God of War (2018)

Release: 2018
Developer: Sony Santa Monica
Publisher: Sony
Platform: PS4
Genre: 3rd person, Action, Adventure, RPG
Gameplay Stats: Platinum trophy (37/37 achievements)

This is the newest game in the God of War series! You wouldn't know it was part of a series by the name, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe this counts as a reboot? The story is mostly unrelated to the previous games although it still stars Kratos, the eponymous god of war. Let's jump into my thoughts about the game.

Visuals: This game is probably the prettiest that I've played! The PS4 devs that Sony is partnering with are killing it. Everything in this game oozes style consistent with the Nordic theme (at least to my untrained eyes) and looks gorgeous while doing it. They do use a lot of re-skinned enemies pretty often, but the skins are thorough if that makes sense. The skins change enough that even though the enemy is the same that they look different enough not to be stale. The abilities, the enemies, the animations, the characters, and the environments are all top notch.

Audio: The music in this game is a bit sparse for my preference. I think they went for a Breath of the Wild philosophy as it pertains to music and I don't think that was my favorite choice. The music that's here is very good, but there's not too much of it outside of battle. The sound effects are really... weighty if that makes sense. Using Kratos' axe feels heavy and like it's making an impact when it hits, largely due to the squishy sound effects. The voice acting is very good. Chris Judge and the rest of the cast all do an excellent job conveying more complicated emotions than you find in many other games.

Plot: The plot of this game is relatively straight forward, but that's not what people love about this game. Or rather, the plot isn't really what matters a whole lot about the game? Minor spoilers here I suppose. Within the first... 5 minutes of the game? You learn that Kratos's wife died recently and she wants her ashes spread out on the top of the highest mountain. This is the plot of the game. there are some hiccups along the way, but this is about it. What matters in this game is how the relationship between Kratos and his son evolves over the course of the adventure. That aspect of the game is incredibly interesting. The plot is the excuse for the story.

Gameplay: Oh man, this game has some pretty strange gameplay at first. Kratos has tank controls and that is VERY jarring if you were expecting him to be agile like in the previous games. The combat changes pretty drastically because of this change. Additionally, you have control of the camera for the first time in the series. In this regard, I can understand why this isn't God of Four. The game feels very different, it's way more mature. The hero is more mature, the story is more mature, and the game is harder. This game took me longer than normal to get adjusted to, but I'd definitely say it was worth it. I've heard that Dark Souls inspired the combat and I can see how, like I mentioned before, the combat feels weighty which is a nice evolution in the gameplay.

Overall, this game isn't perfect but it is superb. I would recommend anyone that has even a passing interest should check this out. The whole experience is lovingly crafted and I'd be surprised if people didn't enjoy it. [9/10]