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God of War Ragnarök - Information Thread, update: initial OpenCritic reviews of Valhalla DLC posted

Commissar SFLUFAN

By Commissar SFLUFAN
in The Spawn Point

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24 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Between 2018 and this, this is by far my favorite overall story of all time. 

Not saying it's my #1 game series (but it's damn close), but man, it's crazy all the places this game has gone.

 

I have to sink my teeth into the main story more. Tomorrow I'll just focus on that!

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BloodyHell

BloodyHell

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6 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

I have to sink my teeth into the main story more. Tomorrow I'll just focus on that!

You are specifically told when you can't go back, so do whatever yoy want. I suggest doing the story favors, because it adds so much. The little things you can easily clean up post game.

 

Edit: how far are you?

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2 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

You are specifically told when you can't go back, so do whatever yoy want. I suggest doing the story favors, because it adds so much. The little things you can easily clean up post game.

 

Edit: how far are you?

 

Spoiler

Been doing a bunch of side quests but I'm about to start Unleashing Hel story quest. You're right, favors adds story and great information on the characters.

 

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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I really enjoyed GOW 2018's story even though it was mostly a character study of Kratos and Atreus. It set up a lot of things but you didn't really see a bunch of the Norse Gods and giants and all of that, but the intrigue and lore, and the fact that Odin's presence could be felt through his ravens even though he wasn't in the game, spoke to the power of its storytelling.

 

This game is delivering on much of the intrigue. I'll put some story spoilers, and I guess the best I can say to avoid spoilers as to where I am in the game is wall. If that doesn't makes sense, don't click. If it does, click away.

 

Spoiler
  • It was nuts to see Tyr, Freya, Mimir, Brok, Sindri, Atreus/Loki, and Kratos all in one place.
  • Asgard looks beautiful, and I gotta say, my palms were sweating climbing that damned wall. I kept looking down to see if my new friend was still watching me.
  • Heimdall, man... he's one sarcastic little fucker. :lol: 
    • "So... what part of this giant wall made you think, 'Hey, visitors must be welcome here?'"
      • Heimdall: Oh, you'll see All-Father.... from your grave.
      • Atreus: That doesn't even make sense!
  • It was also quite entertaining to see this entire lineup of gods in Asgard, especially the look of it. Heimdall said something along the lines of power isn't something you have to flaunt, and that seems in stark contrast to the Greek pantheon on beautiful and honestly pretentious Mount Olympus. It's not as if there aren't statues of the Norse gods, but there's certainly a hugely different feeling to Asgard compared to Mount Olympus.
  • Odin is played perfectly. All those stories in the 2018 God of War? You can see exactly how he's able to get all of this; he comes off so persuasive, as if he's an everyman when he's the fucking god of gods. And Atreus, while much more mature compared to the 2018 game, is still conflicted as to his role in all this. I can see him falling for Odin's bullshit in some fashion, but we'll see!
  • Side note, but I'm glad I did some exploring in the previous area with Freya since I got my first heavy runic attack from it! Once again, God of War makes you feel great when going off the beaten path.
  • Also, I finally went to Niflheim and wish I did that earlier since it explains all the ravens and gives you goodies for killing them.

 

I'll continue later today!

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BloodyHell

BloodyHell

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3 hours ago, TheLeon said:

Never in a million years would I have thought to cast Toby fuckin’ Ziegler as Odin, but somehow, it works! 

Yeah, he's great. Wish they had gone with the more traditional "Wanderer Odin" (long hair, long beard, robes) look  but its a minor quibble. He's absolutely incredible in the role, and the places this story takes him are awesome.

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stepee

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I actually took a half day yesterday to get some time in because I needed it but I’m still so early on. Wish I had more time to dive in but the weekend is here now!  

Just about finished with the second play as Loki where you can turn into a wolf

That whole section was mesmerizing visually. During the fights when there is that bright colored powder being thrown about, I pretty much came.

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45 minutes ago, stepee said:

I actually took a half day yesterday to get some time in because I needed it but I’m still so early on. Wish I had more time to dive in but the weekend is here now!  

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Just about finished with the second play as Loki where you can turn into a wolf

That whole section was mesmerizing visually. During the fights when there is that bright colored powder being thrown about, I pretty much came.

 

The visuals continue to impress. The main visual flaw in this game is some waterfalls looking pretty bad. That's because it's cross gen and I'm being extremely picky. Overall, the visuals are stunning and I'm constantly looking around in the environments. 

 

32 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

35ish hours.

 

I'll probably end at that hour too. I'm 24 hours in right now. 

 

31 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

I can't wait until more beat it and we can all actually talk about this incredible game.

 

I agree. So much shit to talk about.  😆 

 

This is already my GOTY over Elden Ring and I still have about 10 hours left. 

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TwinIon

TwinIon

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I just unlocked a big sidequest area (the crater) after the "Creatures of Prophecy" mission, which is definitely getting towards the end of the story, and it's the first time I've felt like the level design really missed the mark. Up to now, I think the game as been extremely well paced. I've done every side quest as soon as I've found it, and some of those missions are really great, hardly feeling like side quests at all. They flow naturally through the areas, requiring very little retracing of steps, if any. When you're plowing through a well told mission, discovering secrets and unlocking chests along the way, the game just feels incredible. The Crater is probably the first area in the game that messes with that flow a bit too much.

 

There are still sections where you get gracefully lead through, but there are a bunch of side quests all happening at once, and a couple different paths you can take, with large areas to explore in multiple directions. This has made me retrace my path a good few times, trying to find this piece of that quest or something I missed. The quests then also take you back to some of the same areas for new bits. It's the most "open world" that either of these new GoW games has felt to me, and I think it demonstrates well why the level design is so key to the feel of the game, and what happens when direction becomes less clear. When you do go back through an area, searching for that missed quest item or secret, it's just not a great time. The areas feel dead and empty, and the little traversal bits that are great moments for story dialog just feel tedious.

 

Now, I think many people will not have that problem, even in this area. If you're not chasing down each quest, or if you just move "forward" relentlessly. It's quite possible that I'm breaking the flow myself and that I'd have ended up finding everything if I just kept pursuing the next thing in front of me, rather than trying to make sure I didn't miss anything. Still, I think it's notable that I haven't had that problem at all so far, most of the way through the game, and how well it has worked for me.

 

It also has me re-thinking some of my criticisms about the game world. My first impression, especially when you're in actual towns, was that they felt too empty. Compared to something like the settlements in Forbidden West, or even the camps in Last of Us, they just felt unnaturally devoid of stuff. Having towns built like a dungeon, with a more or less linear path and little going on, felt like a missed opportunity to make the game world feel more alive. Now I'm thinking that it was probably the right call. This game, and the way it's structured, relies heavily on a specific pace of progression, and any level that effectively leads the player through, without making them feel as though they missed something, serves that purpose best.

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TwinIon

TwinIon

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I quick aside for Elden Ring players: how would you compare the combat difficulty to these God of War games?

 

I haven't picked up Elden Ring because I'm not enticed by difficulty and expect I would be frustrated by the combat experience. Is there a difficulty setting or some specific fights in GoW that might be a good analog for the general combat in Elden Ring, or are they too different for a comparison to be useful?

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stepee

stepee

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3 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I quick aside for Elden Ring players: how would you compare the combat difficulty to these God of War games?

 

I haven't picked up Elden Ring because I'm not enticed by difficulty and expect I would be frustrated by the combat experience. Is there a difficulty setting or some specific fights in GoW that might be a good analog for the general combat in Elden Ring, or are they too different for a comparison to be useful?

 

Queen Valkyrie on hard for the bosses in Elden Ring, but like all the main bosses being that hard. Other bosses can be easier. Main game, just fighting enemy’s, is harder than GOW on give me balance  but nothing crazy honestly. You can level up pretty much anywhere as much as you are willing to devote time to it in ER more so than GOW which can allow you to overpower opponents you struggle with. Less so with main bosses.

 

I beat Elden Ring and a shit ton of optional bosses and all the main bosses, pretty complete run and I’m someone who normally plays on easy and will probably be dropping this down a notch from give me balance at some point!

 

I couldn’t do previous Souls games and even after beating Elden I tried doing Demon Souls and I was hitting a wall on the difficulty still and gave up again. I recommend giving Elden Ring a shot. 

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Kal-El814

Kal-El814

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29 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I just unlocked a big sidequest area (the crater) after the "Creatures of Prophecy" mission, which is definitely getting towards the end of the story, and it's the first time I've felt like the level design really missed the mark. Up to now, I think the game as been extremely well paced. I've done every side quest as soon as I've found it, and some of those missions are really great, hardly feeling like side quests at all. They flow naturally through the areas, requiring very little retracing of steps, if any. When you're plowing through a well told mission, discovering secrets and unlocking chests along the way, the game just feels incredible. The Crater is probably the first area in the game that messes with that flow a bit too much.

 

This is the part where I just stopped going for side quests. It's so much stuff at the wrong time kicked off by the "wrong" character. It's the only bit in either game where I felt that characters involved really didn't have a great reason to care in general and particularly at that moment in time.

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Bacon

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41 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I quick aside for Elden Ring players: how would you compare the combat difficulty to these God of War games?

While I am only playing on No Mercy, I consider ER to be harder overall. Well, at least if you play both games in the same way. ER has magic and a Caster build makes the game totally different.

 

I find it easier to avoid damage in ER, but bosses are way more chaotic. And like, with nu-GoW, you can often just out range a boss and cheese with throws. GoW really respects a more cautious gamer, but being aggressive is far more rewarding. Story bosses can also have checkpoints. Makes entering a new phase irrelevant. The danger that comes with a second phase is gone. GoW does not have a stamina system and that makes the game easier.

 

I do find dodging harder in nu-GoW. Part of that is due to having stages of dodging, the quick step and the roll. I have no clue what the i-frame data is like but I find myself getting hit when it is my belief I should not have. GoW also really wants me to block and parry more but I have a hard time of that and end up taking damage while trying to evade when I could have just blocked at no cost.

 

GoW also has a lot of mechanics and options for the melee combatant. On one hand, having more things to do in combat could be seen as making the game harder as you have to react to and remember more things, but that also lets you react it other was other than dodging. You have 4 weapon runes, 1 relic ability, and an AI partner with their own set of skills. Of course, the game is balanced around all of that, but that kind of stuff lets a player feel like they have more leeway in combat. There are also armor bonuses. One set piece slows down time on a perfect dodge. That is really strong in the right hands. That gear set does lack in the way of stats but the ability makes up for it if you can use it well.

 

And there is a bunch more shit. GoW just has way more options, including a revive stone that I opt not to use. That kind of stuff makes the game easier. BUT in Elden Ring, you can make the game easier than GoW's easiest setting... eventually. You can't do that in GoW unless you play on an easier difficulty. GoW always has a base level of difficulty that you can't make easier. Elden Ring can be one of the easiest game you have ever played. I don't think GoW can do that unless you play on easy. But if you are trying to play Elden Ring with the limitations of Kratos then you will have a harder time.

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Spoiler

Finished the entire Garm scenario. Really cool shit! Atreus is so fucking awesome in this game. In 2018 I barely could stand him.

 

 

2 hours ago, TwinIon said:

I just unlocked a big sidequest area (the crater) after the "Creatures of Prophecy" mission, which is definitely getting towards the end of the story, and it's the first time I've felt like the level design really missed the mark. Up to now, I think the game as been extremely well paced. I've done every side quest as soon as I've found it, and some of those missions are really great, hardly feeling like side quests at all. They flow naturally through the areas, requiring very little retracing of steps, if any. When you're plowing through a well told mission, discovering secrets and unlocking chests along the way, the game just feels incredible. The Crater is probably the first area in the game that messes with that flow a bit too much.

 

There are still sections where you get gracefully lead through, but there are a bunch of side quests all happening at once, and a couple different paths you can take, with large areas to explore in multiple directions. This has made me retrace my path a good few times, trying to find this piece of that quest or something I missed. The quests then also take you back to some of the same areas for new bits. It's the most "open world" that either of these new GoW games has felt to me, and I think it demonstrates well why the level design is so key to the feel of the game, and what happens when direction becomes less clear. When you do go back through an area, searching for that missed quest item or secret, it's just not a great time. The areas feel dead and empty, and the little traversal bits that are great moments for story dialog just feel tedious.

 

Now, I think many people will not have that problem, even in this area. If you're not chasing down each quest, or if you just move "forward" relentlessly. It's quite possible that I'm breaking the flow myself and that I'd have ended up finding everything if I just kept pursuing the next thing in front of me, rather than trying to make sure I didn't miss anything. Still, I think it's notable that I haven't had that problem at all so far, most of the way through the game, and how well it has worked for me.

 

It also has me re-thinking some of my criticisms about the game world. My first impression, especially when you're in actual towns, was that they felt too empty. Compared to something like the settlements in Forbidden West, or even the camps in Last of Us, they just felt unnaturally devoid of stuff. Having towns built like a dungeon, with a more or less linear path and little going on, felt like a missed opportunity to make the game world feel more alive. Now I'm thinking that it was probably the right call. This game, and the way it's structured, relies heavily on a specific pace of progression, and any level that effectively leads the player through, without making them feel as though they missed something, serves that purpose best.

 

That's pretty damn disappointing to read. :(

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