It almost feels like a Skyrim-lite
I mean aside from both having Norse aesthetic/inspiration, i really don't see it.
GoW is just a very constrained Metroidvania, or i guess Souls-like since you unlock keys more than abilities, to open up new areas.
They're popular now, after Souls made them into a big thing again, Control, Jedi Fallen Order, even Uncharted Lost Legacy, to a degree.
Some are more traditionally metroidvania than others, but they follow that basic formula.
They can strike a good balance between their cinematic story, and a better sense of exploration than traditional corridor shooters (i think Order 1886 killed that genre for a while).
Yeah, a few people think I'm crazy about this.
But it really feels like an wrpg-lite with good combat and smaller world. It's not even the metroidvania power up accessing new areas kind of way, because yeah if that was it I'd call it more constrained metroidvania.
I also don't think this game feels souls
at all despite what the missing Borys said. Yeah picking up little glowing sphere items off soldier corpses and breaking barrels gives a little souls-feel, but otherwise? Nah.
It's the stats, equipment, leveling, loot system with optional dungeons that are lower effort caves and mines and stuff that give me that Bethesda feel.
I think the closest game in the action games with rpg hybrid elements would be AC Origins/Odyssey, but I think God of War is even more an rpg than those games. Those games have leveling and enemy levels and loot, but do they have attack/magic/defense/magic defense/status buff defense/all kinds of status buffs where you're buying gear, finding gear, upgrading gear, slotting gear to slightly increase those various stats to different builds? And switching around your runes*coughcoughmateria* to give you new moves and abilities? The rpg customization in God of War feels far deeper than AC Origins/Odyssey. Yes, God of War is less open than a full open world, but it feels like a more linear constrained action wrpg way to me.
Also while I'm liking the game, I think it really fails to standout. It got so overhyped/reviewed/awarded in 2018, but these days everyone I talk to about the game who beat it in 2018 says they can barely remember the combat, don't remember the loot/leveling/stats much at all, and basically just remember "the couple of big amazing boss fights" and that "there wasn't much of a story despite it being super long and it's basically just a prologue game #1". I dunno, that doesn't sound like the GoTY 2018 title that should've beat stuff like RDR2, Monster Hunter World, etc...that year. Playing RDR2 this year, it has its own problems, but it was definitely an amazing standout game that felt defining with its world.
Even the combat, I'm reading lots of old threads on the combat from 2018 when I try to figure out a good way of dealing with certain enemies like the annoying as fuck teleporting witch revenants that I shoot arrows to stun and then get a few hits and then the disappear and fights take a while against these weak annoying enemies, and even in 2018 basically everyone says revenant enemies suck and are poor design, that the game lacks enemy variety, combat weapon variety, etc.., etc... and for whatever good the combat brought, it was quickly overshadowed by DMCV's combat the next year.
So basically they spent all these years/budget rebooting GoW for a game that has forgettable combat, forgettable story, and forgettable progression. Just seems like a step back from the big deal games GoW1/2 were at the time. Right now where I'm at maybe halfway? The game feels at best around the quality of Ascension and maybe better than the PSP game by Ready at Dawn. Definitely isn't bringing that feeling of the first two games and anything would be better than GoWIII which was pretty shit.
Given that the game is already 2 years old, I'm gonna assume the sequel is only another 1-2 years out in year 1-2 PS5 life. I'm hoping that this reboot game was a test of ideas for a new concept and the 2nd game will refine them in an Assassin's Creed 1 -> 2 kind of way. Plus I want more god fights, my vague old memory of GoW2 (also by Barlog and why I thought he must be some amazing game designer) is that it's a game where you basically go around beating the shit out of god after god after god in epic cool fights and getting megaman style powerups from each god you killed. I hope the second game is less going around exploring and talking and fighting trolls and dragons and stuff and more "let's go fuck up gods and steal their powers" because that is the essence of God of War franchise to me.
I know, I know I should finish this first before jumping to conclusions, but talking to duckroll he basically said not to expect much from the rest of the game outside a couple more cool boss fights, so I'm expecting more of this fun, but nothing amazing, and probably too long for its own good in how repetitive it is, 8/10 kind of game for the rest.