Hey gang,

I don't know what to say really. I know I'm not very far in, maybe 2 hours? I've just in my last session fought the super draugurs, and the first revenant (Where you need to get Atreus to stun it with arrows to kill it). I hear so much from every outlet that this is the GOTG, but I'm not seeing it so far.

Naturally, the aesthetics are stunning. But I guess the actual game hasn't really entranced me the way I expected it to. I had to turn the difficulty down a notch for the super draugur fight, becuase I'm a huge video-game baby. They kill you in 5 hits, and they take 10 to kill, and you're fighting 3 at once. I guess it was hard for me?

I felt this with The Last of Us too. I know that was meant to be this revolutionary new game that defied all expectations, but I hated the stealth, and the gameplay was super reductive. Another GOTG contender that I totally bounced off.

Tell me it gets better, please. Tell me I just need to plow through the opening few areas and it really hooks you, because I'm dying to get deep into a game again

It looks real pretty and it's real nice to see Kratos as a potential human with associated feelings, but I found the combat to be a drag the whole way through. I bumped it down to easy for general fights and put it back to hard for bosses - you just can't reasonably fight for as long as hard takes and not get tagged by ranged attacks that warn you way too early or enemies to the left of you.

It peaks early with it's first real boss encounter (no spoils) a tightly made 1v1 against an interesting enemy. Once it goes back to regular enemies it's never that good again - having finished it hoping it would.

@sombre: I can't tell you that you will like it better, but what I can tell you is that you haven't even finished the tutorial part of the game yet. I'm not even sure if you're halfway through it.

When the game opens up and becomes Rise of the Tomb Raider it changes gears. I don't think it's a night and day switch though, I mean it's still largely the same combat with a few more options but there is a lot more to everything.

So I would say, without spoilers, get to the "Lake of the Nine" and if at that point you're still not having any fun with it then I guess you can stop there because it's just more of that going forward.

I haven't played but everything i read says it takes a few hours to get good, but sometimes you just end up not liking a game everyone claims they love. The praise it gets versus the criticism i have read post launch don't seem to line up 1 to 1, i think i will enjoy it but taking hours to get good usually turns me off a game.

Speaking from my personal experience at least I would not say that the game takes a few hours to become good, but rather that it takes a few hours to become great. If you`re not enjoying it at all in the first couple of hours you`re probably not going to end up loving it since other than the game opening up more nothing else changes drastically. The thing I think people might greatly change their opinion on is the combat which takes a bit of time getting used to. For me the combat got better and better as I went played the game more and started get a handle on Kratos` abilities and how to use them. By the time I finished the game I loved the combat.

Speaking to the OP I would also add that sometimes a game is just not for you and that`s totally OK. Super Mario Galaxy did not click for me and I ended up thinking it was just an OK platformed even though that game seems to be pretty universally loved. It`s a bummer when you can`t get into something everyone seems a lot of people enjoy, but you also probably really like something other people don`t and you get to have an incredible experience that other people don`t get to have.

This game hasn’t really grabbed me yet either, and I am significantly deep into it at this point, well past the part where it supposedly gets good. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I do like the game and I think it’s good, but speaking only for myself, it’s certainly not the game of the generation. Anytime I go into the menus and start messing with armor and weapons and upgrades etc my eyes glaze over. Partly because I just don’t care, partly because it’s a little overwhelming, and partly because even after the patch that increases the size of the text, I still find the text way too small. The combat is fine, I guess, but again, speaking just for me, I’m not finding it super compelling or interesting.

But again. These are nitpicks and I do understand why people are loving it and I do think it’s good. It’s beautiful looking and the story is worth seeing through. But for me it’s not the 10/10 experience that a lot of people have had/are having. And that’s fine, not everything has to be perfect to be enjoyable.

@youeightit: Yah the problem with these situations is that you have the game get critical acclaim with some publications (well, established websites at this point) throwing down quotes like "game of the generation" or talking about how every living human needs to experience this. You get those lofty expectations, and unless you're living under a rock it's hard not to get even slightly influenced by word of mouth, and then when the final game is really good but not an instant game changer that in of itself can be extremely disappointing. I know that personally I kept waiting for the game to reach those heights I read about and it simply never did. Enjoyed my time with it, was really motivated to keep going because of the story, but what was there just wasn't enough for me personally. Still a great title, just not the mind blowing game changer that some set it out to be.

@humanity: yes! you articulated the rest of my thoughts about the game pretty succinctly.

Keep in mind that now it's been hyped all to hell, for some people it's never going to live up to that standard, and that's perfectly fine. There's definitely some kind of cause and effect for this stuff. I feel like we've had this happen enough times now to recognize it when it's happening. The only time this has happened to me was with Shadow of Mordor. I went out expecting the best and what I got was less than that (in my eyes).

Now with all that said, don't think I'm saying this game is above critique or that people not liking it as much as others means it's something wrong with them. I just think the whole hype process for modern media and the inevitable backwards snowballing of reception is interesting.

Personally i found the game really good from the start, i keep hearing people saying its slow and boring. I didn't have that feeling when i played it, i was captured from start to finish.

I pretty much loved it from the start. If you aren't getting any enjoyment now, it is probably not for you.

@sombre: I'm maybe 8 hours in or so. I like it, but I totally get what you're saying about the combat. For me, it feels good most of the time, but when I'm just pounding on enemies and only taking a sliver of their health, I don't find that compelling or fun. I'm playing on the "normal" tier difficulty and I may have to turn it down. I've died multiple times when getting swarmed by enemies. I agree with what's been said on the podcasts: it feels like the camera is too close for the type of combat encounters this game has. If it helps, remember that you can lock on to an enemy by pressing R3. This has been pretty helpful for me.

I like the writing and the voice acting and I'm interested to see where they go with the story.

Slow burn of the year, really. It will still be opening up 5 hours in, so give it time.

It's funny seeing everyone's opinion of this game change, especially the GB crew. I don't know if it was just over hype or if it's just cool now to hate on a popular game.

It's worth the hype in my eyes. Loved it from the outset. YMMV

It took 3 to 5 hours for me to start liking it a lot. The game really starts once (I don't think this is a real spoiler since it's in most the trailers and gameplay videos before launch) but once Kratos meets Mimir and he's on the journey with you. Combat wise, I started the game on hard then went to normal because fighting a bunch of the undead at once got annoying and wasn't fun to me. The enemy count is higher at the beginning of the game than the middle or end for some reason.

I've found I really just like...being in the world? I don't love the combat either (far from it honestly) but I find time slipping away when I play. The constant back and forth with Kratos/Atreus, no matter how minor, just works. There's 1 billion chests to open but they're consistently satisfying somehow.

I'm with others in that it took a few hours to get going but I think the game is paced really well if you manage to find a thread to latch onto.

Give it a few more hours. I'd say play until you get back from Alfheim but that might be a little far.

I'll parrot the give it a little time thing. But the combat seems to be the real divide. I personally love it and find everything from large mass encounters to challenging one on one fights great, especially as your options continually open up as far as what you can switch between and work with.

I love just about everything about the thing, but especially the exploration and lore. Combine that with combat I enjoy and I can see what the hype is about. I also went out of my way to read at most a few headlines from people I trusted and that was it, so the possibility of over hype didn't really happen for me, and it seems to be running rampant right now. For example, I didn't even know it was being called the Game of the Generation...

Having said all of that, I did find myself frustrated at times in the period you're at OP. Mostly because the combat is so rudimentary it becomes a slog in some fights. I definitely recommend you stick with it, but try your best to keep the expectations in check. I think it's a wonderful game but if you went in expecting to have your life changed I doubt you'll hit those highs.

@sombre: I just wanted to update you since I really empathized with your original post: I’ve been playing all evening, focusing on upgrading Atreus as much as possible. And it has VASTLY improved my enjoyment of the game. With just a few hours of effort I’ve basically turned him into a Nier-esque drone. This is not a spoiler, I just upgraded him instead of Kratos. But him becoming a straight up killing machine really turned the game around for me (although even cranked to the max, the text is still too damn small).

I know they talked about focusing on Atreus a little bit on the Beastcast this week, and that was what gave me the idea. But I really think this is a key element that maybe a lot of people in their glowing reviews haven’t really touched on that much. But I suggest trying that. Upgrade the bow, the armor, and work on his skill trees and see if that helps you.

I'd say you should give it time. That said, the game for me has its ups and downs and is definitely not my favorite game of the generation, nor is it probably in my top ten of the generation. It's a good game. Just play it through and give your take though. That said, The Last of Us, however, is one of my favorite games of all time. To be honest, like I said about the ups and downs, the game feels like it picks up at one point, then it starts becoming consistently good but not all that exciting, and then at another point in the story it picks up again, and then that excitement dies down again. It has its ups and downs, but at some point does overall have a consistent feel for how good it is.

I'll echo some of what others have been saying in that it's a bit of a slow burn and gets better as time goes on. Honestly, I think the game as a whole could've done with some trimming. I was flagging for a bit near the middle when it was mostly "Kratos and Son try to find 80 different macguffins" but once I reached a certain plot moment around the 2/3rds mark it gave me more than enough momentum to see it through to the end.

It starts off real slow and they spend like 5-10 hours drip feeding you the game's features. No idea why they thought that was a good idea. It's not like they're doing anything new or complicated.

I'm enjoying it a lot more now and while the combat isn't great, it's fine and you just start tearing through enemies. Would recommend playing on normal or easy because hard is just a slog and enemies take forever to kill.

I liked everything but the combat early on, but after a couple hours it really opens up and becomes a lot more fun. At least, that's what happened to me.

One of those rare games that makes me like it more and more as I go.

I think it's kind of game that starts slow and then only gets better as you go along. I didn't really like it much either around the area you are at. But as everything falls into place it only improves. Stick with it for another 2h maybe?

This game grabbed me right from the start. The combat gets more interesting as the game goes on. Once you start to get used to the different abilities - blocking, dodging, special attacks, Atreus's arrows - everything starts to come together and feel really good. The feeling of rolling away just in time or parrying and counter-attacking is great. The combat feels very 'tangible' somehow - enemies react to your actions in a way that makes sense. For example, they will cancel out of their special attacks if you can get a stun in first, and this gives a nice risk-reward system. But it's the story that kept me going. Really want to know where it will end up.

The only complaints I have: The loot and equipment system is way too complicated for a game of this type, and the menus are needlessly confusing. Also, sometimes fighting too many weak-ish enemies between story beats gets repetitive.

Just beat the game, forced myself to kind of enjoy the combat and equipment level system, and defeated all of the Valkyries. After beating the main game, getting some of the best armor in the game, endured countless runs in Niflheim, and doing some challenge runs at "Fire Mountain," I have concluded this game has a weak amount of content. There really isn't much to do once you're done with the main stuff there is to offer. I guess all I have left to do is wait for future DLC, because I have no desire to find all of Odin's ravens or collect every single artifact. That's just bullshit busywork.

I do admit I had to turn down the difficulty in Niflheim since the fucking timer was counting down too quick, even with the equipment slots for higher resistance and that one ax pommel that'll increase resistance upon killing something. That place wasn't fun whatsoever.

One more thing: do they really think it's necessary to have the game kind of pause after picking up purple or yellow quality loot? That shit became super annoying!

@rubberbabybuggybumpers: A weak amount of content seems a little unfair? I don't know my exact hour count but it had to be in the 60+ range once I put it down. Obviously your mileage with with the end game stuff may vary but I think even mainlining the quest with sidequests is probably hour wise far from something to call content weak, IMO.

In terms of time, I spent probably three days of playing 8 hours throughout the day. It's weak compared to today's standards. This game isn't deserving of all the praise it has been getting. I just read the developer isn't really planning on releasing DLC. If that is the case, then this game will become another one that will be deleted off my PS4's hard drive and will never return. There isn't any incentive to play it once you've done all the somewhat important side stuff and completed the story.

@rubberbabybuggybumpers: Fair enough, I'd say doing all of that in around 24 hours is pretty significantly under average, but even still I don't think 24 hours for a singleplayer game is content weak from my perspective, but I also got more than double that so, to each their own.

@rubberbabybuggybumpers:

Your opinion, ofcourse. I really didn't like and thought and still do think that last year's Zelda game (I can't even remember the name it bored me so much) was nowhere near deserving of the praise it got.

Not sure how you got through the game in 24 hours, heck a "speedrun" is like 10 hours apparently . Even so, it's a single player game, you got your fill and noones aksinf you to play it again, I certainly won't! I think you are of the minority complaining they won't be nickel and dimeing us with DLC.

Each to their own I guess.

Why do I keep seeing people who aren't liking the game saying they had to turn the difficulty down?

It's a weird trend I'm noticing

I totally agree with you. I can understand if people don`t enjoy the story or the combat isn`t clicking for them, but saying that the game lacks content seems really weird. The main story alone is at least double the length of the single player in a previous God of War game and if you do all the side quests you can probably double that.

I thought this was weird as well. After a couple of hours I felt I had to turn the difficulty up and I definitely do not consider myself much above average at these types of games.

Also it seems some people were expecting this to have as much side content as TW3 or something? For the type of game this is, it is dense as hell. Those complaints seem way off base to me.

I've loved the game from minute 1, but it definitely gets better as you go. That said, I'm never someone who looks for difficulty in my games(aside from the Dark Souls games) and playing it on Regular was the perfect challenge. And I played it like a Souls game, learning attack patterns and when to back off, when to be agressive, utilizing all of my options.

Interesting to see The Last of Us mentioned as that is the only game that I've ever beaten on a hard mode. Might be again because I took the time to learn and love the combat. It really added to the sense of desperation. And again, the people who I see not liking TLOU also complain about the difficulty most times.

Might boil down to letting yourself get over hyped on these games. They're great, but throwing out the phrase greatest of the generation is always going to set you up for disappointment.

I'm super bored and most likely not going to play it anymore. I don't care for father or son. (why am i doing any of this? ashes?) I hate the combat (it isn't hard, just heavy and disjointed. I hate telling the kid to shoot!)

I'm a deep enough in that if i don't like it now i'm not going to? I have the "light" and just killed the horn-evil-fly-bug guy. I'm heading back to the teleporter building thing.

The game is "fine" but not hooking me... I'd keep playing if it wasn't for the clunky combat (and crappy camera).

That said, i'm super bored. :) there are only so many time i can kill monsters in MHW.

OP, did you end up liking it more?

@sirpsychosexy: there is definitely a misconception out there that it's an open world game, which may be part of the reason for that. I have no idea where that came from - it's obviously in the mould of 'linear but with lots of exploration' stuff like Arkham Asylum and Rise of Tomb Raider. Which is a structure I greatly enjoy!

As for the combat, it doesn't fall exactly into the pattern of any other game I have played, (most similar to a soulsborne game but it's obviously a thousand times more arcadey). I can see some people not getting to grips with it as there's quite a lot of options and it can feel really fantastic if you 'get' it, but I get the impression that the full scope of the system passed a lot of people by.