Dad of War: Axe Me About My Son[God of War]

DemonStacey

Surprised there's no thread for this. Unless I'm blind. Quite possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOE2BVRCUkM

Review embargo is already lifted and well...

https://opencritic.com/game/5434/god-of-war

Apparently it's REALLY fucking good.

Cool.

SniperGuy

I like what I'm hearing about being able to play through this entire game in a single take without any loads? That seems pretty awesome, looking forward to it for sure.

Skull2185

Yeah, unless you die, the game is just once continuous shot with no cuts or loads.

I very much wish this was out tomorrow instead of next Friday...

klemming

I'm honestly tempted to dig out my PS3 and do a full franchise playthrough, even though I've got plenty of other stuff to play.

DemonStacey

I'm not super into the old GoW games so I was never following this very closely and in fact didn't even realize it was coming out so soon until last month because I was focused on the 6 million other awesome games coming out this year. Then I saw one of the rad looking trailers and added this to the ol' pre-order list.

This year just keeps on giving.

KoopahTroopah

Do we need to know anything prior in the story to understand this one? Or is this a full reboot with subtle nods to other story pieces?

Reviews got me hyped, as well as a short interview with a designer that said they were inspired from Bloodborne level design.

cloudeagle

Apparently reviews are estimating it to take 30 hours to beat, so, uh, holy crap.

DemonStacey

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Do we need to know anything prior in the story to understand this one? Or is this a full reboot with subtle nods to other story pieces?

Reviews got me hyped, as well as a short interview with a designer that said they were inspired from Bloodborne level design.

I believe it technically takes place after the other games.

But you don't really need to know anything besides "Kratos was very angry and killed every one and especially every God he could"

Now you are set for this one. It's set far enough away from the others that you will be fine as it's about Kratos starting anew in a new land basically.

DemonStacey

cloudeagle wrote: »

Apparently reviews are estimating it to take 30 hours to beat, so, uh, holy crap.

Perfect! Hopefully it has just enough to fill in the time between release and Pillars 2 on 5-8.

Big Classy

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Do we need to know anything prior in the story to understand this one? Or is this a full reboot with subtle nods to other story pieces?

Reviews got me hyped, as well as a short interview with a designer that said they were inspired from Bloodborne level design.

I think you'll benefit from seeing how much Kratos changes as a character from those old ones to this new one. But beyond that it's easily passable.

Johnny Chopsocky

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Do we need to know anything prior in the story to understand this one? Or is this a full reboot with subtle nods to other story pieces?

Reviews got me hyped, as well as a short interview with a designer that said they were inspired from Bloodborne level design.

God of War trilogy recap:

Kratos is a shit person who is a monster who slaughtered a pantheon of gods who were also shit and monsters and the entire Greek civilization became collateral damage as a result. Kratos survived; nobody wins.

Now it's years/decades/centuries later and he's moving onto Norse mythology, but now he's got a kid and it looks like some massive regrets about who he was.

Skull2185

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Do we need to know anything prior in the story to understand this one? Or is this a full reboot with subtle nods to other story pieces?

Reviews got me hyped, as well as a short interview with a designer that said they were inspired from Bloodborne level design.

The game tells you the really important stuff you need to know, prior knowledge doesn't appear to be necessary. I'm sure there will be references and stuff that some might not get if they haven't played the originals, but you wont be lost story-wise.

I'm very excited for a Kratos that isnt just RAAAAAGE. They toyed with letting him experience other emotions in GoW: Ascension, and it was pretty cool.

cloudeagle

I still need to play GoW 3 -- I never got around to it because the plot hurt my brain.

GoW 1: Ares screws Kratos over, Kratos kills him.

GoW 2: Zeus screws Kratos over, Kratos kills him.

GoW3: Kratos wakes up on the wrong side of the bed or something, Kratos kills everyone.

Skull2185

cloudeagle wrote: »

I still need to play GoW 3 -- I never got around to it because the plot hurt my brain.

GoW 1: Ares screws Kratos over, Kratos kills him.

GoW 2: Zeus screws Kratos over, Kratos kills him.

GoW3: ?????, Kratos kills everyone.

Zeus doesn't die until GoW3. The gods betray Kratos in 2 because his constant rage makes his being the new God of War a problem. Kratos sets out to unleash the titans in 2 so he can kill all the gods. GoW 3 is his war against the gods after unleashing all the titans (who think it wise to also betray Kratos) and basically wrecking everything.

I'm interested in how they address this in the new one since 3 ends with

Basically the apocalypse. All the gods are dead, all the vegetation is dead, and it seems like everything is flooded. I guess it was just confined to Greece?

cloudeagle

Oh right, I forgot Zeus escaped at the end of 2.

Skull2185

Some other interesting stuff about Kratos, if you've never played the original games!

He was a very ruthless, and skilled Spartan warrior who had never been defeated in combat. When he finally did meet his match, he called out to Ares to save his life in exchange for his servitude. Ares agrees since Kratos bloodlust gives him all kinds of boners. Except one day, Ares sends Kratos to slaughter a village, and he happily obliges. In his rage, he didn't notice that it was his village and he ends up killing his own wife and daughter. He is then cursed, and their ashes are permanently bonded to his skin, which is why he's so white like that.

Also, Zeus is Kratos' dad, so he's at least a demi-god if not full blown god.

Less spoilery stuff, let's see... Oh, he's escaped from Hades like a billion times.

You might notice there's a big scar on his abs. That's because in the first game, Ares snapped the tip off a mountain and chucked it clear across Greece, nailing Kratos as he was opening Pandora's Box.

klemming

Skull2185 wrote: »

I'm interested in how they address this in the new one since 3 ends with

Basically the apocalypse. All the gods are dead, all the vegetation is dead, and it seems like everything is flooded. I guess it was just confined to Greece?

The way I saw it:

Everything was screwed up because the gods took over all these natural forces, so when they died they lost control of them.
The sun existed before Helios showed up, Poseidon didn't create the seas, etc
So there was some chaos when they died and everything went screwy, but eventually they settled down to working normally again (helped by Kratos releasing hope back to everywhere). The sun was coming out in the very final scene, so the apocalypse was wearing off.

The general vibe I got from the gods was 'the mortals can't possibly fend for themselves, they need us to rule over them from our massive palace while we get them to make massive statues of us and praise us'. It was essentially an abusive relationship where the abuser insists that they're so good to their partner, but they just make them hurt them sometimes, it's not their fault.

And so much of what happened with Kratos was their own fault. Like every single time they had a chance, they screwed him over and just pissed him off even more, and just said that what they just did was his fault.

tldr; The greek gods were all tremendous dicks even before the thing happened to explain them being dicks, and I'm not sorry they died.

Skull2185

klemming wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

I'm interested in how they address this in the new one since 3 ends with

Basically the apocalypse. All the gods are dead, all the vegetation is dead, and it seems like everything is flooded. I guess it was just confined to Greece?

The way I saw it:

Everything was screwed up because the gods took over all these natural forces, so when they died they lost control of them.
The sun existed before Helios showed up, Poseidon didn't create the seas, etc
So there was some chaos when they died and everything went screwy, but eventually they settled down to working normally again (helped by Kratos releasing hope back to everywhere). The sun was coming out in the very final scene, so the apocalypse was wearing off.

The general vibe I got from the gods was 'the mortals can't possibly fend for themselves, they need us to rule over them from our massive palace while we get them to make massive statues of us and praise us'. It was essentially an abusive relationship where the abuser insists that they're so good to their partner, but they just make them hurt them sometimes, it's not their fault.

And so much of what happened with Kratos was their own fault. Like every single time they had a chance, they screwed him over and just pissed him off even more, and just said that what they just did was his fault.

tldr; The greek gods were all tremendous dicks even before the thing happened to explain them being dicks, and I'm not sorry they died.

Except for Athena*

She seemed genuinely good, and really just wanted to help Kratos. But shockingly Kratos fucked that up too :P

I don't remember Athena having any shady ulterior motives, anyways.

Spawnbroker

I'm glad this is looking like a soft reboot with some cool character moments for Kratos and his son. I like this direction for the character, as opposed to the original direction of "be as angry and awful a human being(god?) as you can to everyone all the time forever." That never sat all that well with me.

I'm glad this game looks more interested in telling a story this time as opposed to just action setpieces.

Johnny Chopsocky

Younger Kratos is a massive scumbag monster. The greek gods are about the only antagonists he could've had in that incarnation that made him look like a better option.

I'm looking forward to seeing Older Kratos and Son.

Viskod

This game looks like its just going to be insanely good. The father/son dynamic between Kratos and his son Atraeus keeps getting called out as how amazing it ends up. "This is a game made for parents." isn't something i thought I'd hear about a god of war game.

DemonStacey

The whole father/son bit is definitely going to be lost on me but the gameplay looks rad AF so I'm still excited.

Henroid

Thread title needs a clever reference to the God of War being a daddoo now.

klemming

Skull2185 wrote: »

klemming wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

I'm interested in how they address this in the new one since 3 ends with

Basically the apocalypse. All the gods are dead, all the vegetation is dead, and it seems like everything is flooded. I guess it was just confined to Greece?

The way I saw it:

Everything was screwed up because the gods took over all these natural forces, so when they died they lost control of them.
The sun existed before Helios showed up, Poseidon didn't create the seas, etc
So there was some chaos when they died and everything went screwy, but eventually they settled down to working normally again (helped by Kratos releasing hope back to everywhere). The sun was coming out in the very final scene, so the apocalypse was wearing off.

The general vibe I got from the gods was 'the mortals can't possibly fend for themselves, they need us to rule over them from our massive palace while we get them to make massive statues of us and praise us'. It was essentially an abusive relationship where the abuser insists that they're so good to their partner, but they just make them hurt them sometimes, it's not their fault.

And so much of what happened with Kratos was their own fault. Like every single time they had a chance, they screwed him over and just pissed him off even more, and just said that what they just did was his fault.

tldr; The greek gods were all tremendous dicks even before the thing happened to explain them being dicks, and I'm not sorry they died.

Except for Athena*

She seemed genuinely good, and really just wanted to help Kratos. But shockingly Kratos fucked that up too :P

I don't remember Athena having any shady ulterior motives, anyways.

Lied to and manipulated Kratos for ten years, promising something she knew they couldn't/wouldn't do, denied him the chance to just die and get it over with, then sent him after Zeus so she could be the one true god, keeping the power of hope for herself because the mortals won't know what to do with it.

Less overtly cruel than most of the rest, but still not what I'd call good.

Honestly, at least three of the games could have been avoided if they'd just let Kratos die and go into Elysium and agreed to leave him alone.

Skull2185

klemming wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

klemming wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

I'm interested in how they address this in the new one since 3 ends with

Basically the apocalypse. All the gods are dead, all the vegetation is dead, and it seems like everything is flooded. I guess it was just confined to Greece?

The way I saw it:

Everything was screwed up because the gods took over all these natural forces, so when they died they lost control of them.
The sun existed before Helios showed up, Poseidon didn't create the seas, etc
So there was some chaos when they died and everything went screwy, but eventually they settled down to working normally again (helped by Kratos releasing hope back to everywhere). The sun was coming out in the very final scene, so the apocalypse was wearing off.

The general vibe I got from the gods was 'the mortals can't possibly fend for themselves, they need us to rule over them from our massive palace while we get them to make massive statues of us and praise us'. It was essentially an abusive relationship where the abuser insists that they're so good to their partner, but they just make them hurt them sometimes, it's not their fault.

And so much of what happened with Kratos was their own fault. Like every single time they had a chance, they screwed him over and just pissed him off even more, and just said that what they just did was his fault.

tldr; The greek gods were all tremendous dicks even before the thing happened to explain them being dicks, and I'm not sorry they died.

Except for Athena*

She seemed genuinely good, and really just wanted to help Kratos. But shockingly Kratos fucked that up too :P

I don't remember Athena having any shady ulterior motives, anyways.

Lied to and manipulated Kratos for ten years, promising something she knew they couldn't/wouldn't do, denied him the chance to just die and get it over with, then sent him after Zeus so she could be the one true god, keeping the power of hope for herself because the mortals won't know what to do with it.

Less overtly cruel than most of the rest, but still not what I'd call good.

Honestly, at least three of the games could have been avoided if they'd just let Kratos die and go into Elysium and agreed to leave him alone.

Well fuck me... I totally whiffed on that one, heh. Though it has been a number of years since I played through the original games. I just remember her as trying to help him...

KoopahTroopah

Amazon Prime Pre-order looks to be sold out for me. This makes me sad.

cooljammer00

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Amazon Prime Pre-order looks to be sold out for me. This makes me sad.

Dammit! It was fine this morning before I left the house.

Serves me right for waiting, I guess.

DemonStacey

Wow, I guess those reviews really got people buying!

Glad I tossed my pre-order in a few weeks ago.

Stupid

I'll probably pre-order it from them anyway for the 20% discount. How long does it take for blockbusters to get restocked anyway?

Henroid

IGN is either trolling in amazing fashion, or being earnestly stupid.

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/984494522540240896

cooljammer00

People ARE saying the Pro version of the game looks demonstrably better, but that's not a great way to show it.

KoopahTroopah

Why doesn't prime get a discount on the download codes too? I kind of want that more anyway.

DemonStacey

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

Why doesn't prime get a discount on the download codes too? I kind of want that more anyway.

Don't know the reason but it's like that for everything.

Which is especially annoying when a game is only available as digital for PC but you can still get the discount if you buy the boxed console version *grumbleFarCry5grumble*

Henroid

Patrick Klepick has a review out, and damn, even the title sends high hopes. I might get this game (and probably get the previous games in the series).

'God of War' Triumphs Because It Confronts Its Own Bloody Legacy
https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/kzxxwx/god-of-war-review

KoopahTroopah

I wish the full collection was on PS4. Only Go3 is.

Skull2185

Dad of War: Axe Me About My Son

DemonStacey

Skull2185 wrote: »

Dad of War: Axe Me About My Son

Done.

LeumasWhite

I still say GoW1 Kratos was pretty justifiably angry, and he has more than a few not-angry moments; later Kratos wouldn't have jumped off that cliff. It wasn't until 2 and 3 that the anger got dialed up to eleven. Looks like he's back to being human instead of a parody, which is nice.

ED!

I forgot this game comes out on the 20th (thought they had slotted it Avengers weekend) and was stunned to wake up to the review embargo being lifted. Those reviews are nuts. SONY is firing on all cylinders. Definitely ready for this game.

EDIT: Not interested in reading the actual reviews though; any mention of time to beat?

Spawnbroker

ED! wrote: »

I forgot this game comes out on the 20th (thought they had slotted it Avengers weekend) and was stunned to wake up to the review embargo being lifted. Those reviews are nuts. SONY is firing on all cylinders. Definitely ready for this game.

EDIT: Not interested in reading the actual reviews though; any mention of time to beat?

30ish hours for normal people, 45-50 hours for completionists who want to do everything is the general consensus

tastydonuts

Interesting. Polygon gave this God of War a 10 in its review.

Our review scale

A score of 10 is the highest recommendation we can give. 10s represent ambitious games that succeed in ways few games have, and that we expect will be part of the gaming conversation for some time. These are the "must-plays." However, this is not a "perfect" score. We've never played a perfect game. Except for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Not really seeing the ambition, but eh. Curious to read about it in the wild.