Support NeoGAF

[Sebastian1295]

He says that he's only played 1 hr of the game 'didn't give it a chance' and that there's too much storytelling in the game. He also hates the voice acting, the story itself, and says this isn't a true god of war game because no one cares about kratos before he became the god of war. Just completely craps on the game after again 1 hr of playing it and didn't even try to engage with the mechanics of the game and see everything the game has to offer.

 

[Gonzito]

I am not a fan of David Jaffe but from what I have seen about the game I actually agree.

It doesn't feel like a God of War game and the art style is terrible to look at and cheap

 

[Sebastian1295]

Also says that sony santa monica are too focused on storytelling and that this game never should've never been greenlit.

 

[RoboFu]

I mean it isn't that good.

 

[bighugeguns]

I still like the idea of launching a parallel indie next to big games that take a long time to make.

That Ninja Gaiden one looks sick.

 

[bumpkin]

Wait until he sees the Trilogy Remake. I can only imagine the fits he's going to throw if they change anything drastic in the first game since that's literally when he peaked as a director.

 

[Sorcerer]

For anybody thinking it's an ego thing, it's not. On his podcast his callers constantly credit him with being the creator of God of War and he always iterates that it was a team effort and not his creation alone.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Game looks like shit. You don't need to play it to know that .

Kratos as Spartan wasn't a saint either, he murdered for the gods. What they showed at the state of play was some good guy shit.

 

[AGRacing]

Wait until he sees the Trilogy Remake. I can only imagine the fits he's going to throw if they change anything drastic in the first game since that's literally when he peaked as a director.

They chose the word remake for a reason. David will not enjoy.

 

[simpatico]

He's right. I mean the game looks like a decent Metroidvania, but it doesn't need to carry the GOW IP.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

For anybody thinking it's an ego thing, it's not. On his podcast his callers constantly credit him with being the creator of God of War and he always iterates that it was a team effort and not his creation alone.

Seems disingenuous to label every single video possible as God Of War Creator then huh

 

[Gaiff]

Also says that sony santa monica are too focused on storytelling and that this game never should've never been greenlit.

Valid take lol.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I watched the video.

Seems like his biggest issue is its low budget title. Like, a no money indie game.

Which is how I feel about it as well.

It should've been a bit more ambitious, like POP TLC or Ori games.

Its a platform holder big IP after all.

 

[adamsapple]

I'm starting to think Sebastian1295 is on the development team.

 

[Bojji]

Also says that sony santa monica are too focused on storytelling and that this game never should've never been greenlit.

He is 100% right about what he said about Ragnarok.

Atreus journey to Jotünheim should never be in the game, it kills pacing completely. I'm replaying the game now and in this aspect - it's bad.

 

[seb85]

He is not wrong, this is like those java games that you can play on your internet web browser , just a cash grab

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I watched someone play the first hour on stream and bringing back Kratos' original VA is the only good thing about it. The tone of the game is completely off.

 

[hussar16]

I mean he has a point. God of war is suppose to be ultra violent dark fantasy not exactly what's presented here with difrent art style and vibes. Hes not wrong but then again its playstation

 

[Saber]

And what part is exactly wrong?

 

[vodka-bull]

 

[Sebastian1295]

I'm starting to think Sebastian1295 is on the development team.

 

[Kacho]

And what part is exactly wrong?

Fanboys just want to discredit him

 

[Sebastian1295]

I watched the video.

Seems like his biggest issue is its low budget title. Like, a no money indie game.

Which is how I feel about it as well.

It should've been a bit more ambitious, like POP TLC or Ori games.

Its a platform holder big IP after all.

The people who play it more than 1hr like him though and actually engage with the mechanics and the overall game say it feels like a good metroidvania though. Is it a triple A game? No. But it isn't priced as such and it looks like a quality game considering the budget and price tag.

 

[Sebastian1295]

He is 100% right about what he said about Ragnarok.

Atreus journey to Jotünheim should never be in the game, it kills pacing completely. I'm replaying the game now and in this aspect - it's bad.

I agree that ragnarok slows to a crawl at points but I do think that God of war as a series had to develop more in terms of storytelling or it couldn't really survive as a series. Kratos killed essentially every Greek god in 3 so how could you evolve the series character wise and story wise if you didn't eventually change things up?

 

[Bojji]

I agree that ragnarok slows to a crawl at points but I do think that God of war as a series had to develop more in terms of storytelling or it couldn't really survive as a series. He killed essentially every Greek god in 3 so how could you evolve the series character wise and story wise if you didn't eventually change things up?

GOW 2018 was much better in most aspects. He is right that they went way too much into story > gameplay direction with Ragnarok, GOW was never Metal Gear Solid...

 

[Ronin_7]

He hates everything.

 

[Fbh]

If you removed the voice over and title and showed me the reveal trailer for the game I would have never guessed it was supposed to be GOW.
It would look like a decent $15-20 game on Steam by some random unknown indie studio.

Also says that sony santa monica are too focused on storytelling

I don't tend to agree much with Jaffe but on this point I'm 100% with him. Not only Santa Monica but most Sony studios.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

The people who play it more than 1hr like him though and actually engage with the mechanics and the overall game say it feels like a good metroidvania though. Is it a triple A game? No. But it isn't priced as such and it looks like a quality game considering the budget and price tag.

He was a bit overly harsh there, thats YouTube for you.

Did say it plays fine, but metroidvania games usually open up in gameplay later.

 

[Skifi28]

Does Jaffe ever like anything?

 

[808mate]

I mistakenly thought this game was a free shadow drop on PS+

There is no way in hell I'd be paying money for this.

 

[Sebastian1295]

GOW 2018 was much better in most aspects. He is right that they went way too much into story > gameplay direction with Ragnarok, GOW was never Metal Gear Solid...

If you removed the voice over and title and showed me the reveal trailer for the game I would have never guessed it was supposed to be GOW.
It would look like a decent $15-20 game on Steam by some random unknown indie studio.




I don't tend to agree much with Jaffe but on this point I'm 100% with him. Not only Santa Monica but most Sony studios.

I think most people's problem with ragnarok in terms of storytelling is atreus in all honesty. He was a kid in the 2018 game and in ragnarok he was an obnoxious teenager going through a bratty phase and lashing out constantly. I do admit that he can get on your nerves and that I wasn't the biggest fan of his portrayal in ragnarok. I also felt like his gameplay was very boring compared to kratos which didn't help things.

 

[Gaiff]

I think most people's problem with ragnarok in terms of storytelling is atreus in all honesty. He was a kid in the 2018 game and in ragnarok he was an obnoxious teenager going through a bratty phase and lashing out constantly. I do admit that he can get on your nerves and that I wasn't the biggest fan of his portrayal in ragnarok.

Besides that, the whole Loki thing ended up being completely useless. It was built up as some huge deal at the end of 2018, but it didn't land at all. It could have been removed from the story and little would have changed.

They also made many elements from the Edda way less interesting. Chiefly, "Loki" himself, who's far more fascinating in the myths. Fenrir doesn't fight Odin and is just some lame wolf with Atreus' pet's soul, Jormungandr doesn't kill Thor, almost no one of note dies in Ragnarok besides Freyr and Odin. What a fucking underwhelming finale and the lore was butchered to be way worse. At least, the OG trilogy ended with a fucking bang, with the destruction of Greece lol.

 

[Bojji]

I think most people's problem with ragnarok in terms of storytelling is atreus in all honesty. He was a kid in the 2018 game and in ragnarok he was an obnoxious teenager going through a bratty phase and lashing out constantly. I do admit that he can get on your nerves and that I wasn't the biggest fan of his portrayal in ragnarok.

GOW 2018 also offered a lot more freedom much earlier than Ragnarok. I started replaying both games few weeks ago and when I played GOW1 I was like "holy shit, this game still holds up!". Did all the side quests and stuff and had a lot of fun along the way.

With Ragnarok it is: find atreaus - 100% linear, svartalfheim - better, some freedom, find Freya - terrible 100% linear atreaus gameplay (ugh), Alfheim - another 100% linear level (until the end), terrible Angrboda part.. Escort Freya in Vanaheim - another 100% linear level - this is where I'm right now. Game is constantly changing characters and side characters and not even allow proper exploration or leveling up, I'm pretty tired at this point and I know there are more sequences like that further in.

Game opens up later and gets much better but man...

 

[Soodanim]

Does Jaffe ever like anything?

For GAF to say that about Jaffe is a true pot/kettle moment

 

[Trekinspace88]

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

GOW 2018 also offered a lot more freedom much earlier than Ragnarok. I started replaying both games few weeks ago and when I played GOW1 I was like "holy shit, this game still holds up!". Did all the side quests and stuff and had a lot of fun along the way.

With Ragnarok it is: find atreaus - 100% linear, svartalfheim - better, some freedom, find Freya - terrible 100% linear atreaus gameplay (ugh), Alfheim - another 100% linear level (until the end), terrible Angrboda part.. Escort Freya in Vanaheim - another 100% linear level - this is where I'm right now. Game is constantly changing characters and side characters and not even allow proper exploration or leveling up, I'm pretty tired at this point and I know there are more sequences like that further in.

Game opens up later and gets much better but man...

I do agree. Ragnarok has some serious pacing problems align with issues with exploration. The best part of the game is when it completely opens up, with areas like the crater easily being the best part of the game.

They really should have taken more risks with the story and their decision to combine part 2 and part 3 into one, really boned them, especially causing the actual Ragnarok event to suck. I was more hyped during the escape from dark elf craven in gow2018. Even thor and odin boss battles weren't as good or as memorable as even baldur, and is simply no comparison to zeus boss battle in gow2 or gow 3.

 

[The_Mike]

I am not a fan of David Jaffe but from what I have seen about the game I actually agree.

It doesn't feel like a God of War game and the art style is terrible to look at and cheap

Well the latest god of War games didn't feel like the Old as well. So there's several eras of God of War

 

[ungalo]

2D metroidvania has become the new slop, it's really the equivalent of open world action/adventure in the AAA field. You can open a factory and make a thousand games like that because at this point you can design them in autopilot.

Time to move on really. I would like for them to do small games, but to actually experiment and do something that challenge players because they always want to play the same crap all the time it's becoming really annoying.

 

[Killer8]

I agree with him. All of these 2D side scrolling games based on known IP which are coming out haven't been good. Even darlings like Ninja Gaiden Ragebound.

 

[nkarafo]

I am not a fan of David Jaffe but from what I have seen about the game I actually agree.

It doesn't feel like a God of War game and the art style is terrible to look at and cheap

Did he like the last two GOW games though? Because those also didn't feel like GOW games.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

A God of War game can't be worth more than $19.99.

 

[Skifi28]

For GAF to say that about Jaffe is a true pot/kettle moment

Eh, not really. He is a part of GAF himself and fits right in with the hive mindset of hating anything and everything.

 

[Fbh]

I think most people's problem with ragnarok in terms of storytelling is atreus in all honesty. He was a kid in the 2018 game and in ragnarok he was an obnoxious teenager going through a bratty phase and lashing out constantly. I do admit that he can get on your nerves and that I wasn't the biggest fan of his portrayal in ragnarok.

Yeah but what I'm talking about isn't just the writing, it's the entire structure of the game with the constant cutscenes, frequent walking and talking and extended sections (specially with Atreus) with little to no player agency that only exist for the purpose of storytelling.
IMO the hyper focus on the story even bleeds into other areas of the game. Old Santa Monica would have taken a character like Thor and focused on how they can push the hardware to make your battle with him as epic and over the top as possible. Modern Santa Monica seems more preoccupied with his portrayal as an alcoholic father and the way it affects his family.

That's why the optional area The Crater is the best part of the game for me, because it feels like it actually lets you engage with the core gameplay for a few hours without constantly hitting the breaks for the sake of Storytelling. (same with the Valhalla DLC, which I really enjoyed).

 

[Hugare]

Dude will have a meltdown playing God of War Remake

 

[omegasc]

Not played it yet but first impression was that they saw Blasphemous and liked it

 

[Fess]

Does Jaffe ever like anything?

He likes lots of things, like Gamepass and Starfield, but you've probably only seen his controversial videos since that's what gets posted here.

 

[ByWatterson]

Gonna buy it now

 

[Fake]

I hate too.

 

[midnightAI]

Does Jaffe ever like anything?

Gamepass?

 

[MiguelItUp]

I mean, he was the lead designer and director of the original, can you really blame him? It doesn't invoke any feelings of the original games at all. I see what you're getting at, and I'm glad you enjoy it. But I think I'm with Jaffe on this one. Maybe I'll check it out on the cheap at some point, but I don't know, I'm not rushing to do so. When a rumored GoW Metroidvania was being thrown around I wasn't expecting it to have a gigantic budget or anything, but I definitely expected it to be more than what we got.

Dude will have a meltdown playing God of War Remake

If they're heavily edited and censored, of course he will. Just like everyone else.