God of War (2018): How to reinvent a beloved series without ruining what works
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He's not just saying "you are a dad of war"... I had to stop reading because he was telling how the child behaves in different situations, even telling/spoiling some phrases the boy says.
By showing me his point of view of the boy he's basically altering my experience of the game when I get to play it because I am now contaminated by that, I cannot unread it.
Maybe that's not a spoiler for you but it is for me; and lately Ars writers (even those who usually used spoiler tags) are forgetting about those so there's a lot of articles that I'd like to read and I just don't dare.
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The only problem is, when it's in games, it's usually Mayincatec rather than any discrete mythology. Like how Moana was Maori/Polynesian Islands/Hawaiian +ish.
Although, I suppose that's better than no use of mythologies outside of Greek, Roman, and some of the more popular Egyptian & Norse, though...
Edit: I apologise for a TVTropes link. I realize that some people may need to get some productive work done today, instead of wiki-walking. Mea culpa.
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[trollhide=No off topic trolling plz]Also nevermind the gameplay, what does this game have to say about feminism and lgbt issues? This review is useless to me.[/trollhide]
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I doubt people who are pc-only are worried. Given that any pc that can play games is going to be more expensive than a console, it is likely that those who have pcs worthy (i.e. not a netbook) of playing games could afford a console if they desired. That they don't own one is a direct statement on their interest in these types of games.
Your trolling is weak.
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I just want to know 1 thing...
Is there a dramatic pause with Kratos responding with "Indeed." ?
(Christopher Judge, Teal'c from Stargate SG1, is doing the voice over.)
Is there a dramatic pause with Kratos responding with "Indeed." ?
(Christopher Judge, Teal'c from Stargate SG1, is doing the voice over.)
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For most of us 4kis still a distant possibility and frankly the bump in resolution isn't as important as stuff like HDR and other 'smaller' improvements (if you can call those smaller at all). Glad to know it's just a problem for the 4k part.
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Disagreed. I've read plenty of scathing reviews just to find myself enjoying the thing very much. Just read it with critical thinking and with the lens of your own tastes. If you can't separate your own experience from a review then stop reading reviews. And the overall message is that the game is pretty good and worth buying, that's enough to me.
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Yeah, if they can't talk about the plot of games (that have them) at all, how is it supposed to be a review? I mean, I don't think I, personally, would accept something entirely bland like "Some characters interacted. Some of the interactions were richer than others." That wouldn't be a review.
I also don't think this review is more spoilerific than other reviews here on Ars, so... Maybe stick to whatever review site you usually use?
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Yech, I'll pass on this game. Timidly tapping on a monster, then rolling and jumping back for two minutes until it stops twitching -then repeat until it dies away- is not my idea of fun gameplay.
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I hesitate to jump into this thread, but will anyway and say I see both sides on this one. It really depends on what you’re looking for in a review, and in a game.
I’ve played almost all the GoW games, including PSP, and to be honest the plot has almost no bearing on my enjoyment of the game. With the big exception of the utterly brilliant way GoW 2 ended, the rest blurs together and is only punctuated by memories of pure violence.
And that’s fine. I personally don’t care about plot in most games. I also abhor spoilers. I’d agree that what’s offered in this review would only qualify as a spoiler in the most liberal sense of the word, but I’d also be fine without that entire section because I just don’t care.
Just tell me if there are any escort missions for the kid. That’s the only thing I really care about, because I hate escort missions and having to protect him would be incredibly tedious.
With respect to the rest of it, I appreciate good dialog but would also be fine if it didn’t exist in this series.
Edit to add this review did encourage me to pre order. As others mentioned, you save 20% doing that on some sites.
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So GOW4: retcon retcon retcon.
Retcon, the biggest crime in writing.
Throwing in a kid or pet for EZ emotional manipulation is also very low skill.
"All the original GOW fans are now having kids, lets retcon that "dead family" thing and make Kratos a dad.".
"yeah! The angriest man in the universe now is a daddy!"
"Hipsters are trending, lets give him a beard and a can of PBR, maybe some thick glasses and a fixie!"
"Gods never age, lets buck that trend and call it 'character development'.!"
"Fast fluid combat that made Kratos the sonic the hedgehog of melee games.. Hey, Darksouls is hot, lets ditch that GOW fighting for dark souls."
"Oh yeah those QTE with the ladies.. This is a family game now!"
"Have you heard about this Vikings show on TV, it is hot."
The review doesn't give me hope. It sounds like hacks decided to take a popular title and just keep the title and glue it to another game made out of what is trending. Like turning COD into an interior decorating game because it is trending right now. Maybe Barbie survival horror?
Retcon, the biggest crime in writing.
Throwing in a kid or pet for EZ emotional manipulation is also very low skill.
"All the original GOW fans are now having kids, lets retcon that "dead family" thing and make Kratos a dad.".
"yeah! The angriest man in the universe now is a daddy!"
"Hipsters are trending, lets give him a beard and a can of PBR, maybe some thick glasses and a fixie!"
"Gods never age, lets buck that trend and call it 'character development'.!"
"Fast fluid combat that made Kratos the sonic the hedgehog of melee games.. Hey, Darksouls is hot, lets ditch that GOW fighting for dark souls."
"Oh yeah those QTE with the ladies.. This is a family game now!"
"Have you heard about this Vikings show on TV, it is hot."
The review doesn't give me hope. It sounds like hacks decided to take a popular title and just keep the title and glue it to another game made out of what is trending. Like turning COD into an interior decorating game because it is trending right now. Maybe Barbie survival horror?
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Because it's physically impossible for gods to have relations with a different woman and start a new family. Nope, couldn't ever happen. Gods never happen to get in the mood and create bastards (Zeus certainly didn't ever do this, not ever). Nope. Must be a retcon.
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I love all the explanations the peasantry invents to explain why consoles are better despite being nothing more than underpowered PCs with bad controls and exclusive content deals.
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Someone has daddy issues. Having played most of the GoW games and growing somewhat tired of the formula, my interest in this game was only so-so. Having reading several glowing reviews of the new combat design and story my interest is now piqued. I'm now very excited to play.
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Seeing the amount of hyperbolic, undue praise that this game is getting is ridiculous. I guess all you have to do is mix a bunch of modern AAA game elements together, throw a ridiculous amount of money at it to make it look pretty, and then you'll have critics like this eating out of the palm of your hand.
I get the feeling that Days Gone and The Last Of Us Part 2 are going to get the same overly bombastic and hyperbolic "It's such an epic cinematic grand redefining of videogames now and forever, the FEELS man!!" judgment, since they're also in the Third Person Sad Beard Man genre.
It's going to be hilarious to see the games press tell people how gaming can be redefined multiple times within the span of a year and a half or so by three games that all look the same.
I get the feeling that Days Gone and The Last Of Us Part 2 are going to get the same overly bombastic and hyperbolic "It's such an epic cinematic grand redefining of videogames now and forever, the FEELS man!!" judgment, since they're also in the Third Person Sad Beard Man genre.
It's going to be hilarious to see the games press tell people how gaming can be redefined multiple times within the span of a year and a half or so by three games that all look the same.
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It's a video game and they told you the selling point that Sony is already telling you. You don't own a TV? Two things, One: no one cares, no one and Two: why do you care about a PS4 game, kinda hard to play without a display of some sort? Your existence sounds so very sad that you are so afraid to be exposed to anything in the real world because, gasp, possible spoilers!
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I seriously imagine every one of you that says "peasants" when referring to a freaking gaming console is living in their moms basement, 35 years old, doesn't even know what a woman is, much less touched one....
You sound ridiculous, stop. They're games, who cares what platform each other likes, it's the same as the Android/iPhone stupid talk
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It's okay to tell people Jesus dies at the end of the Bible, what's not okay [spoiler alert] is to tell them that he resurrects. That's the big secret no one knows about!
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It's called clapping back, brochacho. Is that tired old trope the only thing you got in the chamber? Because it's neither accurate nor original. My mom's house doesn't even have a basement!
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#1, it's $400 for the two.
#2, the game isn't out yet. They're reviewing a pre-release copy and there will probably be a day 1 patch (which, unfortunately, is the norm for all new games on all systems.)
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You know, that's not as crazy of an idea as you'd expect.
Part of the allure of horror games is dealing with being in a state of powerlessness. A blonde whose primary activity has been socialization and fashion will have some serious challenges with a psychotic, possibly undead serial killer, or a zombie apocalypse, or whatever.
Indeed, one of the defining tropes of horror works I've noticed is the 'beautiful young girl who dies' as a symbolism of a rejection by the monster(s) of virtues and/or society, and more practically to remind the audience that they are both a monster, and a threat to the protagonists.
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Yech, I'll pass on this game. Timidly tapping on a monster, then rolling and jumping back for two minutes until it stops twitching -then repeat until it dies away- is not my idea of fun gameplay.
The combat footage I've seen doesn't seem like Dark Souls at all. It doesn't look as combo-y as the old games, but it's still much faster paced than Dark Souls and there's still juggles and things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3A0NgeipXY
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Wasn't there a zombie apocalypse game like that? With a teenage girl protagonist.
EDIT: Lollipop Chainsaw
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The end of the Bible? That's not even the end of the first book of the second series. There's, like, another two dozen books in the series after that. That's like saying "[character] gets stabbed in the leg in a duel with Jaime Lannister" is spoiling the end of the entire A Song of Ice and Fire book series or the entire Game of Thrones TV series.
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Yeah, that series has a lot of fans, and I really tried to get into it, but I wasn't into all the POV switching and stuff, y'know? I hear it gets really trippy near the end of the series, though, kinda like Dark Tower stuff.
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Well you just explained why it was intriguing to me, answering my question.
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I seem to remember in the first game you were asked to make some jumps without being able to see where you were going, resulting in death. Stopped there. Has that gotten better? How does it compare to Bayonetta (which I love)?
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Yeah I don’t get some people. I mean my dad of old had no problem pointing out when I was a moron or pointed out that I should feel lucky I didn’t get a boot up the ass for my stupidity (and no he never actually put a boot to my ass but he certainly mentioned it plenty). I’m really glad they didn’t change Kratos.
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After looking at a bunch of other reviews online, reading about how this game compares to the old games and older action hack and slash titles, here are my thoughts.
It's ridiculous the way people are calling this game (which is very openly chasing trends that The Last Of Us and Dark Souls built out) fresh/new/innovative when at this point in time a AAA game studio making a high speed action game in the same vein of Bayonetta and the OG Devil May Cry series (or you know, like the old God Of War games) would be the fresh and new thing to do. This game is not daring or bold, but merely Sony leaning into a winning formula that they discovered with The Last Of Us. TLoU was a remarkably good game, but it was given an outsized amount of praise as if it was a flawless masterpiece, seemingly for its heavy focus on a story told in a "cinematic" movie-like fashion. With God Of War you have game critics singing praises for a massive company taking an incredibly safe and watered-down approach to this game that's almost like every other title that Sony's been promoting over the last few years. Sony made the gaming equivalent of Oscar Bait and people are eating it up.
This situation with God Of War reminds me of BioShock Infinite. Infinite was another watered-down, drastic departure from the mainline series that took far too much inspiration from its genre contemporaries, just like God Of War. After the neverending stream of perfect scores and the initial hype died down, people started picking away at Infinite's numerous flaws, and now a lot of people regard it as the low of the series, both in terms of gameplay and story. Here's hoping that the same thing happens for God Of War.
It's ridiculous the way people are calling this game (which is very openly chasing trends that The Last Of Us and Dark Souls built out) fresh/new/innovative when at this point in time a AAA game studio making a high speed action game in the same vein of Bayonetta and the OG Devil May Cry series (or you know, like the old God Of War games) would be the fresh and new thing to do. This game is not daring or bold, but merely Sony leaning into a winning formula that they discovered with The Last Of Us. TLoU was a remarkably good game, but it was given an outsized amount of praise as if it was a flawless masterpiece, seemingly for its heavy focus on a story told in a "cinematic" movie-like fashion. With God Of War you have game critics singing praises for a massive company taking an incredibly safe and watered-down approach to this game that's almost like every other title that Sony's been promoting over the last few years. Sony made the gaming equivalent of Oscar Bait and people are eating it up.
This situation with God Of War reminds me of BioShock Infinite. Infinite was another watered-down, drastic departure from the mainline series that took far too much inspiration from its genre contemporaries, just like God Of War. After the neverending stream of perfect scores and the initial hype died down, people started picking away at Infinite's numerous flaws, and now a lot of people regard it as the low of the series, both in terms of gameplay and story. Here's hoping that the same thing happens for God Of War.
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I loved the previous God of War - games when I played them on my ex's PS2 and then on my own PS3. I'm not going to buy a PS4 just for one game, so it makes me a sad panda to know that none of these games will ever come to PC
Port begging a first-party game is lame as fuck.
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