Back in 2018, God of War was rebooted on the PS4. We talked about it here but, in a nutshell, the original trilogy was gratuitous as heck. Graphic violence. Nudity. Grey-on-grey and Grey-on-black morality. It was over-the-top and I could not only see Parent-Teacher Associations being upset about it, I could see them having a point.
Oh, and *EPIC* battles. I *STILL* remember the first boss fight from the first game as being breathtakingly awesome.
Well, in the reboot, they kept the breathtakingly awesome fights and most of the graphic violence but decided to tone down the nudity and said “Maybe we should have the protagonist actively try to be good? Or, at least, not revel in being bad?”
And so a series that started out as adolescent matured a little bit.
The game’s sequel is scheduled (knock wood) to come out this September. God of War: Ragnarok. As you might guess from the title, this one is going to conclude this particular story (not a whole lot to do after the end of the world, I guess). The quality of the first game was exceptionally high and the sequel is one of the games that I will definitely be getting.
And it’s good enough that I’m going to recommend that you play the original.
It has a strong story, graphic violence, and they’ve given it enough of a moral center to make it so that you won’t feel like you’re going to have to apologize for recommending it.
If you’ve played any of the Assassin’s Creeds, Batman Arkhams, or Lord of the Rings Mordor games, you’ve already got the vocabulary to play this one. The difficulty is not off the charts (with the exception of some of the side quests where, yes, it *IS* off the charts), the voice acting is superb, and there is a ton of stuff there for you to explore. Give your kiddo a speech about how you guys have a quest and so you can’t just run around wily-nily and help every single ghost you encounter… right before helping every single ghost you encounter.
You’ll meet a bunch of fascinating characters and, in contrast to the first trilogy, you’re not going to kill most of them.
The original was, seriously, out of this world. And now you don’t need a PS4 to play it.
So… what are you playing?
(Featured image is “Fin del Mundo / End of the World” by Eneas and is licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Justified is coming back for (at least) one season, to be based on a non-Raylan Elmore Leonard novel.Report
I do like that the wandering around willy-nilly is justified BY the fact that you have a young child you’re indulging. Unlike Kratos, he’s innocent and curious — rather than world-weary and cynical. And Kratos is clearly trying to bond with him, so he indulges it — even as he points out that it’s a distraction from their primary cause.
The evolution of Kratos and Atreus’ relationship is fantastic, and the game itself is fantastic.
I played it on a lower difficult the first run through, and even then one of the absolutely totally optional side quests was a killer. (And yes, I beat it. 100%’d that game. Set it on the difficulty you enjoy. You’re not penalized for making it easier OR harder on yourself)Report
The scene where they find the jug of Greek wine sticks with me. That was a great scene.Report