Sony God of War Advice?

[JPDunks4]

So I am running through my Backlog of Playstation games I've missed.  I was gonna wait for the PS5, but got a PS4 Pro for $320 recently, and figured I'd just start to knock out some of the PS exclusives I've missed over the years. 

 

I have never played any God of War games.  A few weeks ago, when buying PS+ Subs on sale, I accidentally bought 2 years worth of PSNow subs.  I saw they have the original God of War HD, and God of War 2 on PSNow.  Should I play all the games in the series before moving onto the newest PS4 game.

 

I own GoW 3 Remaster on PS4, so I can play that when I get to it.

 

Are they worth playing? How long are they roughly? 

[SaysWho?]

6 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

So I am running through my Backlog of Playstation games I've missed.  I was gonna wait for the PS5, but got a PS4 Pro for $320 recently, and figured I'd just start to knock out some of the PS exclusives I've missed over the years. 

 

I have never played any God of War games.  A few weeks ago, when buying PS+ Subs on sale, I accidentally bought 2 years worth of PSNow subs.  I saw they have the original God of War HD, and God of War 2 on PSNow.  Should I play all the games in the series before moving onto the newest PS4 game.

 

I own GoW 3 Remaster on PS4, so I can play that when I get to it.

 

Are they worth playing? How long are they roughly? 

 

A lot to unpack here, but I'll do my best as a guy who has played even the handheld versions (remastered on PS3 tho):

 

You can go into the PS4 God of War without having played the previous games. You can enjoy it tremendously on its own since it does a good job hinting, implying, or explaining the previous games, though there are some moments that will hit harder having played the previous games.

 

Since they are good games in their own right, I suggest playing them, but the difference between the new game and the older ones is it's easy to get burned out playing the old GOW games one after another, whereas I went to plat the new God of War. Playing something small in between might be a good idea, but YMMV. They're not long games.

 

The old God of War games are more of the era of linear action-adventure games. You can beat them in 8 - 10 hours. They add more to the combat and bosses with each game. I'd say the first has the best puzzles (Pandora's Temple is wonderful level design), the second has the best combination of puzzles and bosses and is the best paced, while the third has the best bosses/combat but simpler puzzles. 3 also doesn't have much in terms of swerves or plot development as the first two; it's a straight revenge story, but it's always cool seeing the lore.

 

God of War PS4 is more a "wide-linear" game. I wouldn't go as far as to say open-world since the areas are structured more similarly to a Souls game than a straight open-world like Crackdown or Horizon. While the original games are linear, the new game encourages exploration yet always makes it easy to get back into the main story. So even if you play GOW1 or 2 and feel like you need a bit of a break from the bombast, it'll be easy to jump into God of War PS4 imo.

[SaysWho?]

Oh, and you don't have to play the handheld versions (though Ghost of Sparta is pretty good) to understand anything in the new God of War. You also don't need to play Ascension. Even though it came out the same gen as 3, Ascension was the only one I couldn't finish; I didn't like the gameplay changes. I also missed out on the multiplayer.

[JPDunks4]

15 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Oh, and you don't have to play the handheld versions (though Ghost of Sparta is pretty good) to understand anything in the new God of War. You also don't need to play Ascension. Even though it came out the same gen as 3, Ascension was the only one I couldn't finish; I didn't like the gameplay changes. I also missed out on the multiplayer.

Yeah, I won't go too far out of my way to play the games I missed.  If I needed a handheld, that's a step too far for me.

 

I tend to like to play the entire series of a popular game franchise, even if the stories aren't relevant to one another.  I generally like to see how the games themselves, as well as the developers, grow and change over the years through their games.  Playing the Uncharted Trilogy a few years ago, and seeing how they changed was a fun experience.  Then jumping to Last of Us to see how Naughty Dog matured and grew on their original concept.  I would've played UC4 before LoU2, but was afraid of spoilers online so knocked it out quickly.

 

I may not play them all back to back, just was curious if I should activate my PSNow Sub now to play those original games.  I'll need to see how many older PS games I need to get through that are on PSNow so I don't forget about them while I have the sub active.  Any other PS Classics that are only available on PSNow that I should try not to miss.

 

I also haven't played any Metal Gear games as well. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

@JPDunks4

 

Of all the "Greek mythology" God of War games, God of War II is BY FAR the best one (and still remains the best in the entire series) as it REALLY nailed the perfect balance of the series' "Holy Trinity"of combat-puzzles-platforming that has never been matched again.

[SaysWho?]

3 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

Yeah, I won't go too far out of my way to play the games I missed.  If I needed a handheld, that's a step too far for me.

 

I tend to like to play the entire series of a popular game franchise, even if the stories aren't relevant to one another.  I generally like to see how the games themselves, as well as the developers, grow and change over the years through their games.  Playing the Uncharted Trilogy a few years ago, and seeing how they changed was a fun experience.  Then jumping to Last of Us to see how Naughty Dog matured and grew on their original concept.  I would've played UC4 before LoU2, but was afraid of spoilers online so knocked it out quickly.

 

I may not play them all back to back, just was curious if I should activate my PSNow Sub now to play those original games.  I'll need to see how many older PS games I need to get to that are on PSNow so I don't forget about them while I have the sub active.  Any other PS Classics that are only available on PSNow that I should try not to miss.

 

I also haven't played any Metal Gear games as well. 

 

I had the Legacy Collection on PS3 and played through all of them for the first time. The only one I had played before was 2. Twas a great experience! 

 

The handhelds were remastered for PS3, so if there's an Origins Collection on PS Now, those would be the games. Not essential, but they're fun. Chains of Olympus really feels like a handheld game, though, while Ghost of Sparta feels more like a PS2 game.

 

I think they're worth playing. I've revisited them from time to time for fun factor, and GOW2 was directed by Barlog, who did the new God of War. Unsurprisingly, those are the two best imo. In a year filled with Mass Effect and Halo 3, God of War 2 still stood out on its own on an old console.

[SaysWho?]

2 minutes ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

@JPDunks4

 

Of all the "Greek mythology" God of War games, God of War II is BY FAR the best one (and still remains the best in the entire series) as it REALLY nailed the perfect balance of the series' "Holy Trinity"of combat-puzzles-platforming that has never been matched again.

 

That's easy enough when the new one has no platforming.  

 

I did love the puzzles in it, though I'd still argue that 1 had the most ambitious ones of the trilogy. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

14 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

That's easy enough when the new one has no platforming.  

 

I did love the puzzles in it, though I'd still argue that 1 had the most ambitious ones of the trilogy. 

 

Hence why I rank God of War: Norse as #3 among the mainline titles!

 

The puzzles in 1 were certainly more ambitious, but in terms of overall gameplay mechanics balance, God of War II is simply unsurpassed!

[atom631]

@SaysWho? nailed it. But it’s tough for me to recommend playing the other ones first. 
 

the PS4 GoW is my favorite PS exclusive game then gen. It’s also one of the only games I 100% bc when it was over I just didn’t want to stop playing. That’s not really like me. When a game is done I move on to the next one immediately and rarely ever look back. My biggest disappointment is that they never release DLC as the game seemingly hints at areas left to be explored that you never get to. 
 

I say dive into this game ASAP. 

[SaysWho?]

17 minutes ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

 

Hence why I rank God of War: Norse as #3 among the mainline titles!

 

The puzzles in 1 were certainly more ambitious, but in terms of overall gameplay mechanics balance, God of War II is simply unsurpassed!

 

Agreed on the originals, but the new one is more Combat-Puzzles-Exploration instead of Combat-Puzzles-Platforming.

 

And for a world that's not huge, I was really impressed with how big it felt based on the exploration and discovery aspect. I loved getting the, "Secret Area Discovered," pop-up, and I especially loved looking at the map and going, "Huh, is that a beach? Can I go there?" and yo, I can! What is this place?! Holy shit, it has a chest with what is now my favorite Runic Attack in the game!

 

Good shit. Can't go wrong with each of Barlog's or Jaffe's original.

[SaysWho?]

Also: Cory Barlog had some inspiration from the new Tomb Raiders' wide-linear approach, but I feel Shadow of the Colossus was a big influence on him as far as exploration in general. I timestamped the link at around 7:32 and it goes to 8:07.

 

 

He says he wanted it to feel similar to SOTC in the sense that you were free to explore without a thousand different icons on the map. I've loved plenty of games with the icons, but I get his reasoning, and it worked out very well. 

[TheLeon]

The PS2-3 era games all kinda blend together for me. I say play one of those (probably GOW 2) and if you really want more, play the others, but I wouldn't feel bad about jumping to the 2018 game either. 

[Bloodporne]

1 hour ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

@JPDunks4

 

Of all the "Greek mythology" God of War games, God of War II is BY FAR the best one (and still remains the best in the entire series) as it REALLY nailed the perfect balance of the series' "Holy Trinity"of combat-puzzles-platforming that has never been matched again.

Also agree that God of War II was the best in the entire series. It was a great sequel and one of the few games I beat several times in a row back then. I should get that collection for PS3 and play the first two again, they were a ton of fun. 

 

God of War III weirdly enough did nothing for me at all. I bought the Remastered version of PS4 and stopped playing after two hours or so and just dropped it. It aggressively felt like been-there-done-that and surprisingly boring in all its spectacle. 

[Brick]

I played through ALL the God of War titles before playing the PS4 game (yes even Ascension and the PSP games (HD PS3 versions)), and I'm glad I did to know each of the story bits. I think it improves the story of PS4 God of War, even though you could go in blind not knowing. Think of it as if you go in knowing you're playing from Kratos's perspective, but if you go in blind you're playing from Atreus's perspective. The story is the best in PS4 God of War, and I hated Kratos in the old games, but he's much better written, performed, and characterized in the new game. 

[Kal-El814]

GoW2 is easily the best of the original titles. You can skip 1 and 3. 3, I think, has aged especially poorly. The gameplay is fine and everything, but the visual fidelity makes a lot of Kratos's cruelty difficult to watch sometimes and the character turn they try to pull with him just kinda falls flat. It also has a "God of Rock Band" segment which I imagine would feel even more out of place in 2020 than it did when it launched

[SaysWho?]

5 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

GoW2 is easily the best of the original titles. You can skip 1 and 3. 3, I think, has aged especially poorly. The gameplay is fine and everything, but the visual fidelity makes a lot of Kratos's cruelty difficult to watch sometimes and the character turn they try to pull with him just kinda falls flat. It also has a "God of Rock Band" segment which I imagine would feel even more out of place in 2020 than it did when it launched

 

This reminds me: I think GOW4 makes GOW3's Kratos better in this sense:

 

Spoiler

Replaying it in the past year or two really solidified how one-note he was in that game. Yeah, he wasn't this super deep character, but you learned about his past and regrets and saw growth in the first game, and the quest to align with the Titans to destroy Olympus was fantastic. But 3 was, "I WILL have my revenge," and then he has his revenge.

What I like about 4 is how he has to restrain himself throughout the game for the sake of his son so his son can be better than he is (which goes perfectly with the ending and the parallel between Baldur and Freya). And witnessing the growth feels rewarding. Even though it's just a conversation they have while walking, I loved hearing Kratos scold Atreus, "Why did you speak that way to the dwarf?" Because although he found their family drama annoying, he finally learned that he needs allies he can trust, and making enemies with them wouldn't be wise in this world where they're alone and everyone knows who he is. It's also why I enjoy his banter with Mimir; there's actually a fun chemistry between the two, and he doesn't do something underhanded like, "Oh Mimir I didn't come back for YOU!" (steals thing).

Like, it's simple, but because it's Kratos, it's actually refreshing to see that he's changed, even if he's still not perfect and still battling his demons from the Greek world. By the end of the game, I no longer doubted getting a new voice actor for him in Christopher Judge and really loved the path they laid for him.

 

[Brick]

God of Rock Band? I don't remember that bit. 

[skillzdadirecta]

@SaysWho? pretty much nailed it... I've played all of the main GOW games except for the handheld ones and ascension and I think you can get away with just playing the main numbered games. GOW 4 and GOW 2 are my favs and 3 is my least favorite. I remember having to force myself to finish that one. @JPDunks4 let me know when you star the Metal Gear games. I own all of those too and have beaten one through three. I never finished four or five though. I tapped out of four due to it's overindulgence of back to back twenty minute cutscenes. DAMN that game was obnoxious.

[Kal-El814]

11 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

@SaysWho? pretty much nailed it... I've played all of the main GOW games except for the handheld ones and ascension and I think you can get away with just playing the main numbered games. GOW 4 and GOW 2 are my favs and 3 is my least favorite. I remember having to force myself to finish that one. @JPDunks4 let me know when you star the Metal Gear games. I own all of those too and have beaten one through three. I never finished four or five though. I tapped out of four due to it's overindulgence of back to back twenty minute cutscenes. DAMN that game was obnoxious.

 

The first act and a half in MGS4 is fine, Act 4 is rad, and the rest is basically Kojima begging to be allowed to make something other than Metal Gear. Game is fucking WEIRD.

[HardAct]

4 hours ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

@JPDunks4

 

Of all the "Greek mythology" God of War games, God of War II is BY FAR the best one (and still remains the best in the entire series) as it REALLY nailed the perfect balance of the series' "Holy Trinity"of combat-puzzles-platforming that has never been matched again.

I completely agree. This series is a strange one for me, I've played them all {ITHINK} but never really loved them. 2 is the best, and I have yet to finish the new one. I was playing the new on on the ps4pro when the fire it us in California and I have now re bought it, but haven't restarted it. I will say, I was struggling with the combat a bit on the new one, struggled early but it's a good game. I really Liked the ones though on the handhelds. as I like The uncharted one on the Vita way more then any of the others, I know weird. Lastly, no way I would tackle them back to back, there just not that great in where you just can't get enough. All in all there fun games, the new on is purdy!

[johnny]

If I were you I would watch 1-3’s story on YouTube and then play the new one 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I played all the games, including the handheld games when they first came out...on handheld. Ascension was the only one I never finished, but I played most of it before hitting a brick wall. I second the others in saying II is the best of the series.

 

The PS4 game is so different and so good, I recommend you start there, as the originals can burn you out if you play them all back to back. But they're still very much worth playing in time.

[heydude93]

The 2018 one is mostly a refresh (or reboot or whatever the term would be) so you should be ok.  1-3 can be fun if you're into movies like Clash of the Titans and like 90's comics and want an experience close to that, and playing them first does give some context that could help make the emotional beats in the PS4 game more impactful if you dig the stories in these games.  

[JPDunks4]

Thanks guys and gals.  I have a feeling it maybe a series I really dig, so I'll give it a shot.  Also will get to test out the streaming on PSNow as well, see how it stacks up to Stadia and xCloud.

 

I see it has almost all the games, so we'll see how I feel about it as I go and how many I want to play.  If i'm not feeling them, I won't do them all back to back.  I did the Uncharted 1-3 back to back, and that was okay for me.

[Kal-El814]

Beware binging the series... Kratos is a shit character through most all the games up until the most recent one. Could be a lot to take in during a short amount of time.

[Bacon]

Played GOW 1 and 2 but never beat them. Played and Beat GOW4. I think Johnny is right. Just watch the story on YT and play 4. 

[Greatoneshere]

I'm a completionist who prefers playing series in production order, so I get the instinct to play the originals first. I recommend you do. I never played Ascension, but I did play the main three games and the two spin-off games for handhelds (except I played the PS3 HD versions) and all 5 games were great. Definitely play the main three before the PS4 God of War, and if you're digging the series, play the two spin-off games if PSNow has them (they can otherwise be skipped). Have no idea about Ascension, no one's ever really liked it much but it is a hole in my game playing. 

 

As others have said, the PS4 game has by far the most depth in terms of characterization and story, but the old games are fun and do deepen the fourth game if you've experienced them. Just know that the old games are very dudebro Greece; 300 movie-style feel and vibe. It works though in being fun and over the top.

[BloodyHell]

I just bought this. I beat 1-3 and one of the PSP games. I’m playing Dishonored: Death of the Outsider now, then I'm jumping into this.

[Jason]

I think I've brought this up before, but...I'm not the only one who found the controls on the PS4 game very awkward, right? Especially when you're simultaneously controlling Kratos and the kid. 

[SaysWho?]

6 hours ago, Jason said:

I think I've brought this up before, but...I'm not the only one who found the controls on the PS4 game very awkward, right? Especially when you're simultaneously controlling Kratos and the kid. 

 

Controls weren't really a mainstream criticism? Everything felt pretty damn good, though if you're coming from the originals, it takes a little bit to get used to controlling.

[Jason]

19 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Controls weren't really a mainstream criticism? Everything felt pretty damn good, though if you're coming from the originals, it takes a little bit to get used to controlling.

 

It was my first God of War game though. 

[SaysWho?]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

 

It was my first God of War game though. 

 

Huh. Twas not a major criticism of the game. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to control Atreus while fighting with Kratos.

[Xbob42]

I just watched a long Youtube video summarizing all the previous games, as I found them very pedestrian to actually play.

[gamer.tv]

On 7/15/2020 at 7:32 PM, johnny said:

If I were you I would watch 1-3’s story on YouTube and then play the new one 

Definitely this. I think IGN made a decent recap of the series to be watched prior to God of War 2018

[best3444]

2 hours ago, gamer.tv said:

Definitely this. I think IGN made a decent recap of the series to be watched prior to God of War 2018

 

Yup. I just recently beat GOW last week for my second playthrough since it released. Top 5 this generation.