God Of War is notorious for grand boss battles against larger than life enemies; its a dominant selling point of the franchise by now. Thankfully, Ascension continued the long-running trend of giving gamers something truly cinematic and magnificent to marvel at. I remember seeing the trailer and immediately thirsting for what Santa Monica had in store for this fight. Seriously, its a Kraken! How can Alectos humongous and destructive sea monster form not cement a spot on this list? It heads through multiple phases such as attacking the tentacles, fending off Alectos sister whom you toss spears at as she flies around- attacking the head, and more. This is God Of War though, so what really stands out are the iconic QTEs that pit you in a cinematic transition between the aforementioned phases. Theres one sequence in particular that has you completely submerged under the ocean as the mouth heads directly towards you. Its probably the closest you will ever get to experiencing Jaws as you frantically start sweating waiting to smash whichever button pops up. And then there are cinematic sequences that have you pulling off QTEs while Kratos runs along the tentacles in what is probably one of the coolest things Ive ever seen in an action game. Did I mention this all takes place with a thunderstorm highlighting the environment for added atmosphere? Santa Monica is a top-tier development studio too, meaning these graphics were absolutely beautiful and added to the epic scale.
