God of War Ragnarok

[CrichStand]

Yeah, this game is definitely going to take a long time to 100%. Still playing the same side mission and have just realised that I’m missing a fair few collectibles in the areas I thought I’d fully explored. Lots of “how do I get to that” or “where could that even be”. Love this kind of stuff in games, always reminds me of Zelda and Tomb Raider. There’s also a few places in this section of the game I can’t even get to yet. 
 

Combat seems to have a lot of depth to it, more than the first game. You can use certain enemies against other enemies by pulling off certain attacks. Throwing the axe feels even better than before and the finishers are really weighty and  brutal. Tearing through a bunch of enemies using everything at your disposal, without taking a hit, feels awesome. As others have said though, there’s a lot to take on board, crazy amounts of attacks and techniques to master, plus all the armour, weapons and various stuff to upgrade. Feels pretty overwhelming trying to get your head around it all.

[HarryBizzle]

Sorry for the boring post but I’m late to the party - gave into the hype and picked this up on the way home from work.
 

Are there recommended settings for an OLED? And should I have HFR on or off in the performance mode? I’ve heard it limits the image quality.  

[Flanders]

Played through what was essentially the prologue and it’s a banger so far. Thoroughly absorbing. 
 

One quirk I like about 2018 and this is that they really commit to it being a deliberately American take on the Norse myths. It feels very distinct in an age where every fantasy property in TV and film uses English accents as a shorthand for some kind of faux authenticity. 

[CrichStand]

The more I play of this, the more I’m realising just how clever Sony have been this gen. They’ve acquired or developed all these quality first party studios, got them making various AAA games and then pooled their expertise, design and systems etc across the whole lot. Each game feels distinct but, you can clearly also see how each game shares with and impacts the others. Nobody is going to catch them up with these big AAA games now, they’ve got the market completely sewn up.

[Minion]

Excellent Hit Points from @Nate Dogg III this week. I’m hoping the couple of hours I spent with this the other day get better as I really didn’t enjoy what I played so far, sounds like it does in all the posts here which is good.  

[MattyP]

15 minutes ago, CrichStand said:

The more I play of this, the more I’m realising just how clever Sony have been this gen. They’ve acquired or developed all these quality first party studios, got them making various AAA games and then pooled their expertise, design and systems etc across the whole lot. Each game feels distinct but, you can clearly also see how each game shares with and impacts the others. Nobody is going to catch them up with these big AAA games now, they’ve got the market completely sewn up.

Indeed. But in the same vane they all feel very familiar... After playing God Of War (2018) earlier this year then Ghosts of Tsushima straight after it felt very familiar the mechanics open world structure etc. I completed both. I then had a go at Day's Gone and gave up because it felt again very familiar but a horse swapped for a motorbike and swords for guns etc. Same formula lots of side quests etc. In fact I tried Horizon Zero Dawn too and didn't finish that either. I kind of see through the smoke and mirrors too much these days and it feels very formulaic. Which is no bad thing if that is what sells and ultimately makes Sony money.  

 

I agree though a great strategy and probably one that is pushing me away from AAA Sony gaming a bit. 

 

I'm just getting older and guessing have different things I want from gaming I do enjoy games like this now and again but need a good break. Took me four years to try God Of War (2018) after briefly trying a GoW on PS3 and not enjoying it.

 

Anyhow glad you are all enjoying the new game. I've been watching a bit on YouTube and story seems solid enough.

 

Back to Atari 50 Anniversary for me... Best thing I've played/experienced for a bit.

[Nate Dogg III]

20 minutes ago, Minion said:

Excellent Hit Points from @Nate Dogg III this week. I’m hoping the couple of hours I spent with this the other day get better as I really didn’t enjoy what I played so far, sounds like it does in all the posts here which is good.  

 

Thank you, thank you. I'm going to link it though, and run away

 

https://hitpoints.substack.com/p/160-all-connected

[Thor]

1 hour ago, HarryBizzle said:

Sorry for the boring post but I’m late to the party - gave into the hype and picked this up on the way home from work.
 

Are there recommended settings for an OLED? And should I have HFR on or off in the performance mode? I’ve heard it limits the image quality. 

I left the in game settings at default, and am playing at 120hz with HFR. Its stunning. 

 

I'm at a point in the game where the scale is impressive. 

[CrichStand]

28 minutes ago, MattyP said:

Indeed. But in the same vane they all feel very familiar... After playing God Of War (2018) earlier this year then Ghosts of Tsushima straight after it felt very familiar the mechanics open world structure etc. I completed both. I then had a go at Day's Gone and gave up because it felt again very familiar but a horse swapped for a motorbike and swords for guns etc. Same formula lots of side quests etc. In fact I tried Horizon Zero Dawn too and didn't finish that either. I kind of see through the smoke and mirrors too much these days and it feels very formulaic. Which is no bad thing if that is what sells and ultimately makes Sony money.  

 

I agree though a great strategy and probably one that is pushing me away from AAA Sony gaming a bit. 

 

I'm just getting older and guessing have different things I want from gaming I do enjoy games like this now and again but need a good break. Took me four years to try God Of War (2018) after briefly trying a GoW on PS3 and not enjoying it.

 

Anyhow glad you are all enjoying the new game. I've been watching a bit on YouTube and story seems solid enough.

 

Back to Atari 50 Anniversary for me... Best thing I've played/experienced for a bit.

Can definitely see where you’re coming from and to a certain extent agree with what you’re saying. However when it all comes together it makes for a quality of game that far surpasses the competition. Plus I see Sony heading in a similar direction to Nintendo and releasing these big “event” style games maybe once or at best twice a gen. I play a lot of Gamepass stuff, my Series S gets a lot of use, and it really compliments these big Sony titles. Would love to see more original stuff like Returnal though. Possibly the best game ever imo.
 

Have you played the original God of War games? 1 + 2 were best on PS2. Not sure how they will have aged now though.

 

So, finally finished the side mission. Took almost 5hrs! Didn’t rush, explored around, picked up what I could. Ended up missing 1 Raven for the whole area. Fuck’s sake! Spent a good 30 mins mooching around, scouring the environment trying to spot it. Spun the boat around and, just I was about to give up, spotted the fucker on the side of a cliff. Really love stuff like this. Now just need to figure out how to get to it. 😂 

[Banjaxed]

1 hour ago, HarryBizzle said:

Sorry for the boring post but I’m late to the party - gave into the hype and picked this up on the way home from work.
 

Are there recommended settings for an OLED? And should I have HFR on or off in the performance mode? I’ve heard it limits the image quality.  

I’m running it at the 120 HFR option and it looks great to me. (I turned film grain and motion blur to 0)

 

The game uses the PS5 system setting for HDR so as long as you have that configured it should look perfect. 

[CrichStand]

What the actual fuck!?!? Bagged the Raven and 100% completed the area in 5 hrs. Also completed other areas nearby before that. Checked the stats - 32% complete for the region. 😂 Aren’t there 9-10 regions in the game? It’s bloody huuuuuuge!

[Minion]

56 minutes ago, Nate Dogg III said:

 

Thank you, thank you. I'm going to link it though, and run away

 

https://hitpoints.substack.com/p/160-all-connected

 

Thank you for writing and sharing it!

[HarryBizzle]

Played about an hour of this and can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a game. Probably the PS5’s launch. 

 

I think £57.99 might be the most I’ve ever paid for a game, but came away feeling pretty happy about supporting something like this. It feels properly AAA in a way that a lot of other games just don’t these days. 
 

One question about the little house visit early on:

 

Spoiler

Did I miss something or did Kratos just refuse a deal from Odin which is basically everything he wants? What’s the downside for him?

 

 

And the Ron Perlman and Steve Buscemi* double act for Thor and Odin is great.

 

*I know it’s not them. 

 

[BabelRich]

10 minutes ago, HarryBizzle said:

 

One question about the little house visit early on:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Did I miss something or did Kratos just refuse a deal from Odin which is basically everything he wants? What’s the downside for him?

 

 

And the Ron Perlman and Steve Buscemi* double act for Thor and Odin is great.

 

*I know it’s not them. 

 

Spoiler

I think it’s just Kratos knows Odin is a prick and doesn’t trust him

 

[Alan Stock]

15 minutes ago, HarryBizzle said:

One question about the little house visit early on:

 

  Hide contents

Did I miss something or did Kratos just refuse a deal from Odin which is basically everything he wants? What’s the downside for him?

 

 

And the Ron Perlman and Steve Buscemi* double act for Thor and Odin is great.

 

*I know it’s not them. 

 

 

Spoiler

I was also very confused, I had to assume it was Kratos' stubbornness and sticking up for Atreus despite his disobedience. However, if you go into the Codex, I think it's under Odin's entry, then Kratos writes that he did it basically because he didn't want to be under another Gods power. But also because Odin was offering to kill Freya, which even though she's a threat, Kratos thinks she doesn't deserve.

 

I do think they could have explained his reasoning better though, it comes out of left field when this is supposed to be a reasonable Kratos we have now. It's also weird that it's never raised straight afterwards by either Atreus or Midir. Oh, and Midir I guess is another reason, he tells Kratos not to trust Odin and Kratos respects Midir's opinions.

 

[CrichStand]

Just done a mini-boss.......

 

Spoiler

Dreki

Proper all of the fuck yeah, full on, balls to the wall, classic action gaming. The audio, the graphics, the combat it just screams “this is fucking action mate BOOOOOOM”! Pure class!

 

Not sure why people were saying dodge is shit on this? I’m evading attacks last minute left, right and Center and it feels great. Parrying any obvious attacks, bit of shield stun, then let rip with the axe and blades, mixing up the elements. Sublime. Love it!

[Alan Stock]

Good piece by Nathan there. I definitely agree with some of what he's saying, and I didn't even pick up Forbidden West or Ghost of Tsushima for these reasons. I also get the non-critical path heebie jeebies and am constantly having to turn back on my collectible hunt in fear of triggering a new section or boss fight. I think though that like the Uncharted sequels its the characters and satisfying gameplay that keep me going in Ragnarok, and just to see what they're going to show you next. 

 

It is a bit of a worrying trend though, that the first game in a big Sony series will have some cool new stuff and ideas, but then it all filters into the other series and the sequels and becomes gameplay-wise really homogenous. At least Ragnarok isn't open world, although it certainly shares elements with that. 

 

There was also a rant on Kotaku yesterday about how much the author hates crafting and is sick of it, which I can relate to, and the loot game aspects don't add much for me in these latest Sony games. The only exception being Last of Us 2, where materials are so scarce that it feels like a weighty decision to choose what to craft. Although at least in Ragnarok's case the crafted items do seem to have a bigger impact on your playstyle.

[Hitcher]

Is it just me or is there something wrong with Atreus' eyes?

[Thor]

17 minutes ago, Hitcher said:

Is it just me or is there something wrong with Atreus' eyes?

No, for me his eyes sometime look 'off' compared to other characters. It does seem to improve as the game goes on mind you. 

[Benny]

That "oh God did I pick the wrong path" anxiety is my least favourite thing in games. I can end up starting a boss fight and spend most of it not really paying attention, because I'm more concerned about trying to not forget I now need to backtrack in case I missed something.

[CrichStand]

😂 I’ve been doing that loads in this! Branch left for a bit and then am all “Nah, this must be the main path, I’ll go back and try the other way. Don’t want to miss those collectibles! No, hold on, this looks like the main path, I should go back to where I was before”. 🤣

[Majora]

Don't have the game yet but I was reading on Resetera that there is some kind of accessibility option that points out the way the player needs to go next to advance the story (thereby allowing one to deduce the route to go to not advance the story). No idea what the option is called but sounds useful if true, very reminiscent of Fable 2 or Dead Space. Surprised more games didn't end up including such a feature in the end.

[Hexx]

Done the "main" story in Vanahiem I think. Then 2 massive sounding favours open up and I check and I'm 8% complete for the area despite looking REALLY hard for stuff.

This game is fucking massive

 

Spoiler

The entire Angrbor section was a bit light on actual gameplay for me, but also was lovely on characterisation.
I really liked Freyr/Kratos road trip working out their issues.
Tyr I'm struggling to get a handle on. After finding out Graol lied he seemed...off. Wonder if somehow it's changing his world view? We're clearly building up a team and someone's going to betray us. It's narrative 101. He's my suspect for now Although Brok is missing 1/4th of his soul...

 

[Dig Dug]

7 hours ago, HarryBizzle said:

One question about the little house visit early on:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Did I miss something or did Kratos just refuse a deal from Odin which is basically everything he wants? What’s the downside for him?

 

 

And the Ron Perlman and Steve Buscemi* double act for Thor and Odin is great.

 

*I know it’s not them. 

 

Spoiler

Read the Odin entry in the Lore Foes section of the codex. Kratos explains exactly why he turned Odin down.

 

[Pob]

Looks the like Executioner’s Cleave move (hold R2 over a downed enemy) isn’t in this one! Gutted. 

[Jamie John]

I'm a few hours in now. Got to the 

 

Spoiler

Dwarf city area last night.

 

My god, it's so pretty. The level of detail in the woodwork is nuts.

[Hitcher]

7 hours ago, Benny said:

That "oh God did I pick the wrong path" anxiety is my least favourite thing in games. I can end up starting a boss fight and spend most of it not really paying attention, because I'm more concerned about trying to not forget I now need to backtrack in case I missed something.

 

6 hours ago, CrichStand said:

😂 I’ve been doing that loads in this! Branch left for a bit and then am all “Nah, this must be the main path, I’ll go back and try the other way. Don’t want to miss those collectibles! No, hold on, this looks like the main path, I should go back to where I was before”. 🤣

I enabled the 'show story path' option and use it when there's different directions I can go. I pick the other one knowing I can easily get back on track.

[Benny]

Much as I love the sound of a feature like that to take away my two routes anxiety, I wonder if it would end up making it feel too "gamey".

 

It's oddly enough only specifically a problem with games that have exactly two paths. More than that, or generally in open world games, it then feels more like a decision on what you want to do or where to go as a player, but with just two paths it's more: which one does the game need me to pick to prevent pointless backtracking? I'd almost rather the second path didn't exist at all, as it's an illusion of freedom.

[Pug]

9 hours ago, Majora said:

Don't have the game yet but I was reading on Resetera that there is some kind of accessibility option that points out the way the player needs to go next to advance the story (thereby allowing one to deduce the route to go to not advance the story). No idea what the option is called but sounds useful if true, very reminiscent of Fable 2 or Dead Space. Surprised more games didn't end up including such a feature in the end.

 

That's exactly what I've been doing. Clicking R3, shows me the way....go the other way.

[Thor]

Aye, also the companions tend to linger near the way to go. I like these kind of features, the game is big, and I want to enjoy the story while not wasting time, but also like to explore and grab loot. Systems like this facilitate that nicely. 

 

I'm really enjoying the interplay between the characters later in the game. I'm guessing I'm much further ahead than most, so won't post about it.