While I did find the general flow of the game to be pretty slow due to all the fake climbing, this is a fantastic experience. Very much greater than the sum of its parts. Overall, it's more of 2018 but the story is significantly more ambitious. More than anything, this makes me want to check out the older God of War games. I liked 2018 a lot but I wasn't left with a strong desire for context of Kratos's path. This game makes me want that to a very strong degree.