God of War - A Case Study

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

This video pretty much illustrates all the same issues I had playing God of War. I HATED the "move assist", which is basically both Kratos and enemies gliding to close distance and land attacks that shouldn't connect. That causes the player to not know where Kratos is going to move to along with thinking they can't get hit because the enemy is just too far away yet glides to them hitting them unexpectedly. I don't want/need a game to assist me because 1) I can do it manually myself and 2) having the game assist me means it has to predict what I want to do and it will get the prediction wrong a certain % of the time (much like how Uncharted will predict your roll/cover intentions wrongly). The RPG mechanics ruin so much of the combat as well because of how said mechanics can change what are supposed to be static rules into variables like enemy hit-stun and Kratos' own blocking ability. Consistency is a huge part of an action game; I need to know what every attack is going to do every time, and I need to know where my character will end up before executing said move so I can plan a chain of moves ahead of time. God of War greatly fails at one of the most important elements to a character action game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yeah, I never had an issue with move assist. The only time the move assist glide showed itself was when I'd perform an executer's cleave, and that move is one you only perform when you have a particular enemy infront of you. I never had this connect to an enemy I didn't mean for it to. Also, the yellow and red flashes make it perfectly clear whether an attack will break your guard or not. That's kind of why they're there, so that even if you come across a new enemy or a stronger version of an older one you'll know.

As for the video.. at least he isn't being a smug prick about it like some people *cough*GamingBrit*cough*, and he does adress the popular rise of being contrary about AAA just for the sake of it. Yet he falls in the same routine of criticism with these types of games, how because this one cinematic game garnered a lot of praise and commercial succes it means this is all AAA is now, disregarding the numerous Souls games, Devil May Cry's, Bayonetta's, and Doom, which are equally AAA and completely focused on gameplay and held in high regard by the "gaming elite", a.k.a. people who make video essays like this. Not to mention the recent Monster Hunter and upcoming games like Sekiro. All this doom and gloom about videogames just being movies now, and 'boo hoo, too much graphics' is always baffling to me. There's room for everyone, now more than ever.


As for some of the GoW '18 complaints brought up in the video compared to other games.. It talks about how you can (badly) exploit the runic attack cooldown, but that's only if you want to walk around doing nothing in combat or just blocking for at least 30 seconds at a time. And that's against enemies that are generally pretty relentless. Resident Evil 4 was brought up as comparison to how it works better that GoW '18, but it has a way worse exploit than the cooldown (not counting the TMP); You look for any ladder and you can use it as a bottleneck to knife zombies that are climbing up to you. He complains about how some of the finishing animations in GoW '18 can on occasion leave you open to an enemy attack that's unfortunately winding up at the wrong time, but the same is true for RE4 with the kicks and supplexes.

 

[stroopwafel]

The guy who made the video is an action game connoisseur but God of War is an obviously more mainstream title so he unfairly downplays graphics and spectacle in his critique. Much of the game's appeal is drawn from how it looks. And for such a cinematic, scripted title; God of War has a surprisingly satisfying combat system. Rather than a niche action game I think God of War should be compared more to a title like Uncharted, and then God of War defintely compares favorably. God of War was always meant to be a game that could be played by pretty much anybody that owns a PS4 and in that way they definitely succeeded considering the unusually high number of people who actually completed the game(over 50% I believe).

I do appreciate that he says critics deserve a taste of their own medicine considering how easy it is to criticize the work others spent years of their life making. And that is definitely true. It's easy to criticize when you don't have a creative bone in your body and don't have the slightest understanding how tremendously difficult such a huge undertaking is. The smugness many of those youtubers have is definitely misplaced considering they have accomplished nothing of worth in their lives but complain about something someone else made from the comfort of their shitty manchild room.

 

[BrawlMan]

Yeah, I never had an issue with move assist. The only time the move assist glide showed itself was when I'd perform an executer's cleave, and that move is one you only perform when you have a particular enemy infront of you. I never had this connect to an enemy I didn't mean for it to. Also, the yellow and red flashes make it perfectly clear whether an attack will break your guard or not. That's kind of why they're there, so that even if you come across a new enemy or a stronger version of an older one you'll know.

EDIT:

As for the video.. at least he isn't being a smug prick about it like some people *cough*GamingBrit*cough*, and he does adress the popular rise of being contrary about AAA just for the sake of it. Yet he falls in the same routine of criticism with these types of games, how because this one cinematic game garnered a lot of praise and commercial succes it means this is all AAA is now, disregarding the numerous Souls games, Devil May Cry's, Bayonetta's, and Doom, which are equally AAA and completely focused on gameplay and held in high regard by the "gaming elite", a.k.a. people who make video essays like this. Not to mention the recent Monster Hunter and upcoming games like Sekiro. All this doom and gloom about videogames just being movies now, and 'boo hoo, too much graphics' is always baffling to me. There's room for everyone, now more than ever.

Yeah, the part with GB left a bad taste in my mouth. I still like GB, but I lost some respect from him on his GoW review. The fact that he said people were "duped in to liking the game" made him look like jealous whiny *****, because some critics or (new) fans preferred the new game over the old ones. Oh boo hoo fucker, if some critics liked the game so what? It doesn't give you the right to make fun or ruin other people enjoyment. The fact he came off as no different from other "professional" critics that he despise. Charlie (GB real name) should check himself before he wrecks himself. The response video he made afterwards for damage control wasn't helping either. He either missed the points of people's counterarguments or complaints, and seemed to cherry picked a few isolated arguments about how some comments said GoW (2018) isn't a character action game and should be immune from these criticism. While he had a point against those arguments, he still came off as an asshole and willfully ignored positives about the game. Some later videos have him doing small swipes against GoW (2018), and I hope this really doesn't continue like MovieBob did with Batman V. Superman, because it's really annoying and tiring. Luckily, he hasn't done it in his Suda51 video recently, and acted more fair to people who liked Grasshopper's later games. Though he called Killer Is Dead a guilty pleasure, which I find inconsistent, because he was praising it to high hell and back in 2013. At least more than DmC (2013) at time. Ironic now, because he embraces DmC now over GoW (2018).


I admit, I was on the hate train at first, before the game even came out, but I took a step back and realized that I sounded no different from some of the people that hate on the games I'm excited for or play. Once I saw the leaked gameplay footage in March, I was hooked. Now God of War, ain't perfect, but some of these individual Youtuber's are acting like this is a bad game. Um no, you may not like God of War, but it ain't no 5 or 6 out of 10. Have guys or gals forgotten what a bad games plays like. I sill prefer Devil May Cry, but if new people are introduced to gaming this way, I have no problem with it. It leads to growth in the gaming community, and those people would be willing to try out different games of different genre.

The guy who made the video is an action game connoisseur but God of War is an obviously more mainstream title so he unfairly downplays graphics and spectacle in his critique. Much of the game's appeal is drawn from how it looks. And for such a cinematic, scripted title; God of War has a surprisingly satisfying combat system. Rather than a niche action game I think God of War should be compared more to a title like Uncharted, and then God of War definitely compares favorably. God of War was always meant to be a game that could be played by pretty much anybody that owns a PS4 and in that way they definitely succeeded considering the unusually high number of people who actually completed the game(over 50% I believe).

I do appreciate that he says critics deserve a taste of their own medicine considering how easy it is to criticize the work others spent years of their life making. And that is definitely true. It's easy to criticize when you don't have a creative bone in your body and don't have the slightest understanding how tremendously difficult such a huge undertaking is. The smugness many of those youtubers have is definitely misplaced considering they have accomplished nothing of worth in their lives but complain about something someone else made from the comfort of their shitty manchild room.

Agreed. I've become wary of individual YTBRs just as much as "professional" critics. It doesn't help some still carry the mindset of let's be like Yahtzee or AVGN, when the latter went out of fashion years ago, and the former can only do it himself. And even then, he has episodes that suck or are full of shit.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yeah, the part with GB left a bad taste in my mouth. I still like GB, but I lost some respect from him on his GoW review. The fact that he said people were "duped in to liking the game" made him look like jealous whiny *****, because some critics or (new) fans preferred the new game over the old ones. Oh boo hoo fucker, if some critics liked the game so what? It doesn't give you the right to make fun or ruin other people enjoyment. The fact he came off as no different from other "professional" critics that he despise. Charlie (GB real name) should check himself before he wrecks himself. The response video he made afterwards for damage control wasn't helping either. He either missed the points of people's counterarguments or complaints, and seemed to cherry picked a few isolated arguments about how some comments said GoW (2014) isn't a character action game and should be immune from these criticism. While he had a point against those arguments, he still came off as an asshole and willfully ignored positives about the game.

I didn't even know he got some flak for that video (not that he should -- he can say whatever he wants), since I assumed his fanbase would just blindly echo his thoughts. It's kinda what happens with every 200+ subscribed (essay) channel now. You look at the comments underneath MatthewMattosis and it's nothing but 'yeah, you're right, this game is terrible and overrated'. Try and find one comment that's disagreeing with him.. it's not easy. Kinda makes the complaint that it's overrated ring a bit hollow.

Some later videos have him doing small swipes against GoW (2018), and I hope this really doesn't continue like MoveiBob did with Batman V. Superman, because it's really annoying and tiring. Luckily, he hasn't done it in his Suda51 video recent;y, and acted more fair to people who liked Grasshopper's later games. Though he called Killer Is Dead a guilty pleasure, which I find inconsistent, because he was praising it to high hell and back in 2013. At least more than DmC (2013) at time. Ironic now, because he embraces DmC now over GoW (2018).

Seeing as he did the same with The Last of Us, it probably will continue. Back when I actually used to dip into a video of his on occasion he'd bring up how TLoU is stinky all the damn time, even when the topic of the video had nothing to do with it.


And I'm kinda getting tired of these hour+ long video essays, too. Even when it's opinions I agree with I'm like '2 hours complaining about this game, half of which is dedicated to the Moon collectibles, really?'

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I haven?t watched the video yet, but once I understood GoW?s combat and made a point of looking for ways to take advantage of specific encounters, it went from merely enjoyable to often times thrilling. I also in my play through have never seen an enemy specifically glide to my position or vice versa, at least not from outside of melee range. I?ve noticed tracking fairly often, but am familiar with that from other games as well.

Now mind you, I?m well aware that there are differences/criticisms in the timing and responsiveness with regards to certain attacks, but this is more due to the animation system by design. Realizing the need to commit to certain attacks should make it feel much more playable, or else it?s probably not that person?s cup of tea. Similar to SoulsBorne style or more accurately a blend of it with a more traditional action game, GoW 2018 is unconventional with certain gameplay elements, but the longer I played and understood it the more playable and fun it became.

As for the rest of it, excellent world design with incentive to explore, excellent sound design, excellent characters (the two blacksmiths were thoroughly entertaining), and a presentation that outclasses even Naughty Dog (so far), and the game is pretty damn deserving of its praise imo.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Yeah, I never had an issue with move assist. The only time the move assist glide showed itself was when I'd perform an executer's cleave, and that move is one you only perform when you have a particular enemy infront of you. I never had this connect to an enemy I didn't mean for it to. Also, the yellow and red flashes make it perfectly clear whether an attack will break your guard or not. That's kind of why they're there, so that even if you come across a new enemy or a stronger version of an older one you'll know.

As for the video.. at least he isn't being a smug prick about it like some people *cough*GamingBrit*cough*, and he does adress the popular rise of being contrary about AAA just for the sake of it. Yet he falls in the same routine of criticism with these types of games, how because this one cinematic game garnered a lot of praise and commercial succes it means this is all AAA is now, disregarding the numerous Souls games, Devil May Cry's, Bayonetta's, and Doom, which are equally AAA and completely focused on gameplay and held in high regard by the "gaming elite", a.k.a. people who make video essays like this. Not to mention the recent Monster Hunter and upcoming games like Sekiro. All this doom and gloom about videogames just being movies now, and 'boo hoo, too much graphics' is always baffling to me. There's room for everyone, now more than ever.


As for some of the GoW '18 complaints brought up in the video compared to other games.. It talks about how you can (badly) exploit the runic attack cooldown, but that's only if you want to walk around doing nothing in combat or just blocking for at least 30 seconds at a time. And that's against enemies that are generally pretty relentless. Resident Evil 4 was brought up as comparison to how it works better that GoW '18, but it has a way worse exploit than the cooldown (not counting the TMP); You look for any ladder and you can use it as a bottleneck to knife zombies that are climbing up to you. He complains about how some of the finishing animations in GoW '18 can on occasion leave you open to an enemy attack that's unfortunately winding up at the wrong time, but the same is true for RE4 with the kicks and supplexes.

I noticed quickly how enemies hit you when they are too far from you and I realized I just gotta block and dodge everything. I remember the "1st" Valkyrie's spin attack started so far out of melee range and still magically hit me because she glided at least 5 yards to me, it was just so lame. With the color-coded attacks; yeah, it informs you that you can/can't block something but it tells you too late (in mid-attack) unlike Metal Gear Rising's color-coded system (mentioned in the video) or even Arkham's system where the notification above an enemy's head pop up before the attack. Plus, the same enemy you just faced may now have an attack that was just blockable but now isn't because of the stupid level system changing things.

I really don't get the backlash against criticism that is honest and legit. Just because reviewers for some reason don't criticize games doesn't mean games shouldn't be criticized. This is of course a completely tangent discussion, but movie critics can hate some popular movie just fine. There's valid reasons for not liking Star Wars or Ghostbusters and there's professional critics that don't like those classics (and rated them as such, bad movies) and there's nothing wrong with that. We don't have that in video games for whatever reason and it's honestly rather unhealthy and causing homogenization. It's why I basically view video game reviews as advertisements.

There's much more wrong with the cooldown system than just exploiting it. The game really turns into a poor-man's MOBA because of the cooldowns of the runic attacks allowing you to do Kratos' highest burst damage every single encounter because not only are the runic attacks the best but they also perform most consistently of all the other attacks. For example, some heavy powerful runic attack will hit-stun/stagger enemies consistently vs a "normal" attack that may or may not depending on the level of you and the enemy. The best build in the game is easily a low cooldown build. Sure other games have exploits but RE4 plays great if you house-rule out such exploits whereas God of War never plays great IMO.

Um no, you may not like God of War, but it ain't no 5 or 6 out of 10. Have guys or gals forgotten what a bad games plays like.

This is the exact attitude I hate, there's no such thing as any work of art being objectively at least a certain score. How am I going to rate a game a 7/8/9 out of 10 when the only elements I found of worthy of 7+ to be graphics and presentation? Just because super shit games like Steam asset flips exist doesn't make every other game 7+ out of 10 just like the fact that someone can find a Marvel movie to be a bad movie regardless of it being better than some shitty SyFy movie. I guess Deep Blue Sea is objectively at worst 8/10 because Planet of the Sharks exists.

excellent world design with incentive to explore

I found really no incentive to explore because of how gated Kratos' "power level" is. You might go and do some super hard sidequest against some purple enemy you ain't prepared to fight, but what's the reward for doing that? Some rare dust that's used to upgrade some weapon you don't even have access to. Of course, most sidequests have end-game enemies that are just a pain to fight anyway so they aren't even fun unless you drop the difficulty level so they ain't ridiculous damage sponges.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I noticed quickly how enemies hit you when they are too far from you and I realized I just gotta block and dodge everything. I remember the "1st" Valkyrie's spin attack started so far out of melee range and still magically hit me because she glided at least 5 yards to me, it was just so lame. With the color-coded attacks; yeah, it informs you that you can/can't block something but it tells you too late (in mid-attack) unlike Metal Gear Rising's color-coded system (mentioned in the video) or even Arkham's system where the notification above an enemy's head pop up before the attack. Plus, the same enemy you just faced may now have an attack that was just blockable but now isn't because of the stupid level system changing things.

Look, I can't corroborate whether that glide in your playthrough happened during the first valkyrie fight. All I can say is that it didn't happen to me on all 4 playthroughs, or with the second valkyrie. And if it did I seriously didn't notice it. The only enemies that I notice having a subtantial homing attack are the icey sword wielders.

And how is mid-attack telling you too late? I can't say I have the fasted reflexes, but I have very little issue spotting the telegraphed attacks and responding by either blocking/parrying or dodging. This game never springs an unblockable attack on you out of nowhere. If it's unblockable it flashes red; simple. Which is why complaining about a similar enemy now having an unblockable attack is either something you get over or you don't. The game makes it very clear early on that no flash is blockable/can be parried, yellow flash can be parried, but will break your block, and red flash breaks through no matter what. THIS is what you're supposed to be recognizing during combat, NOT enemy types.

I really don't get the backlash against criticism that is honest and legit. Just because reviewers for some reason don't criticize games doesn't mean games shouldn't be criticized. This is of course a completely tangent discussion, but movie critics can hate some popular movie just fine. There's valid reasons for not liking Star Wars or Ghostbusters and there's professional critics that don't like those classics (and rated them as such, bad movies) and there's nothing wrong with that. We don't have that in video games for whatever reason and it's honestly rather unhealthy and causing homogenization. It's why I basically view video game reviews as advertisements.

I have no problem with criticism, but this mindset of 'cinematic game (that I don't like) gets praised = death of gaming' is laughable. Again, there's room for everyone. How exactly is GoW '18 going to ruin other games with its succes?


And the backlash for me personally is against this attitude among the gaming elite that any game that dares not be 100% gamplay 100% of the time is unworthy to be called a game.

There's much more wrong with the cooldown system than just exploiting it. The game really turns into a poor-man's MOBA because of the cooldowns of the runic attacks allowing you to do Kratos' highest burst damage every single encounter because not only are the runic attacks the best but they also perform most consistently of all the other attacks. For example, some heavy powerful runic attack will hit-stun/stagger enemies consistently vs a "normal" attack that may or may not depending on the level of you and the enemy. The best build in the game is easily a low cooldown build. Sure other games have exploits but RE4 plays great if you house-rule out such exploits whereas God of War never plays great IMO.

It's posts like this that make it impossible to discuss this game (and other games) with you. Since you're already of the opinion that everything about this game is wrong. "God of War never plays great." You can add 'IMO', but that blocks any counter argument anyone might make, so what's the point?

 

[BrawlMan]

Yeah, the part with GB left a bad taste in my mouth. I still like GB, but I lost some respect from him on his GoW review. The fact that he said people were "duped in to liking the game" made him look like jealous whiny *****, because some critics or (new) fans preferred the new game over the old ones. Oh boo hoo fucker, if some critics liked the game so what? It doesn't give you the right to make fun or ruin other people enjoyment. The fact he came off as no different from other "professional" critics that he despise. Charlie (GB real name) should check himself before he wrecks himself. The response video he made afterwards for damage control wasn't helping either. He either missed the points of people's counterarguments or complaints, and seemed to cherry picked a few isolated arguments about how some comments said GoW (2014) isn't a character action game and should be immune from these criticism. While he had a point against those arguments, he still came off as an asshole and willfully ignored positives about the game.

I didn't even know he got some flak for that video (not that he should -- he can say whatever he wants), since I assumed his fanbase would just blindly echo his thoughts. It's kinda what happens with every 200+ subscribed (essay) channel now. You look at the comments underneath MatthewMattosis and it's nothing but 'yeah, you're right, this game is terrible and overrated'. Try and find one comment that's disagreeing with him.. it's not easy. Kinda makes the complaint that it's overrated ring a bit hollow.

All the more hollow when you got news like this.

Seeing as he did the same with The Last of Us, it probably will continue. Back when I actually used to dip into a video of his on occasion he'd bring up how TLoU is stinky all the damn time, even when the topic of the video had nothing to do with it.


And I'm kinda getting tired of these hour+ long video essays, too. Even when it's opinions I agree with I'm like '2 hours complaining about this game, half of which is dedicated to the Moon collectibles, really?'

Nostalgia goggles can be a cruel mistress; especially if you're bending over backwards to gaslight yourself and everyone else. I hate to say it, but I pity him. As for 2 hour+ videos, GB only has ever done one that long, and it was on Ratchet and Clank 3,. You're still right. Why go through that, unless you really like hearing yourself talk. It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming. And that guy is known for making dubious statements.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Nostalgia goggles can be a cruel mistress; especially if you're bending over backwards to gaslight yourself and everyone else. I hate to say it, but I pity him. As for 2 hour+ videos, GB only has ever done one that long, and it was on Ratchet and Clank 3,. You're still right. Why go through that, unless you really like hearing yourself talk. It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming. And that guy is known for making dubious statements.

I was specifically refering to Joseph Anderson's Super Mario Odyssey video, which spends half its time going through the individual moon collectibles. And I had a big bone to pick with that game myself, but that criticism was just wasting my time.


And yeah, avoid Cleanprincegaming and his doppleganger, Downward Thrust.

 

[BrawlMan]

Nostalgia goggles can be a cruel mistress; especially if you're bending over backwards to gaslight yourself and everyone else. I hate to say it, but I pity him. As for 2 hour+ videos, GB only has ever done one that long, and it was on Ratchet and Clank 3,. You're still right. Why go through that, unless you really like hearing yourself talk. It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming. And that guy is known for making dubious statements.

I was specifically refering to Joseph Anderson's Super Mario Odyssey video, which spends half its time going through the individual moon collectibles. And I had a big bone to pick with that game myself, but that criticism was just wasting my time.


And yeah, avoid Cleanprincegaming and his doppleganger, Downward Thrust.

Oh, you know about him too. I wasn't confused about the 1 hour thing, I was just pointing something out. Thanks for the info; I do appreciate it.

 

[Trunkage]

Nostalgia goggles can be a cruel mistress; especially if you're bending over backwards to gaslight yourself and everyone else. I hate to say it, but I pity him. As for 2 hour+ videos, GB only has ever done one that long, and it was on Ratchet and Clank 3,. You're still right. Why go through that, unless you really like hearing yourself talk. It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming. And that guy is known for making dubious statements.

I was specifically refering to Joseph Anderson's Super Mario Odyssey video, which spends half its time going through the individual moon collectibles. And I had a big bone to pick with that game myself, but that criticism was just wasting my time.


And yeah, avoid Cleanprincegaming and his doppleganger, Downward Thrust.

Jospeh Anderson got me to play Hollow Knight. He overly detail critiques are usually good even if I don't agree with them. But this was a waste of time. I was getting my stuff from Pretty Good Gaming but it looks like it's about to die. And stupidly biases ones like Clean Price and Downward Thrust are a waste.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

And how is mid-attack telling you too late? I can't say I have the fasted reflexes, but I have very little issue spotting the telegraphed attacks and responding by either blocking/parrying or dodging. This game never springs an unblockable attack on you out of nowhere. If it's unblockable it flashes red; simple. Which is why complaining about a similar enemy now having an unblockable attack is either something you get over or you don't. The game makes it very clear early on that no flash is blockable/can be parried, yellow flash can be parried, but will break your block, and red flash breaks through no matter what. THIS is what you're supposed to be recognizing during combat, NOT enemy types.

I have no problem with criticism, but this mindset of 'cinematic game (that I don't like) gets praised = death of gaming' is laughable. Again, there's room for everyone. How exactly is GoW '18 going to ruin other games with its succes?

And the backlash for me personally is against this attitude among the gaming elite that any game that dares not be 100% gamplay 100% of the time is unworthy to be called a game.

It's posts like this that make it impossible to discuss this game (and other games) with you. Since you're already of the opinion that everything about this game is wrong. "God of War never plays great." You can add 'IMO', but that blocks any counter argument anyone might make, so what's the point?

You get some muscle memory with seeing the same attacks and then the property of those same attacks changing basically messes with it. It's like a batter getting a changeup when he thinks it's a fastball. Also, you can play the Arkham games with those signals turned off because the attacks stay consistent, you literally can't do that with God of War.

The video wasn't very concerned with God of War being a cinematic game but on what he felt were bad mechanics that really have nothing to do with the cinematic nature. I played God of War because I thought it was a good direction to go in and I still think so but I don't think the combat mechanics were anything more than average. I didn't mind the camera being close and even played with the enemy notifications off and didn't have camera issues. The main problem I had was new enemies spawning in the middle of fights that completely threw off my mental tracking I had of the off-screen battlefield. Thus, the close camera was fine until new enemies join in off-screen. TheGamingBrit God of War video was all about proclaiming the game sucked because of the camera and everything before the game even released.

I played the game so I already have my own opinion on it. It may change if you there's something I didn't realize about the game that fixes said problem I have with a game, which does happen from time-to-time just like anybody else where you didn't realize that was an option or that you can do that or whatever it might be. With God of War, there's just honestly far too many things I didn't like about the combat system to change my mind most likely that's clearly demonstrated in the video, it's not like I'm seeing stuff that isn't there.

It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming.

He doesn't even play the games he talks about. He literally just makes clickbait titles to get views/money.

 

[stroopwafel]

Apparently Joseph Anderson releases his 3 hour(!) video essay on God of War tomorrow. Have mercy.

On his twitter he says 'almost a masterpiece' so he did atleast like the game.


https://twitter.com/jph_anderson/status/1034185437575823360

His videos tend to be pretty good though but I always watch them in chunks.

 

[I can't enter my old name]

I was specifically refering to Joseph Anderson's Super Mario Odyssey video, which spends half its time going through the individual moon collectibles. And I had a big bone to pick with that game myself, but that criticism was just wasting my time.


And yeah, avoid Cleanprincegaming and his doppleganger, Downward Thrust.

How can anyone listen to this guy for more than 1 minute without clicking away or falling asleep?

I hate to pick on someone for their voice, because it's something a person can't change, but it's so monotone and uninterested. That's not really an issue in itself, except his script is boring and 2 HOURS LONG.

If I skip around, I swear he's just going through everything that happens in the game and his thoughts about it. It's not about anything except some stream of conscious thoughts that he had while playing. This is like an IGN review, except the reviewer forgets that they're supposed to making a review, and then they just go through their entire set of notes of the first playthrough, and then they insert some stupid metaphor or tangent for every point to make the review appear deep and insightful.

 

[Casual Shinji]

You get some muscle memory with seeing the same attacks and then the property of those same attacks changing basically messes with it. It's like a batter getting a changeup when he thinks it's a fastball. Also, you can play the Arkham games with those signals turned off because the attacks stay consistent, you literally can't do that with God of War.

The strength of the attacks changes, but it's not like they become completely unprecedented attacks that you're unfamilliar with. The wind-up shows an attack is coming and the following flash telegraphs the impact. I had way less trouble parrying in GoW '18 than I did in Dark Souls or Bloodborne. It was no more wonkier than parrying in Revengeance. In fact the reaction time and ease reminded me of the golden fleece in the classic games. And yeah, you can turn off the signs in Arkham, but then that game's combat is pretty much completely rhytym based.

The video wasn't very concerned with God of War being a cinematic game but on what he felt were bad mechanics that really have nothing to do with the cinematic nature. I played God of War because I thought it was a good direction to go in and I still think so but I don't think the combat mechanics were anything more than average. I didn't mind the camera being close and even played with the enemy notifications off and didn't have camera issues. The main problem I had was new enemies spawning in the middle of fights that completely threw off my mental tracking I had of the off-screen battlefield. Thus, the close camera was fine until new enemies join in off-screen. TheGamingBrit God of War video was all about proclaiming the game sucked because of the camera and everything before the game even released.

No, the bottomline was pretty much that the game is too focused on graphics and being cinematic, therefor the combat and everything else suffers. And I only saw the GamingBrit video where he had played it and proclaimed anyone who praised it was just fooled into liking it.


And about the camera.. It's not like I didn't have the occasional issue where something hit me from off-screen, but no more than other similar games. It's funny, because MatthewMattosis points to The Wonderful 101 as having a perfect camera, when I actually stopped playing that game because I got sick of being hit by cannon balls off-screen.

I played the game so I already have my own opinion on it. It may change if you there's something I didn't realize about the game that fixes said problem I have with a game, which does happen from time-to-time just like anybody else where you didn't realize that was an option or that you can do that or whatever it might be. With God of War, there's just honestly far too many things I didn't like about the combat system to change my mind most likely that's clearly demonstrated in the video, it's not like I'm seeing stuff that isn't there.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[BrawlMan]

And how is mid-attack telling you too late? I can't say I have the fasted reflexes, but I have very little issue spotting the telegraphed attacks and responding by either blocking/parrying or dodging. This game never springs an unblockable attack on you out of nowhere. If it's unblockable it flashes red; simple. Which is why complaining about a similar enemy now having an unblockable attack is either something you get over or you don't. The game makes it very clear early on that no flash is blockable/can be parried, yellow flash can be parried, but will break your block, and red flash breaks through no matter what. THIS is what you're supposed to be recognizing during combat, NOT enemy types.

I have no problem with criticism, but this mindset of 'cinematic game (that I don't like) gets praised = death of gaming' is laughable. Again, there's room for everyone. How exactly is GoW '18 going to ruin other games with its succes?

And the backlash for me personally is against this attitude among the gaming elite that any game that dares not be 100% gamplay 100% of the time is unworthy to be called a game.

It's posts like this that make it impossible to discuss this game (and other games) with you. Since you're already of the opinion that everything about this game is wrong. "God of War never plays great." You can add 'IMO', but that blocks any counter argument anyone might make, so what's the point?

You get some muscle memory with seeing the same attacks and then the property of those same attacks changing basically messes with it. It's like a batter getting a changeup when he thinks it's a fastball. Also, you can play the Arkham games with those signals turned off because the attacks stay consistent, you literally can't do that with God of War.

The video wasn't very concerned with God of War being a cinematic game but on what he felt were bad mechanics that really have nothing to do with the cinematic nature. I played God of War because I thought it was a good direction to go in and I still think so but I don't think the combat mechanics were anything more than average. I didn't mind the camera being close and even played with the enemy notifications off and didn't have camera issues. The main problem I had was new enemies spawning in the middle of fights that completely threw off my mental tracking I had of the off-screen battlefield. Thus, the close camera was fine until new enemies join in off-screen. TheGamingBrit God of War video was all about proclaiming the game sucked because of the camera and everything before the game even released.

I played the game so I already have my own opinion on it. It may change if you there's something I didn't realize about the game that fixes said problem I have with a game, which does happen from time-to-time just like anybody else where you didn't realize that was an option or that you can do that or whatever it might be. With God of War, there's just honestly far too many things I didn't like about the combat system to change my mind most likely that's clearly demonstrated in the video, it's not like I'm seeing stuff that isn't there.

It's why I avoid Cleanpricegaming.

He doesn't even play the games he talks about. He literally just makes clickbait titles to get views/money.

I knew it. I knew something wasn't right. Some of his Division episodes were supicous enough, but then his God of War videos before and after the game came out set off huge red flags, so I avoided his videos altogether after that.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Some of these YouTuber?s seem so full of themselves. Just looking at that thumbnail from the one above gives me that distinct impression and makes me want to avoid clicking it. I?d go so far to say it?s kinda repulsive.

YouTuber?s like VaatiVidya are far more preferable as they don?t feel the need to plaster their mug all over their content. He?s intelligent, humble sounding with a pleasant voice and the quality of content he puts out speaks for itself.

 

[BrawlMan]

Some of these YouTuber?s seem so full of themselves. Just looking at that thumbnail from the one above gives me that distinct impression and makes me want to avoid clicking it. I?d go so far to say it?s kinda repulsive.

YouTuber?s like VaatiVidya are far more preferable as they don?t feel the need to plaster their mug all over their content. He?s intelligent, humble sounding with a pleasant voice and the quality of content he puts out speaks for itself.

I also recommend Raycevick and Whitelight. They're very similar to what you described. Their videos do tend to be on the long side, but they are usually up front about it, and they go really in-depth with a game or it series in the mechanics.

 

[ebalosus]

Never played Nordic God, but enjoyed the video nonetheless because Matthew Matosis was one of the few people to Call of Bioshock: Infinite Borefare the massive piece of shit that it was.