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God of War Ragnarök G|OT|Y

G-Bus

Banned
It's not really a sequel, it looks more like the second part[b/] of the same game at this point. Even some surprises journalists have teased so much, it's really nothing out of the ordinary.


Yup. Have heard this more than once and it's how I've taken it.

I'm pumped for the story more than anything. Love these types of games.
 
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skneogaf

Member
I didn't play it but i have to say, from what i saw, Horizon 2 had much more new stuff and improvements over the first one compared to this game.

It's not really a sequel, it looks more like the second part of the same game at this point. Even some surprises journalists have teased so much, it's really nothing out of the ordinary.

I'm just playing a bit of the first part then now and I wouldn't want a completely different game as a sequel.

A part two sounds perfect.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
I’m replaying 2018 and enjoying it much less than I remember.

I am mainlining the story and I can’t believe how much time I spent doing mundane backtracking as opposed to combat last night.

I played for a couple hours and engaged in combat for about 10-15 mins. The rest of the time was rowing the boat and backtracking, switching between realms, climbing, and all sorts of other…chores. It really bummed me out.
Even when I did engage in combat, it was with the same old enemies I’d been fighting since the start. Except the ones who could only be hurt by the chains - what a fun enemy variant

It was during the section of the game where Atreus hits peak sickness and you are tending to him.
And it’s just bad in terms of pacing during that section. It feels so much like they are trying to pad it out.

I was switching realms back and forth to gather crap, and even that in itself is prolonged. The animation for switching realms, then how it makes you run through that bridge-between-worlds universe each time. They make you run along the path for like 60 seconds (loading?) before you can get to the next world. That’s after you load to get there in the first place, watch the roots unravel in the temple, etc. just loading section after loading section.

There is just an incredible amount of backtracking, loading, and filler in this game. It truly adds up when you are trying to push through the story.

I am not trying to piss on anyone’s parade but looking back, I can’t believe the scores this got. I don’t think it was held accountable for the rough pacing and iffy game design.

Frankly, what I played last night, didn’t feel like it needed to be played. At some point, if the gameplay isn’t engaging, i rather just sit back and watch. Rowing the boat, connect-the-dot climbing, forced walking, squeezing through crevices - those aren’t engaging, captivating bits of gameplay. Especially when you’re backtracking. Rather just watch a cut scene and save my hands the grief if there is nothing fun to do.

Of course the combat is fun to engage in and the graphics are, to this day, some of the best I have seen.

But if Ragnarok can’t overcome these flaws, I’m not gonna get through it. Will have to wash the taste out with a replay of the original trilogy.

Edit: apologies to fragile skneogaf😢

I laughed as well so ill drop an explanation. It sounds like this replay isnt for you. Yes there is a lot of the things you mentioned which is part of the game. It spaces it all out and extends the game, also adds random enemies so you can level up.

It sounds like you want to speed run the story and i get that. There are a few YT vids that go over the story pretty well.

Also a recap on the main menu of Ragnorak.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Wtf are you on about you little soy boy, go suck on your mums udders.

I wish I had the ability to meet little pricks like you in real life, I'd tare you in two.

You should sod off to retardera.

You got mad at me for laughing at what you wrote!

How soft are you!
Calm Down Al Pacino GIF
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
Wtf are you on about you little soy boy, go suck on your mums udders.

I wish I had the ability to meet little pricks like you in real life, I'd tare you in two.

You should sod off to retardera.

You got mad at me for laughing at what you wrote!

How soft are you!
Now that is funny.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
Well i can say that I unsuccessfully tried to set my clock up 24 hours un hoping it would unlock but it did not. I also turned off network connection but no dice.

I didnt try a different time zone because i dont have VPN if someone wants to try it.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I laughed as well so ill drop an explanation. It sounds like this replay isnt for you. Yes there is a lot of the things you mentioned which is part of the game. It spaces it all out and extends the game, also adds random enemies so you can level up.

It sounds like you want to speed run the story and i get that. There are a few YT vids that go over the story pretty well.

Also a recap on the main menu of Ragnorak.
I appreciate that.

I agree with you that these parts are in the game to break up the gameplay and extend the length of the game. I just don't think it's fun or engaging. I also think a lot of it may be there, so they have somewhere to squeeze in the narrative. I'm just not sure I see the merit of performing mundane tasks while a narrative is delivered. It starts to grate when you realize you are doing a lot of backtracking, as well.

I'd say the issue is not necessarily that I want to speed run the game. I think it's that I just want to enjoy everything the game is asking me to do.
Granted, I am trying to speed run the game right now, so I can see why you might think that. But it's not that I'm annoyed because these bits are slowing me down - I'm annoyed because they are slowing me down and they aren't fun.

For anyone especially curious. this video covers roughly the section of gameplay I am talking about. It's missing some before and after, which I feel strengthens the point, due to even more backtracking, but nonetheless:


I get that this is a hot take. I'm sure this is a popular section of the game, because there are some pretty cool narrative elements. I won't rob it of being a cool narrative - it is. I just don't think this section, and much of the game surrounding it, is fun to play, which is an issue for me.

I think this ties into the issue with enemy variety, which they were clearly well aware of, and have apparently fixed in the sequel.

Anyway, I'm not actively trying to shit on anyone's excitement. I get this is the OT thread for an anticipated game, so maybe I'm going too hard on 2018 at this time and place. For me, the silver lining is that the sequel has a ton of room to grow. I'm fairly confident I'll enjoy it more, based on the enemy variety they've implemented. I just hope they improve on other areas as well.
 
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K' Dash

Member
Well i can say that I unsuccessfully tried to set my clock up 24 hours un hoping it would unlock but it did not. I also turned off network connection but no dice.

I didnt try a different time zone because i dont have VPN if someone wants to try it.

would they attempt to ban the account for doing this?

I've been digital only since PS3 and all my games are attached to that account.
 

GymWolf

Member
It seems like this time harder difficulties are more about new moves and how aggressive enemies are, not only more damage dealt\taken


  • Give Me Story
    • Ideal for those looking to enjoy the story in the game, making combat easy and accessible.
    • It lets players engage in all combat systems, but it is the most forgiving mode, allowing a relaxing time to enjoy the story.
  • Give Me Grace
    • Great for anyone who feels the default "Give Me Balance" experience is too challenging but still wants to retain some difficulty instead of taking the full narrative approach from the "Give me Story" level.
    • More forgiving than Give Me Balance, with fewer enemies spawning and decreased attack frequency.
    • Implements some adjustments to help the player manage the camera.
  • Give Me Balance
    • This is the default difficulty. It aims to provide a balanced experience by mixing narrative with a decent challenge to enjoy all combat mechanics.
  • Give Me No Mercy
    • Ideal for those looking for a high level of challenge, requiring a high level of combat skill to progress the narrative.
    • Increased aggressiveness and damage from enemies.
    • New and more lethal attack patterns from enemies.
  • Give Me God of War
    • Highest level of difficulty. A harrowing challenge that will require full mastery of all combat mechanics.
    • Deadliest enemies with peak damage and aggressiveness.

Hardest difficulty here we go🕺
 

The Stig

Member
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Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Not sure if version 2.00 added it, did not want to read any spoilers in the notes.

But I remember they announced "shortly after launch" several months ago.
Sadly nothing in the patch notes for version 2.00. At least we will get it in the future.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
would they attempt to ban the account for doing this?

I've been digital only since PS3 and all my games are attached to that account.

I dont know about that. I dont see anything wrong with it but who knows. But we got 12 hours to go after 4 years so not worth trying.
 

The Stig

Member
I was thinking of getting it directly with Sony but I dont see any way to order it now. Any ideas?
Thats odd. I went to the page where I pre-ordered and it has "coming soon" where it used to have "add to cart".

I think you'll have to wait until after release. Or try gamestop or something.

Launch edition only comes with and extra tunic for atreus and some armor for kratos.

I just got it because Ive never got a launch edition before AND I haven't pre ordered a game in YEARS.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
I was thinking of getting it directly with Sony but I dont see any way to order it now. Any ideas?
Just buy that shit digitally and play it at midnight. Don’t have to worry about people messing up your shipment :messenger_smirking:
 
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saintjules

Member
Just buy that shit digitally and play it at midnight. Don’t have to worry about people messing up your shipment :messenger_smirking:

Nah, don't want this one digitally. I'm collecting my discs ya know.

I'll get it tomorrow. The local brick and mortar store didn't get this one early.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Almost done with Bayonetta so probably going to trade it in and buy some PSN store credit just to play GOW at midnight, but part of me wants to keep it because Bayonetta might look atrocious but my god the combat is godly. I went back to GOW 2018 to check it out and it felt so rigid and boring that I am now afraid Bayonetta might have ruined GOW for me.

That said, I really hope they dont overdo with mini boss overload like Bayonetta. Let me fight mobs please. Bayonetta is 90% setpieces, mini bosses, mini games and bosses. I remember criticizing GOW for not having enough variety but after playing Bayonetta 3, I will never complain about variety again. Let me enjoy the combat.
 
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Is there a way to download it early or do you have to have a physical edition? Second question - I don’t have a disc drive, if I got the physical would I be able to play it early through a download code or something?
 

GymWolf

Member
Almost done with Bayonetta so probably going to trade it in and buy some PSN store credit just to play GOW at midnight, but part of me wants to keep it because Bayonetta might look atrocious but my god the combat is godly. I went back to GOW 2018 to check it out and it felt so rigid and boring that I am now afraid Bayonetta might have ruined GOW for me.

That said, I really hope they dont overdo with mini boss overload like Bayonetta. Let me fight mobs please. Bayonetta is 90% setpieces, mini bosses, mini games and bosses. I remember criticizing GOW for not having enough variety but after playing Bayonetta 3, I will never complain about variety again. Let me enjoy the combat.
No shit gow feel way heavier and rigid than bayonetta dude.

It's like comparing tlou2 and fucking vanquish.

Both have their reason to exist.
 

GymWolf

Member
Watching some streams just to get hyped, I am noping out until tomorrow but I will say I am hoping this looks a lot better when playing natively. The facial animation and everything doesnt look too great compared to other big sony games. Just be aware of that IMO.
I don't know about facial animations, but the game always looked graphically inferior to demons remake, ratchet, hfw and tlou lame remake, it only looks better than returnal imo (and not even in every area)

I'm super hyped and the game is gonna be my goty almost for sure, but i have zero expectations graphic wise, i expect a great ps4 game running on ultra details+ high framerate, if there is something more than that i'm gonna be pleasantly surprised (and even considering that, the game is probably gonna look better than 90% of games on the market, just not the very cream of the crop)

That doesn't mean that the game is not gonna have a lot of wow moments thanks to the art design, scale and set pieces.
 
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