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    #31
    After last night, from what I can tell I'm about 25% of the way in and it's holding up as decent stuff but I'm starting to get a little whiff of... Last of Us syndrome?

    Like, it's a good game but if the rest of the experience is consistent then I'm getting the growing feeling that reviews have massively overblown things. I enjoy the gorgeous visuals and I'm fine following the simple story but the core gameplay loop is again very simple and repetitive. It's very well paced which helps the experience but I get little sense that underneath the fresh paint it's really any different than the past entries (other than the enemies not being as epic so far). That in itself is an accomplishment, maintaining the series legacy whilst successfully projecting the illusion of rebooting the experience, but a OOT/Resi 4 scale rebirth or game of the generation experience this so far isn't. It's top tier PS4 stuff that everyone should play but a bit like when the original GOW came out, a lot of hype for a simple hack and slash.

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      #32
      Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
      After last night, from what I can tell I'm about 25% of the way in and it's holding up as decent stuff but I'm starting to get a little whiff of... Last of Us syndrome?

      Like, it's a good game but if the rest of the experience is consistent then I'm getting the growing feeling that reviews have massively overblown things. I enjoy the gorgeous visuals and I'm fine following the simple story but the core gameplay loop is again very simple and repetitive. It's very well paced which helps the experience but I get little sense that underneath the fresh paint it's really any different than the past entries (other than the enemies not being as epic so far). That in itself is an accomplishment, maintaining the series legacy whilst successfully projecting the illusion of rebooting the experience, but a OOT/Resi 4 scale rebirth or game of the generation experience this so far isn't. It's top tier PS4 stuff that everyone should play but a bit like when the original GOW came out, a lot of hype for a simple hack and slash.
      If i was to compare it to anything id say its more like a modern day Soulreaver than a traditional God of War game, a focused adventure that wants to tell a story has great atmosphere and a great world to explore. To call it a simple hack and slash is doing it a massive dis-service. The combat is visceral and satisfying, the world is memorable and detailed and the interplay between Kratos and his son is a masterstroke. I challenge anyone to not crack a smile while exploring the lake area, listening to Kratos tell his son story's, its an excellent use of dry humor and helps build a believable relationship between them.

      So In an endless sea of massive sprawling open world adventure games that have ropey voice acting (Horizon Zero Dawn) and vast empty forgettable locations (the Witcher) to have an old school story based adventure game that is focused engaging and well put together for me is like getting all my birthdays and Christmas's at once. It twangs that nostalgia for games that didn't have to Pad out their games by bombard you with pointless side quests (Assassins creed) and where just happy to take you along for the ride.
      Last edited by Lebowski; 27-04-2018, 09:33.

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        #33
        I enjoy the weight to the combat, strikes feel hefty but I have issues with it too. A lot will depend on how the rest of the game plays out, but so far every encounter has boiled down to either pressing R1 or throwing the axe. Now that's fine, the previous games weren't deep either, but the warning system doesn't always register correctly and whilst it's satisfying it's a far cry from the reinvention or revelation many have made it to be.

        I definitely agree though, it's nice to see a more linear single player experience make an impact, it's a type of game I vastly prefer to the growing wave of bland open worlds and Games as a Service concepts clogging the market lately.

        I'm going to throw one controversy out though... based on the GOW experience so far (and it could certainly change this by the credits) Horizon was a better GOTY contender last year than this is. It accomplished a lot more.

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          #34
          I'm actually so offended by this whole white single father running around to save the day thing. Why didn't they make the protagonist a disabled, trans, ethnic minority lesbian eh?

          Such a terrible patriarch driven industry that you are all supporting with your actions, for shame.

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            #35
            Working hard on getting that TotW award, RS?

            Anyhoo:




            Supes, there's an article I read recently about Sony and Microsoft's attitudes to single player games. Hang on.

            EDIT: Here it is:
            God of War does more than bring the series into the current console generation, it highlights the divide between Sony and Microsoft and what they’re doing to provide the best games possible for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players.


            "Herein lies the issue that most gamers have when it comes to the battle between Sony and Microsoft, the Xbox One has very few exclusives. The issue is that sadly there aren’t’ enough developers to make the exclusives Xbox players want. Sony have Santa Monica Studios, Naughty Dog, San Diego, Sucker Punch, Bend, and Media Molecule working on games like Dreams and Days Gone, to name but two. Microsoft on the other hand have Rare, 343 which work on the Halo series, The Coalition of Gears of War, and Turn 10 for the Forza series. With these developers busy working on the current exclusives there’s no new blood to introduce more.

            However, looking at the bigger picture it’s possible that Microsoft will one day have the upper hand on exclusive titles. With a large enough subscriber base to the Xbox Games Pass it might be possible that gamers will only ever need to purchase one or two games a year as they disappear from the lineup, with every new exclusive title downloading right to their home console."

            The whole article is worth a read and puts that quote into context.
            Last edited by QualityChimp; 27-04-2018, 10:21.

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              #36
              It's interesting but I don't feel GamePass will make any real dent on MS's fortunes. Whilst it allows more gamers to experience their exclusives for £0-£7.99 it would require a very large turnover of users who would otherwise not buy the game to buy the pass in order to create a worthwhile return on investment. It's probably arguable that GamePass only works so well for MS because it's bringing in revenue they otherwise wouldn't receive at all due to the lack content.

              It's like whenever it's referred to as Netflix for games, even Netflix invest in exclusive content

              On thing about God of War I forgot to mention that will put a grin on TA's face given how many times we've discussed it on the forum, HDR!

              I mean, I have to give the game a proper round of applause. Some sections of the game actually make a really stand out impression of HDR, a feat I've never been impressed by on anything else before now. Some sections seem to go all out to make it have an impact and actually manage to be significantly better than the non-HDR picture.

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                #37
                Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
                I enjoy the weight to the combat, strikes feel hefty but I have issues with it too. A lot will depend on how the rest of the game plays out, but so far every encounter has boiled down to either pressing R1 or throwing the axe. Now that's fine, the previous games weren't deep either, but the warning system doesn't always register correctly and whilst it's satisfying it's a far cry from the reinvention or revelation many have made it to be.

                I definitely agree though, it's nice to see a more linear single player experience make an impact, it's a type of game I vastly prefer to the growing wave of bland open worlds and Games as a Service concepts clogging the market lately.

                I'm going to throw one controversy out though... based on the GOW experience so far (and it could certainly change this by the credits) Horizon was a better GOTY contender last year than this is. It accomplished a lot more.
                See i found horizon a bit of a slog, to open up the map and see the millions of icons just left me cold. Doing stuff like collecting cups vistas and flowers for no meaningful reward was its biggest sin for me. I ignored the hunting grounds till end game which was a mistake as it showed you how to use certain weapons in unique and interesting ways. it's over reliance on fighting human camps really peed me off too as i spent more time fighting humans than dinosaurs robots. I finished it but wouldn't say i have super fond memory's of my time with it. The DLC though wow it took the main game focused in on it and created an experience that was fun to explore and played like a distilled version of the main game its just a shame you have to play the main game to get to this.

                With GOW I kind of wonder if where playing the same game as quite early on if you don't pay attention don't block or dodge the game will punishes you with death. You certainly cant use one single attack to brute force everything, Enemy's like the witches require you to stun them by requesting arrows from "The boy" to open up a combo opportunity.
                Last edited by Lebowski; 27-04-2018, 11:22.

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                  #38
                  The boy is mechanically more visual gimmick than a mechanic (so far) though. Like the witches you mention, you request an arrow but that's not so much a mechanic in of itself and more just a button press. To take down a witch you're mostly just pressing Square, R1, R1 until they're dead. Not unlike pressing Square, Triangle, Triangle for certain enemies in previous entries.

                  I mean, I'm very aware my posts are painting a grimmer picture of GOW than I actually think of it so far. My view is more that it's a polished fun brawler with amazing window dressing rather than living up to what reviews and some forums are currently hyping it up to be. It's why I could always accept people loving LoU, but found claims of it being one of/the best games ever made pretty insulting to a mountain of previous games.

                  I do hope the game knocks me for six and leaves me in love with it though, it'll just need to throw me something I'm not expecting to have a chance of that as I don't really want to do the same thing I have so far for so many more hours to go.

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                    #39
                    To get near the witch you have to stun them last minute and get them into a combo how is this not a mechanic you have direct control over where the arrows go so it becomes part of the combat quite early on, he has many other ability's to my fave being able to unleash a spirit wolf that runs around the battlefield causing chaos.

                    It's a shame your not seeing what i am and lots of others are the mix of brutal combat and exploration is whats keeping me playing, it helps that i really like the setting too. Maybe try upping the difficulty as this will force ya to experiment a bit more. You must be playing it on easy if you can just hit one button to win everything as countering and dodging are needed to win most battles. Id question why you are just using one button or one combo its like picking up a fighting game and only using one move over and over then complaining that the combat is dull.

                    out of interest did you explore the lake or have you just gone straight to each new area without deviation
                    Last edited by Lebowski; 27-04-2018, 13:00.

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                      #40
                      I've explored each area as best I can, there's been a couple of locked doorways and avenues I'm clearly supposed to come back to later with give it a very light metroidvania tinge. Explored the lake as well, freeing all the spirits etc. I'm playing on balanced, from what I can gather upping the difficulty doesn't mix things up that much bar health bars unless you choose the top difficulty which many seem not to find that much fun.

                      It's fine that the combat system doesn't come across as complex, UC games are just the same standard gunplay and jumping throughout in nice presentation and it works fine in those, I think I'm just missing the connection so far in terms of why this is being revered to much when the gameplay experience is coming across to me as very atypical.

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                        #41
                        Maybe its a case of expecting something ground breaking and revolutionary when at its heart its just a really really good version of this type of game with nice graphics, decent storytelling and a fun world to explore. There have been a few times recently where hype has got away from me and pushed me to see a certain film or play a game that maybe i wouldn't be bothered about normally, so i go in expecting to be blown away and come away disappointed when its not something revolutionary just a really good example of that genre.

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                          #42
                          Trying to get on with this but I’m struggling TBH.

                          Like past games, I REALLY don’t like the way Sony Santa Monica do combat.
                          I personally think this game has issues with combat, which make it a chore to play.

                          Firstly the camera is locked behind Kratos, this means any enemy that wanders off to the side, or more likely the game just throws too many enemies at you, you have no good way to see what’s happening around you without with having to mash backdash constantly until you can get everyone in frame.

                          Also, because of this camera system, you can’t block anything that isn’t right in front of you so if an enemy attacks you from the side (VERY likely) you get hit. Again this just forces you away from combat

                          These things force you back to the point that combat becomes long range and you find yourself constantly just throwing your axe because you’ve backed right off.

                          Some of their game design is straight out of 1995 too!
                          I’m at a bit where I’m on a lift and enemies jump on and I have a set amount of time to get them off otherwise the lift gets too heavy and it falls. Lame design IMO and makes the already questionable combat even worse.

                          The game itself looks stunning and the cinematic sequences are amazing.
                          I’m just not personally sure I can stand the 20 mins of combat to get 2 mins of beautiful cinematic.

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                            #43
                            At the point where I've just went to another realm, the combat is becoming more fluid but still struggling on levels with multiple enemies especially the more armoured baddies and those revenants can suck my balls

                            Also don't like using the L1 in conjunction with O/R1/R2 and it doesn't always work like using L1/R2 to freeze close enemies and I end up just throwing my axe

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                              #44
                              I'm glad I'm not the only one underwhelmed by this. I'm maybe 4 or 5 hours in. It's good, but it's nothing special or remotely original. I've lost interest in the plot, can't be arsed with all the upgrades and am frustrated with facing the wrong way when fighting multiple enemies. The whole **** dad thing isn't interesting me either. As much as the franchise needed a new direction I'm longing for something epic to happen.

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                                #45
                                Originally posted by Super Monkey Balls View Post
                                I'm glad I'm not the only one underwhelmed by this. I'm maybe 4 or 5 hours in. It's good, but it's nothing special or remotely original. I've lost interest in the plot, can't be arsed with all the upgrades and am frustrated with facing the wrong way when fighting multiple enemies. The whole **** dad thing isn't interesting me either. As much as the franchise needed a new direction I'm longing for something epic to happen.
                                Someone at work told me that it's mostly a walking simulator.

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