other M a hybrid between the 2.

But all the core mechanics it was built on still remained there, and Prime was still the exploration based connected world adventure game with platforming and arm cannon shooting combat.

Funny thing is, all the stuff your pointing out actually shows why the new God of War doing a full genre change to a RPG wasn't needed, and how they failed long term with the 6 previous games in terms of letting it stagnate.

About your Uncharted example and pertaining GoW what one needs to ask is what are the core elements or what elements are more integral to the experience? Uncharted platforming is more of a presentation trick than actual platforming since it's of the "automated variety" popularized by Ubisoft with thier take on Prince of Persia, but more over in Uncharted's case devoided of the relience on timing, clever obstacle/level desing and acrobatics. It works more of a change of pace thing. In Uncharted's case shooting is the more relevant mechanic.

Could have fooled me when playing Uncharted 4. It felt the very verse of that to me. What if I changed my comparison to Uncharted 5 being a point and click adventure game?

Danjin44 · Mar 20, 2018

@ Refreshment.01 Both me and TheDuskwalker don't mind the fact developers want change things up, but end of the day the developers should keep what made God of War, God of War. If not why in the hell are they making god of war game in first place instead of making new IP?

This was big mistake Sega did with Valkyria Revolution. The went from SRPG of pervious games in full on action RPG.

wagrez · Mar 20, 2018

Super_EMT said:
They’re trying to go mainstream with this new cinematic over the shoulder camera bs.
I was getting over the fact that they destroyed Kratos’ character with their new design and voice. But after seeing that the kid is in every gameplay video I’ve seen, it really turned me off.
It’s a shame, I’ve bought every single God of War game there is and that includes the cell phone one. They officially killed my favorite series.
Alright I’m done ranting and with GoW and maybe gaming in general.

Go... MAINSTREAM??? God of War? No way... that indie unknown game going Mainstream?

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

Sanctuary said:
It being over the shoulder and having a dodge doesn't make it Souls like. Also, can you please show me which Souls game allowed you to juggle enemies in what appears to be jello, or one that has the severe lack of feedback going on that appears in this preview? Slower God of War is just slower God of War. Doesn't make it any more methodical or deliberate. Just slow.

I think it was the Playstation access guy who even said it is closer to Souls than the old GoW games. I haven't watched the other videos from the people who went hands-on but I bet he wasn't the only one. I'll take his hands-on impression and my own from watching the vids over yours. I mean, even Santa Monica isn't hiding it when they have the same combat controls. R1, R2 and even L1 to block. IDK for sure which button dodges but I bet it's either X(like Japanese Dark Souls or O like our version). Seems like it would feel very similar to Souls without even playing it going by the control scheme alone. So it has juggles and no stamina, that's a good thing. It would be embarrassing if it were a direct rip-off and had no elements from previous GoW games. Still closer to Souls than GoW of old. What's wrong with it anyway? I think GoW took inspiration from Ninja Gaiden. Taking inspiration from Soulsborne is even better imo.

I just googled and looked at the first preview from Digital Trends. "Kratos duels with foes more than in previous games, shifting combat more toward what one might find in For Honor or, to make a cliché comparison, Dark Souls, than the original’s faster and wider Devil May Cry style."

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

DavidGzz said:
I think it was the Playstation access guy who even said it is closer to Souls than the old GoW games. I haven't watched the other videos from the people who went hands-on but I bet he wasn't the only one. I'll take his hands-on impression and my own from watching the vids over yours. I mean, even Santa Monica isn't hiding it when they have the same combat controls. R1, R2 and even L1 to block. IDK for sure which button dodges but I bet it's either X(like Japanese Dark Souls or O like our version). Seems like it would feel very similar to Souls without even playing it going by the control scheme alone. So it has juggles and no stamina, that's a good thing. It would be embarrassing if it were a direct rip-off and had no elements from previous GoW games. Still closer to Souls than GoW of old. What's wrong with it anyway? I think GoW took inspiration from Ninja Gaiden. Taking inspiration from Soulsborne is even better imo.

I just googled and looked at the first preview from Digital Trends. "Kratos duels with foes more than in previous games, shifting combat more toward what one might find in For Honor or, to make a cliché comparison, Dark Souls, than the original’s faster and wider Devil May Cry style."

Other previews were also saying that it was closer to a Platinum game than ever before, and they play absolutely nothing like any Souls game. They also said that Cory claimed to be able to tell what kind of game you prefered by the way you played, saying he called out one person as a Platinum fan because of the way he was always pushing forward, then said another was taking a Souls approach because they were more cautious and would circle strafe a lot. These comparisons could quite frankly be applied to just about any action/adventure game though and says more about the player than it does the game.

Anyway, it's not like I don't want the combat in this game to be good, and maybe it does get a bit deeper than what these previews were allowed to show, but the last few "AAA" games that I had reservations about (but still hoped for the best), ended up actually being exactly what I thought they looked like from the start. Hopefully I'm wrong with this one.

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

http://www.ign.com/videos/2018/03/19/god-of-war-our-hands-on-impressions-beyond

When they finally get around to talking about combat(skip to 15:50) he talks about how it feels like Dark Souls and the woman says I'm glad you're the one that said it because she was thinking the same thing. He mentions that it's because of how you need to use your shield, wait for openings take your time and if you played it like previous GoW games you're not going to make it far. This is the base difficulty most likely, the hardest difficulty will require even more of that I'm sure. This is just the third preview I've seen so far references to Dark Souls have gone 3/3. Also, if you can play it like a Platinum game that sounds even better because it means there are options for different types of players. I really don't get the apprehension with the combat, it looks like the best melee combat of any game so far. I'm not even a GoW fan, it just looks that good to me.

I just watched some more of that vid, the guy on the left chimes in at 19:30 and talks about how you have to respect all enemies, even the weakest ones that may sneak up behind you similar to Dark Souls. I mean the comparisons are everywhere, no sense in denying it. Again, hands-on impressions here from people who have played both.

TheDuskwalker · Mar 20, 2018

DavidGzz said:
I think it was the Playstation access guy who even said it is closer to Souls than the old GoW games. I haven't watched the other videos from the people who went hands-on but I bet he wasn't the only one. I'll take his hands-on impression and my own from watching the vids over yours. I mean, even Santa Monica isn't hiding it when they have the same combat controls. R1, R2 and even L1 to block. IDK for sure which button dodges but I bet it's either X(like Japanese Dark Souls or O like our version). Seems like it would feel very similar to Souls without even playing it going by the control scheme alone. So it has juggles and no stamina, that's a good thing. It would be embarrassing if it were a direct rip-off and had no elements from previous GoW games. Still closer to Souls than GoW of old. What's wrong with it anyway? I think GoW took inspiration from Ninja Gaiden. Taking inspiration from Soulsborne is even better imo.

I just googled and looked at the first preview from Digital Trends. "Kratos duels with foes more than in previous games, shifting combat more toward what one might find in For Honor or, to make a cliché comparison, Dark Souls, than the original’s faster and wider Devil May Cry style."

The controls from the leaked demo, when they popped up on screen, had X for dodging and square for having the brat fire arrows. Not sure what L2, O, Triangle do.

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

DavidGzz said:
http://www.ign.com/videos/2018/03/19/god-of-war-our-hands-on-impressions-beyond

When they finally get around to talking about combat(skip to 15:50) he talks about how it feels like Dark Souls and the woman says I'm glad you're the one that said it because she was thinking the same thing. He mentions that it's because of how you need to use your shield, wait for openings take your time and if you played it like previous GoW games you're not going to make it far. This is the base difficulty most likely, the hardest difficulty will require even more of that I'm sure. This is just the third preview I've seen so far references to Dark Souls have gone 3/3. Also, if you can play it like a Platinum game that sounds even better because it means there are options for different types of players. I really don't get the apprehension with the combat, it looks like the best melee combat of any game so far. I'm not even a GoW fan, it just looks that good to me.

I just watched some more of that vid, the guy on the left chimes in at 19:30 and talks about how you have to respect all enemies, even the weakest ones that may sneak up behind you similar to Dark Souls. I mean the comparisons are everywhere, no sense in denying it. Again, hands-on impressions here from people who have played both.

It also looks like Ryse at a cursory glance, but I'm not going to say "Oh yeah, and this plays just like Ryse". Enemies being able to "sneak up on you" has everything to do with the camera than it does anything too...duh, they're off screen, so you can't see them without moving the camera. This isn't exclusive to the Souls games and never has been. These previewers are simply comparing it to a game that pops into their heads, probably because after five games, the Souls games are pretty well known and there hasn't been all that many games released with third-person melee combat since. As far as difficulty goes, it's almost always grossly overblown in previews, especially if it's being played by people that play a game on the normal difficulty once and then move on to the next. I guarantee that you can probably get through the game without using the shield at all, and you can also probably rely on the same two or three combos aside from very specific encounters.

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

Sanctuary said:
It also looks like Ryse at a cursory glance, but I'm not going to say "Oh yeah, and this plays just like Ryse". Enemies being able to "sneak up on you" has everything to do with the camera than it does anything too...duh, they're off screen, so you can't see them without moving the camera. This isn't exclusive to the Souls games and never has been. These previewers are simply comparing it to a game that pops into their heads, probably because after five games, the Souls games are pretty well known and there hasn't been all that many games released with third-person combat since. As far as difficulty goes, it's almost always grossly overblown in previews, especially if it's being played by people that play a game on the normal difficulty once and then move on to the next.

So, many gamers here, on other sites, and the gamers who actually played it are comparing it to DS and that isn't enough for you. So what other combat action game is it closer to then? Enlighten us and tell us what we should really compare it to since comparing it to DS seems wrong to you.

I was only speaking of the difficulty that was mentioned in the Rolling Stones preview, not the difficulty they were playing on. It would just make sense that you would have to be even more careful the harder it gets.

Dargor · Mar 20, 2018

bitbydeath said:
Getting a lot of good previews and the gameplay looks fine although i will miss the blades but what is with the orange blood?

According to some other poster, some enemies have lava instead of blood, so thats why it looks orange.

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

DavidGzz said:
So, many gamers here, on other sites, and the gamers who actually played it are comparing it to DS and that isn't enough for you. So what other combat action game is it closer to then? Enlighten us and tell us what we should really compare it to since comparing it to DS seems wrong to you.

I was only speaking of the difficulty that was mentioned in the Rolling Stones preview, not the difficulty they were playing on. It would just make sense that you would have to be even more careful the harder it gets.

Can't really verify that this person has actually played the game at all, but...

Game plays and looks really well, but it's COMPLETELY different from previous games. Defense plays bigger role, there are tons of RPG elements, for most of the time I've spent with this game it reminded me of Uncharted series but with a bit more fighting. It's gonna be good, no doubt, but hardcore God of War fans shouldn't expect anything close to "old expierence". It's a total reboot, aimed at wider audience that loves "games that play like movies".

Sounds exactly how it's looked from the start. Zzz...

As for what other game I'd compare it to? If you really want to compare it to a Souls game, it would be "Baby's First Souls", but in reality it reminds me way more of something like Kingdoms of Amalur or a much less satisfying Dragon's Dogma. Most of the screenshots too make it look like the level design is basically a corridor shooter.

edit: Apparently the person I quoted actually wrote one of the previews.

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

"In some of the previous entries in the franchise, you’d revisit places when equipped with new abilities, which would allow Kratos to access previously unreachable areas. That appears to be the case in this game; I encountered zones that I clearly did not yet have the tools to unlock. But more to the point, it felt like the game world was designed to encourage exploration — to acknowledge people who take their time, which I saw as mirroring the narrative of an older, less impulsive Kratos.

The openness of the new God of War goes beyond the design of the earlier games, in which you might take a brief detour to discover a hidden chest with a Gorgon Eye or something. At one point during the demo, I found my way to a lower level of a large area that seemed to have multiple points of entry and exit. I ran into a type of enemy that I’d previously seen, except that the health bar above this guy was purple. I was dead within two hits. All of that is to say that you may be able to walk into areas for which you’re underleveled — the kind of thing that doesn’t happen in purely linear games."

https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/19/17131258/god-of-war-pre-review-ps4-intro

Even more reasons to look forward to this. GoTG may be taken from Bloodborne if this keeps up. Can't wait!

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

Sanctuary said:
Most of the screenshots too make it look like the level design is basically a corridor shooter.

“It is a battle when you work with a team that is familiar with doing linear [games], where everybody sees everything,” said Barlog. “So to try to convince people to say, ‘We’re going to make this entire level; some people may not even find it,’ and to get people comfortable with that idea, is very difficult. It took many years for everybody to fully understand, ‘OK, there’s a value to this.’”

The openness of the new God of War goes beyond the design of the earlier games, in which you might take a brief detour to discover a hidden chest with a Gorgon Eye or something. At one point during the demo, I found my way to a lower level of a large area that seemed to have multiple points of entry and exit. I ran into a type of enemy that I’d previously seen, except that the health bar above this guy was purple. I was dead within two hits. All of that is to say that you may be able to walk into areas for which you’re underleveled — the kind of thing that doesn’t happen in purely linear games."

That's all from the same Polygon preview I posted above.

TheDuskwalker · Mar 20, 2018

Well that's nice to hear on non linearity to the world.

Although looking at the game as a new IP and the others never existed, the kid is my main concern. I hope he gets enough backlash they're forced to do a patch, mute button at least. I'm really not sure if I can handle 20ish hours or more of that.

Danjin44 said:
@ Refreshment.01 Both me and TheDuskwalker don't mind the fact developers want change things up, but end of the day the developers should keep what made God of War, God of War. If not why in the hell are they making god of war game in first place instead of making new IP?

This was big mistake Sega did with Valkyria Revolution. The went from SRPG of pervious games in full on action RPG.

Should have starred a new character and been called God of (insert something Norse here). People would know if was the GoW devs and it was the studios follow up to God of War, hell they could even let it be part of the GoW universe like it is now but still treated as a new IP, which is what this really is. I mean it worked for Final Fight when Capcom realized it was too different from SF1.

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

TheDuskwalker said:
Although looking at the game as a new IP and the others never existed, the kid is my main concern. I hope he gets enough backlash they're forced to do a patch, mute button at least. I'm really not sure if I can handle 20ish hours or more of that.

Goblins hate fire! Wolves hunt in packs!

TheDuskwalker · Mar 20, 2018

Sanctuary said:
Goblins hate fire! Wolves hunt in packs!

BONES! WALKING BONES!

Too bad you probably can't sit Atreus down in a chair and tell him to shut the fuck up too, or "accidently" nudge him off a cliff like a ~~dick~~ good citizen.

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

This game will set a new standard for enemy hit reactions. Every attack looks like something out of an in-game cinematic from the way Kratos' hand is gripping the handle when his swing connects to the way the enemy recoils or goes along with the tug of the ax. The more I watch, the more I pick up on the little details. I honestly would not be surprised if the ax is the only weapon or at least only 2 or 3 total weapons because of how much work has to go into the animations. I'm already a fanboy and I haven't played it, lol! I swear I'm not on the development team.

Silent Viper · Mar 20, 2018

Game looks Absolutely phenomenonal. Really liking the new direction. Can't wait for it to get release

Refreshment.01 · Mar 20, 2018

TheDuskwalker said:
It was, funny enough (*note: speaking about Zelda II) just like this it was a action/adventure game (well and part platformer in GoW's case too) transitioned to a RPG game. We also know how history went for Zelda II.

Which proves the original point made and that is Nintendo can be as expereimental with it's franchizes. And Zelda II is a Zelda game.

How you think story went with Zelda II is not what's been debated.

TheDuskwalker]Actually when I was talking about jumping I was talking about the Gameboy/Gameboy Color games said:
The DS Zelda's were still very traditional gameplay, that's more of buttons vs. touch vs motion debate, but I get the point, however given there acclaim compared to other Zelda's its not doing any favors as a defense for GoW.

In some cases control method and interface can have as much of an impact in how the game plays and the player experience than a camera angle, wich is what triggered my responses in this topic. I.E.: Space Pirate training would not feel the same if played with a Dual Stick controller or say a Tendo Dokuta game played with that same controls. In the case of DS Zeldas the input method and UI design had a direct impact on movement/traversal and combat making those more indirect. The touch screen wasn't used to emulate virtual buttons it was more than that because it affected how those mechanics felt.

i think the spirit of what it's been debating is missing here. Is not about "in defense of", it's about making more objective claims about how something works than talking about if the changes of GoW 2018 appeal to personal taste or preferences.

TheDuskwalker said:
Experimenting by making 3D games more like the 2D games....... but in the end both types still were all still based around the same core gameplay of Mario himself, so the debate was more about linearity from point A to point B vs. exploration for 3D Mario.

The point in the Mario example still stands. With the changes introduced, a core element of the game the "platforming", was changed enough to the point the user base was divided. I.E.: Back when Mario 64 was introduced the "baby's first Mario" was alluded refering the turn the platforming aspect took in that game, however people that shared that point of view generaly didn't have an understanding of why things were decided to work like that.

TheDuskwalker said:
But all the core mechanics it was built on still remained there, and Prime was still the exploration based connected world adventure game with platforming and arm cannon shooting combat.

Funny thing is, all the stuff your pointing out actually shows why the new God of War doing a full genre change to a RPG wasn't needed, and how they failed long term with the 6 previous games in terms of letting it stagnate.

Other M was part of that example you are responding to and that game "was still the exploration based connected world adventure game with platforming and arm cannon shooting combat."

Also i think we are forgetting Metroid Prime's story here. The initial reaction after it was reveled was met with as much if not more apprehension than what we are seen in this thread with GoW 2018. "No way this will feel like Metroid" was a common sentiment at the time.

The original GoW had RPG like elements since weapons and moves could be upgraded. Again we have to asks ourselves what are the integrals part that define the game's identity?

The previous 6 games and stagnation is a good point to bring up, i mean if Santa Monica couldn't do anything more with the DMC template after more than a decade why are we surprised they change it with a new more cuarrent one? After all, they are not innovators exactly, the team sticks to what's trending and buid the game they want arround it.

GribbleGrunger · Mar 20, 2018

This all sound great but for me the incredible thing is it took a staff member 43 hours to complete, and he/she will have known where everything was and how to solve all the puzzles.

Sanctuary · Mar 20, 2018

GribbleGrunger said:
This all sound great but for me the incredible thing is it took a staff member 43 hours to complete, and he/she will have known where everything was and how to solve all the puzzles.

Yet it was said to be a 25 - 35 hour game to complete, and developers almost always exaggerate the total playing time, unless they are also counting all of the bullshit fedex "quests" that amount to nothing ever. Also, just because someone has worked on some aspect of a game doesn't mean they know everything about the final product already, or are even any good at playing video games in the first place. The staff member could have been some random marketing person.

GribbleGrunger · Mar 20, 2018

Sanctuary said:
Yet it was said to be a 25 - 35 hour game to complete, and developers almost always exaggerate the total playing time, unless they are also counting all of the bullshit fedex "quests" that amount to nothing ever. Also, just because someone has worked on some aspect of a game doesn't mean they know everything about the final product already, or are even any good at playing video games in the first place. The staff member could have been some random marketing person.

Well, I'm just a random person so it'll take me that amount of time to finish. I would imagine the 25 - 35 hour statement was representative of just playing the main game versus finding everything in the game. 35 hours isn't that far from 43 hours. It took me 23 hours to play TLOU the first time and on average 13 - 16 hours to play for the next 10 playthroughs (yes, I liked it a lot).

DavidGzz · Mar 20, 2018

Yeah, games that take people 25 take me about 40. There was one previewer who took 3.5 hours to beat the 2.5 hour demo because he loves to explore, that is totally me. I'm guessing this will be 40-50 hours for me, lol. Still a month out. Ugh

AltogetherAndrews · Mar 20, 2018

TheDuskwalker said:
outright half of God of War is gone. There is no more platforming and scaling objects

You keep posting this, and then gameplay videos and one main trailer all show climbing. What gives?

Though if platforming is gone, then good riddance.

Chip Chipperson · Mar 20, 2018

Yeah a 30 hour story driven, action adventure game is a 40 hour game in Chipperson Time.

mckmas8808 · Mar 20, 2018

Chip Chipperson said:
Yeah a 30 hour story driven, action adventure game is a 40 hour game in Chipperson Time.

This is INSANE to me. In a good way I hope. I couldn't imagine a GoW game taking more than 15 hours to beat EVER! So if it's really this deep gameplay wise, this could be one of the better games of the year.

DonJimbo · Mar 20, 2018

I have an orgasm right now it look astounding

Ar¢tos · Mar 20, 2018

Considering Ascension was 8h, 30h is a big improvement!

vpance · Mar 20, 2018

I'm holding back a bit from jumping on the 40 hr game length hype train for now. Given how it's still supposed to be an action game and not an RPG I want to see what sort of elements it's taking from said genre, and if it's not just some of the more mundane stuff to pad shit out.

TheDuskwalker · Mar 21, 2018

Not seen this on here, the official version of the leaked footage, with more included, and commentary.

That talking about Spartan Rage meter then never using the Spartan Rage meter....I'm not amused good sirs!

AltogetherAndrews said:
You keep posting this, and then gameplay videos and one main trailer all show climbing. What gives?

Though if platforming is gone, then good riddance.

Yeah, I've seen that now. Bit slower, but nice it is still there after all.

Although I liked platforming so *sticks out tongue at you*.

HStallion · Mar 21, 2018

Game is looking phenomenal on all fronts from combat to presentation and even the added and fleshed out systems make this look like a dream game for me. A big budget AAA action adventure with RPG elements with some meaty nuanced looking combat and from the sounds of it, tons of content.

DavidGzz · Mar 21, 2018

Anyone notice there is a quick short dash type dodge as well? Not just the roll. I wonder if you do that one with a quick press and the dodge with a long press? You can see it performed at 5:19 in that most recent video above that The Duskwalker posted. I can't wait to play this, I'm almost hyped enough to get the Pro bundle.....

it_wasn't_me · Mar 21, 2018

Yep, it's brutal. Combat is so good.

TheDuskwalker · Mar 21, 2018

it_wasn't_me said:
Yep, it's brutal. Combat is so good.

I was thrilled when he grabbed the witch, or whatever, and just started going to town on its face. Makes me wonder on why the lava and stuff, like Ninja Gaiden II to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 vibes.

John_Espinoza · Mar 21, 2018

God of War one of my favorite game but I didn't this new God of War game. Anyone guide me about it and what configuration needs to play this game?

slappingoysters · Mar 21, 2018

Here is a hands-on from the latest gameplay that's just been published that describes the game as being "special." It also makes comment about how the change from a fixed camera hasn't impacted the God of War style of combat negatively, nor the sense of scale. As anyone heard comment on whether you can level up he boy or not? Or is it just Kratos?

DavidGzz · Mar 21, 2018

slappingoysters said:
As anyone heard comment on whether you can level up he boy or not? Or is it just Kratos?

I'm pretty sure at least one of the hands-on previews mentioned him having his own skill tree or at least an upgrade path.

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