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God of War - Review Thread

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
What is there to be into? The graphics are nice but the plotline outside of the very first game was paper-thin, filled with plotholes, and later games threw out retcons left and right to try to pathetically convince us that Kratos' choices weren't his fault. It's a hack and slash game. Hacking and slashing is literally what you do for 95% of the time you spend with the game. What else is there to be into but combat, combat, combat?

And I'm a lil tired of seeing the "the formula got old" comment. It didn't get old...we just wanted a game that didn't butcher the mechanics like Ascension did. Then Ascension didn't sell well and Sony ignored the fact that they butchered the game and made up this "it got old" narrative while ignoring their own mistakes. And, boy, had they promoted Ascension as heavily as they've promoted this one, it sure would have gotten more attention.

The story to me is better than you received it. And the puzzles while not hard were always fun to do in between combat. And I did think the "formula got old". But that was more from a story stand point, than a gameplay stand point. I was tired of seeing ol' yelling Kratos get mad for the 1,000th time and never get relief.
 

Shouta

Member
I've got my copy preordered and am looking forward to playing it. I enjoy the series but I haven't been a huge fan of GoW but this one looks like pretty different. I really enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn recently so this got me seemed like a good choice for to feed that itch, heh.
 
Hey guys, I'm buying my first ever PS tomorrow with God of War 4, I'm pumped for it and also pumped to get the backlog of PS games that I never experienced. My girlfriend is losing her mind over this game called Flower that she was in love with on PS2 or something...
 

Ar¢tos

Member
Hey guys, I'm buying my first ever PS tomorrow with God of War 4, I'm pumped for it and also pumped to get the backlog of PS games that I never experienced. My girlfriend is losing her mind over this game called Flower that she was in love with on PS2 or something...
It's from Ps3. Get Journey and maybe Abzû too for some extra brownie points ;)
 

Cleared_Hot

Member
Barlog's reaction to these reviews
Has anyone seen this? If it was posted already, my bad! Pretty cool man, 5 fucking years is insane. It's really difficult to grasp that. It's amazing. Installing now and can't wait to enjoy five years and thousands of man-hours of hard work. Every time new consoles are released I just eagerly await for the 5-6 year comes because this is around when the best games start rolling out. God of war has done it before (2 especially), naughty dog did it with The Last of Us. It's the best time and this last year or two has been insane for Sony. Between this, uncharted 4, Horizon, and the new Spiderman and then TLoU2 MY GOODNESS. Shit, even mgsv was incredibly satisfying.
 
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GenericUser

Member
Barlog's reaction to these reviews
Has anyone seen this? If it was posted already, my bad! Pretty cool man, 5 fucking years is insane. It's really difficult to grasp that. It's amazing. Installing now and can't wait to enjoy five years and thousands of man-hours of hard work. Every time new consoles are released I just eagerly await for the 5-6 year comes because this is around when the best games start rolling out. God of war has done it before (2 especially), naughty dog did it with The Last of Us. It's the best time and this last year or two has been insane for Sony. Between this, uncharted 4, Horizon, and the new Spiderman and then TLoU2 MY GOODNESS. Shit, even mgsv was incredibly satisfying.

I love this excitement your post is dripping with. Can't wait to dive in myself today after work. Been years that I've been hyped that much for a game. I somehow hope this game will help pushing back lazy open world game design in general. I know - wishful thinking.
 

INC

Member
Barlog's reaction to these reviews
Has anyone seen this? If it was posted already, my bad! Pretty cool man, 5 fucking years is insane. It's really difficult to grasp that. It's amazing. Installing now and can't wait to enjoy five years and thousands of man-hours of hard work. Every time new consoles are released I just eagerly await for the 5-6 year comes because this is around when the best games start rolling out. God of war has done it before (2 especially), naughty dog did it with The Last of Us. It's the best time and this last year or two has been insane for Sony. Between this, uncharted 4, Horizon, and the new Spiderman and then TLoU2 MY GOODNESS. Shit, even mgsv was incredibly satisfying.

Don't forget sucker punch new game too
 

Eliciel

Member
Barlog's reaction to these reviews
Has anyone seen this? If it was posted already, my bad! Pretty cool man, 5 fucking years is insane. It's really difficult to grasp that. It's amazing. Installing now and can't wait to enjoy five years and thousands of man-hours of hard work. Every time new consoles are released I just eagerly await for the 5-6 year comes because this is around when the best games start rolling out. God of war has done it before (2 especially), naughty dog did it with The Last of Us. It's the best time and this last year or two has been insane for Sony. Between this, uncharted 4, Horizon, and the new Spiderman and then TLoU2 MY GOODNESS. Shit, even mgsv was incredibly satisfying.

saw it and cried. Who doesn't know the feeling. 5 years..? Crazy. Impressive results. Go GOW and strike a sales record. I wish you luck.
 

INC

Member
So bought the disk version, and there's awful lip sync issues in the first hours or so, it's a good 10 seconds infront of the action

What a let down fir the opening section, killed the magic of it a little for me :(
 

nowhat

Member
So bought the disk version, and there's awful lip sync issues in the first hours or so, it's a good 10 seconds infront of the action

What a let down fir the opening section, killed the magic of it a little for me :(
You know no matter disc or digital, it still gets installed on the HD, the disc just works as a DRM mechanism?

By the sound of it, either your system was doing a hell of a lot else in the background, or your system is defective. No way is the audio that off.

Edit: coming to think of it, I can think of a situation where that might occur (not 10 secs, but generally having things so out of place). You bought the physical version (which means the system has to install the whole thing to the HD), but started playing right away, while it was still being installed (think "x % to start the game, y % to download entirely when it comes to digital). And you're running quite tight in space, and you've never rebuilt the database (i.e. defragged the HD). In such an instance I can see having some issues (none as severe as you describe though). Otherwise, sounds like a hardware failure.
 
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demigod

Member
Edit: coming to think of it, I can think of a situation where that might occur (not 10 secs, but generally having things so out of place). You bought the physical version (which means the system has to install the whole thing to the HD), but started playing right away, while it was still being installed (think "x % to start the game, y % to download entirely when it comes to digital). And you're running quite tight in space, and you've never rebuilt the database (i.e. defragged the HD). In such an instance I can see having some issues (none as severe as you describe though). Otherwise, sounds like a hardware failure.

This is why i never play the game until it's done installing.
 

Ragnaroz

Member
Challenging difficulty is no joke. I mean to go with the hardest and then lower if I ever got stuck, but you can't do that, so I went with the 2nd highest option. About 2h in and it's been pleasantly challenging so far. You can make a mistake or two without getting ripped to shreds but you still need to play pretty damn well in order to get through the content.

My PS4 Pro has been silent so far, but it does get hot. The game is definitely pushing the console to the max.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
R Ragnaroz Are you using the performance or graphical modes on your PS4 Pro? Which would you suggest is the best choice for God of War? Getting my PS4 Pro + GoW when I get home tonight.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
I don't know how people can finish this in 30h... I have been playing all day and just spent 5h exploring a small optional area that only has 2 simple side quests, near the 2nd main location. I haven't seen half of what reviews showed, that was supposed to be only from the first 6h of the game!
 

Ragnaroz

Member
R Ragnaroz Are you using the performance or graphical modes on your PS4 Pro? Which would you suggest is the best choice for God of War? Getting my PS4 Pro + GoW when I get home tonight.
Only used performance so far so can't really tell you the difference between the two. I can say that performance mode runs smoothly 99% of the time, though.
 

TheWatcher

Banned
10 out of 10 for this pathetic combat system? So far it seems like they have tamed the series. I hope more mechanics open up as I continue but so far this game feels like a walking simulator.
 

Boss Man

Member
Whoa, nice. Gonna have to get another PS4 Pro at some point...hope there's a new model though that shit is ugly.
 

partime

Member
I've been having a really tough time trying to beat Pontiff Sulyvahn and really wanted to finish Dark Souls 3 before playing this, but God of War has already arrived! Decisions decisions..

627

(image from http://fandom.wikia.com/articles/hardest-dark-souls-iii-bosses-love-hate)
 

Mibuokami

Member
I've been having a really tough time trying to beat Pontiff Sulyvahn and really wanted to finish Dark Souls 3 before playing this, but God of War has already arrived! Decisions decisions.

You are a long way off from beating DS3 if you are just up to Pontiff. So I'd say st GoW now...
 

iHaunter

Member
Been playing for 7 hours so far.

One of the best games I've ever played. Right up there with Last of Us. Though somehow, it's even better.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
There were points of this game where I was wondering if i was having fun anymore. The exploration is optional but not in the least bit fun. All the talk we've had about side quests being interesting, I haven't seen one side quest with an interesting premise. But this is a 10? The Witcher 3 does it way better than GOW, yet it didn't get 10's. The story is better, the combat is on par, the side quests are better. I dunno if it just me, but doesn't it seem like you are solving way too many puzzles. Like every island you go to is a puzzle of some sort. I like puzzles, don't get me wrong but too much and it really start to peel away at the momentum the game builds for itself. I've found myself stuck on a puzzle for so long that when I figured it out I had forgotten what I was even doing the puzzle for. A chest? Story progression? Side quest?

The game is great...but i would give it a 9.0, there are definitely flaws.
 
The story is better, the combat is on par, the side quests are better.

You're kidding, right? The Witcher 3's combat isn't even in the same league. It lacks depth and has random attack animations. The latter becomes really annoying when Geralt randomly decides to spin around right in front of an enemy before landing a hit.

On the other hand, GoW's combat is deep and allows the player to be creative.
 
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scydrex

Member
There were points of this game where I was wondering if i was having fun anymore. The exploration is optional but not in the least bit fun. All the talk we've had about side quests being interesting, I haven't seen one side quest with an interesting premise. But this is a 10? The Witcher 3 does it way better than GOW, yet it didn't get 10's. The story is better, the combat is on par, the side quests are better. I dunno if it just me, but doesn't it seem like you are solving way too many puzzles. Like every island you go to is a puzzle of some sort. I like puzzles, don't get me wrong but too much and it really start to peel away at the momentum the game builds for itself. I've found myself stuck on a puzzle for so long that when I figured it out I had forgotten what I was even doing the puzzle for. A chest? Story progression? Side quest?

The game is great...but i would give it a 9.0, there are definitely flaws.

Started playing the game GOW yesterday but the Witcher 3 combat sucks and the skills to having to deactivate one skill to active another. Don't get me wrong i love Witcher series.
 

nowhat

Member
You're kidding, right? The Witcher 3's combat isn't even in the same league.
As much as I like Witcher 3, I cannot comprehend how the combat gets any praise, it's serviceable at best. Parry for humans, roll for monsters. A couple of more special moves to unlock, but it's mostly light or heavy attack. Cast a sign every now and then. And sure, there's the crossbow too, but other than bringing down flying monsters/killing drowners while swimming, I haven't found much use for it.

The combat in GoW on the other hand is immediately more versatile, even without any skills. And as the game progresses - ooh baby. There is absolutely no way Witcher 3 competes with this in any way when it comes to combat.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
You're kidding, right? The Witcher 3's combat isn't even in the same league. It lacks depth and has random attack animations. The latter becomes really annoying when Geralt randomly decides to spin around right in front of an enemy before landing a hit.

On the other hand, GoW's combat is deep and allows the player to be creative.

Yea to each their own, but combat is not just about what move's your character makes. It's also about what are your enemies are doing. Sorry I should have mentioned that earlier. Waitcher's 3 enemies are more complex than the enemies in GOW. Especially the boss fights. I don't know how far you're into the game so I won't spoil anything but the only fight I found interesting thus far was the 1st boss fight. Witcher 3 had regular encounters more interesting than some boss fights in GOW.

I will agree with the part about Geralt randomly spinning to hit an enemy, but that never bothered me or affected my gameplay. I just timed my attack in anticipation of potential extra frames of animation before the strike. Kinda like Dark Souls. I can understand how it may be annoying to some, though.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
As much as I like Witcher 3, I cannot comprehend how the combat gets any praise, it's serviceable at best. Parry for humans, roll for monsters. A couple of more special moves to unlock, but it's mostly light or heavy attack. Cast a sign every now and then. And sure, there's the crossbow too, but other than bringing down flying monsters/killing drowners while swimming, I haven't found much use for it.

The combat in GoW on the other hand is immediately more versatile, even without any skills. And as the game progresses - ooh baby. There is absolutely no way Witcher 3 competes with this in any way when it comes to combat.

In GOW it's parry for everything. Whatchu talkin bout Willis.
 

nowhat

Member
In GOW it's parry for everything. Whatchu talkin bout Willis.
Uhh, I don't know what game you have been playing, but consider the following scenario: an enemy with a shield approaches.

In W3 it goes: "wait for it... wait for it... parry, start hacking away". Or perhaps use a suitable sign, if applicable.

In GoW that's possible too. Or you can for example get the shield bash skill (that's probably not the correct name, don't have the game open right now) and just break the defence. Or throw your axe past the enemy, retrieve it and have it hit the enemy in the back. Or many more of the unlockable skills. Or having Atreus do a bit of the dirty work for you. Or the runic attacks.

And if you're honestly saying you've played the game, using parry only, without ever resorting to dodge/roll...

I-dont-believe-you.gif


Edit: but even dismissing the combat, I don't know why you're even comparing the two games. One is an open-world RPG (with admittedly a very large world and lots of things to do, although in my opinion much of it is very inconsequential/busywork). The other is an action game with light RPG elements, with a rather linear main story and some optional side content if you're so inclined. I guess the similarities are, there are weapons and you fight monsters? Super Mario Odyssey does platforming much, much better than W3 (where it is annoying as fuck at times, especially with the absurdly high fall damage Geralt gets if you happen to miss your target), but I don't think that's such a meaningful comparison either.
 
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The witcher 3 is a full on RPG. GoW isn't. The side quests are fine.

I love witcher 3 but the combat sucks. Roll a lot, cast quen, repeat.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Uhh, I don't know what game you have been playing, but consider the following scenario: an enemy with a shield approaches.

In W3 it goes: "wait for it... wait for it... parry, start hacking away". Or perhaps use a suitable sign, if applicable.

This is not correct. Yes you can parry, but you can also use Aard spell to force push them off balance. You can also dodge the attack getting to the enemy's back and attack from there. Axni to mind control them...there's a bunch of ways you can defeat a shielded enemy.


In GoW that's possible too. Or you can for example get the shield bash skill (that's probably not the correct name, don't have the game open right now) and just break the defence. Or throw your axe past the enemy, retrieve it and have it hit the enemy in the back. Or many more of the unlockable skills. Or having Atreus do a bit of the dirty work for you. Or the runic attacks.

And if you're honestly saying you've played the game, using parry only, without ever resorting to dodge/roll...

I-dont-believe-you.gif

No I never said that at all. I was responding to the last guys post about saying in W3 you parry for humans, dodge for monsters, which in and of itself is innaccurate. It was a hasty generalization that I was poking fun at. Seems you feel the need to produce a dissertation to thwart a simple jest...that's very....telling.

Edit: but even dismissing the combat, I don't know why you're even comparing the two games. One is an open-world RPG (with admittedly a very large world and lots of things to do, although in my opinion much of it is very inconsequential/busywork). The other is an action game with light RPG elements, with a rather linear main story and some optional side content if you're so inclined. I guess the similarities are, there are weapons and you fight monsters? Super Mario Odyssey does platforming much, much better than W3 (where it is annoying as fuck at times, especially with the absurdly high fall damage Geralt gets if you happen to miss your target), but I don't think that's such a meaningful comparison either.

What does this have to do with the cost of tea in China? We are talking about combat...
 

nowhat

Member
This is not correct. Yes you can parry, but you can also use Aard spell to force push them off balance. You can also dodge the attack getting to the enemy's back and attack from there. Axni to mind control them...there's a bunch of ways you can defeat a shielded enemy.
Sure, I was generalizing a bit. Still Witcher 3, even with all the skills maxed out, is not nearly as complex as what GoW can be with a maxed skillset and a healthy assortment of runic attacks.

No I never said that at all. I was responding to the last guys post about saying in W3 you parry for humans, dodge for monsters, which in and of itself is innaccurate. It was a hasty generalization that I was poking fun at. Seems you feel the need to produce a dissertation to thwart a simple jest...that's very....telling.
That last guy was me... so yeah, it's telling that if I'm having a debate with someone, I present my own counterarguments? That's kind of how conversations work. I suggest you learn how forums work. It's not rocket science, it's rather easy to tell who you're replying to.

What does this have to do with the cost of tea in China? We are talking about combat...
At the moment, yes. But you started your comparisons in other categories too in your original post - and that kind of misses the point, because as said, they're completely different games.

But I'd wager, were we to set up a poll, which of the games has better combat, Witcher 3 or GoW, the result wouldn't exactly be on par. Hell, if you're interested, let's do exactly that.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
What i stated is my own opinion. The combat, to me, is on par with one another. Being that it is an opinion, by it's very definition it cannot be proven wrong. It can be shown to be an unpopular position at best, and I'm fine with that. It doesn't change my opinion nor does it make it wrong.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
At the moment, yes. But you started your comparisons in other categories too in your original post - and that kind of misses the point, because as said, they're completely different games.

But I'd wager, were we to set up a poll, which of the games has better combat, Witcher 3 or GoW, the result wouldn't exactly be on par. Hell, if you're interested, let's do exactly that.

Yes sorry I wasn't paying attention you are correct. I think for what it is, there could have been more characters in the world. Not necessarily numerous NPCs walking around about their daily lives so much, but you have all these different gods mentioned and the most interesting character I've seen so far are the dwarves and the world serpent.
 

Kagero

Member
R Ragnaroz Are you using the performance or graphical modes on your PS4 Pro? Which would you suggest is the best choice for God of War? Getting my PS4 Pro + GoW when I get home tonight.
I have a pro and performance all day. I tried resolution at 30fps and it actually gave me headaches. I think it was because panning around created more motion blur.
 

iHaunter

Member
Uhh, I don't know what game you have been playing, but consider the following scenario: an enemy with a shield approaches.

In W3 it goes: "wait for it... wait for it... parry, start hacking away". Or perhaps use a suitable sign, if applicable.

In GoW that's possible too. Or you can for example get the shield bash skill (that's probably not the correct name, don't have the game open right now) and just break the defence. Or throw your axe past the enemy, retrieve it and have it hit the enemy in the back. Or many more of the unlockable skills. Or having Atreus do a bit of the dirty work for you. Or the runic attacks.

And if you're honestly saying you've played the game, using parry only, without ever resorting to dodge/roll...

I-dont-believe-you.gif


Edit: but even dismissing the combat, I don't know why you're even comparing the two games. One is an open-world RPG (with admittedly a very large world and lots of things to do, although in my opinion much of it is very inconsequential/busywork). The other is an action game with light RPG elements, with a rather linear main story and some optional side content if you're so inclined. I guess the similarities are, there are weapons and you fight monsters? Super Mario Odyssey does platforming much, much better than W3 (where it is annoying as fuck at times, especially with the absurdly high fall damage Geralt gets if you happen to miss your target), but I don't think that's such a meaningful comparison either.

I loved the Witcher 3. But even I can admit, combat was silly.

Spin to Win. Parry all day and take no damage. Meh. Story was fantastic though.
 

NahaNago

Member
What i stated is my own opinion. The combat, to me, is on par with one another. Being that it is an opinion, by it's very definition it cannot be proven wrong. It can be shown to be an unpopular position at best, and I'm fine with that. It doesn't change my opinion nor does it make it wrong.

I'm not attacking your opinion on combat but I'm pretty sure an opinion can be wrong.
 
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Performance mode on pro for me. I just can't go back to 30 mode and I can barely see any visual improvement the higher res mode.

I tried twice now to use the 4k mode. And I just can't. The missing frames are just too noticable.
 
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tassletine

Member
What i stated is my own opinion. The combat, to me, is on par with one another. Being that it is an opinion, by it's very definition it cannot be proven wrong. It can be shown to be an unpopular position at best, and I'm fine with that. It doesn't change my opinion nor does it make it wrong.

That's untrue. If your opinion is factually incorrect then it can definitely be wrong as you were mistaken in the first place. You didn't have the correct knowledge.
If you think the earth is made of cheese it's not an opinion, you are just wrong (unless of course you can prove otherwise).

For example, superficially the combat in GOW4 feels similar to Witcher, at least at the beginning - but further play reveals hidden depths.

So here, there is no way that your 'opinion' is correct as you said it was on par with the Witcher -- and the range of options GOW provides far surpasses the options in that game.
Now you may never use those skills or even play on a difficulty where you need to do anything but button mash, but those options are there for people who want a deeper experience.
They are not there in The Witcher so the Witcher is not on par with GOW4 as it doesn't have those options.

Having said this, I personally get what you are trying to say. I am quite unimpressed with this game so far. The combat does feel weak and does have a certain floaty Witcher quality to it! At least at the beginning of the game.
 

NahaNago

Member
I don't think you know the defenition of what an opinion is.

Before saying someone doesn't know the definition of what something is you should probably spell "definition" correctly.

Edit : that comes off way too harsh. I actually googled the definition of the word just to make sure I wasn't wrong before replying and the first thing that came up was "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." With that definition a view or judgement could still be wrong.
 
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Leocarian

Banned
Before saying someone doesn't know the definition of what something is you should probably spell "definition" correctly.

Edit : that comes off way too harsh. I actually googled the definition of the word just to make sure I wasn't wrong before replying and the first thing that came up was "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." With that definition a view or judgement could still be wrong.

Yes let's critize my spelling when I am replying to you on a smartphone. Does that make you feel good? Your a god now? Kk.
 
The witcher 3 is a full on RPG. GoW isn't.

That's kind of it for me. Of COURSE Witcher 3's combat is subpar because it's an RPG and RPG's aren't going to have some deep and robust combat system. This is why they're called an RPG because the combat isn't good enough to be labeled as an action game.

But if someone is seriously comparing nuGoW to Witcher combat then that's a real bad sign for nuGoW.

Also, yes, opinions can be wrong. If I see a guy collapsed on the street and clutching his chest and I say "I think he broke his leg" then that's an opinion and it's clearly wrong. You show me someone who uses the "an opinion can't be wrong!" argument and I'll show you someone who just said something stupid.

Also, anytime an argument devolves into a discussion on what an opinion is then that argument has always gone to shit and those involved should stop.
 
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