Is the Destructoid community excited for God of War?

Kratos enters the Norse hot zone

The number one thing any person needs to know, for context on any God of War game, is that Kratos is a murderous psychopath who has carved a path of bloody vengeance. There’s a certain nobility to upgrading your plan of revenge from one god, to all the Greek gods of the pantheon, even when it certainly meant the destruction of the environment as we know it. All the more reason for the current 2018 release to be so anticipated, receiving pretty much universal praise, including that of our own Chris Carter.

A lot of people jokingly refer to the 2018 release as “Dad of War”. Not only is the gameplay a shift from the original series, but the emotional tone has shifted too. The psychopath Kratos is but a memory and now, in his place, is a mature, weary-looking father, with a son he’s trying to raise within a world of the Norse gods. It’s kind of a big sell: if you didn’t like the first games, why would you care about the new one? But if you enjoyed the first ones, are you down to play a sort of slower-paced version of that action?

I anticipate most games I ask an opinion for are more or less split. The really interesting comments come from the commenters who aren’t interested and provide their reasoning as to why. This time, the divide is a bit more skewed. Though I consider God of War a pillar of the PlayStation identity, it certainly isn’t a game that has universal appeal. So, with only a few days left before the official release, are the Destructoid community excited for Dad of War?

Let’s start with the villainous Mike Sounders with an appealing diversion:

         That’s a real weird way of spelling and describing Yakuza 6 motherfucker.

Rico Penguin brings up a million dollar idea for murder and profit:

I’m pretty excited! I even ordered that PS4 Pro Package. It looks really gaudy and I love that about it. I’m hoping we’ll find out by the end of the GoW series that the reason there are no more gods in the modern world is that Kratos killed them all.

Albeit…I don’t imagine he’d be able to kill gods from eastern religions without some kind of hardcore uproar. I could be wrong though. I usually am!

Greenhornet’s interest is the exact opposite of how one would describe Kratos’ body:

I would describe my level of interest as “thin and flimsy.”

Roager is wary of the game until the image becomes clearer after the excitement passes:

Loved 1-3 and the PSP games. Ascension proved the formula couldn’t last forever, and I expected that would mean the series would end. Instead it changed. I imagine it’ll still be good, but I haven’t looked real close, and I don’t really want to until the hype dies down. So I guess I’m kinda lukewarm on it overall?

vxxy would love to see a personality attached to a sometimes cardboard Kratos:

I’m definitely interested. I want to play this new chapter in his story and see if they give him something resembling a personality/some depth this time. At the very least, we’ll likely get a solid/good action game.

Gamemaniac3434 is admittedly not all about that Norse mythology to pull him:

Not really honestly. I enjoyed the GoW games, and their take on greek culture and mythology while not being the deepest was a fun time. But I thought it was fine to end Kratos’s journey where the third game left off and I think there was new territory they could have explored as well as a new character. Add in the fact that I’m not as interested in Nordic mythology especially given its hefty examination in recent years and the combat shift, and it’s not really doin it for me. I could be wrong, but only time will tell.

Personally I don’t think Zalno doesn’t give Kratos enough credit to angrily stomp across a few measly countries to continue killing gods:

I checked out of the God of War series after the third game. By that point, Kratos had gone from a violent, vengeful man trying to seek redemption to a 80s cartoon villain who straight up murders the people who try to help him. The ending would’ve been way more satisfying if Kratos stayed dead.

I’m also not sure I agree with the change in setting. Norse mythology is cool and all, but I find it incredibly jarring for a Greek character, whose prior games were all about Greek mythology, to trundle on over to an entirely different pantheon of gods to kill. Of course, my mom’s side of the family is Greek and I was raised in some Greek traditions, so I may be a tad biased in that regard.

But hey, at least you can go back and play the old God of War PS2 games on the PS4 to see what I’m talking ab-OH WAIT, NO YOU CAN’T.

Seriously, fuck Sony this gen.

Wes Tacos left his comment before the review embargo lifted. I don’t think either of us were expecting it to smash review scales like it did:

1-3 were fantastic, and I’ll never, ever forget beating the absolute shit out of that prick Hercules with my bare hands (er, his Punch Gloves, I guess). It was gruesome and horrible and everything that series strived to be.

But man, I’m just not feeling Dad of War. I’ll wait for some reviews and go from there, but it just looks…uninspired? I hope I’m wrong. I want the story to be fantastic, and I’d like the combat to be something truly evolved. We’ll see…

It almost sounds as if Sir Shenanigans is giving it a go by process of elimination:

I am! Almost out of exterior motivation.

Been at a bit of a loss for things to play, especially with new stuff, so I was sort of looking for something to latch on to/commit to buying. I liked, didn’t love the original trilogy, and initially had no interest in this. But then it’s like “What else is there to play..?”

And the approach they’re taking to such an established character/world/gameplay style is interesting, if nothing else. And Cory Barlog who’s directing it, and seems to be featured heavily in marketing it, seems like a cool smart guy.

Occams is ready to reconnect with his inner Kratos:

I’m very excited! I had fun with the God of War games but by the end of them I was tired of Kratos and felt completely disconnected from his story. I was in it for the impressive visuals, the scale of the boss battles and the gratuitous gore and violence.

This one seems to be trying to give Kratos a bit of gravitas and depth beyond yelling and screaming a lot. That could go either way but I think it will be an interesting journey none the less. I know the game will deliver on the boss battles and the gore and will look stunning. If it can make me care about the characters (the son is the great unknown for me) then it will be an experience that goes above and beyond the pedigree its already established.

I think Umaro67 is the first person I’ve seen draw an Old Snake reference:

It’s weird looking back on Ascension, 2013 wasn’t that long ago when it came out but it already feels like a game from 2 generations ago. I think they’ve done a really good job of bringing the game back in a way that is more or less consistent with the older games, but is clearly more modern in design. The idea of locked camera perspectives, QTE cutscenes, and that mushy combat feel of the chains of chaos seems so much more distant than it really is.

And that protagonist, I’ve never liked Kratos very much. He is sort of the epitome of ridiculous, over-the-top video game character design that was more prevalent in 2005 (woah dude, he’s so badass!!), and he never moved past that, instead doubling down and becoming more and more unlikable and absurd with every game. It’s kind of amazing to finally see some changes there, but I would’ve liked to see them go even further: old-man Kratos with back problems and PTSD, I wanna see some MGS4 style wear-and-tear on this guy.

Shigurui speaks in terms I understand:

Yes, yes I am. I’m a Warframe nut and I’ve timed it so all my resource/xp boosters expire the day before GoW releases. Nothing is getting in the way of this game.

Absolutfreak, asks who wouldn’t be interested in a game that introduces a son when you yourself have been introduced to your own son?:

I really enjoyed 1-3, and then this one initially didn’t have me all that pumped up (not even really sure why). Seeing more and more of the gameplay has gotten me on board though.

To be totally honest, I think being a dad with sons has interested me in this game more than I would have been otherwise though. Is that weird?

Dwavenhobble invokes the terrible eldritch name, David Cage, to denounce Dad of War:

The more I see the less interested I am. 
“Hey we have different colours of those ogre things that you fight”.
I like Norse mythology and well it doesn’t seem like God of War doing Norse Mythology. It feels like from what I’ve seen a toned down almost sanitised GOD of War game. 
God of War was kind of the game equivalent of a Grindhouse film. Plenty of Boobs and Blood. What we have now seems like it’s trying to play itself as a serious deep game and we have enough games trying to do that especially with David Cage’s latest attempt to do that coming soon.

Steel Squirrel left his comment after the reviews released and has been piqued by the rave reception. Also note I made the wrong assumption that Kratos’ son was adoptive, purely because I was under the impression that Kratos would murder anyone who stands in front of him:

I thought the kid in the new one is his actual son, not his adoptive son?

I have it preordered. I can’t wait to check it out. I was pretty skeptical of it for a while and though it would be a fairly predictable walk through some corridors with that familiar Sony 1st party shine to it, but it sounds like its much much more than that and I can’t resist a game that has been getting such rave reviews. I liked the original games for the spectacle of them, but I can’t say I was ever super entertained by the actual gameplay.

I think it’s going to be great and looks like the kind of game I’ll replay and probably attempt a platinum trophy on.

I’m guessing from Shoggoth2588 that he wasn’t a fan of The Last of Us, which doesn’t do it any favors:

In a word: no. I don’t really care a lot about beat-em-ups or hack-n-slash games which is kind of a shame because I do try to like games in that genre. I’ve only ever played God of War 3 to completion and sure, this looked interesting at first but when I read that the team took inspiration from The Last of Us, that’s when I completely checked out.

If this winds up being a freebie with PS+ someday, I’ll download it. If I wind up getting to play it for free down the line, also fine. I’m not going out of my way to pick this up when I have hundred-hour RPGs that I still haven’t finished yet.

There’s some interesting reasons for and against Kratos’ latest murder spree. Maybe it’s more of a journey to understand his son than a massacre? Or maybe its just a load of manufactured emotion? Either way, I never would’ve thought a God of War game would become so critically-acclaimed, when its previous titles were lauded as simple, fun, slaughterfests.

So, what do you think? Is it just a ploy to dig at our heartstrings? Or is it more than just throwing a beard and some feelings onto Kratos and giving him a reason to actually show human emotion?