{"id":1692,"date":"2022-10-31T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/?p=1692"},"modified":"2022-11-28T00:26:59","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T00:26:59","slug":"god-of-war-2018-review-a-wishlist-for-ragnarok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/31\/god-of-war-2018-review-a-wishlist-for-ragnarok\/","title":{"rendered":"God of War (2018) Review – A Wishlist for Ragnar\u00f6k"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I nearly quit God of War<\/em> within a few hours of starting the game.  I don\u2019t subscribe to the old notion that games get better after a certain amount of hours played.  A turn-based JRPG doesn\u2019t magically get better a hundred hours in if the first battle feels sluggish.  I have squandered many hours trying to get through games that I knew within the first hour I wasn\u2019t going to like.  Fortunately for God of War<\/em>, the gameplay loop was not its issue.  Driving the Leviathan axe into a draugr with a mighty meaty swing felt immediately satisfying.  More games need the ability to throw your weapon and recall it back like Thor\u2019s hammer, Mjolnir.  Watching an enemy get thunked in the back of the head will always make a sneaky smile creep onto my face.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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No for me, the issue with God of War<\/em> is that there are a lot of annoyances that weigh the title down.\u00a0 I won\u2019t say God of War<\/em> is a failure of a game, but it is not my favorite Sony exclusive.\u00a0 Spider-Man still holds that crown.\u00a0 However, I think God of War Ragnarok<\/em> can break free from these chains holding the predecessors and dethrone the wall-crawler.\u00a0 It just needs to make some minor changes.\u00a0 Now, my loyal followers, I know what you are thinking.\u00a0 It is mere days until God of War Ragnarok’s<\/em> release, no way Santa Monica Studios will ever implement these changes.\u00a0 Yes, I agree that standing atop my soapbox probably won\u2019t yield the results I am hoping for, but when has that stopped me before?\u00a0 MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS, I PRESENT MY WISHLIST FOR GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n

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A warning for some minor spoilers.  I won\u2019t talk about the big reveal at the end, but there are some characters and events that I will discuss.  Take heed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 1: Early Dialogue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My tolerance for dialogue has been slowly waning over the years.  I think my biggest grievance is where the same interactions between characters happen and nothing new comes from it.  I look back to Sony\u2019s Uncharted<\/em> movie; the number of times Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland (I refuse to acknowledge these two as Sully and Nate) cry that they don\u2019t trust each other almost made me audible scream in a crowded theater.  All of your plans involve trusting each other, stop saying that you doubt his intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This movie was a trainwreck in motion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Similar early interactions between Kratos and Atreus were starting to test my patience.  If one were to play a drinking game where you take a shot when Atreus is curious and Kratos immediately stonewalls him, I would fear for your safety.  I understand their relationship is rocky.  I understand Atreus is a young child, curious about the world and eager to ask questions.  I understand Kratos isn\u2019t comfortable opening up to Atreus.  I can see this after a couple of interactions.  You don\u2019t need to keep hammering this point five hours in.  Even better, give me more scenes like the early deer kill.  Kratos is proud of Atreus, and goes to pat him on the back, but hesitates, afraid to show his emotions.  These quiet moments have more gravity than the endless chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Thankfully, God of War <\/em>already had a solution to this problem: Mimir.  This character completely saved the game for me.  His wealth of knowledge allows Atreus to ask questions about Norse mythology the game is steeped in.  He is even able to get Kratos to say more than just boy with his constant hints that he might know about Kratos\u2019s past.  He is also willing to give Kratos the needed jabs he deserves.  He brings a lot of comedy to our more straightforward duo but also knows when to shut up when Kratos and Atreus are having a serious moment.  With Mimir returning in God of War: Ragnarok, I look forward to interactions between this trio.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Part Two: The Camera<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely loath this camera.  Now I don\u2019t think we need to go back to the wide-angle older God of War<\/em> titles were known for, but this current angle is way too tight.  Numerous times, enemies would get cheap shots on me either from my left side or back side.  God of War tries to compensate by putting arrows around Kratos\u2019s waist to indicate when an enemy is attacking from the left or behind him.  Unfortunately, when I am playing a third-person action game, I am not looking at my character; I am looking at the enemies in front of me trying to look for opportunities to parry or dodge.  These arrows are merely a bandage over a gaping wound.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Much like the dialogue, God of War <\/em>does introduce a solution part way through the story: the Blades of Chaos.\u00a0 As much fun as it was to throw the Leviathan axe and call it back, it doesn\u2019t help with enemies flanking your sides.\u00a0 However, the Blade of Chaos turns Kratos into a spinning saw blade.\u00a0 Enemies trying to get cheeky shots to my back were grounded into a fine paste.\u00a0 Even though I enjoyed becoming a whirlwind of death, I still think the camera could be pulled back just a hair.\u00a0 From recent screenshots and trailers, it looks like Santa Monica Studio did adjust the camera for God of War Ragnorak<\/em>, but I am not sure if this has been confirmed.\u00a0 It has only been a mere observation I have made, but I hope my intuition is right.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Part Three: The Gear and Talent System<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop me if you have heard of this one: a game with gear that is color coded to mark its rarity.  White for common.  Green for Uncommon.  Blue for rare.  Purple for epic and gold for legendary.  What game could I be talking about?  Marvel\u2019s Avengers<\/em>?  Gotham Knights<\/em>?  Anthem<\/em>?  No, I am talking about God of War<\/em>.  Yes, I am willing to admit, this gear system isn\u2019t as atrocious as the previous games I mention, but I am still not the less, absolutely sick of seeing it.  I know the gear is there to give me stats like strength, vitality, and luck, but these stats never felt impactful in my hours of play.  I would occasionally swap gear just to see if I could feel a difference, but I was unable to tell which stats were giving me any benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The talent tree system also failed to really make an impact on my gameplay.  The only talents that come to mind were the upgrades to Atreus\u2019s bow.  It turned his awkward pea shooter shot into a useful multi-target stun that I could use to buy seconds for my runic attacks to come off cooldown.  These runic attacks, which I could collect throughout my travels, did give me massive area-of-effect attacks, which helped me become that whirlwind of death.  Frankly, these runic attacks were the only part of the gear system that felt impactful.<\/p>\n\n\n

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If it were up to me, I would make all the gear cosmetic, trim down the talent trees, make all of Kratos\u2019s stats passively increase as he leveled, and maybe add a couple more runic attacks.  I just don\u2019t see the use of designing such lackluster gear.  I don\u2019t see people making various builds as you see for a game like Elden Ring.<\/em>  This system adds no value to the game and the time spent creating them could have been used to design another boss or optional Valkyrie.  I am aware there isn\u2019t an overlap between a system designer and a combat designer, but honestly, I don\u2019t feel like a game like God of War<\/em> needs this gear system.  All these systems were done better in Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man <\/em>and Ghost of Tsushima<\/em>; I genuinely believe Santa Monica Studio could take some inspiration from those games.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Some of you might feel I am being needlessly harsh to God of War.  <\/em>I would agree I am being tough because I believe they are very close to something perfect.  So frequently the game reaches for greatness only to have the deadweight drag it back down to Earth.  Frequently, it recognizes its own problems and corrects them, but doesn\u2019t completely erase them.  I can see the unending labor that the developers have poured into this title, but mere blemishes squander the moments.  I shouldn\u2019t be rolling my eyes at such well-written characters.  I shouldn\u2019t be stabbed by an enemy off-screen while I am cleaving enemies in two.  I shouldn\u2019t be spending hours in menus looking at mundane gear and talents.  I am honestly pointing out that this is a solid B-plus from a studio that clearly has the talent and resources to deliver A-plus work.  Some might not be bothered by these annoyances, but I was more than willing to walk away from God of War<\/em>.  I see great potential for this series and this studio; I only ask that they reach for it.  Let\u2019s see how far they can reach in Ragnorak.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I nearly quit God of War within a few hours of starting the game.  I don\u2019t subscribe to the old notion that games get better after a certain amount of hours played.  A turn-based JRPG doesn\u2019t magically get better a hundred hours in if the first battle feels sluggish.  I have squandered many hours trying… Continue reading God of War (2018) Review – A Wishlist for Ragnar\u00f6k<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1692"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1709,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692\/revisions\/1709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}