So, I just finished playing God of War Ragnarok and I have some random thoughts.
Overall, the game was great. Personally, I don’t think it was a 90+ game, but it was solidly in the 85-87 range for me.
I can’t remember the last time I played a Playstation game this close to launch. I normally wait 6-12 months after launch and pick them up on sale, but my son was eager to play this one so I bought it for him/us on Christmas morning. I was pretty shocked at how many bugs I encountered. None were game breaking, or even that major - but I could barely go a single play session without encountering something weird.
- Being “locked” into a cut scene position after the scene was over.
- Being stuck in combat after all enemies were dead.
- Not being able to trigger events that were supposed to happen.
- Unkillable enemies (this one required a restart).
- Gateways not triggering when clicked on (walked right through it but was still in the same zone).
There were others as well, but those are the ones that stand out. I can’t remember playing a Playstation game with so many bugs, but perhaps that’s because I usually play them much later after launch.
My biggest gripe with the game was just how “locked down” it felt to me. Everything seems so scripted and controlled and there were so many relatively tiny play spaces (boxed in by walls to climb or cracks to squeeze through). While I was playing the game I kept thinking about Stray and how lots of people were griping that it had “fake platforming” because you could only jump or climb when a button prompt allowed you to . But that is exactly how GoWR is as well. Why the heck can’t this god jump unless a button tells him to???
My last random thought is on rpgs vs action adventure games. GoWR has so many rpg mechanics. Everything from gear to skill trees to character level to leveling individual powers and weapons is in the game. Yet this is so clearly not an rpg. This is a story about Kratos and Atreus (and Freya) - not you. The player does not get to make any meaningful decisions (that influence the story). We don’t even get any meaningless dialogue choices. The story was great and I enjoyed playing it, but in some ways the game design just made me want a real rpg even more.