Topic: God of War OT

@ralphdibny URGH THE SPIKE PILLAR CAN BURN IN TARTARUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@nessisonett 😂

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@Draco_V_Ecliptic lol there is a lot of interest in that post!

I didn't mean to imply that Dark Souls were uninteresting games to those who enjoy them. I couldn't comment on that because I have never played them.

What I meant was, the combat in God of War 2005 is a bit boring and repetitive, mainly because of the many waves of enemies that spawn. It just gets a bit pointlessly dragged out. But the combat in the God of War is only part of the game and my interest in playing the games comes from owning and at least experiencing one of the main PlayStation exclusives.

I don't really remember Jedi Fallen Order having terribly boring combat, the game was OK but it was really good and engaging because of the setting and the characters, much like God of War.

I get that Dark Souls is highly lauded by many fans but seeing as I have no attachment to it, having not played any of the games, it's not something I'm keen to look into due to my own huge backlog and my desire to play certain other games and series. I'm also put off by the level of difficulty that gets described, the lore sounds attractive but as I have no investment in it currently, it holds no interest to me. Whereas something like God of War, I already own and something like Jedi Fallen Order is a story based star wars game so again something of at least a vague interest to me.

I found another Colonol Campbell voice in God of War 2, the voice actor Paul Eiding also plays Theseus! Sadly Zeus has been recast in this one though despite his larger role.

I do wonder how many of these huge statues legit existed in ancient Greece and what their actual sizes were. Obviously they wouldn't come to life but I bet they were amazing to behold, the ones that actually existed at least.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I’ve made it through the part where Atreus has obtained the light shot ability and so now has opened up the capability to create the light bridges.
I’m taking the game pretty slow, not only because of real life time constraints but also because I’m trying to really savor the experience and explore every pathway and try to solve every puzzle before moving on.

Never played these back in the day, the character-action sub-genre just never really appealed but God of War 2018 struck such a chord with me that even though they are very different, I decided to give them a go. I vary up the game styles I play from one to the next... that and I’m in no rush to get these older GoW games over and done with, so I have only got through two of them so far.

After much research the order I’m playing them is God of War, GoW: CoO, GoW: GoS, GoW 2, GoW: A and GoW 3. I know it is neither chronological nor release order but someone somewhere made a pretty good argument for why this would be a good order to play them if coming in fresh. So far I’ve plat’d GoW and CoO and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Not to say that they rocked my world but with my low-ish expectations going in, they have definitely been exceeded.

I’d imagine that I’ll get through the series in time for Ragnarok but even after that I’ll definitely give this game-style some more time moving forwards. Off of the back of the two that I’ve played, I have picked up the whole series of Devil May Cry as well as Vanquish, Bayonetta and Metal Gear: Rising.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how similar these various games are in gameplay and overall quality?

@colonelkilgore I have some extended thoughts on this question and I’ll post them over on the recommendation thread to avoid too much of a derail here.

Finally finished God of War 2 this evening. I'd feel a bit bad bagging on it for its pacing because I had a week long break from it due to a personal matter. I just thought it was more of the same, but about 3-4 hours longer so just a bit long really. I did think it was cool to see some more greek figures in it like Icarus and Prometheus, that was cool.

Anyway after a bit of faff with the Bluetooth controller, I managed to get God of War Betrayal going on the phone. This was a short and enjoyable game, it took about 2 and a half hours to complete so it didn't outstay it's welcome at all. It was definitely interesting to play GoW in 2D and I am really glad to tick a quick and easy game off the list!

I hope to start (and finish) Chains of Olympus tomorrow, that one clocks in at about 6 hours according to HLTB so I'm wondering what I'll think of it. It sounds like the perfect runtime for a game like God of War, I think the 8-12 hour games have just been a bit long.

Here are a couple screenshots from GoW Betrayal if anyone is wondering what the game looks like:
(I'm sure some UK users here will get a laugh out of the greek monster called Argos!)

@Th3solution how you getting on with GoW 2018? Made any more progress on it?

@colonelkilgore how is your playthrough of the games coming along? You're doing a completely different order to me, I'm just doing release order because I've never played any of them before (except for the first one)

@ralphdibny Not too much progress this week, what with work and holidays. I’m still really enjoying the game though. I figure I’m not quite halfway. I started doing side quests and exploring the Lake area, picking up chests and collectibles as much as I can. I actually think my game time will be spotty the next week to two, so you might make it to GoW 2018 in time to beat it before me! 😄

@ralphdibny

Yeah I never played any of them before either. I just kinda slot them in between long drawn out games as and when, so I played God of War back in August, Chains of Olympus in October and I’m planning of starting Ghost of Sparta after I finish Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (which I’m starting tomorrow). I’m enjoying them and am fairly psyched for Ghost of Sparta and God of War 2 as a lot of fans of the franchise seem to rate them highly.

I’ve made a New Years resolution (already) to clear my PS3 backlog by the end of 2021, so my PS5 won’t be seeing much action for the foreseeable,

@Th3solution nice work! I'm calling time on GoW after Chains of Olympus so I can do Christmas stuff until January and then I'll get back into it with GoW 3! I doubt I'll make it to the end of 2018 before you!

I know it's a bit weird but I quite like the idea of the series changing settings between different pantheons. I doubt they will do as many games for the Norse mythology because of increased cost for modern games and a lack of a PlayStation handheld but I do wonder where they could go after that. Egyptians maybe? It might not make sense because I think ancient Egyptian gods were before the greek gods but I'm not too up on the timeline of ancient civilizations and whether it would actually matter within the setting of GoW. Also the name of Osiris' wife might cause some...problems. could be quite cool if they tackled a monotheistic faith too but somehow I don't think any modern religion would fly with the mainstream, not yet anyway.

@colonelkilgore nice one! I actually think Chains of Olympus is quite good due to its relatively short run time. The controls are simplified too. Overall I do think it's a bit better than GoW 1+2 but I doubt I have a typical appreciation for this series.

Enjoy Peace Walker. It's actually one of my favourite games even though it's not very MGS-y in the scheme of things. It's very addictive though. My original save file on it was 60 hours and when I replayed it from the beginning this year, my new save file capped off at 93 hours! The final chapter (5 I think?) of it is a bit confusing in terms of how to unlock the missions that progress and finish the story so don't be afraid to check a guide at that point. Using a guide in the late/post game might show you how to unlock some odd, interesting and funny missions too!

I've cleared a lot of my PS4 backlog too and replayed a few PS3 games this year. I think I'll probably end up playing a few more PS3 games in the backlog next year too

@ralphdibny

Yeah I actually really liked Chains of Olympus too, don’t know whether I had lower expectations going in (because of things I’d read) but I too enjoyed it more than God of War.

As for Peace Walker, I’m already more engaged with the narrative than MGSV but I am struggling a little with the controls... we forget how long it took for game-controls to find that sweet spot for 3D.

@colonelkilgore are you playing on HD collection? I think there are 3 different control schemes though I can't remember which one I chose for the bulk of the game though. I do remember changing it every now and then for specific late/post game missions that just worked better with a different control scheme.

It's weird because Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain are direct sequels to Peace Walker, a lot is gained in terms of understanding the narrative by playing Peace Walker first. I love all 3 games but I wonder if being a numbered entry in the series was bad for the reception of MGSV in general because it attracted more people than would have played peace walker

@ralphdibny Yeah, I played around half of V and had no clue about the Peace Walker stuff. I might go back and play Peace Walker but I dunno, I wasn’t really into V anyway.