5 Things I Didn't Like About God of War

God of War has been out for almost two weeks now, and I would wager most video game "normies" are about finished with the campaign. If you're anything like me, you've achieved 100% completion (giggity) and you're coming down off of one of the greatest video game highs you've ever felt. I'm sorry to say that what follows is a great, resounding sadness as you realize it's over. There will be no expansions, which means you'll have to wait another 2-3 years minimum to get another fix.

The Internet is collectively gushing over God of War right now, from the comment sections of IGN, to the bloggers of Kotaku, to the darkest corners of Reddit-- everyone is in agreement that God of War is a f***ing amazing video game. I tried to write one of those posts, and I got bored by the second paragraph. The world doesn't need another overwhelmingly postive God of War review. We get it. It's a really, really good game. But just because IGN gave it a 10/10 review score doesn't mean it's a perfect video game-- there's no such thing.

So instead, here are 5 things I didn't like about God of War.

1) Backtracking after the campaign, sucks.

Because God of War isn't a true "open world" game, going back and attempting to re-navigate the world to clean up the game's last few side activities/collectibles can be extremely frustrating. You might fast travel to a particular area and spend 10 minutes making progress towards your objective, only to discover that a path you previously had access to is now blocked off. There's no way around it, so you'll have to spend another 10 minutes going back the way you came so you can fast travel and try to approach from a different direction. The developers did thankfully re-populate the world with enemies after you finish the campaign, but even so, there's no denying that backtracking feels like a slog at times.

2) Loot acquisition feels miles wide, but inches deep.

By the time I finished the campaign, my inventory was bogged down with so much loot, and so little of it was even remotely interesting. Throughout God of War, Kratos gets gradually more powerful by opening chests and acquiring better gear-- primarily in the form of armor pieces, upgrade materials, and runes (which are used to augment your gear). These provide stat bonuses or perks like "very low chance to cause burn damage." None of these runes are particularly very exciting, and I never felt like the gameplay was altered in any meaningful ways by using them.

While I did enjoy this progression and leveling Kratos up to the cap, I never quite felt encouraged to try out different armor builds. It would have been cool if, say, when you get to the icy realm of the dead, Helheim, your experience would have been substantially more difficult unless you swapped your gear out for pieces that had ice resistance. It is worth noting I played on normal, so perhaps playing on hard forces you to think about your build a little more. However, I'm of the mindset that this particular mechanic should feel the same regardless of difficulty setting.

3) Mini-boss variety is underwhelming.

Throughout your journey, you'll encounter two main types of mini-bosses: Trolls and Ancients. Trolls are hulking creatures that try to clobber you with chunks of lumber, and Ancients are elemental rock creatures that shoot a death beam from a gaping hole in their chest. Both of these monsters are quite intimidating the first time you encounter them, however as your journey progresses their "newness" wears off, and so does their variety. There is essentially one for each element (fire, ice, earth, etc), and none of their mechanics really change all that much. I never felt like they were boring to fight, but they definitely did get less interesting towards the end. It would have been nice to see a little more variety in what they can do, so each encounter feels genuinely fresh.

4) No reason to keep playing.

Now that I've completed God of War's story and I've explored every nook and cranny of the game world, all I want is a reason to keep playing. There are two realms that serve as end game content: Muspelheim, which is a sort of challenge mode that progresses in difficulty, and Niflheim, which is a kind of survival mode with a twist. I actually really liked these activities, but just like everything else, once you finish them and get the gear-- you're done. There's no real reason to go back and replay that content. It would have been great if these activities continued to offer more incentives to come back and continue playing. It also would have been great to see a New Game+ mode implemented so I could continue leveling up Kratos beyond the initial level cap.

5) Boy, come here.

Do I even need to say this? You've seen the memes.

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God of War is phenomenal. It is truly one of the best games I've ever played, and it'll no doubt go down with Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3 as one of this generation's classics. If you're wondering if this game is worth picking up a PS4 to play, the answer is yes. A million times yes. Everyone needs to play this game. Your mom needs to play this game. If you know someone that thinks video games are nothing more than killing simulators, or are incapable of telling meaningful, gripping narratives-- they need to play this game. Schedule some time and play through the game together. Laugh together. Cry together. It's that good.

The older I get and the more video games I play, the more predictable games become. That childlike surprise when playing a new video game is pretty much gone, and consequently, I get bored so much faster than I used to. I'm left wondering if that's because I've become old and jaded (probably), or if video games really are becoming stale. Then, every once in a while, I'll play something that circumvents my expectations and reinstates the element of surprise. Games like God of War are increasingly rare, but they're a reminder to people like me that video games can still be impactful and have meaningful stories to tell.

Thanks for reading,

Jake