God of War 4 so far changed too much for the worse.

[happyninja42]

snip

Interesting. No I didn't notice those things, as I said, I was mostly focusing on Kratos and the child, due to my personal theory on where they are taking the story. Given the clip you linked said one of the developers has confirmed that Kratos is "training the boy to be a god", that further supports my "Kratos is Odin, and the kid is Thor, and the game is him founding the Norse pantheon" theory from the first time I saw the trailer.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

The more I watch the trailer, the more I dislike the look of it and the more I agree with the video rant's points.

It's baffling why they've decided to shift the tone of the franchize from pure MDK, rage-fuelled slaughter, to one of heart-felt bonding and emotion.
.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but Casual Shinji pretty much nailed the answer to that a few posts above. Even if the game kept *most* of the older style and dressed it up a bit, it would've only been a pig in a dress at this point. People were bound to ***** either way, but it's just the state of the industry that a different tone must be set now to garner (or perhaps even salvage) respect and credibility, even if that tone is groan-inducing to some old school fans.

 

[happyninja42]

The more I watch the trailer, the more I dislike the look of it and the more I agree with the video rant's points.

It's baffling why they've decided to shift the tone of the franchize from pure MDK, rage-fuelled slaughter, to one of heart-felt bonding and emotion.
.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but Casual Shinji pretty much nailed the answer to that a few posts above. Even if the game kept *most* of the older style and dressed it up a bit, it would've only been a pig in a dress at this point. People were bound to ***** either way, but it's just the state of the industry that a different tone must be set now to garner (or perhaps even salvage) respect and credibility, even if that tone is groan-inducing to some old school fans.

I'm an old school fan of the series, and I personally love the change in tone. Because frankly, the last two games were utter shit, story wise, with a vile, utter despicable protagonist, that I came to loath by the end of the game. Apparently some people like this kind of character? *shrugs* I don't see the appeal, but whatever. What I do know, is that I had written off the series as an alpha male, destruction laden shitfest by GoW 3, that totally wasted all potential for a good story and epic tale, for the sake of petty destruction fests and an angsty jackass for a main character. Who had no real motivation beyond "I'm butt hurt that they slighted me, so I'm going to destroy the fucking world as a result". Manly Guys Doing Manly Things really did summarize Kratos' movitation well with this comic strip.

http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/03222010

Which was shit, utter, total shit. To try and do something more constructive with the mythos and the character is nothing but an improvement.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I chalk it up to Kratos basically getting a fit of OCD. He could've stopped with Ares but Athena wouldn't allow it, so he ultimately said to hell with the whole lot. Ironically Athena being the only survivor, I wonder what we'll see of her to bridge the gap.

 

[hermes]

All this talk about "God of War 4 loosing its core features" and being about "touchy feelings" with nothing to judge it but a video and some screenshots reminds me of when The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker was announced and everyone was up in arms because it looked too different and too childish, or Diablo 3 was too colorful... and I will take it with the proper amount of respect those arguments entails (which is, not much at all).

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

No, no no no no... no!

The idea that games can't be nothing but "fun" is what is holding them back. Toys are meant to be "fun". Videogames are meant to be enjoyable. That is the reason why we have different genres in every other single medium. A horror movie is not meant to be fun, a dramatic book is not meant to be fun, a romantic song is not meant to be fun; but depending of what you are looking for and the mood you are in, they can be enjoyable, decent escapism or even (gasp) thought provoking. But since video games started as shinny electronic toys (they even have "games" in the name), they still hold the stigma that "fun" (in the most puerile definition of the word) should be their ultimate goal.

Okay, I think we're operating on a different understanding of the word "fun."

I don't mean "fun" like, happy-happy McDonalds primary-colours child-safe fun. I just mean, you know, entertaining. I think video games should prioritise entertaining gameplay before inserting shallow dramatic elements in an attempt to be considered "artistic" by people the same age as my father.

I think we're on the same page otherwise.

But there's already 4 (6 if you count the PSP) versions of God of War with the same brawling action. That's 6 servings of nothing but chocolate, with now one serving of vanilla.

At the risk of stretching the metaphor: it's not that we're chocolate-overloaded or that there's too much chocolate, it's more that they're taking a brand associated with chocolate, and then producing vanilla in an attempt to attract fans of vanilla. Okay, the metaphor's dead now. To clarify: they're taking a title that evokes a specific type of gameplay and re-applying it to a very different style of gameplay.

I said above I'd be keen on this game if it was a new IP - some Viking fantasy game called Valhalla or something. But they've deliberately chosen to call it God of War, and they did that in the hopes of arousing old memories in the hearts of God of War fans. I feel like that was an error. I agree that the franchise was (by the third game) basically a zombie, but I also feel it could have been revitalised in a way that didn't involve a sudden 90-degree turn into a totally different genre.

For comparison, imagine if - ten years from now - they make a sequel to The Last of Us and it's an arcadey retro brawler where Ellie is dismembering fungus zombies with chains and double-jumping through platforming sequences. It's ridiculous to contemplate. That's what this looks like to me right now. I'm not saying that the final product is going to be inherently shit - it might be great, there's no facts to really make a conclusion on there - but it sure as shit doesn't look like God of War. Maybe that's why it's getting optimism primarily from reviewers and gamers who have never been fans of the franchise before.

I don't know. I already went through my "okay, I've had enough" process for the God of War franchise. Maybe it should've just...stayed dead? And then this could be a new game? I really think I'd prefer that, to be honest.

 

[BrawlMan]

The more I watch the trailer, the more I dislike the look of it and the more I agree with the video rant's points.

It's baffling why they've decided to shift the tone of the franchize from pure MDK, rage-fuelled slaughter, to one of heart-felt bonding and emotion.
.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but Casual Shinji pretty much nailed the answer to that a few posts above. Even if the game kept *most* of the older style and dressed it up a bit, it would've only been a pig in a dress at this point. People were bound to ***** either way, but it's just the state of the industry that a different tone must be set now to garner (or perhaps even salvage) respect and credibility, even if that tone is groan-inducing to some old school fans.

I'm an old school fan of the series, and I personally love the change in tone. Because frankly, the last two games were utter shit, story wise, with a vile, utter despicable protagonist, that I came to loath by the end of the game. Apparently some people like this kind of character? *shrugs* I don't see the appeal, but whatever. What I do know, is that I had written off the series as an alpha male, destruction laden shitfest by GoW 3, that totally wasted all potential for a good story and epic tale, for the sake of petty destruction fests and an angsty jackass for a main character. Who had no real motivation beyond "I'm butt hurt that they slighted me, so I'm going to destroy the fucking world as a result". Manly Guys Doing Manly Things really did summarize Kratos' movitation well with this comic strip.

http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/03222010

Which was shit, utter, total shit. To try and do something more constructive with the mythos and the character is nothing but an improvement.

I respect your opinion, and you're right about the story and Kratos motivations; although I highly preferred that they did a new character entirely. Either make an OC that becomes the Norse God of War or pick any of the established Norse War Gods. Santa Monica/Sony had options, they were just too lazy or scared to do anything else.

I'm calling it now, either Kratos dies at the beginning and the boy becomes the protagonist, the son gets killed as some point, and if it is not one of those two; the fourth main entry will just be The Last of Us: Dumbed Down Hack n Slash Edition . I never liked GoW, but what has me worried is that if--and it will-- GoW IV will end up setting another negative trend of lets turn games of certain genres it had nothing to do with, and force it to a different genre for no rhyme or reason other than, because X and Y were a success.

What we will have is another case of be like COD or a GTA/Sandbox clone for no reason. Remember how many of those we got last gen? I more or less agree with what Gaming Brit says, even though he can be overzealous or panicky at time See his Platiinum games video to know what I mean.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

God of War lost the fun for me when they took out the juggling from the 1st game. L1+X was the shit!

It also kinda broke the game though. And you could still juggle in 2 and 3, it just took more effort.

It made the game a ton of fun, which is what God of War is about and what the video was basically saying. You didn't come to play God of War for the combat mechanics like say Bayonetta or DMC. The first God of War had every element in perfect harmony; the combat was just good enough, the story was basic but well told with good cinematics, the level design was great while having an epic feel throughout, the puzzles felt just right. The only thing missing from the game was one more boss fight. I really missed the fun of the juggle in the sequels (it was still there, I know, but not nearly as fun). God of War has never been hard, the games are pretty easy even on hard difficulty.

The sequels upset that perfect balance where the story became nonsensical while giving Kratos and the player really no motivation to keep killing. Story-wise, there isn't even a reason for GOW3 as the only reason for Kratos being stopped in GOW2 was in fact just to make another game and it definitely felt that way. The combat wasn't quite as fun. I never found the puzzle design to be as good either in the sequels. God of War was never really good at any one thing (outside of graphics) so the game can't be carried by anything (like DMC/Bayo is at combat); every element needs to be worthwhile and doing its part to make the game a good/great experience. And, I hope that made sense.

 

[Casual Shinji]

God of War lost the fun for me when they took out the juggling from the 1st game. L1+X was the shit!

It also kinda broke the game though. And you could still juggle in 2 and 3, it just took more effort.

It made the game a ton of fun, which is what God of War is about and what the video was basically saying. You didn't come to play God of War for the combat mechanics like say Bayonetta or DMC. The first God of War had every element in perfect harmony; the combat was just good enough, the story was basic but well told with good cinematics, the level design was great while having an epic feel throughout, the puzzles felt just right. The only thing missing from the game was one more boss fight. I really missed the fun of the juggle in the sequels (it was still there, I know, but not nearly as fun). God of War has never been hard, the games are pretty easy even on hard difficulty.

I wouldn't call spamming the L1+X for nearly every enemy perfect harmony. It made most fights require almost zero thought and got the red orb counter up super fast. It was fun, but it's good they changed things up in the sequels. I liked that I had to put in some more precision combos in GoW2 to juggle enemies. It made whenever I pulled off a nice air combo actually satisfying, while still being relatively easy. The Golden Fleece also provided a whole new way to fight enemies, and it was great. You could tell Ascension was really struggling not having that option available anymore.

And in GoW3 we were given an 'L1+X' equivalent with the chainhook ability, which granted you an unstoppable bullrush into the enemy.

It's these little changes that kept the largely similar combat interesting for as long as it was. And it always succeeded in propelling the action forward, as opposed to the grapple mechanic in Ascension.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

No, no no no no... no!

The idea that games can't be nothing but "fun" is what is holding them back. Toys are meant to be "fun". Videogames are meant to be enjoyable. That is the reason why we have different genres in every other single medium. A horror movie is not meant to be fun, a dramatic book is not meant to be fun, a romantic song is not meant to be fun; but depending of what you are looking for and the mood you are in, they can be enjoyable, decent escapism or even (gasp) thought provoking. But since video games started as shinny electronic toys (they even have "games" in the name), they still hold the stigma that "fun" (in the most puerile definition of the word) should be their ultimate goal.

Okay, I think we're operating on a different understanding of the word "fun."

I don't mean "fun" like, happy-happy McDonalds primary-colours child-safe fun. I just mean, you know, entertaining. I think video games should prioritise entertaining gameplay before inserting shallow dramatic elements in an attempt to be considered "artistic" by people the same age as my father.

I think we're on the same page otherwise.

But there's already 4 (6 if you count the PSP) versions of God of War with the same brawling action. That's 6 servings of nothing but chocolate, with now one serving of vanilla.

At the risk of stretching the metaphor: it's not that we're chocolate-overloaded or that there's too much chocolate, it's more that they're taking a brand associated with chocolate, and then producing vanilla in an attempt to attract fans of vanilla. Okay, the metaphor's dead now. To clarify: they're taking a title that evokes a specific type of gameplay and re-applying it to a very different style of gameplay.

I said above I'd be keen on this game if it was a new IP - some Viking fantasy game called Valhalla or something. But they've deliberately chosen to call it God of War, and they did that in the hopes of arousing old memories in the hearts of God of War fans. I feel like that was an error. I agree that the franchise was (by the third game) basically a zombie, but I also feel it could have been revitalised in a way that didn't involve a sudden 90-degree turn into a totally different genre.

For comparison, imagine if - ten years from now - they make a sequel to The Last of Us and it's an arcadey retro brawler where Ellie is dismembering fungus zombies with chains and double-jumping through platforming sequences. It's ridiculous to contemplate. That's what this looks like to me right now. I'm not saying that the final product is going to be inherently shit - it might be great, there's no facts to really make a conclusion on there - but it sure as shit doesn't look like God of War. Maybe that's why it's getting optimism primarily from reviewers and gamers who have never been fans of the franchise before.

I don't know. I already went through my "okay, I've had enough" process for the God of War franchise. Maybe it should've just...stayed dead? And then this could be a new game? I really think I'd prefer that, to be honest.

Then people would complain that this is what God of War should've done instead of giving us some generic no-name knockoff.

The predicaments of being a AAA studio.

 

[happyninja42]

The more I watch the trailer, the more I dislike the look of it and the more I agree with the video rant's points.

It's baffling why they've decided to shift the tone of the franchize from pure MDK, rage-fuelled slaughter, to one of heart-felt bonding and emotion.
.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but Casual Shinji pretty much nailed the answer to that a few posts above. Even if the game kept *most* of the older style and dressed it up a bit, it would've only been a pig in a dress at this point. People were bound to ***** either way, but it's just the state of the industry that a different tone must be set now to garner (or perhaps even salvage) respect and credibility, even if that tone is groan-inducing to some old school fans.

I'm an old school fan of the series, and I personally love the change in tone. Because frankly, the last two games were utter shit, story wise, with a vile, utter despicable protagonist, that I came to loath by the end of the game. Apparently some people like this kind of character? *shrugs* I don't see the appeal, but whatever. What I do know, is that I had written off the series as an alpha male, destruction laden shitfest by GoW 3, that totally wasted all potential for a good story and epic tale, for the sake of petty destruction fests and an angsty jackass for a main character. Who had no real motivation beyond "I'm butt hurt that they slighted me, so I'm going to destroy the fucking world as a result". Manly Guys Doing Manly Things really did summarize Kratos' movitation well with this comic strip.

http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/03222010

Which was shit, utter, total shit. To try and do something more constructive with the mythos and the character is nothing but an improvement.

I respect your opinion, and you're right about the story and Kratos motivations; although I highly preferred that they did a new character entirely. Either make an OC that becomes the Norse God of War or pick any of the established Norse War Gods. Santa Monica/Sony had options, they were just too lazy or scared to do anything else.

But I think what they are doing is actually establishing the Norse Pantheon in their universe. Kratos looks an awful lot like most classic depictions of Odin at this point, he's even got a scar over one of his eyes (an eye he will likely lose later on). And the little kid, is redheaded (Thor's historical hair color), and, if you notice when they are fighting the Jotun, has an affinity for lightning (the arrow he shoots becomes an arc of lightning). And according to a friend of mine, who is WAY more knowledgeable about Norse mythology than me, is that it was believed that the beings who became the Norse gods, used to walk the world as humans, and were elevated to godhood. Which would fit just fine with Kratos, seeing as that's exactly what happened to him. I feel he still retains vestiges of his godly powers, and he will use those to make the Norse, to try and combat the repercussions of him fucking over the Greek world (aka Ragnarok). And that over the course of the game, the child will become more powerful, and that we will probably see other people who Kratos will deem as potential godlings, and boom, you have the arc of the new game series.

Which I am 100% on board for. xD This idea, if done well, hits pretty much all my Yes Please buttons for epic awesomeness. We just have to see if 1. I'm right, and 2. If they pull it off well.

I'm calling it now, either Kratos dies at the beginning and the boy becomes the protagonist, the son gets killed as some point, and if it is not one of those two; the fourth main entry will just be The Last of Us: Dumbed Down Hack n Slash Edition . I never liked GoW, but what has me worried is that if--and it will-- GoW IV will end up setting another negative trend of lets turn games of certain genres it had nothing to do with, and force it to a different genre for no rhyme or reason other than, because X and Y were a success.

I'm pretty sure (though not 100%) that the devs have stated already that Kratos and the child will be in the game for the entirety of the game. So I don't think they are going to kill him off. Again, this is also based on my own theory of where they are going with the game, which could be totally wrong, but if they were willing to let Kratos survive the events of the last game, including him killing himself with a god-slaying sword, just so they could have him come back for another game, I just don't see the logic in then killing him off you know? Besides, Kratos died at the beginning of every main God of War game. You do the tutorial, he gets curb stomped, dies, goes to Hades, says "Fuck this! I'm outa this *****!" and then murders his way out of hell and back to the surface. So even if they kill Kratos as you suggest, that doesn't actually mean he will stay dead. xD He's come back so many times he's got frequent flyer miles with the Underworld. Death is a speedbump for him.

What we will have is another case of be like COD or a GTA/Sandbox clone for no reason. Remember how many of those we got last gen? I more or less agree with what Gaming Brit says, even though he can be overzealous or panicky at time See his Platiinum games video to know what I mean.

I'm not sure how you come to this theory about the game based on this one gameplay trailer.

 

[BrawlMan]

What we will have is another case of be like COD or a GTA/Sandbox clone for no reason. Remember how many of those we got last gen? I more or less agree with what Gaming Brit says, even though he can be overzealous or panicky at time.

I'm not sure how you come to this theory about the game based on this one gameplay trailer.

Gaming Brit mentions this in the video, but if this game becomes a success, a lot of publisher are going to jump the bandwagon and make a whole bunch of "me too"'s. They will make already established franchises that have nothing to do in tone with the Last of Us. Let me put it this way: Remember when COD 4 got popular and all of sudden almost every publisher tried to be like COD? Regardless, if it made sense or not. The regenerating health, the two or three weapon limit, claiming "realism" (even though not really) , the "dark and gritty" tone, and what every plot at that point could be described as Red Dawn the game. Doom 4 was supposed to originally be more like COD, but even id Sofwtare realized what a horrible idea that was, and thankfully we got the new Doom that acts like Doom.


This is fault of more of the industry itself than GoW IV, but the character action genre is very niche now, and rarely anyone makes these type of games nowadays unless you're some indie developer or Platinum. Capcom made it niche because they're dumbasses, and you can only make so many average/below average games before they become stale. Let's not even get in to Team Ninja with Ninja Gaiden 3 when they tried to cater to a more casual/Western audience. That bit them in the butt, so hard that similar to Capcom (Ninja Theory by extension for the DmC reboot), they backpedaled on nearly everything they said. And that still wasn't enough to save their respective products in the end.

My main concern is that the AAA industry will miss the point on why certain games were a success. We are going to have a bunch of glorified walk-a-thon loading screens, "cinematic", "masterful" storytelling, and Uncharted/LofUs wannabes. I would never wish the bad performance of a video game and wish the best of luck to the new game, but I feel uncertain on what is going to happen for better or worse in the future. More so worse in this case. What eases my mind is that at least some of the Japanese gaming is getting it's act together, but they have a long way to go. Nier:Automata, don't let me down; I know you won't.

 

[happyninja42]

snip

I am aware of companies cloning games, remember the string of "Like god of war but" games that came out after this very series got popular? So I don't really see any dread for this, as it's something that's always happened. If the game is good, people will make similar games, this isn't news, this is standard operating procedure.

But considering how people are already talking about how the games of today are already derivative and lacking imagination, how will this be any significant change worthy of note? Another AAA title that is financially successful, spawns lots of duplicate titles. Yeah? And? Welcome to the last 20+ years of game development. xD

 

[BrawlMan]

snip

I am aware of companies cloning games, remember the string of "Like god of war but" games that came out after this very series got popular? So I don't really see any dread for this, as it's something that's always happened. If the game is good, people will make similar games, this isn't news, this is standard operating procedure.

But considering how people are already talking about how the games of today are already derivative and lacking imagination, how will this be any significant change worthy of note? Another AAA title that is financially successful, spawns lots of duplicate titles. Yeah? And? Welcome to the last 20+ years of game development. xD

xD. I know, right! Even back then, but at least there some charm to each to usually separate apart from the rest barely half the time. Now I feel that every game after GoW IV is going to be overly serious, drama for the sake of it, and without a hint of irony or humor, unless it's unintentional. It's exactly what happened with a lot of the COD clones.

Also, just TAKE!LOOK! AT! THIS! <url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FollowTheLeader/VideoGames> Follow The Leader - Video Games .

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I wouldn't call spamming the L1+X for nearly every enemy perfect harmony. It made most fights require almost zero thought and got the red orb counter up super fast. It was fun, but it's good they changed things up in the sequels. I liked that I had to put in some more precision combos in GoW2 to juggle enemies. It made whenever I pulled off a nice air combo actually satisfying, while still being relatively easy. The Golden Fleece also provided a whole new way to fight enemies, and it was great. You could tell Ascension was really struggling not having that option available anymore.

And in GoW3 we were given an 'L1+X' equivalent with the chainhook ability, which granted you an unstoppable bullrush into the enemy.

It's these little changes that kept the largely similar combat interesting for as long as it was. And it always succeeded in propelling the action forward, as opposed to the grapple mechanic in Ascension.

IIRC, the "normal" juggle move (holding triangle?) only hit one enemy up at a time. In GOW, you face mobs of enemies quite often so the standard juggle really only made combat take longer than it should, making it inefficient. There's a lot wrong with GOW's combat, there's really so many ways to cheese combat anyways from merely just staying a decent distance away, the OPed grab, etc. I'd have no problem with making the L1+X move harder to pull off by attaching it to the end of a combo or something, proper risk/reward. I just never found the combat in the sequels near as fun and removing the move didn't make the game harder by any means. But like I said before, GOW can't be carried by its combat system alone (its just not that good) so dropping the ball on the other game elements hurt the sequels far more than my somewhat minor issue with combat. GOW is sorta like Uncharted where it has to be firing on all cylinders or the game just comes off as a very average experience.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Then people would complain that this is what God of War should've done instead of giving us some generic no-name knockoff.

Yeah, but those people are dumb and they can go be dumb by themselves in the dumb corner for dumb people.

Unrelated side-note: while reading about the new game, I found a (possibly apocryphal) statement from one of the original developers talking about how their first plan for the sequels was to have Kratos go north and team up with his Norse equivalent, then kill the Norse pantheon together. Afterwards, they would both go back south, team up with Egyptian!Kratos, and take down the Egyptian pantheon. Then, the series would end with the three of them following a star to Jerusalem to witness the birth of Jesus.

I can't help but think that this would have been amazing.

But I think what they are doing is actually establishing the Norse Pantheon in their universe. Kratos looks an awful lot like most classic depictions of Odin at this point, he's even got a scar over one of his eyes (an eye he will likely lose later on). And the little kid, is redheaded (Thor's historical hair color), and, if you notice when they are fighting the Jotun, has an affinity for lightning (the arrow he shoots becomes an arc of lightning).

Ha! That's a pretty cool idea.

I'll be super disappointed when they end up not doing that.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

What we will have is another case of be like COD or a GTA/Sandbox clone for no reason. Remember how many of those we got last gen? I more or less agree with what Gaming Brit says, even though he can be overzealous or panicky at time.

I'm not sure how you come to this theory about the game based on this one gameplay trailer.

Gaming Brit mentions this in the video, but if this game becomes a success, a lot of publisher are going to jump the bandwagon and make a whole bunch of "me too"'s. They will make already established franchises that have nothing to do in tone with the Last of Us. Let me put it this way: Remember when COD 4 got popular and all of sudden almost every publisher tried to be like COD? Regardless, if it made sense or not. The regenerating health, the two or three weapon limit, claiming "realism" (even though not really) , the "dark and gritty" tone, and what every plot at that point could be described as Red Dawn the game. Doom 4 was supposed to originally be more like COD, but even id Sofwtare realized what a horrible idea that was, and thankfully we got the new Doom that acts like Doom.


This is fault of more of the industry itself than GoW IV, but the character action genre is very niche now, and rarely anyone makes these type of games nowadays unless you're some indie developer or Platinum. Capcom made it niche because they're dumbasses, and you can only make so many average/below average games before they become stale. Let's not even get in to Team Ninja with Ninja Gaiden 3 when they tried to cater to a more casual/Western audience. That bit them in the butt, so hard that similar to Capcom (Ninja Theory by extension for the DmC reboot), they backpedaled on nearly everything they said. And that still wasn't enough to save their respective products in the end.

My main concern is that the AAA industry will miss the point on why certain games were a success. We are going to have a bunch of glorified walk-a-thon loading screens, "cinematic", "masterful" storytelling, and Uncharted/LofUs wannabes. I would never wish the bad performance of a video game and wish the best of luck to the new game, but I feel uncertain on what is going to happen for better or worse in the future. More so worse in this case. What eases my mind is that at least some of the Japanese gaming is getting it's act together, but they have a long way to go. Nier:Automata, don't let me down; I know you won't.

Again I think I'll bring up Resident Evil 4, but more specifically how it was made to try to revitalize an outdated design format. It changed the game dramatically, but most people seemed to end up liking it, even though there were initially the vocal few that thought the franchise would be ruined. As far as story, they're going forward using the GoW brand. Some will think it should've been something completely new, while others see this as a chance for the series to be given a more mature and proper treatment of its subject matter, and to salvage the mess it left behind. I for one fall into that category, because there's a good chance they'll succeed.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Then people would complain that this is what God of War should've done instead of giving us some generic no-name knockoff.

Yeah, but those people are dumb and they can go be dumb by themselves in the dumb corner for dumb people.

Unrelated side-note: while reading about the new game, I found a (possibly apocryphal) statement from one of the original developers talking about how their first plan for the sequels was to have Kratos go north and team up with his Norse equivalent, then kill the Norse pantheon together. Afterwards, they would both go back south, team up with Egyptian!Kratos, and take down the Egyptian pantheon. Then, the series would end with the three of them following a star to Jerusalem to witness the birth of Jesus.

I can't help but think that this would have been amazing.

But I think what they are doing is actually establishing the Norse Pantheon in their universe. Kratos looks an awful lot like most classic depictions of Odin at this point, he's even got a scar over one of his eyes (an eye he will likely lose later on). And the little kid, is redheaded (Thor's historical hair color), and, if you notice when they are fighting the Jotun, has an affinity for lightning (the arrow he shoots becomes an arc of lightning).

Ha! That's a pretty cool idea.

I'll be super disappointed when they end up not doing that.

Lol, so in other words, this might not turn out so dumb! We won't know until it's out so this whole thread is devolving into subjective speculation.

 

[BrawlMan]

Again I think I'll bring up Resident Evil 4, but more specifically how it was made to try to revitalize an outdated design format. It changed the game dramatically, but most people seemed to end up liking it, even though there were initially the vocal few that thought the franchise would be ruined. As far as story, they're going forward using the GoW brand. Some will think it should've been something completely new, while others see this as a chance for the series to be given a more mature and proper treatment of its subject matter, and to salvage the mess it left behind. I for one fall into that category, because there's a good chance they'll succeed.

At least with RE4's case, Shinji and his team were doing something new. Before that point survival horror or 3rd person shooters either had a fixed camera, or a free/semi-free rotating camera. There was rarely an in-between. Even though I am not a hardcore RE fan, I got tired of the fixed camera by the time Code Veronica was rerealeased on the PS2. The only thing not new about RE4 was the QTES. While it and the first God of War made them popular, games like Dragon's Lair (a game of nothing but QTEs), Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka, and Shenmue had that formula long ago. And we know how well the QTEs worked out when nearly everyone and their mother started doing them. Some where good or decent a few games; the rest were unnecessary, poorly implemented, and started a player off in horrible checkpoints if death happened.

Though RE4 did provided a whole starting point for games such as Gears of War That owes more to kill.switch, but the influence is still there., dark SectorIronically it was to be more like Dead Space before Dead Space even existed. Seeing the success of RE4 & Gears of War caused Digital Extremes overhaul production entirely., and Dead Space. I see what you mean, but I still feel concerned either way. Thank you though.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Again I think I'll bring up Resident Evil 4, but more specifically how it was made to try to revitalize an outdated design format. It changed the game dramatically, but most people seemed to end up liking it, even though there were initially the vocal few that thought the franchise would be ruined. As far as story, they're going forward using the GoW brand. Some will think it should've been something completely new, while others see this as a chance for the series to be given a more mature and proper treatment of its subject matter, and to salvage the mess it left behind. I for one fall into that category, because there's a good chance they'll succeed.

At least with RE4's case, Shinji and his team were doing something new. Before that point survival horror or 3rd person shooters either had a fixed camera, or a free/semi-free rotating camera. There was rarely an in-between. Even though I am not a hardcore RE fan, I got tired of the fixed camera by the time Code Veronica was rerealeased on the PS2. The only thing not new about RE4 was the QTES. While it and the first God of War made them popular, games like Dragon's Lair (a game of nothing but QTEs), Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka, and Shenmue had that formula long ago. And we know how well the QTEs worked out when nearly everyone and their mother started doing them. Some where good or decent a few games; the rest were unnecessary, poorly implemented, and started a player off in horrible checkpoints if death happened.

Though RE4 did provided a whole starting point for games such as Gears of War That owes more to kill.switch, but the influence is still there., dark SectorIronically it was to be more like Dead Space before Dead Space even existed. Seeing the success of RE4 & Gears of War caused Digital Extremes overhaul production entirely., and Dead Space. I see what you mean, but I still feel concerned either way. Thank you though.

Perhaps in its very niche genre, but RE4 was generally far from the first TPS game to have an OTS camera. It only gained popularity because "Resident Evil did it".

I only loosely used that as an example about an established series making a significant change within itself. In GoW's case, it will at least be one of the only known Hack n Slash IPs that went to this style. Who knows...aside from making the combat feel more personal, it might also be more visceral, technical, etc.

All we can do is wait for more details at the very least.