God of War (2018)

In terms of story, gameplay, and really the basic game format, this is a reboot. Until now God of War was a series of quite linear action adventure games, with some occasional metroidvania-like flourishes. Now we have an open-world action RPG, complete with loot, crafting, map travel, skills, and worthwhile side quests. We get the full metroidvania experience of needing new skills to open areas you pass along the way, even including the usual gimmick of having an advanced area located right next to the map starting point—always a great moment of in-game nostalgia.

It's a successful format that we've seen in Bethesda's Skyrim and Fallout games, as well as many games from other companies. (I think Crystal Dynamic did it best in Rise of the Tomb Raider.) This game genre emphasizes and rewards thorough exploration and environmental puzzle solving, and it's generally a format that I enjoy. And God of War is definitely a worthy entry in this genre. There's a lot of content here and most of it is well designed and well developed. But, there are a few duds and missed opportunities: you travel to a new world but it ends up being just a corridor, or a new area opens but it's just arena-style training grounds where you grind, grind, grind. These areas are optional but you do need them to get the full upgrades to weapons and armor.

A more structural complaint is that not all the game systems work well. The loot, especially, is almost always uninteresting. Differences between many magical item abilities are subtle and not very impactful, and the UI is over-complicated. Crafting is better, but poorly balanced in terms of resources you need. For example, you need to pay in coin, but coin is incredibly plentiful everywhere, and very early on in the game I felt like a billionaire. The other resources you need for crafting are much harder to get, so one wonders why the coin system is even necessary. For example, there's no need to sell anything for coin unless you want to unclutter your inventory a bit (there is no limitation to how much you can carry).

This game's great strength is the story, characters, scene direction, and voice acting. Kratos is no longer a caricature, having evolved depth and subtlety that conveys so much with so little. The relationship with his son—the central thread of the game—is beautifully scripted and acted, and just so charming. When things got a bit sour between the two I felt visceral anguish! And most of other characters along for the ride add lots of pep and humor. However, I do wish the world had more people, even if they were just shallow AIs moving about their lives. The God of War world feels very empty. There's a half-assed in-game explanation for this ("the Devastation") but it doesn't really explain why you only meet enemy monsters. Two characters in particular keep reappearing in many locations. Again, there's an in-game explanation for this, but honestly it feels like we were cheated out of side characters.

In terms of continuity, for much of my play I felt that this God of War was a true reboot, a clean cut from the past, and that players without prior experience in the series could dive in and not miss anything. But then ... about three quarters into the game, something utterly devastating happens that brings you right back to the end of God of War 3, right back to the long saga that brought Kratos to that moment. And then it becomes a real God of War game. I won't spoil it, but just point out that the scene is so rewarding that it leads me to strongly recommend playing at least God of War 3 before this game. Those who have grown up with the series since the PS2 days would especially get the feels.

Despite my praise, the main story line isn't consistently good. Towards the end it turns into a "go there, get this, then go somewhere else" that might as well have been a cutscene. The ending itself is satisfying in some ways, but feels abrupt and anti-climactic. I was surprised when the credits starting rolling. Really, it's done? Luckily it's not a real ending because you can continue working on side-quests and have some more fun. But still, the experience just tapers off. It's going to be a long wait for the sequel.

The background story has become richer since earlier in the series. God of War has always been about, well, gods, but here we realize that it's not just Greece and that there's a lot more to find out about who these "god people"—because they are fully people—really are. It's exciting to imagine future God of War games with pantheons from other parts of the world.

Combat is not as central to this game as it was previously in the series. Actually, most of your time will be spent exploring and solving puzzles. Combat itself is pretty good, featuring a similar mix of combos from previous games, though now it usually happens as a team with you able to command your son to help. But ... the camera has once again been redone and it's wonky. You now always see Kratos from behind, which makes sense from a tactical standpoint—you see what Kratos sees—but also makes for annoying gameplay as often you have to keep turning around to see what's going on. (Your son will sometimes tell you to "look behind" you.) The annoyances, though, are almost entirely eclipsed by the awesomeness of the axe. It will go down as one of the most satisfying weapons in gaming history.

True to the Game of War tradition there are some very challenging fights. A few optional bosses will really test your skills. I found them very, very hard, but ultimately fair (unlike in God of War: Ascension). The open-world mechanic allows you you leave them and come back later when you have better skills and gear, or not at all. And that's open-world at its best: you never have to feel frustrated if you don't want to. But, yeah: it took me about a month of retries to defeat the queen of the Valkyries. It's a game achievement I'm honestly proud of.

The game looks very good. I played it on a PS4 Pro with a 4K HDR projector. You have the choice between 4K/30hz or 1080p/60hz, and I strongly recommend going for 60hz. 4K looks great, but honestly for those fast action sequences 60hz is so much more important. Even then, don't expect a consistent 60 FPS: on my PS4 Pro the framerate often dropped below that in complex scenes. As for 4K, though the PS4 Pro can technically achieve it, you will not get anything close to the richness of textures that you would get with a high-end PC. HDR support is good all in all and adds some extra drama, though I've noticed weirdness, e.g. inconsistencies with how clouds are rendered. From some angles they seem to glow with the sun's yellow color and look weird. If you don't have HDR then don't feel bad: there are cons to that mode.

But ... despite the more advanced hardware and software here, I think that God of War 3—for the PS3!—was visually more exciting. It showed you fights with and against humongous gods on an epic, breathtaking scale. Sure, the textures and animations and lights and shadows are better here, but good art direction is more important for the overall experience than a 3D engine. This game has some gorgeous moments, for sure—the opening boss fight is a masterpiece!—but a God of War game demands consistently over-the-top visuals. This God of War game mostly scales it back.