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[Vtecomega]

You don't kill the entire pantheon on the first outing, anyone expecting Thor obviously only played GOW3. The series needs places to go, possibility for the future. Many gamers can't be happy with anything these days and end up sounding like petulant children. All I've seen is some people saying 'not enough big fights' or shallow criticism of combat... I am yet to hear anyone bring understanding or criticism to another level, how Mimir and Atreus are perfect foils and companions to Kratos each highlighting different faults and strengths in his character. How the lore builds naturally through the story, languages, runes, the terrible stories about Odin and how suspecious, skeptical, cunning and cruel he is, the different beings that inhabit each realm. The theme of family and what one might risk, endure or sacrifice for them. The contrast between Kratos and Atreus vs Baldr and his family (ahem). This also works at another level, looking back to Kratos and Zeus too.
If you can't see the thought , care and attention, as well as the incredible investment of time and money and respect at least the quality of this game then I really dispair for the future of gaming.

Eh, what good is all that without the gameplay to go along with it? This is a game first and foremost, not a movie. Story and script is just as important in a game but as long as the game is fun to play too.

I like the game a lot, i just don't see it as some revolutionary life changing experience and it has MANY flaws that majority of journalist ignored , and that is the problem with gaming.

 

[Bryank75]

Eh, what good is all that without the gameplay to go along with it? This is a game first and foremost, not a movie. Story and script is just as important in a game but as long as the game is fun to play too.

I like the game a lot, i just don't see it as some revolutionary life changing experience and it has MANY flaws that majority of journalist ignored , and that is the problem with gaming.

I am a quite experienced gamer and it gave me what I needed, at the start it was simple but felt good and unique... not many games have such a weapon. As you go deeper in the game, particularly post game combat becomes very layered with abilities, combos, juggles, cooldowns, Atreus, shield breaks and Spartan rage. As a father, I believe I may have connected on a deeper level than some here, I would urge anyone that becomes a parent in the future to revisit the game... It's quite powerful.

 

[Danjin44]

So far I defeated 4 Valkyries!!! The third one was really tough. She was crazy fast it was hard to react to her attacks but still very fun figuring her attack patterns and timing my doge. The 4th one was surprisingly much easier than the 3rd one was.

Anyone who says the combat is this game is less complex than pervious games are just talking crazy. There is so much more going in this GOW combat than pervious series and this coming the guy who loved the pervious GOW games.

 

[Poppyseed]

Just beat the game tonight. Just amazing. Jaw hit floor so many times I lost count.

 

[Geki-D]

Just started this on God of War difficulty. Who here has tips that will make my life easier?
I am at the part where you have to fight like 100000 Draugr and The Boy keeps waking up more, making life a living hell, in-game.

Haha, that's the part I was actually talking about here (My first playthrough is on GoW mode):

Stopped at a point where I'm getting assaulted by wave after wave of enemies, then at one point there are like 5 melee ones and 3 ranged non stop pummeling me with projectiles. I mean, there's hard and then there's just crazy. Hope I don't have to restart from the beginning.

I managed to do it, and yeah, for people having trouble the cliff is the answer but when the ranged ones show up, man... Pretty much begin to prey, keep rolling and spam Artemis to distract the enemies. Glad I'm not the only one who had trouble at this point.

 

[Darak]

I quickly lost interest in the fire/mist post-game worlds. I prefer a methodical and defensive approach to combat but those modes force you to yolo and spam runics since they are all about rush, rush, rush. It doesn't help that in GOW mode lower level enemies get a heavy buff, so you can't powerlevel and rolfstomp low level enemies like you'd expect. I enjoy fighting the Valkyries, but since they made the optional worlds mandatory if you want to beat them (big mistake) I'm not going to bother either.

Is there any interesting ending/lore/cutscene to watch after you beat the post-game content?

 

[Darak]

Just started this on God of War difficulty. Who here has tips that will make my life easier?
I am at the part where you have to fight like 100000 Draugr and The Boy keeps waking up more, making life a living hell, in-game.

Is that the fight under the bridge? Don't feel bad about it, in this mode that is one of the hardests fights in the entire game, if not the hardest one IMO.

A few tips:
- You get a checkpoint mid-fight, before the heavy ones show up.
- Turtle up. Non-heavy enemies can't break your defense, and projectiles can be blocked too with no damage. If you find yourself in bad shape, get into a corner, shield up and abuse the arrows attack (this cheap technique is useful in many other fights, even some hard ones late in game).
- Use the cliff to instakill a few enemies before the snipers show up.
- Focus on the snipers, try not to attack other enemies while they are still there since they like to spam projectiles and hit you while you're stuck in some attack animation.
- Keep moving! Never leave unseen enemies at your back. Those attacks from offscreen will often stunlock you to death.
- Be wary of elite ones, keep track of any enemy with glowing eyes. There are a ton of enemies spamming their attacks, so some times you won't be able to interrupt a transformation. Keep in mind they resist stunt and will interrupt your combos with counters. Play defensively against them.

At this point you should be able to purchase a few upgrades, I find the shield counter very effective in this fight. The heavy R2 axe attack is very useful against the heavy enemies after the checkpoint.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I quickly lost interest in the fire/mist post-game worlds. I prefer a methodical and defensive approach to combat but those modes force you to yolo and spam runics since they are all about rush, rush, rush. It doesn't help that in GOW mode lower level enemies get a heavy buff, so you can't powerlevel and rolfstomp low level enemies like you'd expect. I enjoy fighting the Valkyries, but since they made the optional worlds mandatory if you want to beat them (big mistake) I'm not going to bother either.

Is there any interesting ending/lore/cutscene to watch after you beat the post-game content?

Lore maybe. You don't need to waste much time in the optional worlds. In one you can run straight to the Valkyrie and kill her (she is the easiest to kill too), in the other you just need about 30min of fights to get to the valkyrie (5 challenges + valkyrie)

 

[Hotspurr]

You don't kill the entire pantheon on the first outing, anyone expecting Thor obviously only played GOW3. The series needs places to go, possibility for the future. Many gamers can't be happy with anything these days and end up sounding like petulant children. All I've seen is some people saying 'not enough big fights' or shallow criticism of combat... I am yet to hear anyone bring understanding or criticism to another level, how Mimir and Atreus are perfect foils and companions to Kratos each highlighting different faults and strengths in his character. How the lore builds naturally through the story, languages, runes, the terrible stories about Odin and how suspecious, skeptical, cunning and cruel he is, the different beings that inhabit each realm. The theme of family and what one might risk, endure or sacrifice for them. The contrast between Kratos and Atreus vs Baldr and his family (ahem). This also works at another level, looking back to Kratos and Zeus too.
If you can't see the thought , care and attention, as well as the incredible investment of time and money and respect at least the quality of this game then I really dispair for the future of gaming.

You know, those things you mentioned are a nice artistic addition to the game, but bosses and combat system is far more important or a game in this genre. If I wanted a movie I'd play until dawn. Calling people children for wanting what the GoW series is famous for makes you seem like a prick.

 

[Bryank75]

You know, those things you mentioned are a nice artistic addition to the game, but bosses and combat system is far more important or a game in this genre. If I wanted a movie I'd play until dawn. Calling people children for wanting what the GoW series is famous for makes you seem like a prick.

Only the third game has a big God death count, this GOW is actually higher than average with 3 deaths...
Until Dawn is not an appropriate comparison. I am a prick and I LOVE IT!

 

[Droxcy]

Was doing a challenge on the fire realm

Spoiler

one of them was to kill 100 enemies with no health regen I died on the last 4 people...

Safe to say I've been taking a break from platinum.

 

[Bryank75]

Was doing a challenge on the fire realm

Spoiler

one of them was to kill 100 enemies with no health regen I died on the last 4 people...

Safe to say I've been taking a break from platinum.

Are you using unarmed and arrows?

 

[Hotspurr]

Only the third game has a big God death count, this GOW is actually higher than average with 3 deaths...
Until Dawn is not an appropriate comparison. I am a prick and I LOVE IT!

It's not about the count, the fights themselves are generic and not much different than regular enemies. But you go play your art games with character development and relationships and leave the meaningful gameplay discussions to people who understand the genre

 

[Nymphae]

As for negatives, it's kind of strange how blocked off everything feels, considering it's a game that puts emphasis on exploration. Again, only 3 hours or so into it, but it feels everything is on a beaten path - like, a small boulder is an insurmountable roadblock to a demigod who can tear the head off of a giant beast. I get it, gameplay wise, but it just seems off.

I'm wondering if this ever changes? Kept hearing about how HUUUUGE this world is, and my experience has felt on rails the entire time. Yeah, the mountain looks huge in the background, but I can't fucking go anywhere so who cares. The world map is hot garbage for finding your way around, and no fast travelling to map markers or more convenient spots for travelling sucks.

 

[Hotspurr]

I'm wondering if this ever changes? Kept hearing about how HUUUUGE this world is, and my experience has felt on rails the entire time. Yeah, the mountain looks huge in the background, but I can't fucking go anywhere so who cares. The world map is hot garbage for finding your way around, and no fast travelling to map markers or more convenient spots for travelling sucks.

It's not like Witcher, but not linear like the old GoW games either. It does open up eventually, but you'll be going between "zones" on your boat with defined things to do. If you love open world you'll be a bit dissappointed, but if you like a bit of it where it's well done, it'll be fine. If you played Darksiders it's a little bit like that (but slightly less open). Trust me, the game picks up ALOT, I was not impressed at first but it mostly won me over by the midpoint or 3/4 of the way (yeah crappy pacing).

 

[Nymphae]

It's not like Witcher, but not linear like the old GoW games either. It does open up eventually, but you'll be going between "zones" on your boat with defined things to do. If you love open world you'll be a bit dissappointed, but if you like a bit of it where it's well done, it'll be fine. If you played Darksiders it's a little bit like that (but slightly less open). Trust me, the game picks up ALOT, I was not impressed at first but it mostly won me over by the midpoint or 3/4 of the way (yeah crappy pacing).

Yeah I'd have preferred a more open world myself, but it's still fun. I'm just a little bit past getting the lightning arrows, really have no idea how far in I am.

 

[Bryank75]

It's not about the count, the fights themselves are generic and not much different than regular enemies. But you go play your art games with character development and relationships and leave the meaningful gameplay discussions to people who understand the genre

Do you know what, you're absolutely right. I can't wait for capcom or platinum to bring depth to the genre with their next large statue or giant blob bosses. Truly revolutionary!

 

[Keihart]

I quickly lost interest in the fire/mist post-game worlds. I prefer a methodical and defensive approach to combat but those modes force you to yolo and spam runics since they are all about rush, rush, rush. It doesn't help that in GOW mode lower level enemies get a heavy buff, so you can't powerlevel and rolfstomp low level enemies like you'd expect. I enjoy fighting the Valkyries, but since they made the optional worlds mandatory if you want to beat them (big mistake) I'm not going to bother either.

Is there any interesting ending/lore/cutscene to watch after you beat the post-game content?

That is not how it works i think, enemies have like a rage or devil trigger buff, when damaged and not killed they buff and then get resistance to stagger and all, they also level up by like 1 level i think. If you want yo juggle them you have to hit them till they die or interrupt their transformations.

Playing this game with expectations is weird because is not your typical hack and slash neither is your typical character action game neither is your typical story driven game neither is a game about exploring and so on, it lives in this weird middle between a lot of this genres, for me it feels like a very cohesive experience but i can't put it in any genre really other than "third person". In some way i think that is good, there is no need to abide to the genres rules but it also confuses people that usually play games expecting something specific out of them.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I assume that this GoW is an introduction to Norse "world", next one ends with Thor and the third with Odin. Then they either kill the franchise or it goes on a long break before returning with Egyptian mythology.

 

[Darak]

That is not how it works i think, enemies have like a rage or devil trigger buff, when damaged and not killed they buff and then get resistance to stagger and all, they also level up by like 1 level i think. If you want yo juggle them you have to hit them till they die or interrupt their transformations.

I'm not talking about the elite transformations, this is an additional effect. Lower level enemies are stronger in GOW mode, which means they still pose a significant threat even when you overlevel them.

Here is the list of changes from GOW difficulty (not sure if official, I found it in a forum, but I've finished the game in this mode and I'd say it's very accurate):

• Almost all enemies will power up and turn Elite after taking damage. Elite enemies are stronger and much more aggressive. Preventing them from becoming Elite is vital to getting through this difficulty.
• Enemies take slightly less damage
• Enemies deal alot more status damage
• Harmful status effects last longer and are more potent
• Enemies get a boost to their defense
• Slight increase to damage dealt to enemies in midair
• Enemies can only be wall-pinned in the air
• Enemies can counterattack quickly after taking hit reactions or blocking an attack
• Kratos' motion during attacks is more accurate
• Fewer advantages when the hero has a greater power level than an enemy
• Frost status effect reduces Kratos' invincibility frames on evades
• Poison status effect reduces Kratos' Power Level
• Burn status effect does significantly more damage
• Spartan Rage gain rate is significantly reduced
• Health pickups reduce status damage and can clear active status effects
• Enemies are more resistant to status effects
• Parry attacks are less effective
• Elite enemies do not take ledge reactions and take significantly less reactions to Spartan Rage

Every item on this list has killed me more times than I can count

 

[Keihart]

Been searching for a list like that, thanks.
Also, if all of that is exclusive for GOW mode, then it seems to be a pretty different experience than the other difficulties.

 

[A.Romero]

Just finished the main story and felt pretty good about it. Everything I could have asked for and maybe a little more.

I'm planning to try going after the Valkiries and the trials. Not sure about the mist, seems pretty annoying.

 

[Dunki]

Having played through the game now I really have to change my opinion. It was really a fantastic game and I loved every minute of it. And yes the relationship of Atreus and Kratos was fantastic. The way they became closer through their journey and their fights was really great. Unlike the Last of US you also saw a huge progression with Atreus through the game not only storywise but also in terms of combat and his actually behavior. I really liked the duo in the end and I hope there will be soon another game with these two.

So far it is my GOTY and I doubt there will be much more that can beat this game.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Just finished the main story and felt pretty good about it. Everything I could have asked for and maybe a little more.

I'm planning to try going after the Valkiries and the trials. Not sure about the mist, seems pretty annoying.

You kinda need the mist if you want good armor for the tougher valkyries. I find it quite fun. Each run is quick, the area is small, and as soon as you have 3 pieces of the armor, the mist timer is more than enough to explore each "room" with no rush. Getting each piece is easy, upgrading them does take a few runs of mist and trials.

 

[Danjin44]

I'm almost nearing the end and I think Kratos

Spoiler

made a huge mistake telling Atreus this they were gods because I think the kid going little crazy with it. He very well be the next monster if Kratos is not careful.

I also beat my 5th Valkyrie. Every time I first try to fight them, I tell myself "there no fucking way I can defend myself with their crazy attacks!!!" but after while I get used to patterns and beat them which makes it that much rewarding.

 

[Showaddy]

Really enjoyed the game. I was a huge fan of the series but Ascension pretty much killed it for me if I'm honest so I couldn't be happier they revamped it. Wouldn't say it was perfect but damn close and I can't wait for Thor coming for revenge and the beginning of Ragnarok in the next one.

I'll have to replay GoW 2 at some point to see how the best of the old series compares.

 

[MaKTaiL]

Let me guess. Its under 100 megabytes? It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't have to recopy the entire game for some reason. That takes time. And before someone says they're fixing bugs I say what bugs? I've played this game at launch and didn't see any.

I have a bug that an icon for killing an Ancient remained on my map despite not having any Ancient to kill on the spot. I hope it got fixed with 1.17.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I have a bug that an icon for killing an Ancient remained on my map despite not having any Ancient to kill on the spot. I hope it got fixed with 1.17.

I the Northern Dock, near the dead big thing? It's not a bug, it's an extra ancient that shows up there after ending the main quest, the stupid compass points in the wrong direction. It's a pile of ice resting against the "big thing" body. Took me 5 min to find it, it blends so well with the background.

---
One thing that really annoys me with this game is that, being one of the biggest 1st party games, it completely ignores the ds4 features. Why can't I navigate the menus with the touchpad? Why don't Odin's Ravens proximity sounds play on the ds4 speaker?
If 1st party games ignore these features, why would 3rd party be interested in using them? Sony needs to be example to follow using these features for QoL things.

 

[Dunki]

I'm almost nearing the end and I think Kratos

Spoiler

made a huge mistake telling Atreus this they were gods because I think the kid going little crazy with it. He very well be the next monster if Kratos is not careful.

I also beat my 5th Valkyrie. Every time I first try to fight them, I tell myself "there no fucking way I can defend myself with their crazy attacks!!!" but after while I get used to patterns and beat them which makes it that much rewarding.

If thats where you are you still have quite a bit to go^^

As for valkyrie. Fuck these.^^

 

[nowhat]

Why can't I navigate the menus with the touchpad? Why don't Odin's Ravens proximity sounds play on the ds4 speaker?

While I agree the DS4 speaker could be utilized more in general, and when it is it can be quite effective, in my experience navigating menus with the touchpad is better in theory than in practice. Maybe as an option, but certainly not as the only way to interact with the menus. I think the touchpad is better for simple gestures, and yes, those should be utilized more.

 

[deriks]

Just got the Nilfheim armor and stuff. Kinda hard at first, but I get how to do fine after a while

 

[God Enel]

What to spend my money on? I have 350k

 

[Kagero]

Just finished the game. WOW! The last half hour. I'm shook.

 

[Nymphae]

I think the touchpad is better for simple gestures, and yes, those should be utilized more.

I hate actually using the touchpad for anything. It's only use should be to bring up world maps. I've had this thing since launch and I still find it difficult to hit the Options button when I want to pause. But any time I need to pull up my map in AC I don't even have to think about it.

I could see it being used for more QTE like events, but devs just don't really seem all that interested in the touchpad.

 

[GTR R35_Supra RZ]

So far it is my GOTY and I doubt there will be much more that can beat this game.

RDR2 and a surprise Holiday drop of CyberPunk says Shalom....damn boi, I made you look, didn't I !?

 

[nowhat]

I hate actually using the touchpad for anything. It's only use should be to bring up world maps.

I disagree. I think Witcher 3 has the right idea (but I don't think this is communicated anywhere in-game so some may have missed it) - press the touchpad to access the menu, hold to go directly to the map, swipe up to go to inventory. This could be expanded even further, gestures for down/left/right swipes as well. Suddenly, instead of a single button, you have multiple "buttons" available from the touchpad. Just that the gestures have to be simple enough both to make by the player and interpret by the game. More complex gestures requiring many directions wouldn't work.

 

[Nymphae]

I disagree. I think Witcher 3 has the right idea (but I don't think this is communicated anywhere in-game so some may have missed it) - press the touchpad to access the menu, hold to go directly to the map, swipe up to go to inventory. This could be expanded even further, gestures for down/left/right swipes as well. Suddenly, instead of a single button, you have multiple "buttons" available from the touchpad. Just that the gestures have to be simple enough both to make by the player and interpret by the game. More complex gestures requiring many directions wouldn't work.

Not a bad idea, I think I just don't like the idea of swiping at all on my controller. I could work with a left/right divide on the touchpad though for pause menu and map screen/inventory.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

Sort of. But yeah it's like every couple steps is some sort of climbing sequence, door or switch or bridge thing. Not overly unenthused about the level design so far, which has been pretty corridor tunnel style. I am only about 12 hours in though. Just done the lake and the first two sub quest areas that branch off of it.

Also the button prompt platforming. You can't jump until the O prompt is visible even though you just want to go up and that is the only way to go. I hope they make platforming better in the next one.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Not a bad idea, I think I just don't like the idea of swiping at all on my controller. I could work with a left/right divide on the touchpad though for pause menu and map screen/inventory.

Bloodborne and Dark souls 3 do that. Left side for quick use items, right for gestures.

 

[NovumAngel]

https://blog.eu.playstation.com/201...re-than-3-1-million-units-sold-in-three-days/

 

[Ar¢tos]

I wonder how much it needs to sell to break even.

 

[GenericUser]

I wonder how much it needs to sell to break even.

I guess it's save to assume it already has.

5m by this point should be the minimum. Consider it's autumn in this gen and consider the time when it released. I'm not sure another GoW in this fashion would stir up as much dust as this one did though.

edit: I overestimated the game ...

 

[Ar¢tos]

I guess it's save to assume it already has.

5m by this point should be the minimum. Consider it's autumn in this gen and consider the time when it released. I'm not sure another GoW in this fashion would stir up as much dust as this one did though.

edit: I overestimated the game ...

Expectations lead to disappointment. Never expect anything so you can always take something positive from things.
Pretend every game announcement is from Konami, so if turns out not be a Pachinko machine, it's already a win!

 

[Mojoraisin]

Only played 3 hours but this game is something else. Everything is awesome except that it makes my PS4 pro go nuts with the fan. Wasn't too impressed with graphics from the few trailers I saw (after all, bar is set high for GOW) but wow!

 

[Secretarial Dog]

So wait a minute... no stats? I want to know how many hours I already played. Doing all side quests and searching for armor and gear and XP. I think I played 25 hours already and Im not even half way through this game

 

[Bryank75]

I guess it's save to assume it already has.

5m by this point should be the minimum. Consider it's autumn in this gen and consider the time when it released. I'm not sure another GoW in this fashion would stir up as much dust as this one did though.

edit: I overestimated the game ...

3.1 M was over 3 days, 5M by now is very possible.

 

[v0mitg0d]

ok GAF, I've seen some confusion around the nornir chest situation in nilfheim so i made a guide. hope this helps, it was fun to make!

 

[Danjin44]

I FINALLY finished the main story and I'm currently working on finishing the side stuff.

Also fighting a Valkyrie in Niflheim is pain in the ass.

This game definitely could be one my GOTY contender but I still have DQXI, KHIII, VC4 to look forward to this year.

 

[Venuspower]

Finally got the platinum trophy.
Never liked to old God of War titles that much. But this one clearly is awesome.
11/10 if you ask me. Awesome story. Awesome environment. Awesome gameplay...
The only think I am not a big fan of is the interface where you can craft items, add skills, upgrade skills and stuff like that.
Really confusing. Took me a ton of time to get used to it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I read in a few places that the game gets glitchy on a second playthrough, and weird things are happening on my second play. I didn't delete the manual or autosaves from the 1st playthrough, just started another save slot. Everything was fine until I got

Spoiler: spoiler

mimir's head

. Before

Spoiler: spoiler

reviving it

he started talking when I checked lore markers and randomly on other moments, and now after

Spoiler: spoiler

reviving it

he starts stories from the middle when I use the boat. Nothing serious, but this didn't happen on the 1st playthrough.