It has an average story that takes itself too seriously, with a protagonist that never convinces you as the same man from the original trilogy. The personality they made for him is bland. The original character wasn't great either, but at least they kept any introspection to a minimum and focused first and foremost on the gameplay. The Greek myths it was inspired by didn't have characters talking and talking idly for hours on end, making quips, which makes the reboot such an odd fit. I'd puke if Clash of the Titans had that everyday Marvel dialogue. It's embarrassing how seriously the game takes itself while feeling so amateur as a story. In the original trilogy, it was more like the story was just there to move you along through the epic, so it was easier to forgive its shortcomings. The narrator and cutscenes moved the story along nicely. The new game being presented in a single camera shot just puts you through more nothing in the story. Cutscenes could have expedited some of the more boring parts.
About 80 percent of the game is without music, replaced by the talking and the ambient sounds, a stark contrast to the bombastic, atmospheric scores of the original trilogy. No music would work if it was a game that oozed atmosphere and had complex levels, like the Souls series, but here, because the level design and art direction aren't that good, the lack of music just makes it all more boring after a while. As does the lack of comical violence and nudity.
Placated Kratos can't even jump. Some fighter. I could defeat him by simply getting above him. Bitch won't even be able to see me half the time because the third person shooter camera gives him a terrible field of view. He can't turn his head separately. At least he can turn digitally instead of by slow analog now. That's something. The fixed cameras of the original trilogy worked much better. You could handle more enemies faster and traverse the levels more easily without constantly flicking at the camera. Didn't need those artificial danger indicators.
There aren't many exploration-focused 3D action-adventure games without jumping. Zelda didn't have it for the longest time, but it made up for that with better level design, and it still built platforms for the auto-jump. If the platforms were too far, Link would grab them. In God of War, the auto-jump is just there to get you to the next part of the room, and it doesn't even feel like a part of the gameplay. Makes the areas more one-dimensional than they used to be. Also gives you fewer ways to dodge, which means the enemies have fewer types of attacks. But yeah, if you can't jump, then your action-adventure better have really good level design to compensate, and God of War just doesn't. Some people call it Metroidvania, but how well are most areas designed? Being interconnected doesn't make one area good. Good level design would be much harder for God of War to do because it now has to accommodate the partner AI, walking and talking and cinematic moments.
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