God of War: Ragnarok

[KAC]

I thought this was a trilogy. And there will be another one with Kratos in it. I really don’t want to play as other characters. I want Kratos!

[SD-[Inc]]

Finished it today. Played all the way to the funeral. Great ending. I like how great the voice acting and writing was overall. Early on I wasn’t liking the gameplay but it just kept getting better and better. I like story driven gameplay and this one did hit the mark. Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog seem to be the only gaming studios to actually write good stories for games these days. They left the possibility of multiple character spin offs for the next installment of the series. Looking forward to more from them.

[SD-[Inc]]

Me either. Too many berserker fights to stay interested. I beat a couple of them. But I don’t like repetitive fights like that. I did discover most everything I could without a lot of backtracking. So I’ll probably move on too. Want to replay Witcher 3 on PS5 now that it does’t look so bad. This was a really good game worth playing. No regrets on the impulse buy at launch.

[KAC]

I didn’t do everything yet. There is a lot that is still left. Heck I didn’t even collect all Nornir chests. I probably won’t do a platinum since some of the fights are insane. The berserker fights are what I truly suck at. I also need to find a valkyrie etc. Just too many things to do.

Btw there is also a ton of more dialog after endgame. Mimir and Freya keep telling stories that I want to listen to. Just an amazing all round game. I have opened up 4 / 6 Raven chests and yes still to finish a lot of content. I may go back to the crater. I don’t have dragon armor either.

I just have too many games right now to try and 100% this one.

[SD-[Inc]]

Back to God of War, I just finished it. An amazing end to a beautiful and deep storyline. Seems even after the credits roll there is intentional end game content that I will indulge in. I still have a lot of places left to 100%. Maybe I never will but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Just wonderful. For me it is a solid 10/10 and rarely anything stirs emotions in me but this game did.

Dang, you beat me. I will start the ending soon. I am pretty solidly geared up and ready. I ended up getting a full set of the Dragon Scale armor from the crater by killing all the dragons. I liked the way they opened up that level the longer you played. It wasn't your standard "find a key" quests at all. Very original. Some cool favors still in there if you haven't finished all of them. The Epic Hunts were fun and finding all the hiding places of the Centaur Lady and killing her was challenging. I haven't really done any Crucible content or Rifts. And it looks like I missed about 10 ravens. But certainly not going to backtrack everywhere and find them. Not sure if that's required for platinum or not. Plenty of location guides online. But re-checking 48 places is way too much effort. Glad you enjoyed it. I am too. There are many things I like better than the previous version.

[KAC]

Back to God of War, I just finished it. An amazing end to a beautiful and deep storyline. Seems even after the credits roll there is intentional end game content that I will indulge in. I still have a lot of places left to 100%. Maybe I never will but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Just wonderful. For me it is a solid 10/10 and rarely anything stirs emotions in me but this game did.

[SD-[Inc]]

Elden ring is just dodge roll garbage. Same formula from first Demon Souls game. The bosses look interesting but literally have the same cheap lunge or high AOE attacks that I have seen in most games. Maybe someday I will enjoy such games. God of War on the other hand is great at giving freedom to play like you want to. I feel challenged and die quite a few times as well but I am not dodge rolling like a maniac.

Somewhat agree. But there are a ton of weapons and skills you can tweak to make the game interesting and play differently. (And by a ton I mean 10x what God of War has). And, the amount of content in that game is beyond insane. There are literally dozens of levels like The Crater. I put close to 200 hours into it and don’t think I will ever finish it. That’s also a negative in a way because you could play the game the rest of your life and still not uncover all gameplay options. I would agree that God of War can be more “fun”. Elden Ring has no character and story worth investigating. It’s just From Software weird stuff constantly. You can really get attached to the story and characters in God of War. Game has good pacing and character development. And, to be honest, I do appreciate the ability to just turn the difficulty down when things get too repetitive. The thrill of defeating a boss after 25 tries in Elden Ring gets a little old after a while. Being punished constantly for lack of perfection is not fun. Sometimes it’s just good luck or bad luck when an enemy randomly decides to spam or not spam some cheese at the wrong time. Plus, creating levels where gravity is the main enemy is just annoying. God of War is forgiving throughout the game but offers rewarding side content for challenge. My only complaint is the large amount of invisible walls making everything so linear. I don’t think it is really necessary and a little dated gameplay. The Crater level did a much better job with this. But much of the game is just too linear. Deciding which path to take is always: Path seems long and no chest = must be quest. Backtrack to shorter path that dead ends at chest exploring is not really 2022 open world gameplay. God of War was never really an open world game in the past. But it can be. The Crater was a much better level and shows the possibilities.

God of War does have a lot of build options. Skill wise it seems like you can just get enough XP to get all of them with a little exploring. Using them effectively does take a little practice. The practice area they give is excellent for tweaking and trying new stuff. You can make a huge improvement in your combat skills with a little practice there. It looks like you had a surge of playing time and have caught up with me. I got a little time this weekend and nearly did everything in the crater. Will soon resume the story. It is definitely one of the best games this year. Elden Ring is just a ridiculous achievement. You’d need to dedicate a huge amount of time to it to see what everyone is talking about. And if you don’t like that type of gameplay, that would be a challenge.

[KAC]

Damn spent all day doing side quests in the crater lol. So much loot that I don’t even know what to use and what to discard.

[KAC]

Elden ring is just dodge roll garbage. Same formula from first Demon Souls game. The bosses look interesting but literally have the same cheap lunge or high AOE attacks that I have seen in most games. Maybe someday I will enjoy such games. God of War on the other hand is great at giving freedom to play like you want to. I feel challenged and die quite a few times as well but I am not dodge rolling like a maniac.

[SD-[Inc]]

After you rescue the brother is where you get to The Crater. It’s huge, open, and fun. It seems like the developers must have played Elden Ring near the end of their project because the game became more and more open the further you played. If all the world was as open and interesting as this area it would be my GOTY also. But early on, it was sort of lame. I loved Horizon too. But, that story was just so amateur. If you could mix the storytelling and combat from Ragnarok with the beautiful open world of Horizons you would have something that would have gave Elden Ring a run for the money for GOTY. But this year Elden Ring is clear winner. That game is just MASSIVE. The entire game so far in God Of War is about 1/8 the size of the world in Elden Ring. I prefer games like God of War and Horizon. But just the scale of quality content in Elden Ring is too impressive to ignore this year.

[KAC]

Spent a lot of time today playing and hit chapter 13 with the moon thingie. Such a great game. I am going to fiddle around after I save Freya’s bro as I heard there are a lot of side quests after that. Side quests are such a must have in this game as it is only way to upgrade armor or get decent armor. Finally hit level 5 and it has taken a very long time to get here lol.

Game is just stunning. I hope it doesn’t take them another 4+ years to push out a sequel. I can also hear Kratos talk for hours with his son and Mimir. So much story telling going on all the time. It is just wonderful.

Easily my GOTY and I know I am screwing over Horizon Forbidden West but then again the whole planet did it also.

[KAC]

I just got my spear. I am going around doing as many sides as possible. However, sometimes I am caught with enemies I can’t kill. I think they turn purple or something. Almost impossible to do damage to them as they are one level above and very fast.

I am clearing out as much as I can but then when I hit such a point, I know it is not the time and have to walk away. The saves and overall structure of the game is so well done. It also pisses me off that you check the map and it shows only 35% complete when you have been around in the area for like 3 hours.

I am now in a dream sequence and about to start Chapter 11. Game is dope af and every night I start playing and end up 4-5 hours later when I go back to sleep.

[SD-[Inc]]

It keeps getting better IMO. I thought I was almost done and then a side quest opened a massive optional area called The Crater. Been exploring that area all week. Cool puzzles and enemies. It’s the biggest “open world” area in the game. Don’t skip it!

[KAC]

Damn the game really opens up. On chapter 9 in Midgard and can’t walk 20 m before running into a side quest.

A bit pissed about some chests especially ones with bells. Can’t open them most of the time. Found one where the 3 dongs are at different edges of the room and have no idea what to do. Was about to look at walkthrough but trying to avoid it as much as I can.

Game has a habit of consuming hours like crazy. I turn it on and then 4 hours later at 2 AM I am like **** this I need to sleep. Amazing game and quite enjoying it. Also am very intrigued by the story. More so than last game.

[KAC]

Well this game is sucking me in as well. Think I am on chapter 6 now. Just keeps growing on me. Thus far, still, it has been largely linear but I don’t mind that as I like linear games a lot. Think I will see it through now that other distractions are over for a while.

[SD-[Inc]]

I just got back after chapter 4 plus a side quest. Taking my time with this one. I feel I missed a few chests etc because I didn’t have the appropriate powers. Not sure if I will ever go back unless story takes me. I am still quite far as I have way too many games to play and even Witcher 3 is interesting again as I am playing on PC for the first time.

Witcher 3 on PC is one of the best gaming experiences ever. I spent over 200 hours on that game. It can definitely suck you in. God of War is a perfect game to pick up, take a rest, and then start playing again. It's not super intense on narrative or travel. As I get farther, it becomes much so better. Keep chugging away at it when you get time it is good. For example: I just found a cool artifact with a very mysterious description. So, I did what all good gamers do and googled what the heck it is. Doing so, I uncovered a cool side quest with sleeping trolls and some really great armor as a reward. Now that the game has finally opened up, it is surprisingly deep in content.

[KAC]

I just got back after chapter 4 plus a side quest. Taking my time with this one. I feel I missed a few chests etc because I didn’t have the appropriate powers. Not sure if I will ever go back unless story takes me. I am still quite far as I have way too many games to play and even Witcher 3 is interesting again as I am playing on PC for the first time.

[SD-[Inc]]

I haven’t gotten the hang of the combat yet. Still figuring it out. Very different from Bayonetta since I keep wanting to have Witch Time. .

Sad part is game looks a bit last gen to me. I was hoping for better omgrafix. I can’t complain much though as I spent 30 hours on switch level graphics.

Did you get to the part of the story where you get the spear? Once you get that far, the world really opens up and there is a lot more exploration. You can finally reach blocked areas, the crucible, and a lot of side bosses. The combat is way more involved than it originally seems. Luckily, they give you a practice area where you can fight with unlimited health. Plus, all practice counts towards advancing your skills to bronze - silver - gold levels. Very useful in figuring out what sort of skills work best for your play style. Definitely waste time pounding on enemies there. You learn a LOT about the combat. I really like how they added this feature. It's tons better than the painful trial and error of souls games.

Also, some of the newer level have much better visuals. Still not omgrafix. But they are decent. Because the graphics aren't that amazing, the performance mode is the only way to play. I can't really tell any difference and 60FPS is a must have.

[SD-[Inc]]

Graphics do improve on certain levels. They look nice but haven’t seen anything amazing yet. I use the performance mode and it still looks good. The solid 60 FPS is definitely next gen and smooth as heck. If you are running a newer TV that has 120hz you can try higher or maybe even the 40 FPS mode.

[KAC]

I haven’t gotten the hang of the combat yet. Still figuring it out. Very different from Bayonetta since I keep wanting to have Witch Time. .

Sad part is game looks a bit last gen to me. I was hoping for better omgrafix. I can’t complain much though as I spent 30 hours on switch level graphics.

[SD-[Inc]]

It’s definitely gets harder the further you go. Make sure to use the armor you got in that first side quest. It kills all stun recovery on enemies when equipped. Really nice. It’s a bit of a button masher as it is effective to switch weapons mid battle and launching runic attacks as often as you can. Takes a while to get used to all the attacking mechanics. The defense is straightforward block/dodge. But there seems like 17 different ways to attack at any moment. It’s hard to remember all the goodness as I tend to lock in on a few favorites which is too limiting. I quick using lock I too as it’s just much easier to bash away on different enemies using the stick. Enjoy!

[KAC]

Now that I finished the Bayonetta games I am getting back into this. Pretty good game and now pumping idiots with Atreus.

[SD-[Inc]]

Started playing this again last night. Was like I have an hour before the next Fifa game at 10 PM. Stopped at 2 AM. Realized I had only done 1 chapter and 2 side quests during that time. Just got Tyr freed up. Wtf. This game gonna be long lol.

It just starts getting good now. I am away from my PlayStation this long US holiday weekend so you should catch up to me.

[SD-[Inc]]

Got to the big lizard fight in the video that was complaining about the helper voice and that is a total dogshit video made by haters. The whole context of the scene is why the NPC was so aggressively yelling at Kratos. It is not representative of the "helper" voice in the game at all. The idiot in the video staged the yelling by doing nothing to attack the lizard. That level and that fight was very well done. Haters suck and the internet should not be believed!!!

[Jankan]

Played about 6 hours now and feels much the same as the first one but the map does feel better. Didn't like the first ones map so much but lets see how it progresses

[KAC]

Started playing this again last night. Was like I have an hour before the next Fifa game at 10 PM. Stopped at 2 AM. Realized I had only done 1 chapter and 2 side quests during that time. Just got Tyr freed up. Wtf. This game gonna be long lol.

[SD-[Inc]]

Yeah, it's a little different than most games. There is no character leveling. Kratos gets better based on the skills he acquires and the equipment and upgrades he crafts. That's why the side quests and mini-exploration is critical.

[KAC]

Sorry I meant the red rage meter.

[SD-[Inc]]

I need to get back to it. Bayonetta is keeping me company and I like the fast paced combat in that one. Already my Switch Pro controller is shaking because I have been abusing it playing Bayonetta.

Back to this game, I am doing side content as much as possible. Important to level up health and magic/mana so always good to go around before you go on main quest. Right now doing some mining side quest.

You are still at the very start of the game. Make sure you use the material you get from that quest to get a new armor set. The new set is very useful. There is no mana/magic in the game. XP is used for skill upgrades. Upgrade mats and other bonus items is what you find exploring. The game starts picking up soon after the main quest on that level. Enjoy!

[KAC]

I need to get back to it. Bayonetta is keeping me company and I like the fast paced combat in that one. Already my Switch Pro controller is shaking because I have been abusing it playing Bayonetta.

Back to this game, I am doing side content as much as possible. Important to level up health and magic/mana so always good to go around before you go on main quest. Right now doing some mining side quest.

[SD-[Inc]]

Game is definitely growing on me. The starting levels were uninspired tutorials. I was getting a little worried the game was going to be a let down. But it’s picked up a lot. It’s a story driven/linear game with some minor exploration and customization. (A lot like the first one). This time the story focuses more on Atreus. And he is a playable character and much more useful as an AI companion too. Switching between the ranged and melee styles of Atreus and Kratos levels is a nice change of pace. They included a great practice arena so you can get used to all the attack skills. It’s really useful. So far the enemies are fairly easy except for the occasional boss that can be tough, Many of the puzzles have been challenging but easily figured out after just a short amount of trial and error. It’s a forgiving game so you can definitely play it casually. I still haven’t had the issue of the combat helper being annoying. Most of the time they yell: “Behind you” and things like “We got this”. Which is actually helpful. Not sure what was going on in that video. It probably was because the player was fully sucking and the AI turned up the advice. The customization is interesting. The skills, if you play a lot of the side content, are easy to level up. But the different mods and attachment are fun to play with. You can customize runic attacks, special skills and weapon attributes. Even though Kratos only has 2 weapons, it still gives you a good set of customization options. And the shields have different uses and are customizable as well. Be sure and do ALL the optional side content. Early in the game, the rewards are totally worth it! Here is my mini-critique so far:

1) Story is basic be expertly told, Solid cut-scenes and animations. Top notch voice talent and writing overall.
2) Basic but fun. The axe return is still one of the most satisfying combat moves in all gaming. Especially with a dual sense controller
3) Graphics and presentation is also very nice. Although, other than the silky smooth 60FPS, I really don’t see a lot of “next-gen” graphics in the game.
4) Open world it is not. It’s a purely linear game with a few side paths and a couple of open exploration areas. Not a bad thing as long as the story is compelling which it is starting to be.

Overall, I give it an 8/10 and the more I play that score might improve. This type of linear game needs to nail the story telling. If not, my score isn’t going to improve.. Let’s see. The game started out at around 6.5 for me but has really picked up steam. if you like a story driven action game with linear progression, I’d try it.

[KAC]

Played a bit of this game. Was dope af.

[SD-[Inc]]

That setting apparently doesn't delay the helper voice, it delays the timing on some momentum/physics based puzzles which makes them easier.

I know. There is no setting for the helper during combat. The puzzle helper isn’t all bad. It can help when you are missing the right tool to solve a puzzle. Otherwise it’s annoying.

[Mangler]

The helper voice isn't always annoying. It can be helpful sometimes but other times it can definitely be annoying. The most annoying is when the NPC basically solves a puzzle for you if you take too long. Although there is a setting to delay that longer. But you can't turn it off completely. They made more traversal options than in the first game. But they too can be annoying because there are some cliffs you can go down some you can't. The ones you can are marked to help. But it is immersion breaking in my opinion. All and all it's a lot like the last one, so if you liked that one, you'll like this one. I had some gripes about the last one and same with this one. But it's still a fun experience overall. Will keep playing. Just need to solve those puzzles faster!!!

That setting apparently doesn't delay the helper voice, it delays the timing on some momentum/physics based puzzles which makes them easier.

[clerick]

So, because the "helper voice" is as annoying as it is in every game (HEY! LISTEN!), the game is ****?

Absolutely. This degradation of gameplay and babying the player thing a lot of AAA devs have been doing can **** right off.

[SD-[Inc]]

The helper voice isn't always annoying. It can be helpful sometimes but other times it can definitely be annoying. The most annoying is when the NPC basically solves a puzzle for you if you take too long. Although there is a setting to delay that longer. But you can't turn it off completely. They made more traversal options than in the first game. But they too can be annoying because there are some cliffs you can go down some you can't. The ones you can are marked to help. But it is immersion breaking in my opinion. All and all it's a lot like the last one, so if you liked that one, you'll like this one. I had some gripes about the last one and same with this one. But it's still a fun experience overall. Will keep playing. Just need to solve those puzzles faster!!!

[Drunken Janitor]

https://www.twitch.tv/elajjaz/clip/B...yD41YSSipjRLsJ
https://www.twitch.tv/elajjaz/clip/P...zKagGxkaQ18
Absolute dog ****. Avoiding like the plague.

So, because the "helper voice" is as annoying as it is in every game (HEY! LISTEN!), the game is ****?

[clerick]

https://www.twitch.tv/elajjaz/clip/B...yD41YSSipjRLsJ
https://www.twitch.tv/elajjaz/clip/P...zKagGxkaQ18
Absolute dog ****. Avoiding like the plague.

[SD-[Inc]]

Finally got to the first real level and it’s more like the original game now. Much more enjoyable. Still trying to get used to all the attack moves and such. But, much deeper exploration and combat. Although, it’s really jarring coming from Elden Ring how NOT open the world really is. So many artificial walls blocking progress. It’s sort of annoying and will take getting used to again. One good thing is I won’t be accidentally falling to my death any time soon… (my favorite way to die in Elden Ring!). Lol.

[SD-[Inc]]

First impressions are it is definitely AAA quality. But in a similar way to the first game. Voice acting and graphics are amazing. The start of the story is a bit slow and not so great yet. I only played for an hour and a half and didn’t really get into any new content or combat options yet. The performance mode and haptic feedback on the PS5 is top notch. It’s so great having 60 FPS solid performance. I tried quality mode and couldn’t pick out much difference in visuals except the responsiveness of the controller. Right now, I fully recommend performance mode. I don’t have a 120hz screen so couldn’t test out some of the other modes. Really interested in the 45FPS quality mode. Could be good. The story has potential but just started so gameplay is kinda meh so far. The first real boss battle wasn’t as good as the first game. The multiple phases were more annoying than fun. The ending was not satisfying either. I forgot about what a cranky annoying arsehole Kratos can be. He did the same thing at the start of the first game too. Hopefully his attitude grows as the story progresses. Atreus is now an even more annoying teenager. Let’s hope the writing improves there as well as he appears to be the center of the story this time.