Santa Monica Studios dropped a masterpiece in 2018. God of War somehow serves as a continuation of Kratos' story while also being a reboot of the series. You can definitely play the game without any prior knowledge of the previous ones, it only enhances the experience.
On the surface, God of War tells a basic story of trying to climb a mountain to spread Kratos' late wife's ashes. Of course, there are many challenges that stop them along the way and prolong the journey. However, the true story is told through the character development of Atreus and Kratos. It is a touching story about family and Kratos being scared that his son will grow up to be like him. It's beautiful to see Kratos struggling with whether or not he can be a good father after everything he has done. The theme of family is even portrayed through all of the side plots within the game such as Brock and Sindri, and Baldur and his mother. It is very rare to see a game that has a narrative theme rooted so deeply within itself and it is one of the strongest aspects of GoW.
The gameplay is not overly complex but very fun. The combat has enough variety to not feel overly boring, and it even gets added depth after Kratos gains his second weapon. Valkyrie fights are where the combat system shines the brightest. They feel fast paced and give a good challenge in order to keep players engaged. Some low points of the combat are the low diversity of enemies. Fighting so many of the same minibosses and enemies starts to weigh on the player, especially near the end of the game. When not in combat, the game has simplistic puzzles or climbing sections that keep the player slightly engaged while characters talk to each other and reveal more of the story. I think that this was a great design and works very well in place of cutscenes for dialogue. These sections get slightly obnoxious near the end of the game due to the heavy amount of backtracking.
The designs and animations of the characters in the game are very high quality. Whenever Kratos lands a killing blow you are in for a treat. Even when you watch the same one on a troll for the 15th time. The score is also very well designed in the game, but, none of the tracks really jump out and stick with you after completion.
The side quests in GoW are extremely well designed. Almost all of them are in line with the games themes and add extra content to the game. There is a good amount of postgame content for players such as the Valkyrie fights or finding collectibles throughout the realms. The game has replayability options in the form of changing stats for different builds, and difficulty options. The only issue with replaying the game is that the dialogue and walking sections are far more annoying once you've already completed the game once.
All things considered, GoW 2018 is an amazing continuation of the story and could also serve as a good introduction to new players. With fun reactive combat, beautiful animations, a solid OST, and one of the most well written narratives in a while, it is easily one of the best games I have played in recent times.
( 92/100 )
On the surface, God of War tells a basic story of trying to climb a mountain to spread Kratos' late wife's ashes. Of course, there are many challenges that stop them along the way and prolong the journey. However, the true story is told through the character development of Atreus and Kratos. It is a touching story about family and Kratos being scared that his son will grow up to be like him. It's beautiful to see Kratos struggling with whether or not he can be a good father after everything he has done. The theme of family is even portrayed through all of the side plots within the game such as Brock and Sindri, and Baldur and his mother. It is very rare to see a game that has a narrative theme rooted so deeply within itself and it is one of the strongest aspects of GoW.
The gameplay is not overly complex but very fun. The combat has enough variety to not feel overly boring, and it even gets added depth after Kratos gains his second weapon. Valkyrie fights are where the combat system shines the brightest. They feel fast paced and give a good challenge in order to keep players engaged. Some low points of the combat are the low diversity of enemies. Fighting so many of the same minibosses and enemies starts to weigh on the player, especially near the end of the game. When not in combat, the game has simplistic puzzles or climbing sections that keep the player slightly engaged while characters talk to each other and reveal more of the story. I think that this was a great design and works very well in place of cutscenes for dialogue. These sections get slightly obnoxious near the end of the game due to the heavy amount of backtracking.
The designs and animations of the characters in the game are very high quality. Whenever Kratos lands a killing blow you are in for a treat. Even when you watch the same one on a troll for the 15th time. The score is also very well designed in the game, but, none of the tracks really jump out and stick with you after completion.
The side quests in GoW are extremely well designed. Almost all of them are in line with the games themes and add extra content to the game. There is a good amount of postgame content for players such as the Valkyrie fights or finding collectibles throughout the realms. The game has replayability options in the form of changing stats for different builds, and difficulty options. The only issue with replaying the game is that the dialogue and walking sections are far more annoying once you've already completed the game once.
All things considered, GoW 2018 is an amazing continuation of the story and could also serve as a good introduction to new players. With fun reactive combat, beautiful animations, a solid OST, and one of the most well written narratives in a while, it is easily one of the best games I have played in recent times.
( 92/100 )