Poll: Is God of War Ragnarok Still One of Sony's Best Games, One Year Later?

Played the free trial, not a fan

@somnambulance You can't post this comment and then not list them!

Its a great game. Remarkable acting, fantastic direction, its a classic.

Definitely one of the best.

I still think it's one of the best Sony games. Just a fantastic adventure from start to finish — although I will say that on subsequent playthroughs, the Atreus sections can feel quite boring with all of the walking and talking.

But yeah, incredible game, in my opinion.

I played it during the summer and it's a great game. Incredible production values all around, and a far better game and story than GoW2018.

It's definitely in my top three games from Sony, along with Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima.

God of war 2018 and Ragnarok are the goat. Their relationship I feel like is like avenger infinity war and end game, telling one overarching story, but in two complete packages

I enjoyed it, but I really preferred the story and gameplay of God of War 2018.

Haven't played it (waiting for the inevitable PC port), but if it's anything like the 2018 game, I'm sure I'll grudgingly enjoy my time with it.

Is a 10/10 package no doubt but I didn't find it fun to play, I'm so used to the very fun and chaotic gameplay from the first three GOW games that this slow downed story focused style didn't do it for me unfortunately

I was loving the first 10 hours or so but it just kept going and going and going.

Far too long and not enough unique things to do felt like i was repeating stuff too much it made the plot feel far too thin.

Overrated and a slog to get through. One of the few games from sony that i have dropped. Gameplay graphics and story are great but getting from point a to b is so tedious

Best game PS Studios ever made? No.
Because I don't think I could ever choose one of their exclusive AAA single player IP's to sit without a doubt on top of the others... God OF War, The Last Of Us, Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, Infamous, Spider-Man etc...I like them all very much.
The God of War IP remains a wee bit closer to my heart than the rest, because the original God Of War 1 and 2 on the PS2 were the starting point of my entering Sony's ecosystem (the image in my avatar here says it all).
But Sony's "universe" wouldn't be the same without all of them in it.
Here's to many more of those games in the future!

Yeah, one of the best for sure but not the best. Honestly, if you ask me there isn't a "best". Most of their games are great or amazing but I would not be able to pick one as the best. I don't know how anyone would capable of. They are all great experiences but in a different way.

Great game but GoW 2018 or whatever it was surpasses it imo. Sure, it's bigger and there's more to it but it didn't bring the same joy the first brought and felt like a bit of a slog at times. I don't recall that same feeling with 2018 was a much tighter experience.

Same goes for HZD and Forbidden West fwiw.

Absolutely still a fantastic game one year later. My personal GOTY 2022.

Its a great game, still feel GoW 18 was better, when TLoU launched on PS3 and I played it I don't think anything's come close to that experience so thats still my favourite. I prefer Horizon and Uncharted to the GoW series as well

God of War, The Last of Us, Spider-Man are my favorite games on Playstation. They need to NEVER stop making them. I will play every one of them that they release and i will enjoy them each individually. 3rd person, story driven, campaign games with lots of collectibles and an open world are the best games ever made.

@somnambulance Not bad, not bad at all.

Definitely not for me, I found it incredibly boring and tedious. I would put Demon's Souls, Returnal, Rift Apart, Spider-man 2, Forbidden West, Ghost of tsushima, Gran Turismo 7, Sackboy ahead of it.

Thoroughly enjoyed GOW 2018 and Ragnarok but I prefer the original trilogy.

Greeky Mythology>>>>Norse

Loved the first one but found Ragnarok such a slog it just went on for to long

@Netret0120 I miss the play style of the first 3 as well. I also concur with Greek myth over Norse.

GOW2018 was great but it felt like an entrée, whereas GOWR felt like the main course. It delivered in every way and even surpassed my expectations. It’s one of Sony’s best games for sure.

These comments sure aren't selling me the game 😂
Been thinking about thinking about picking it up during a black friday sale but I'll probably forego it and buy sth else instead.

For me it's either Demon’s Souls or Returnal they are a much different and faster paced gameplay experience that actually require focus. over Spiderman 2, God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden west and the other cute colourful and cuddly game.. Ratchet and whatever his name is

Replaying it a year later one of the best playstation games awesome from start too finish 🔥

A very well made game no doubt, it looks amazing, has a great script and character interaction, and there were some really impressive boss battles and it was a satisfying ending.

But let's be honest, the overall story is mostly forgettable and overly long with all manner of padding and MacGuffins, the combat is very repetitive, the world is beautiful but linear and pretty empty, the platforming amounts to "push up and press circle", the gear and skills upgrade system is overly complex for what is actually pretty basic in RPG terms, and the puzzles are very easy.

A decent 8.5/10 at best I reckon.

With current production & release temp from Sony you might ask this question from year to year

Jokes aside easily one of my fav games from PS Studios, despite being a safe-kind of sequel.

The problem i have is every single first party game is the best ever. Call me a fanboy or whatever.

They are all so polished and have amazing stories. Each one I can find greatness in it.

Ragnarok was amazing but I agree with some the Atreus sections were a little boring and I'd even put it in with the MJ missions from spiderman. (Really hope they don't go down the road of a Atreus only game).

A little to much filler aswel and they really needed to just get rid of the whole armour system,. Just give me the god of war. But overall an amazing game.
I'd like this level of production with the arcadiness of the first 3.

Maybe its just me but I'm still waiting for that defining game to say this really is a PS5 game.
Apart from Astro, that free game is absolutely amazing, cannot wait to see what they have been working on.

It's arguably one of the best games ever made.

Amazing series of games and i've loved all of them especially the last 2. Really dont like atreus though because a) he's a self entitled little ***** and b) he's ginger. Apart from that they are without a doubt some of the best games ever.

Its certainly the best 1st party game released this Gen. Having done a recent NG+ run i would say its held up very well despite some pacing problems.

Over rated. I do understand everyone has different gaming tastes, but come on, this actually was donkey doo....

Many other games and most are way better...

I think the 2018 game was a lot better paced and obviously it broke a lot more new ground.

My favourite Sony game of the generation is Gran Turismo 7 and of all time it's Last of Us.

I remember when God of War 2018 released it was talked about for years and considered maybe the best game of the generation

Couple months after release, no talk of Ragnarok. Because it's a last gen game released two years into a new gen, people have moved on.

I get some of the complaints about Ragnarok feeling too similar to 2018 (I find myself feeling a similar way about Spider-man 2) but what I think many are missing or glossing over is that the story in Ragnarok is a huge improvement over the first game. Both in terms of the actual narrative itself and the characters within it. I wont go into spoilers here but lets just say Kratos is practically a different character by the end of Ragnarok. And the fact that this progression doesn't feel unnatural or unearned is quite an achievement if you ask me

Honestly, I was a little let down by it. I admire Barlog and co's idea to not stretch it out into a trilogy, but the end result was a game that was unevenly paced and narratively suffered for it. Plot threads involving mcguffins and character relationships were drawn out for a long time and then quickly abandoned or resolved offscreen.

(MILD SPOILERS AHEAD):

Ragnarok, the big battle the whole game is about, had zero preparation phase at all and was anticlimatic.
That mask took forever to assemble and then it was just...meaningless. The rifts weren't really explained and Odin's motivations were And other Qs weren't resolved: Who was behind Faye's fate? What's going on with the giant orbs? Who blew the horn in 2018 GoW and why did the big sequel twist/conflict teased in that never materialize? If Odin can just teleport anywhere at anytime, why didn't he and the crew just appear before Kratos immediately after Baulder returned to report what happened in 2018?

Ragnarok was beautifully acted, some of the sets were awe-inspiring (some less so), and mechanically its sound. But I remember 2018 so much more for its incredible gameplay events, the intrigue, and the emotionally charged story beats that left me wanting more.

I can hardly remember Ragnarok, outside of a few key moments — and even those are murky at best.

I still liked 2018 better. Very, very good game but 2018 just hit different

I mean, you say "Still the best," but Sony has only released one game since Ragnarok... so I guess?

I absolutely loved it, and thought it was better than its predecessor. The story beats were much more satisfying, and there was a level of confidence in the game design and overall game world that was present in every moment of the game. I didn’t care too much playing as Atreus because I found his moments annoying. With that said, I did enjoy how quickly his movements were. The fluidity and flexibility was a nice change of pace.

Ita definitely one of the best. Not my Fav (HFW) but it was an incredible experience especially on PS5. A high bar to surpass.

As for what is the greatest PlayStation Studios game, I will always choose The Last of Us. That said, it is subjective. I’m bias too, since it’s my favorite game of all time. I’ve yet to play anything narratively that hit me emotionally as that first entry.

No. the classics are better

Great game but three things hold it back which is the Atreus levels, too much talking during exploration, and waaay too much handholding. The fact that you can't complete a puzzle without atreus giving away the answer within less than 5 to 10 seconds was so annoying that I had to mute the dialogue.

I very much enjoyed this game and hopefully the rumored expansion or dlc is true cuz I'm sure I'll enjoy that too

It's good, but not Ghost of Tsushima good.

@EvenStephen7 I agree with everything you said. It was very poorly paced and the ending was very unsatisfying. Ragnarök didn't feel like the end of the world. Was that really what we were afraid of all game? It's a great and fun game in all other regards but I think it would have benefited from being a trilogy. It kinda felt like they just wanted to get it over with.

It’s on my Platinum list but I’m yet to play. Loved God Of War PS4 so I’m sure it’s more of the same. If I remember to come back and vote I will 👍

@Splat now that was a game I just adore mate. One of the best of all time on any platform imo

An incredible game with my only gripes being that the upgrade and progression system were a step in the wrong direction and the map drove me nuts on numerous occasions while I was platinuming it. Everything else was a cut above though. I thought the script in particular was absolutely stellar.

Still on the backlog…

It's definitely a "not for me" game. I used to like the huge epic games, but the Playstation mega budget games bore me. Especially when it seems they underestimate their player base with overexplaining every puzzle and basically telling you the solution. That sucks.

Pacing is terrible. The final parts of the game are incredibly rushed and ruined everything 2018 built up. And making basic draugers into actual bosses had to be the dumbest thing. And let me not forget the chicken nugget dragons.

46% say it is the best but most of the comments say different... I get not everyone that votes, comments but it's very conflicting.

Saying Ragnarok is the best PlayStation game is similar to saying Tears of the Kingdom is the best Nintendo game. Both of these games are not really new, they're a bigger-but-still-copy-paste version of the previous iteration.

The games are brilliant, of course, but if we're gonna award these games as the best, I'd vote for God of War and Breath of the Wild instead, for example.

Edit: Plus I agree with some other comments - Ragnarok (like Tears of the Kingdom, mind you) is too big for its own good.

I really enjoyed my time with Ragnarok. It's not my favorite first party title but it's definitely a great one.

A great game, and one of their best, but not as good as 2018. Mainly due to the Atreus bits, but Kratos was awesome.

The Atreus stuff really dragged down the 1st one for me, so I cant really see me ever playing this one.

It's a great game but Returnal is better.

It is one the best, no question. In it's own lane, can't really compare this title other than the prequel. I prefer narrative driven and it exceeded the narrative of 2018's.

I personally can't stand the GoW franchise but objectively, the game is clearly made to an incredibly high technical standard. Though most in house titles are.

Despite being a PlayStation user since pretty much day one, I'm not actually a massive fan of most of their exclusive games. In recent times, Astrobot and Ghost of Tsushima are personal favourites.

@TrickyDicky99 a couple months after release it won a s**t tonne of awards, game of the year awards and nominations for different categories, so I doubt there was no one was talking about it, it's no Starfield.

ofc its still one of the best 1 year later, there hasnt been any new sony games except from spider man..

@KennethKoerperich88 why though, care to elaborate on a small list of " better" games ?

It's good but I definitely didn't like it as much as 2018. It didn't really improve on 2018 in any major way and the Atreus sections...I'm sorry they are just plain bad. I wouldn't put it even close to the very best of Playstation 1st party.

It's a good game overall but kind of forgettable. Nothing really stuck with me about it.

I thought it was incredibly boring.
The open areas felt so unnecessary, just to pad out the runtime.
I really hope they reboot God of War, in the near future, and make it more fastpaced again.
I still enjoy replaying the PS2 and PSP games. But I will never return to the last two parts.

As a dad I tend to connect with the "dad" games such as god of war, last of us. My favorite 1st party games include those, spider man and death stranding.

I regretted my purchase as soon as they forced me to play as atreus

I completed it last year. Haven't thought again about it. So I guess it was nothing special in my book.

I got bored with it and never finished it. I planned on going back to it but didn't realize its been a year already. Yeesh. Maybe I should do that. Eventually.

Its the best games ever made.not just sony first party studio.that is why god of war ragnarok is the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.word up son

It's a good game but there's not much else to it. It's a game where the story feels simultaneously rushed and crammed but then not much happens in it. The "Ragnarok" segment is pitiful, the first Atreus/Girl segment in the woods goes on for far too long and the final boss encounter is lacking in scope. 2018 was better.

I wasn't enamored with its gameplay like say Ghost of Tsushima for example. The gameplay loop is just not as fun to me. Going around the realms armor hunting, doing puzzles and fighting bosses that don't really feel like bosses in comparison to the old God of War games pre 2018. Combined with a story that's only somewhat interesting. I still don't care about Atreus/Loki. A lot of the game just feels like a slog to play. I got the Platinum but like Gow 2018, I immediately stopped playing the game after I got it and never returned because I was just glad it was over due to feeling miserable playing it to a degree. The game is more like a 7-7.5 out of 10 which is still good in terms of ratings but it feels like a lot of that score is on the production values end.

Sony's best game arguably this gen imo is still Returnal. At least the game I played within the first couple of months of it's release.

I only buy a PS console for the exclusives. It’s all i ever turn it on for. I am a HUGE god of war fan. I liked GOWR but didn’t love it. Certainly loved parts of it. But didn’t want to play as the kid as much. Thought the story went on a little too long. The RPG upgrades it has isn’t a good system to me at all. It’s a game i thought for sure would be a 10/10 for me and it turned out to be a 8/10 for me. Still high, still loved it in some parts. But it just didn’t wow me the way i expected. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here tho. I’ll for sure by the rumored DLC.

I liked the first a lot more. Ragnarok felt way too long and unfocused. I was completely over it at about the halfway mark, which felt to me like it should've been almost the end.

I actually ended up giving up and watching the ending on youtube. It just wore out all of my patience with the constant talking and the aimless feeling.

@somnambulance Astro is one of my favorite games of all time. I still feel intimidated by Returnal and I tried Dark Souls and it's not my thing. But I know the consensus has them as being loved by many, just not my type.

Ragnarok is another of my favorites ever though! It's hard to place, but 2018 might be higher for feeling a little tighter and building off of, but the ties to things and world building and story just bring Ragnarok to being a close race to me!

It’s a good game but I liked the original more. The combat and graphics were a big step up but it felt bloated and the story wasn’t as interesting, for me.

Sure is! Still one of my favrote games of all time! "I will be your general..."

@UltimateOtaku91 GOW 2018 won official GOTY.

Ragnarok didn't win and nobody is saying Ragnarok is the game of the gen.

I think it's best we just all admit it, making it a last gen game was a massive massive fail.

Obviously taste is subjective but I absolutely loved it and still do.

It had some real pacing issues but it told a good story and the combat was fun enough.

When I played this game, I said god damn! It’s near the top, but in 2022 elden ring was better, and LoU2 is my top Sony game so far.

It never was one. B movie quality writing forcing it's pathetic "be better" nonsense with God of Feelings emasculated Kratos. I was rolling my eyes every conversation. They killed the character utterly. Some of the worst dialogue I've ever seen in a game tbh with all the characters, Freya and Atreus were hideously poorly written. Snail paced, anticlimactic, childish, cheesy plot. Pure Reddit level of writing. The Atreus sections made me want to quit the game. Awful character designs, disappointing bosses, noway near enough gore or violence, combat was very repetitive and seemed worse than the first (far superior) game. One of the most ridiculously overrated games ever, people no longer understand what a good game is.

@Terra_Custodes In what way was Kratos "emasculated" exactly? Now it's been a good year since I've played Ragnarok, but I don't recall this ever occuring. Do you simply mean that Kratos isn't allowed to grow as a character? Does he just have to be a raging, homicidal, maniac in perpetuity? And if so, that's somehow supposed to be better writing? So you mean to tell me that zero character development at all is somehow better writing than the mere existence of it. Lol

It had its moments but I gotta say overall I am disappointed.
The two biggest gripes I have with it are Atrues and the fact that most of the mysteries set up in 2018 had really bad payoffs in this game.
I didn't even like Odin and Thor, couldn't take them seriously when those Norse Gods came out sounding super American, I mean it was kinda funny but it took out all the seriousness the game was going for.
Kratos, Broc and Sindre where the MVP's, and Mimir as always was a funny guy, his quest was a bit lame though.

While I rushed GOW 2018 till the end and wanted more, I have dropped Ragnarok. Don't know why, but I found it a slog, moving from A to B was very long and often empty, and the wow factor was little overall.

With the impending first party drought, I think Ragnarok will be the only great first party game from Sony in a good while.

I dropped it after just a few hours and never returned, perhaps this style of often walking and talking a lot of the time just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I finished the previous God of War and enjoyed it but that wasn't amongst my top Sony exclusives either

I was really luke-warm on GOW2018. It was a fine game, but I overall found it underwhelming and undeserving of the hype it got. I finished it, but it was a chore for most of the playtime.

GOW:R is, to me, the same leap in quality that Assassins Creed 2 had over the previous game back in the day. And I can't really pinpoint why. Maybe I found the setpieces and locations more evocative this time around? I tried going back to GOW2018 right after completing Ragnarok, and I bounced off before completing it.

So yeah, Ragnarok is - to me - one of the PS all-time-greats. And I only got around to playing it in february of this year. Between it, Tears of the Kingdom and Baldurs Gate III, I've had a heck of a 2023.

Ragnarök just didn't click with me like the rest of the series did. I expected improvements to the combat, but sadly it was the same as in the prequel - enemies' strikes following you as you dodge is my main issue.

I think that Ragnarök is a good game, but it's definitely overhyped and overrated by its fans.

It's one of the best, certainly suffers from bloat though.

I was ever so slightly disappointed with the first one. Parts of it were epic, but I found the post game exploration a grind. The pseudo open world didn't work for me at all. I am very proud of beating the Valkyrie queen and getting the plat however, she was well hard and I haven't got the reflexes any more!
I may get Ragnorak at some point but its a fair way down the list

@Superstar74
Same about getting that platinum trophy. It's the only one I've obtained and I don't care about getting it in other games. I know this one was well earned at least.

I did thoroughly enjoy Ragnarok, but maybe not as much as the first game. And I agree with @Legacy2K that Ragnarok suffers from bloat.

I do have a few plats, but I know my limit, and if it gets to the point where controllers go across the room, I call it a day 🤣
The bloat puts me off, filler to make a game bigger doesn't work. Re village is quite short but I love it, consequently have finished it several times

It is for me, loved every minute the combat is superb and the axe is well..... incredible.
I had no issue with the length, I didn't want it to end to be honest, they took everything that was great from 2018 and made it better IMO.

Very overrated as usual. I want my games more game and less movie.

@Tchunga I don't mind character development when it's not written by Reddit mods. GOWR was so pathetically clumsy with forcing 21st century real world ethical lessons on us, in a game about megalomaniac gods called "God of War" it was pathetic. Seeing Kratos refuse to fight multiple times even to the point of pure strategic stupidity was teeth grinding annoying. Having lectures about Odin smacking Thor and mentally scarring him made me groan out loud. "I will be your general" can I have some wine with this cheese? Too far removed from its roots, with a director and writing team woefully incapable of taking it into new ground. Also, it wouldn't necessarily be bad writing had they kept Kratos as uncompromising and murderous, they didn't. What is for sure is that GOWR was abysmally written. It also wasn't fun or particularly epic which is an egregious sin. As I pointed out, the pacing, storytelling method, bosses, designs, and climax were really boring/anticlimactic. The Greek pantheon and set pieces in the OG trilogy destroy Ragnarok utterly.

Sure, it's a very well-made game, but far too linear for my taste. I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could start with something else honestly. That said, the art direction, writing, acting and overall production quality are top notch, of course. It's just not my kind of game.

I personally like linear games more than open world. This is a brilliant game but has virtually no replay value IMO. Whereas I replay the entire Uncharted series from start finish about once a year.

There's no denying the hard work put into the game's world, but the overall experience was way subpar, it doesn't go into that "sequels that are better than the original" book, in my opinion. The best part was Thor's fight at the very beginning, which could've been treated as a DLC for the previous game. There wasn't a single memorable moment after that, no fan service, nothing. To me, this "new" God Of War games are just some norse mythology games that just happen to have Kratos as a selling point, because they don't come near the epic levels of the original trilogy, specially the first two games.

Overrated. Didn’t feel like that much a leap for 5 years between the last game,it actually made me appreciate ascension because that game actually took more risks imo. My least favorite in the franchise.

It is one of Sony’s best games for sure. The best one, though, is definitely Bloodborne.

@Mirdor Only to From fans. I despise their games

Still on my list lol

@Terra_Custodes The entire point of Kratos leaving Greece and moving to Midgard in the first place was to start a new life. Unless you're not referring specifically to Ragnarok, and you mean both the norse games. But this character arc of him becoming a less murderous, maniacal character was very much set up in GoW 2018. It's not some curveball both introduced and then realized in Ragnarok alone. And even if it wasn't, and also maybe you've somehow forgotten but Kratos did have a family in the original Greek trilogy as well. Which is actually what set off the events of those first three games. That's what sets him on the war path in the first place. I mean, if anything its consistent with his character to want a family, especially so after he already exacted his revenge at the end of God of War 3.

And even if he didn't, even if he didn't want a new life, even if didn't want to put his old ways behind him, the Norse Gods didn't wrong him like the Greek ones did. It's a conflict that he got dragged into, he didn't even want to fight them in the first place, why would he still want to go on some murderous rampage like he did before, it makes little to no sense. Either way though, If you prefer the old Kratos to the new one I think thats totally fine, I'm sure many others do as well, but don't then say the new Kratos is somehow poorly written. It's simply not true. There's a distnict difference between "bad writing" and writing you simply don't agree with

I would play again and again the original trilogy because it feels great to play with various level design and good length. The reboot ones are a slog and unbearable to dive into another time.

Not bad games per se but nothing compared to GoW 1-2-3.

Played about half the 2016 one, got bored so won't bother with this one. Sooo much on rails slowly walking and talking. Best recent playstation exclusive in my opinion is Ghost of Tsushima. Fantastic story, great gameplay and amazing visuals, what more could you want 🙂

@Tchunga Objectively speaking it is very badly written though. From dialogue to plot devices, this is not arguable if you understand what does constitute good writing. They've tried to go for some profound take on the destructive futility of revenge, amalgamated with a bunch of 21st century ideological, political/ethical proselytising thrown in. It is clumsy, patronising, disrespectful to its own characters, inflammatory to long time fans, naive, childish, and just plain laughable in how bad the writing actually is. If you drank a shot every time there was a real life anachronistic slang term in the game you'd be dead within the first act. Aside from that it is so hacky, everything is regurgitated cliché after cliché. Hence why I made the reddit comparison.

If this was a movie, which is how they've framed the game with it's cinematic, in game cutscene format and overall structure it would get obliterated by reviewers. The Kratos actor would be up for a raspberry award. I'm a lifelong, studied film fanatic and voracious reader so I feel confident in my ability to disseminate great writing from trash. This game was the latter.

Ya know, as I started playing the game I was in awe. Partly because the hype of the release but also the cinematic pedigree. However the gameplay was largely the same and by the time I was halfway through it grew stale not just in the gameplay, but also level design and story telling.

I come away from it feeling the way I do about most of Sony's first party output. It's just to repetitive in design. The idea of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" just doesn't translate very well in cinematic story driven games unless you really tell compelling and progressive story ALONGSIDE evolving the gameplay mechanics or level design to some degree. In the case of Sony studious output, they clearly are designing sequels based on numbers instead of fan and critical reception. When you have a game like GOW, Spiderman or Horizon the critiques were few and easy ones to rectify in a sequel. Yet what we get instead is a doubling down, almost copy and paste template carrying over those few problematic aspects. It's frankly kinda dumb founding.

In terms of Ragnarok, I reached a point where I just wanted it to be over, and that's never a good thing. A year later I can't even highlight a major moment that sticks out as a lasting impression. It was good but not great, and as many of the first party efforts as of late, felt overrated.

@Terra_Custodes It always amazes me whenever someone calls something "objectively good" or "objectively bad" and then they proceed to list off a litany of subjective reasons as to why the thing is the way it is. Practically nothing you mentioned is an "objectively bad" example of writing. It's not an objective fact that writing on the futility of revenge is bad, it's not an objective fact that 21st century ideology is bad, nor is proselytizing it. These are all just opinions, friend. Now they may be opinions that you feel very strongly about, but that doesn't somehow turn vinegar into wine.

Now, good faith arguments work on a level of trust and belief, so I'll believe you when you say you're a studied film and book connoisseur, but even the most educated opinions are still just opinions at the end of the day. I'm sorry you found the writing in God of War Ragnarok to be so poor, personally I found it to be one of the best examples of writing in a video game since the original The Last of Us. But to each their own

LOLOLOLOLOL @ the 1% who are obviously trolls that think it's a bad game.

I understand thinking it's overrated, or nothing special (no accounting for taste, right?), but a bad game? SMH.....

@Tchunga It wasn't the subject matter entirely, but the delivery of it and I went on to expand on those things though regarding the clumsy and patronising delivery and clichéd nature, there are also dead ended plots, macguffins etc. These things are in the writing world objectively bad. I do think the shoehorned in modern day ethics and anachronisms were terribly ham fisted and out of place though.

I thank you for that, and I do respect your right to your opinion too. I'm not trying to change your mind, that's always a futile thing in life. Merely enjoying debating the topic. Thanks for being cool to share opposing views with and enjoy your day.

@Terra_Custodes Likewise. Clearly you and I just fundamentally disagree on this topic, so I doubt there's likely any common ground to be had. But that's okay, reasonable minds are allowed to differ. It's been good debating with ya

@Mostik
I love your unapologetic positive opinion. Compared to a lot of reactions which express some negative criticism at least.

Good for your bud!

It’s amazing. I’ve played it in fits and starts on give-me-no-mercy and savoured every fight. On every level exceptional and better gameplay than the original by encouraging and requiring you to use the full range of skills.

Loved the first one. Found this one turgid and boring. Combat went from fun to overly complex and fiddly. Annoying characters and they NEVER shut up! Couldn’t finish it. I’m finding Spider-Man 2 has a similar vibe. And I loved Spider-Man and Miles Morales. Played them both twice.

I’m going to take another stab at it. I got it as part of a bundle with the console. But it didn’t hold my interest nearly as much as the earlier game.

I’m missing something, I’m sure. But right now, nope.

GoWR was good but I got bored with it. Way too much talking and some of the maps had horrible layout, especially for the collectibles. There was also too much climbing and squeezing sections that felt like forever after doing it for the hundreth time. Still a great game though. No bugs, loved the combat, story, music, vibe etc. So yes, it is one of the best games on PS5 a year later. Still, I put a bunch of games over it.

If you like cinematic Sony titles of PS4+ gen sure. But I don't so no. Are they better than movies awkward direction yes they replicate it well if not better than movies. Doesn't mean I want to play them. Not all are perfect though.

47% says a lot as it is. Well I'll never play it/don't want a PS5 other than for what Forspoken, WRC 2023, only third parties of particular interest.

The he has a son/less murder was fine enough to focus on a different side/arc (and also appeal to older men which is understand Sony did that with kids/teens as well past gens let alone, graphics/audiences, I won't hate something because oh they have children/are older oh no, I can still get behind all that stuff I don't care about relating I care about execution of things I'll watch anything for kids or adults no matter what the themes/jokes presented) the world was fine the enemies had more skin swaps so they sucked. Personalty/gameplay didn't do it for me personally so I didn't play it. It's not my thing.

Give me God of War 3 intro setpiece any day over generic trolls (sure GOW3's moments are scripted and I do nowadays prefer dynamic cough Rift Apart but for the time it made sense, had limits, had a goal in mind) or the statue in the background/running on a chain in GOW2 2007, or other elements, RIP walking and climbing the using the swords to grapple/jump. I just p;refer hack n slash/character action games more than the focus it had that's all. Puzzles and gear are there but cared less for them. Ragnarok may have amped it a bit but not sure I didn't watch or see much when it was played.

It's the weight of the situations not nostalgia I played them late the Greece arc/era of the series.

Ragnarok reminds me of Gears 5 with the talking, combat (differences apply of course), the open space added to linear games.... hmmm sound familiar? And probably other small details and others that don't compare at all because it's well not a shooter/different worlds and so on but still.

They aren't for me I seek different game design. Some for casuals then just party games is fine but 'so many' that's why I gave up on Sony titles they changed favourites for the worst direction of 'new' or 'old', made new IPs with similar direction I have no interest in and left with Astro/Dreams/Sackboy is 3D World at this point because Sumo didn't think further outside the box.

Sony lost me around 2016/2017 so to me I have nothing to say. I played GOW 2018 was bored out of my mind but played the story and that's it. I binged the rest of the games for that. No the past games didn't set the expectations, the BS gameplay changes and casualifying it too much did.

Same reason Pikmin 4's controls annoyed me, they gave me a game with additions I wanted and oh a character creator and bad controls. Not balancing just awkwardness. Thanks devs/publishers. Ruined the game for me besides other casualified garbage. Balance out your casual and fan settings and content/expectations Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft (cough Forza Motorsport since Forza 5-7 and Forza 8 I'll still never play, FM6 was punishment and a bad remix on 5's fair changes that dumbed it down but wasn't too bad, 6 has no identity and makes the PGR2 quote so funny to me the supercar quote) or I'll continue to buy retro.

Even playing the Order 1886 if you take away the story and lack of world building (Ready at Dawn tried let alone had time to do a sequel which people have different expectations nowadays hardware or story/gameplay what a 'SEQUEL IS OR NOT') the strafing and some elements are similar who cares what guns, or AI of enemies I guess to. It's not perfect but still.

I bought any Sony IPs of the past console gens because of the variety, I know most people don't do that but it's funny the more similar they got with PS4 IPs direction the less I bought/played, the more varied of past gens the more I did. It's not nostalgia.

How can I if I'm playing the IPs I missed out on of PlayStation, MotorStorm, Socom, will if I find a copy of Twisted Metal eventually and the quality differences.

It's not oh old and new gen, oh the hardware (didn't own a Vita prior to now) or oh that time period.

Nope it's the direction/the audience target, the appeal, experimentation, 'effort'.

I don't get hung up on things I jumped to strategy RPGs randomly for the sake of it to try something new, if action adventure isn't going well (not that genre defines everything but makes it easier to say, racing has sucked besides Codemaster/Milestone for me personally, not interested in Mario/Banjo inspired platformers I want other forms of ideas so retro or ports of them 'yaaaaay') I don't compare I take elements that work for the genre, those executions then others more awkward/unclear/not fun.

Part is personal part is what works and separating the personal favourites to be neutral. Some hard to do because people are so emotional, I separate that to what I think executed it well not put nostalgia/loyalty/emotion into it.

But that's not most people. I'm a minority but they drew me away making them similar.

Rift Apart/Resistance 2/Spiderman 2018 did the same Insomniac disappointed. 3 times.

For clarification, despite not finishing it, I was enjoying it. I just got kind of bored at a certain point (Asgard, which I REALLY hope is at least halfway through. Can anyone confirm?).

Meanwhile I'm on my THIRD play through of RoboCop: Rogue City. Still going despite having the Platinum.

I think a lot of these big budget AAA titles spend so much time being cinematic masterpieces that they forget to be fun video games.

it's my 2022 GOTY, so yeah

Oliver at Digital Foundry did the best job at capturing what made this game excellent:
https://youtu.be/VeXmPlrm7KA?si=KIMDoTQsv97vCCIm&t=572

@Vriess Thanks buddy, it just ticks all the boxes for me, really enjoyed it start to finish 👍