10 Major Problems With 2018's Biggest Video Games
4. God Of War's Combat Can't Be Another Dark Souls
"Oh, they're rebooting God of War?! That's kinda cool!"
"Hmm, the feel of this is very Last of Us, I guess they're trying to make Naughty Dog's approach a Sony trait?"
"Well the combat looks... fine... I guess?"
Such was the response to Sony's unveiling of the 'all-new' Kratos and his foray into fatherhood. The concept is brilliant: Take a character often parodied for being overly aggressive to a fault and make it so he's actually getting over real anger issues, and factor in a small child to take care of - one who'll probably remember your actions and replicate in tow.
The problem comes with combat that - like everything from Hellblade to Assassin's Creed Origins - is now going down the "Dark Souls route".
Aiming to make any duel more immediately weighty and impactful as the camera is right down there with Kratos when he's under attack, there really needs to be something more than just this to God of War's rebooted action. Being the original series pioneered quick-time events (that went on to change the face of controllable action for a decade thereafter), this franchise cannot be the one copycatting someone else's innovations.