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[AtomicStarving]

Finished yesterday. Yeah, a master fucking piece. Still got a lot to do, so much cool content. Gonna do everything. Love this game.

This game is indeed a triumph, the best playstation game rn, imo, especially in terms of storytelling. I kinda got depressed after beating it.

 

[The artful mincer]

I did the midgard story missions thinking id hit level 5 after that but while i did get the Blades level 4 upgrade, i didnt hit level 5 until the next story mission.

However, midgard does have a lot of materials you need to level up your armor to 6. I just got unlucky earlier and didnt explore the part of the map that had them. Those extra few defense stats from level 6 armor upgrades really help even if you arent level 5. You also get health and rage upgrades and those perks slots that you dont really get from the second alfheim open world segment.

Did you fight those three elves in Midgard yet? I must have died 15-20 times and it was annoying every time. I am also sure the elves are bugged because their leader was stuck at his last health bar while I threw giant rocks at him taking zero damage. But its the setting of the fight that makes it more annoying because you hit a wall when you try and dodge out of the way. I want everyone to record that fight, i just want to see everyone fail at it repeatedly. Will NOT recommend that fight at level 4. I had an easier time with mini bosses.

This. It's excellent. The first game was so easy I had to switch from Normal to hard like ten hours in and even then the story was a stroll in the park until maybe those final few levels on the ship. Here its brutal on Hard in the beginning, middle and even the side content is hard. I die to mobs which is refreshing. The only issue I have is that there arent that many new Axe moves. It's the same thing though bringing runic attacks into main attacks is a brilliant change that really enhances the base combat.

I was surprised at how effective the blades were at handling multiple enemies. They actually stagger this time around unlike the last game. I stuck with the Axe for the majority of my playthrough and I think i just made the game harder for myself. Really like the stagger potential of both the Axe and Blades in this game. In the first, a lot of enemies especially the valkryies would just eat up the attacks. Here they actually stagger with each hit. Though some do manage to sneak in an attack sometimes.

Loving the combat. Took a while but man this game is fun to play.

Totally! Staggering Is pretty damn important in all action games. Combat always feels pretty flat without it.

One nitpick from me is the lack of complete fodder enemies like the slugs and slow moving zombies in elden ring. Everything is fast moving and a threat in this game which is cool but it can be exhausting and a little repetitive. Sometimes I just want a punch bag lol especially in this game to practise all these cool moves.

They add a bit of a character and variety and can potentially be tricky in large numbers or with other more threatening enemies.

Even doom eternal had enemies like this.

 

[Markio128]

I much prefer GOW:R over the 2018 game, purely because of the post game stuff - I couldn’t really be arsed doing anything else after the main quest in GOW 2018. The side quests are infinitely more interesting in this sequel and there’s even a point to collecting the ravens now - in fact, a side quest opened in that area after completing the main quest. And don’t even get me started on the crater - what the actual fuck? It’s like the devs thought ‘fuck it, lets just include the DLC now!’

 

[R6Rider]

I'm now with Freya clearing out the Kol camps.

The Nidhogg fight was awesome.

 

[Gaiff]

I heard there are a couple of really challenging optional bosses. I'll do that after slogging through the main game. I've had it with the story but I do wanna face every boss and tough enemy in the game. Travelers and Valkyries were fun to fight in GOW 2018.

 

[Con-Z-epT]

Spoiler: Screenshots

 

[DeepEnigma]

I forgot to post this the other day, but damn, Asgard got all them baddies! Aessier's be Thicccccccccc

 

[Vick]

Might be the most visually stunning section I’ve ever seen in a game.

My jaw was on the floor the whole time.
Story also really became super interesting and unpredictable. "Marvel tier" my ass.

 

[Gaiff]

I forgot to post this the other day, but damn, Asgard got all them baddies! Aessier's be Thicccccccccc

By all, you mean 2?

Edit: Also, Odin might be my favorite character in the entire series. He's a psychopathic, ruthless asshole but damn if he isn't funny and charismatic.

 

[DeepEnigma]

By all, you mean 2?

Edit: Also, Odin might be my favorite character in the entire series. He's a psychopathic, ruthless asshole but damn if he isn't funny and charismatic.

Don't forget the Valkyrie.

 

[adamsapple]

You know what, fuck it, just gonna keep Auto Sprint on. Getting tired of pressing L3 every 2 seconds even if it causes a little bit of precision loss in combat.

 

[Yoboman]

Noped the fuck out of the library. Shame because I really wanted the loot inside, and especially because up to this point I had done absolutely everything that could be done in the game no matter how hard it was. But this is meant to be done later, at least in GMGOW. Was doing great last try and she out of the blue did a red ring lightspeed slice she never did before killing me in a fraction of a second.

Game is a masterpiece by the way, close to 40 hours in and I'm probably not even half way through.

Finally. Took me 4 years to read a proper acknowledgment of this system on GAF.

One thing I don't think is really touched on about the combat system is that you are meant to play aggressive. Attacking, countering, unleashing special attacks, and using L1 + TRIANGLE in one flow builds your momentum. If you can do this you really start to take massive chunks of health off and deal with mini bosses quickly. Also yellow rings can be parried if the timing is right. I make heavy use of attacks that build stun as well to trigger R3 attacks quickly

The only ones I still struggle with are travellers who don't stagger at all till 3/4 of health is gone

This really helped me as mini bosses got more difficult.

 

[The Stig]

What is it with this game that makes people argue so fiercely about nonsense?

I bet that dastardly Aries is involved.... with Athena likely not far behind

 

[GooseMan69]

Finished it. Loved it. Game took over my life for the last week, to an embarrassing degree. GOTY for me and it’s not that close.

 

[Boneless]

Was really looking forward to Nilfheim hearing about this training ground. Was expecting a tournament style ground with challenger etc, but disappointed to find it's just a like a training dummy without anything real to gain....

 

[Danjin44]

Was really looking forward to Nilfheim hearing about this training ground. Was expecting a tournament style ground with challenger etc, but disappointed to find it's just a like a training dummy without anything real to gain....

Yeah I agree, I like the combat but it’s not exactly complicated with complex combos that you need training area.

It make sense in games like Bayonetta because it does have characters complex combos you want to learn.

 

[noise36]

Why do people think things like bodies and debris disappear so quickly? Is it because its a PS4 game or PS5 doesnt have enough power or ram?

 

[Markio128]

You know what, fuck it, just gonna keep Auto Sprint on. Getting tired of pressing L3 every 2 seconds even if it causes a little bit of precision loss in combat.

Calm down, you can praise a game too much you know

 

[adamsapple]

Calm down, you can praise a game too much you know

I'm just saying something good about a QoL feature included in the game

 

[Danjin44]

Why do people think things like bodies and debris disappear so quickly? Is it because its a PS4 game or PS5 doesnt have enough power or ram?

I think because its unnecessary resource if it doesn't add anything to the game. games like original RERemake the bodies won't disappear after death because they turn in to crimson head later on or in Cyberpunk the enemies can discover dead/unconscious bodies and be on alert.

 

[Markio128]

I'm just saying something good about a QoL feature included in the game

Fair enough. I didn’t do much running in my play-through, so it didn’t really become an issue, but I’ve never been a fan of clicking the thumb stick tbh. My fave QoL feature is the option to hold a button down during QTEs rather than hammer it. Praise the gods for that one!

 

[adamsapple]

Fair enough. I didn’t do much running in my play-through, so it didn’t really become an issue, but I’ve never been a fan of clicking the thumb stick tbh. My fave QoL feature is the option to hold a button down during QTEs rather than hammer it. Praise the gods for that one!

I don't know what other settings I've changed that caused it, but for some reason I can't get the Press X to sprint option to show anymore, for me it just goes between L3 and Auto.

But I have made quite a few other modifications, including control buttons, to tailor my style so probably multiple overlaps in the X button.

 

[Markio128]

I don't know what other settings I've changed that caused it, but for some reason I can't get the Press X to sprint option to show anymore, for me it just goes between L3 and Auto.

But I have made quite a few other modifications, including control buttons, to tailor my style so probably multiple overlaps in the X button.

More than likely. Literally every button is used for something important, even the touch pad. It took a while before I realised you could press both sides of the touch pad (or at least one side?) to bring up the map without having to go into the options.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Finished it and it was a back to back, going from 2018 to Ragnarok. I’ve been living and breathing GOW for days and I can’t stress just how great it was.

Ragnarok is an incredible follow up to 2018, improving on everything and delivering an epic adventure the likes you don’t really see in games thanks to the incredible scenery, characters, bosses, enemies, writing, and a game that feels personal even though it’s so huge in scope.

One of the few games in my lifetime where I found myself thinking “Can’t believe they can make games like this” multiples times.

I know people seek different things in games, some want to brainlessly shoot other people online for years without end, others obsess over frame counting in action games, others believe the point of games is to present you with a mechanical challenge and nothing else. But since I was a young boy playing games on PS1 I was always enamored by the marriage of mechanics, story, visuals, music, the medium used to not just activate your lizard side of the brain but also your heart and soul. Ragnarok does all that in an experience that is rightfully aided by obscene production values the likes you almost never see in games.

A bow to Sony Santa Monica, Cory Balrog and the rest of the team that have allowed this one to feel like a young kid marveling at a videogame once again, at a time when it’s all too easy to feel old and grumpy with a controller in his hands.

One of the best games ever made.

 

[OZ9000]

Started this game yesterday. It's full of too many fucking puzzles.

No wonder it's 50 hours long. They've padded the shit out of this by forcing you to play the game slowly.

It has taken me 8 hours to complete

Spoiler

Alfheim

I must say I liked God of War 2018 more. The combat in the previous game also seemed more varied. I remember I was able to quick switch between the axe and blades and there was more combos to do. So far I've only got a basic light attack rune and that's it.

Please tell me it gets better. The pacing of the game feels pretty bad so far. I was so hyped for this game but I can't help but feel disappointed.

 

[Danjin44]

I must say I liked God of War 2018 more. The combat in the previous game also seemed more varied. I remember I was able to quick switch between the axe and blades and there was more combos to do.

Go to the options and switch to "sheath weapon".

 

[Markio128]

Started this game yesterday. It's full of too many fucking puzzles.

No wonder it's 50 hours long. They've padded the shit out of this by forcing you to play the game slowly.

It has taken me 8 hours to complete

Spoiler

Alfheim

I must say I liked God of War 2018 more. The combat in the previous game also seemed more varied. I remember I was able to quick switch between the axe and blades and there was more combos to do. So far I've only got a basic light attack rune and that's it.

Please tell me it gets better. The pacing of the game feels pretty bad so far. I was so hyped for this game but I can't help but feel disappointed.

I found most of the puzzles were connected to side missions - and it certainly doesn’t take 50 hours to complete the main game.

 

[Madflavor]

Just finished the game on Give Me No Mercy with all the optional side content and bosses complete. I enjoyed the ride a lot, even if I found the story to be a let down. But here's hoping we don't have to wait a long time for the next game. My personal wish for the next game:

Spoiler: Spoiler

I think Kratos's story is done. To have him just go fight another Pantheon would cheapen his character arc. I think he will spend many years adventuring through the realms with Freya and Mimir until he becomes the God people love and worship. I felt that there's a strong bond forming between him and Freya and given enough time they will grow to love each other. So all that said, I would love to see the next game have you take the role of their daughter who is a Valkyrie. There's a lot of room for good storytelling and a new king of gameplay with that concept. Perhaps their daughter could travel to an entirely different setting, or maybe even Greece where it's been taken over by the Roman pantheon. There are lots of possibilities, but I think Kratos's story should end. I like Atreus but he's not Leading Man material, and I don't think people would be interested in a game with him looking for the Giants.

 

[Revolutionary]

Finally part of the club.

Now I can enjoy this game at 60fps and with quick reloads, because the load times were killing me on PS4 Pro. I also noticed that textures were sometimes a bit slow to load into their full quality on it.

 

[SLB1904]

Finally finish. I'm free.bring all the spoilers

What a game.
And still more stuff to mess about. But I'm just tired. The last section was so good.

Finally part of the club.

Now I can enjoy this game at 60fps and with quick reloads, because the load times were killing me on PS4 Pro. I also noticed that textures were sometimes a bit slow to load into their full quality on it.

Welcome to the next gen. You'll will see how ps4 is a turtle next to the ps5

 

[Bragr]

I love the game but I have to say it. The kid who voices Atreus is doing a bad job. He sounds like he is constantly bored and reading off a piece of paper.

Since he is a kid people won't bring it up as much, and people are still firmly planted in the honeymoon phase, but it's a noticeable issue throughout the entire game.

 

[adamsapple]

PS4 Pro version looking good.

 

[hinch7]

Just finished the game on Give Me No Mercy with all the optional side content and bosses complete. I enjoyed the ride a lot, even if I found the story to be a let down. But here's hoping we don't have to wait a long time for the next game. My personal wish for the next game:

Spoiler: Spoiler

I think Kratos's story is done. To have him just go fight another Pantheon would cheapen his character arc. I think he will spend many years adventuring through the realms with Freya and Mimir until he becomes the God people love and worship. I felt that there's a strong bond forming between him and Freya and given enough time they will grow to love each other. So all that said, I would love to see the next game have you take the role of their daughter who is a Valkyrie. There's a lot of room for good storytelling and a new king of gameplay with that concept. Perhaps their daughter could travel to an entirely different setting, or maybe even Greece where it's been taken over by the Roman pantheon. There are lots of possibilities, but I think Kratos's story should end. I like Atreus but he's not Leading Man material, and I don't think people would be interested in a game with him looking for the Giants.

I really enjoyed the game. Still prefer the first one but its a brillant adventure to experience. As for hidden..

Spoiler:

I doubt it they'd retcon Kratos. The God of War IP has grown too big. Sony and ND made a huge mistake of killing (or replacing) a MC in TLOU 2 and I doubt they'd repeat that anytime soon. That decision killed the IP.

I would like them to eventually move onto another Pantheon. Maybe not being a god killer this time. But to help others.

 

[TGO]

I can't be the only one

Spoiler

"Stop it with the stupid chime!!"

 

[UncleMeat]

Finished it last night on OG ps4 - definitely an incredible game; ran really well on the old gal too. I like using classic controls (I always switch to face buttons for action combat games) and having the auto aim make throwing weapons useable was a super nice touch.

I wasn't reallly feeling it the first 1/3 of the game but after that one really slow part - I can't believe how long that took - and having more combat skills unlocked it really became amazing. I'm definitely in the post-game depression phase today.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Started this game yesterday. It's full of too many fucking puzzles.

No wonder it's 50 hours long. They've padded the shit out of this by forcing you to play the game slowly.

It has taken me 8 hours to complete

Spoiler

Alfheim

I must say I liked God of War 2018 more. The combat in the previous game also seemed more varied. I remember I was able to quick switch between the axe and blades and there was more combos to do. So far I've only got a basic light attack rune and that's it.

Please tell me it gets better. The pacing of the game feels pretty bad so far. I was so hyped for this game but I can't help but feel disappointed.

Can’t solve simple puzzles, game is bad. Ok Jan.

 

[Paulxo87]

Finally part of the club.

Now I can enjoy this game at 60fps and with quick reloads, because the load times were killing me on PS4 Pro. I also noticed that textures were sometimes a bit slow to load into their full quality on it.

They are long as hell on ps5. Unacceptably slow given what ff7 remake ps5 does. Ratchet. Spiderman. Etc.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Played a TON more today, made it past the

Spoiler

ironwood section and vanaheim, currently using Atreus again now in Asgard but that felt like a good spot to stop. I really dislike Atreus, I think he's super annoying and his attitude sucks. I also don't really like his combat gameplay aside from the wolf form which is really cool.

Everytime they switch me to Atreus I feel like groaning as I want to know more about Kratos' side of the journey and Atreus sections take too damn long, the one in ironwood with the girl being the greatest offender, holy shit that was LONG

I'm really enjoying the game so far and can't wait to play a bit more, the stuff that's happening seems to be all over the place though but can't wait to see how it all wraps up.

If anyone read the spoiler above, can I know more or less how far I am into the main story? Ballpark only, no spoilers past that point please. TY!

 

[zkorejo]

Meeting the Norns was done so damn well. The hiding place and the means to get there was just perfect.

Also... Sif is

Midgard side quests were really good and lore rich. I highly enjoyed those. Side quest quality is really good here. I won't say Witcher 3 good yet but I'm enjoying it very much. But the main story is so good I kind of want to get back to that always. It's a good problem I guess.

 

[Airbus Jr]

Thor gow > thor mcu

Odin mcu > odin gow

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Spoiler: Character

Odin

is so well written and voice acted in this. Could have a done a more cliche deep voice character. Great direction. Great decision.

 

[RPS37]

A couple hours in and this game is making e look at my Series X and shake my head.
Here’s hoping High on Life completely floors people (holding out hope).

 

[Danjin44]

Those Berserkers are something, I'm guessing they are replacement to Valkyrie fights in pervious game, they also copy each others moves sets.

 

[K' Dash]

Yeah, not feeling the 10/10 so far, I remember GOW being much better paced, I guess I expected something else, we'll see.

 

[Vick]

The only ones I still struggle with are travellers who don't stagger at all till 3/4 of health is gone

With Travellers you just have to be aggressive, like you said. It's a super close range kind of encounter.
Lock them and then attack, dodge, attack, dodge, shield when they do the rotating attack. After the first game it becomes a pure muscle memory adversary, probably my absolute favorite enemies to fight. And man the new finisher on the champion is brutal as fuck.

Meeting the Norns was done so damn well. The hiding place and the means to get there was just perfect.

Also... Sif is

Midgard side quests were really good and lore rich. I highly enjoyed those. Side quest quality is really good here. I won't say Witcher 3 good yet but I'm enjoying it very much. But the main story is so good I kind of want to get back to that always. It's a good problem I guess.

Just did absolutely everything available so far in Midgard (minus main quest) and man, some encounters here were super damn hard, especially the Huntress encounter during the Sigrun side quest. What a fucking game.

 

[K' Dash]

I love the game but I have to say it. The kid who voices Atreus is doing a bad job. He sounds like he is constantly bored and reading off a piece of paper.

Since he is a kid people won't bring it up as much, and people are still firmly planted in the honeymoon phase, but it's a noticeable issue throughout the entire game.

He sounds exactly like my 14yo

 

[zkorejo]

With Travellers you just have to be aggressive, like you said. It's a super close range kind of encounter.
Lock them and then attack, dodge, attack, dodge, shield when they do the rotating attack. After the first game it becomes a pure muscle memory adversary, probably my absolute favorite enemies to fight. And man the new finisher on the champion is brutal as fuck.


Just did absolutely everything available so far in Midgard (minus main quest) and man, some encounters here were super damn hard, especially the Huntress encounter during the Sigrun side quest. What a fucking game.

The first huntress at the start whooped my ass. Surprisingly I beat the crap out of this one. Dodge the fireballs close in and Blades of Chaos runic attacks light and heavy hit her like a truck.

The more I upgrade the Blades, the better it feels... Reminds me of old GOW games so much. I do L1 R1 ranged attack that puts them in the air and continue doing it to enemies until they burst. So much fun once it's upgraded.

 

[3liteDragon]

Just landed in Asgard, looks so fucking good. How big is this & am I even halfway through the story yet? I'm 19h 20m in, spent a lot of time doing side stuff in Vanaheim. I started finding hidden regions within hidden regions lol, Freya's wedding side quest was so good.

Spoiler: SCREENSHOT

 

[OZ9000]

Can’t solve simple puzzles, game is bad. Ok Jan.

I can solve then however the entire emphasis is on puzzle.

The design is very boring.

Walk - puzzle - puzzle - combat - walk - puzzle - puzzle -combat.

The old games certainly did not have this many puzzles. It explains why the reviewers said this is a 40 hour game. It plays more like Darksiders than the GOW 2018.

I enjoyed Alfheim much more because i didn't feel like I was stuck in one area for hours.

I'm hoping the game picks up from there.

8 hours in the original GOW and there was much more variety in locations and story progression.

I do however like there are lots of unique mini bosses in this game so that's fun.

 

[Vick]

The first huntress at the start whooped my ass. Surprisingly I beat the crap out of this one. Dodge the fireballs close in and Blades of Chaos runic attacks light and heavy hit her like a truck.

Opposite here. lol

I did all in Midgard before the main quest (just finished it, absolutely incredible stuff, 10/10 art direction), so with unupgraded blades. It was brutal at GMGOW, runic attacks did almost no damage at all and those goons were ruthless.