God of War

Sony has once again proven that their platform is the one to be on this generation because God of War is as close to a masterpiece as you can get without actually reaching that status.

I've never been a huge fan of the God of War series or beat em ups, in general, so I'm really glad God of War took a different approach that's more narrative-driven with action-adventure game style combat. The story is easily one of the best in the PS4's game library too that tells the tale of a much older Kratos on a quest to spread his wife's ashes at the highest peak in the realms all while teaching his son Atreus how to become a man. And what surprised me the most about this game is just how well it balances both story and gameplay. Usually, if a game has a fantastic story It'll sacrifice the gameplay to achieve it or the other way around. However, God of War is an exception.

The combat is raw, brutal, and satisfying, and there is so much variety too. You have a great number of moves you can pull off that will tear your enemies into shreds, instead of having a large roster of mediocre weapons at your disposal you have two very interesting and fun weapons to use. I've seen people make entire videos on these two weapons alone which are a testament to their quality if nothing else, and Atreus is actually useful in combat and can actually be helpful instead of being an annoyance the entire time. The bosses are all unique and memorable, especially the first fight with Baldur who is simply named "The Stranger" at the time. It's without question one of the best boss fights I've ever experienced in a game and I want you to experience it for yourself so I won't give anything specific away.

Now the mini-bosses are a different story, those can be pretty lackluster or frustrating in the case of the Valkyries, and on the topic of negatives the side content is pretty weak, some of the puzzles are super tedious and mess with the pacing a bit, the more RPG esque elements of the game are just kind of there for the sake of being there, and the fast travel system is terrible. But compared to everything God of War offers on the positive side these issues felt minuscule. Exploring the world is great too, and God of War isn't an open-world game, it's more like a Dark Souls type situation where its a bunch of small open areas that are all intertwined with each other albeit through fast travel most of the time. But it still gives you a sense of exploration because its open enough to not feel excessively linear but not large enough to collapse under its own weight and feel samey everywhere you go and I like that. Also, kudos to this game's art designer because the Norse mythology-inspired visuals are incredible.

And on the story side of things, I love what Santa Monica Studios has done with Kratos as a character. He's vulnerable, very grounded in reality now, and isn't a massive jerk anymore. He's got something to lose now and has emotions other than pure hatred and anger and you can sympathize with him on a level that's actually relatable. It's also really funny because if you combine your knowledge of the previous games with the sheer fact that Kratos is trying to teach his rambunctious son discipline and restraint it creates a hilarious contradiction that makes for some fun character moments. And the ending has me highly anticipating whatever comes next for the franchise.

In conclusion, out of all the PS4 exclusives, God of War is easily the closest to a system seller. It perfectly balances its story and gameplay to create a somewhat flawed masterpiece.