The God of War franchise has always been a fan favorite to PlayStation fans for its action-packed hack n’ slash fighting style, detailed plot line filled with hidden lore, stunning graphics, and of course the main idea of killing the Greek gods in your path for revenge. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years you’ve probably heard of the new God of War instalment in the franchise and it’s called…. (dramatic drum sounds) …. God of War. Yes, that’s right it is just called God of War not God of War 5 not some name after God of War like Ascension but nah it’s just regular old God of War. Now if you’re hesitant to play the new God of War because you didn’t play the other ones due to it being a PlayStation exclusive or other reasons I’ll be discussing what it is and how it’s different, so you can decide if you want to buy it. Today we’ll be looking at the new God of War game from a gameplay standpoint, from a new storyline standpoint, and for what this means for the franchise looking forward.
Now the God of War franchise’s gameplay and fighting mechanics have always been a type of hack n’ slash type of deal with a few puzzles thrown in the equation. It always felt like when you’re Kratos you could win a 1 v 100 and you certainly could because the game was made for you to feel like you could kill the gods of Olympus which of course was the goal for Kratos in God of War, but in this new God of War things are a bit… different in this case. The new God of War to me seems like a type of “The Last of Us” fighting style.
It may seem solo but a lot of it is focused on using co-op with the new character, Atreus, who is surprisingly Kratos’ son. Now from the trailers and footage of the gameplay it looks like it’s very different from it’s predecessors in that not only are playing a co-op type of style but that the camera is very close to Kratos this time and makes it feel as an up-close third-person type of deal. Its camera is like that of once again “The Last of Us” so I wouldn’t be surprised if the creators and developers were somewhat inspired by “The Last of Us” and other games of course.
Now a notable change is that the cut-scenes that transition into fighting sequences are a lot smoother and feel like it is all one free flowing action and I really like that type of idea of how to handle those transitions. Now of course a hidden staple of the God of War games is its puzzles and expect those to be in the new game as well so for those of you who love fun and not to challenging puzzles the developers didn’t forget about you guys. Lastly since I don’t want to write pages dedicated to the fighting style of this game a notable change is how Kratos is no longer using the Blades of Chaos which was given to him by Ares the old God of War and now traded in his blades for a magical axe and I personally like the change it really re-vamps the old God of War formula. Now there’s plenty of people that I recommend you check out if you want to know more about the fighting style and new gameplay of this new God of War game, but I’ll be moving on to the next topic
The God of War story is commonly known about a man, Kratos, who was tricked by the God of War to kill his family, cursed for his sins, and who seeks revenge for the betrayal of his trust by the gods and wants to kill all of the gods including Zeus who is actually Kratos’ father. Now this is a VERY skimmed version of the storyline but would take forever to get through, but it is interesting, and I encourage you to investigate further detail for the story it really is worth it. Now throughout the old God of War games there was a constant theme of vengeance and the losing of humanity in Kratos and this seems to be very contradicting to what the new Kratos is in the new God of War. The new God of War tries to restore Kratos’ humanity and tries to control his rage by having him serve as a role model/mentor to his son, Atreus. Kratos is a caring father who is trying to take care of his son while still being haunted of his old family, it’s a great new idea and shows some empathy of the pain Kratos has gone through to get to where he is today.
He’s matured from his rage days to once again feeling love for another in God of War 3 where he expressed this emotion for love in Pandora and wanted to protect her but ultimately couldn’t then he nobly sacrifices himself to give hope to the people of the world and everyone thought he died for the betterment of the people. Now SOMEHOW, he survived and honestly, I’m not surprised because Kratos seems to die like 3 times before his impaled himself, but this new game seems to act as a fresh start for Kratos which I am curious to see how they’ll tackle this. Now you’re probably wondering who the big bad guys are in the new game and the answer is the Nordic Gods. Yes, you’ve heard right this new God of War is based from past Nordic Mythology not Vikings but instead trolls and serpents. Of course, I’m breezing through
this story to keep it short but please look further into this game.
Now I want to talk about my last point, which is what this will mean for the franchise moving forward. Now I believe this new story and play style can do wonders for the God of War series it breathes new life into this old story and offers a new audience and new everything really.
I would expect a few more new games to be pumped out from this new story and I also expect some flash backs to the old games but not to much because I feel the developers are trying to say hey look this is a new Kratos and a new God of War don’t expect Zeus or anyone to be come back and play a major role in this new game. The head guy of the new God of War said there won’t be a season pass for the new God of War which implies that there either won’t be any paid DLC or that the post-game content that will come out will be free which is refreshing in an era of gaming that involves paid transactions at every turn its good to have a game that you’ll buy for $60 knowing you’ll get the full game and probably nothing else.
My concluding thoughts of this game are that IT’S AMAZING. Of course, I’m probably a little bias because I loved the God of War games for its unique story and destroy everything mentality. This game looks great and my review is very short siding this game because 1) going into extensive detail would make this post way to long 2) this game is still unknown throughout many of the gamers and 3) It’s very different from its predecessors so I can’t make very accurate guesses on what direction this game is going.
I do feel like though this game will stay true to its roots and will try to make the fans and buyers happy. This game has a very dedicated and passionate group of developers which strive to make this game standout from the rest while still having some aspects of the other games. Now of course I haven’t played it yet since its release date is currently set to April 20 as of the time of this post. So, this is entirely based off other reviews, information given from developers, trailers, gameplay sneak peaks, and speculation among other things so as a fair warning take this review with a grain of salt and don’t let it discourage you for trying out the game for yourself. I hope this review has inspired you to research the game for yourself and make a good judgement on whether you want to buy this game and of course please remember this is a Sony exclusive so don’t expect it to be available to other gaming networks. Well of course this is Fox-Stagma giving you my thoughts and opinion on games and anime if you like what I’m doing then hit that upvote if you want your friends to see this well then repost this and if you want to see more content like this then hit that somewhat shiny follow button. Comment down below what you’ll want to see in this new God of War game and don’t forget to have an amazing day!
Fox-Stagma out! ATHENA!!!!! 10 years, I have faithfully served the gods for 10 years, when will you relieve me of my nightmares?! Come on quiet down Kratos I’m trying to say goodbye.