Kratos, the god of war, is back: older, closer, less frantic and now killing alone to survive.
¡Whats Up, Steemians! Forget (almost) everything you know about God of War.
Throughout six games on three platforms, Kratos' adventures changed very little. The mold installed by the original God of War on PlayStation 2 was executed for the first time and was introduced in the modifications. The "genetic code" of the series, such as violent and bloody hack 'n slash, remained until the last PS3 God of War Ascension closed for "always"? that chapter, perhaps due to lower sales and worse reception in terms of criticism.
It is understood then the intentions of Sony and the studio of Santa Monica to refresh for the adventures of Kratos. Because this God of War is very different from all previous ones even when the basic idea has been modified, but not totally.
Killing only to survive
Kratos was, in everything, always an adventurer. That he has solved his problems in an exaggeratedly violent way, yes, but that was done in God of War (any of them) was to follow the path that marked the story and the script.
In this new God of War that does not change. The why of Kratos touring Midgard and other Nordic places are quickly explained in the first half hour of play. And yes, it is true that the tone of this story is very different. But the core, I insist, is still similar to that before made Kratos go through Greek mythology and kill all those gods.
What does change in the extreme is the combat system, a radical change that is not easy to get used to in the context of God of War as a brand. Now Kratos always looks over his shoulder, as if he were a Gears of War type shooter and that makes the match much closer. The ax, although it has a remote attack, is a weapon of short range and therefore to hit enemies you have to position yourself next to them. And pressing the trigger, not hitting square or triangle as was done before.
The new battle of God of War is appropriate for the new style, which doubt fits. This Kratos is an old guy who, above all, wants to teach Atreus the power of self-control, even when he relies on the child all the time to resolve battles and soften enemies to give them the final blow. But Kratos now kills someone with remorse and only if necessary to survive, nothing more.
Independent of the fact that combat makes a lot of sense in the new context, it is worth asking if this change is really for the better. Or put another way, how much better than before. And an example of this is that the old combat was more complex and deeper in terms of possibilities and flexibility of attack, while it had a system of progression and improvements of Kratos based on something very simple to get new movements and more power of attack.
This time, what have done, Santa Monica Studio is an advanced system in line with what modern RPGs bring. There is a skill tree to get new movements, there is an improvement system and you can also modify some side effects by using runes. Kratos now equips different armors and elements that alter their statistics with different elements and even Atreus can get new moves and assists in combat through this system of improvements.
All this sounds good on paper because it is modern, it is real and it is super accepted, almost standardized in many modern games. But in practice, it is not such an important support for combat. As Kratos progresses in history it becomes more powerful but this is not an RPG, where the character can change to earth, depending on the elements that are equipped.
And if the changes are subtle, this Kratos personalization system feels unnecessary. It exists almost because it has to exist, because other games implement it and God of War can not be less. But beyond that, what is your contribution? That question, under my vision and having finished the whole game, is quite valid.
Kratos stories
God of War always told interesting stories in all the games. The "Greek saga" was basically about ending all that mythology, killing one god after another. But in reality not everyone that mattered to him, for what God of War was the game to release stress by pressing buttons to the beast and destroy everything.
The story of this new God of War is still the same in the sense of telling something interesting. Though for logical reasons, here the story is much more relevant and from the first minute is left leaving the loose ends that serve as a hook to get into and get into the impeccable narration of the game.
The reasons why Kratos does things (or why he tells his son not to do them) are obvious if one considers the historical context of this God of War. Kratos grew old and even when he left the Greek episode behind, he has never really forgotten who he is and why he is where he is.
I do not want to go into detail in the story to avoid spoilers, but I can say that this new God of War continues to fulfill this "educational" task of interesting people in the universe on which it is based. The same licenses are taken in terms of the reinterpretation of history as it is known - in this case, Norse mythology - but what difference does it make? There are several script twists and crucial revelations that serve to keep the interest above always.
And the latter is not a minor detail, because God of War is a long game. The story ends in at least 25 hours. And there is also extra content in the form of side quests that can be completed calmly in the middle of the campaign or else left for the end.
Secondary missions? Yes, there are. God of War is not an open world game but it has a "free" structure that is based on a kind of central hub from which most of the objectives begin. This structure also allows backtracking - backwards - to collect what has been left or simply to explore the place. Of course, the main objectives are always linear, but in the old games, the spaces are wide and there are always extra chests or things that avoid moving in a straight line and give juicy rewards.
A colossal staging
The presentation of God of War has always been important but this new game takes everything to the next level. Santa Monica Studio is a talented team - we will not discover it now - but the audiovisual finishing of this game is one of the most perfect that has been seen on PlayStation 4.
This is the cause of two things: On the one hand, there is the artistic design, evident in the different scenarios and environments recreated in the game. On the other hand, the technical: the whole game is a single camera shot without cuts or cinematic, which tells the story in a single extended scene.
Yes, Sony decided that it was necessary to revitalize everything so that the game existed, but how far is this format better than what was before? Was God of War Ascension to worse game received than the previous ones because of the wear of the formula? Or simply because the story has been unjustified and not interesting?
The new God of War has begun
The answers to the previous questions may never be known. But it does not matter. What matters is that we have a new God of War after half a decade and that its level of quality is clear from the moment the adventure begins until it ends in a very appropriate ending, which closes this chapter but at the same time foot for who knows how many more.
Because there is no doubt that there will be more of God of War. What was created for this game can not end here. There are more stories to tell in Norse mythology and yes, there are also some adjustments to be made, especially to that character progression system that, personally, I consider to be the only element that should be revised.
The important thing, I think, is to understand (and accept) that God of War is no longer a hack 'n slash as in the past but a game that seeks to deliver sensations similar to those that the saga always delivered, but now in a different way: more It would be, more calm and more mature, so to speak. And things more or less things, go that yes it obtains it. Superbly.
Anyway, to beat buttons and open centaurs through the abdomen to spread their viscera on the floor, we will always have the previous God of War.
