Story, loot, fight, story, fight boss, story, loot. When you break down Valhallas Gameplay loop it is very very similar to the classic god of war games (though the older games had a LOT more cinematic flare over the story parts paired with QTE'S to hide the loop more) that makes it a really nice return to form for me personally. And if they were to speed up kratos' attacks and pull the camera back then it could easily just be another classic GOW game.
In a way but the older games also used puzzles and platforming in the gameplay cycle which is nowhere to be seen for that true classic gameplay loop. It definitely has some OG god of war flare about it, pulling the camera back would have extenuated that but I wouldn't say it feels like going back to the ways of old
I guess, if you squint real hard...but you can fit any game into that description...Felt nothing like the original to me...felt like your average rouguelike...
As someone that played the DLC a lot longer, there are more issues with the gameplay that stop making this DLC feel like a rouge like. For one, the first chest you open when you start a run deeply influences everything else you can pick up and even what rooms you visit. Like say you pick up something for the Leviathan Axe from the chest in the first room then you are guaranteed to go to Niflheim, get a Nornir chest with Leviathan crests if the question mark door appears, and all the weapon perks are made for only that weapon. The only thing that you can get for other weapons once you lock in your weapon choice are the different runic attacks for the other weapons. The lack of randomness is nice if you want to get through the story but on a lot of repeat plays it gets stale. What I would like to have in this mode is if you can get weapon perks and upgrades for all weapons rather than the one you lock in the first chest. Though I'm happy with what we got but some changes to some gameplay elements would be nice if they implemented them but that might be too much to ask for. I have like 10 hrs or more in this game mode if anyone is curious. Feel free to ask for tips, I know a few more.
Why are you saying the final boss is the same? Just because you fight the same character each time doesn't mean you are fighting the same boss. He uses different weapons each time and fights you differently each time as well. The only thing that stays the same with each encounter with Tyr is the fact that he disengages for a while when you get him mid-health and forces you to fight some minions. But even then the way the minions attack you is different across the three variations as well. Other than that, I do agree with your thoughts on the dlc.
Maybe it comes down to my playtime, I only played about 5 or 6 runs after the story but my RNG was very similar for the Tyr fights. Always had the nightelf effect for whatever reason which made the fights feels the same. I agree I should have highlighted the differences in that fight as I did experience it while playing the story but just not much after the fact
I consider myself a regular GOW fan been playing since the PS2 and PSP all the way up to now the PS5 and Valhalla was decent not great great but not bad either just decent for a little short dlc.
To most it might not be that great which I get, but if you like god of war and such and the game it turns out to be really good and its amazing to his character development
Really enjoyed your video. As someone who's been playing since Day 1 of the original the DLC has been supremely satisfying. I want a remake of the trilogy real bad, or at least a remaster.
Banger vid and i havent even played Ragnarok! It would be awesome to see you review more games! FromSoft games would be so cool. (P.S; I was wrong about Sekiro, that game is bussin.)
It gets a full rating from me on the basis of not playing as Atreus. His sections of the main game killed my motivation to do multiple playthroughs. Whoever made that choice at SM needs to be fired...or go to jail lol
@MayorHairBear going through ironwood now on gmgow and it's agonizing. He is far too underpowered even for hard mode. Makes an otherwise boring 1-2 hour section an infuriating 4 hour slog.
@MayorHairBear LMAAAAO Týr definitely have gained my respect, dude is quite tough. For me these last gow games on highest difficulty are just so tasty to play on. In valhalla was almost unbearably hard though. Repeating all that over and over xD
Was fucking so tough on mastery struggles for a while on tyr’s final form but got some good runs with the blades and the blades can be ridiculously overpowered if you get all the triangle buffs and cooldowns it made the fight a joke honestly had 4 res stones and didn’t need any in the end
I think that's about where I sit. I enjoyed the gameplay more so but if nothing else the story is worth pushing through the gameplay if it isn't your cup of tea!
it really is a good time but I wouldn't call it something revolutionary aside of the free price. I do wonder about the base Kratos mechanic and then have to unlock a certain "build" for that run. Everything you already unlocked and spent hours and hours building on him during Ragnarok is out the door. I really enjoyed it for the nostalgia, played by 5-6 hours and back to other games :)
The first time I tried it I was wary of the roguelite aspect and while I really don't think it works well in a game like Ragnarok, I do want to sit down and bang out the trophies. I have my issues with the story of the main game, mainly with the tonal whiplash I get watching certain scenes (like Freya randomly screaming during the scene that she contemplates working with Kratos to free Vanaheim I guess to seem intimidating? I'm sure she knows Kratos would kill her if he ever stopped holding back so hearing that scream never made me think "Oh fuck she's pissed you better listen to her Kratos" it just made me laugh), how rushed it felt to get to the resolutions (Namely with Freya and Kratos trauma dumping onto each other in Vanaheim basically out of nowhere then after killing Nidhogg she learns to accept it? After all this time of playing the determined bounty hunter you just let it go?), and how Atreus made so many of the same mistakes as he did as a kid in 2018 (letting arrogance blind his judgement thinking he's such hot shit that he would've been able to survive if Freya truly tried to kill him and believing he could actually outsmart Odin despite hearing countless stories of his cruelty, manipulation, and complete disregard for anything that fell outside of his single minded pursuit of his own selfish goals when Atreus has barely tapped into his godly powers and still is nowhere close to full control over them), but overall I enjoyed the gameplay loop well enough. Not perfect, but solid. For me I just don't think the roguelite elements transition as smoothly in my eyes as other people feel, but that's just one random dude's opinion and I still haven't played enough of Valhalla to say that I've given it a fair shot.
Idk what difficulty you played on, but I would imagine the replay ability is more about being able to achieve a 100% run on the highest difficulty. I started on mastery, but due to me wanting to not have to avoid spoilers, I dropped it to courage in order to finish the story in a reasonable amount of time. I’ve finished a couple runs in the end game and I haven’t gotten tired of the gameplay loop yet. I love trying to make the best build and choosing a specific weapon path. Now I’m moving on to the higher difficulty levels. You’re right that the game could really use even more to increase the longevity and wider variety of gameplay from run to run, but considering this was a free addition to an existing game repurposing all of the assets and gameplay with a couple additions to create a fantastic rougelite/like experience, they did an incredible job and exceeded most people’s expectations especially from a story perspective. Comparing this mode to other more complete standalone roguelite/like games is probably a bit unfair because it’s ultimately just a DLC and FREE which is still crazy to think about. I can only imagine what they could do if they made a full fledged standalone roguelite/like God of War game just like this DLC but on another level of gameplay variety and scale.
So I personally played on the middle difficulty while playing the story and upped it on the 5 or so runs I completed after (before scripting the video, I've probably in total played for around 10 hours now and that was me sort of done) You bring up some good points and it really all boils down to the fact that you're correct, this is essentially flipped assets done really well for a great piece of free content. Where I was coming from was more so, hey if Santa Monica wanted to really do something like this in the future they aren't far off they just need to add some more variety in the combat and randomness and they're there. But in the end, I got 10 hours out of this DLC and it didn't cost me a dime which is special
Normally I absolutely hate roguelite games. To me they're a repetitive, annoying and frustrating slog. So I really hope I'm surprised by this DLC and enjoy it. I just wrapped up all of Ragnarok including side questions and hidden content in just under 50 hours. Going to start Valhalla soon and see how I like it. I would have prefered a more straight forward linear story DLC but I'll give it a go and have an open mind.
It's free but it's alright...the whole talking down to Kratos as this is a therapy kind of annoyed me...when Tyr beat the shit out of me and said "trust the process" I nearly lost it...and the Valkyries saying "I know you can do it" in this "non-violent comunication" tone so they don't hurt my feelins was actually a little bit degrading...I rather they wrote a story about reviving Brok...why do these writers have to be so pretentious...
Considering it's FREE, I give it an A+. You get to engage in combat whenever you want without having to sit through a story. You get to see Kratos come to terms with his past. Really well done.
I definitely agree with the armour but the blade is good how it is for me. Makes sense to be a spartan rage ability and feels bad ass when you activate it in a tough fight
If you get the right build and make sure you parry a bunch to replenish rage meter, you could use the blade for a long time without running out and having to put it away. It’s not on a timer so you can just hold it as long as you want technically. I had a particular run where I lucked into multiple rage perks and I was going ham with the blade and it felt like I never ran out. I’m excited to use it in new game plus with some insane rage builds
I didn’t like the DLC’s gameplay loop personally as I’m not into roguelikes in general, but I did like how it was themed as like a trip down memory lane for OG fans like myself, that I enjoyed. So I’m conflicted due to this if asked if I like the DLC or not lol. But I definitely recommend ppl play it especially being free and all.
I think that's completely fair, the gameplay isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but the story is worth pushing through even in that instance in my opinion!
I would love to see you do a video about sly cooper series or just an individual game from that series I loved these games as a kid they were a big part of my childhood
As someone who grew up with the OG games (heck, the original 2005 God of War was one of the very first PS2 games I ever bought and played, and I've loved the series and played every game since), this was truly a love letter to us OG fans. But not only was this was a love letter, this really felt like the dev team knuckling down and properly connecting Kratos' Greek past with his present in the Norse world. And I loved every minute of it. I loved that they took the time to recontextualise many of his prior actions, as I, like yourself, get frustrated by people who just say the old GoW games are just "angry man is angry". It is so wrong on so many levels. So hopefully Valhalla will finally remove that ridiculous criticism. I also went in completely blind to this, and I am so glad I did! My jaw dropped constantly at the returning classic enemies, the brilliantly executed Blade of Olympus reveal, the clever Helios-from-Mimir swap, and the iconic location setpieces. All of it was fantastic and nostalgic. This is all not to mention that Christopher Judge's soliloquy at the end was both one of his best performances in the series to date, but it was also another beautiful connection to the Greek saga; given soliloquies are a common theme in Greek tragedies. Final point, I'm glad we got to see the real Tyr here, too! As excited as I was finding him in the Asgard prison in Niflheim at the end of Ragnarok, I was just as equally disappointed when he basically did nothing or even had any interesting dialogue to offer. I remember I went to every realm to find him and much of it was him just silently observing stuff, with no extra dialogue at all. So it was refreshing to see him here as a mentor. And the boss fights with him was an unexpected delight! Even more, given that it visually confirmed all of his visits to other lands/mythologies. All in all, this is probably one of the best DLC's to any game I've ever played. And the fact it was 100% free is totally insane and awesome to me!
Everybody misunderstood this dlc!! You're crazy to think this is supposed to go on forever, and also santa Monica themselves mever said this is a rogues like dlc, everybody else did. Yes it has elements but in their god of war way
@@SortofFriendlySMdude that perk for the spear is crazy! I literally melted enemies by just throwing all my spears, and detonate all the different elements together 😂
The price or lack there of doesn't make criticism mute. I understand what we got is incredible and hence why I said in the video I know why this wasn't included. I was saying, this mode had a lot of potential and with more randomised areas and weapons it could have kept people coming back. So free or not I was just pointing it out.
Honestly the only thing I would say is they should’ve had tyr have different defeat animations, that felt repetitive for a main character Other than that, 10/10
The story was what I played for I’ve never played a rouge like before so this was my dip into the pool. My friend did tell me that Hades is a far better representative of the genre so I did buy it and will play it.
This is the most generous piece of free content I've ever played , story and lore wise it really fleshes out and gives closure to kratos character arc and how much he's grown.
as an OG fan this dlc was amazing ! they actually still acknowledge his past until some other games *cough* tomb raider *cough* and they appreciate the fan base. they understand our love for the old games which i appreciate so so much. wonderful dlc and some gorgeous photomode options
It *is* a reboot 🤨 Cory barlog has gone over this in its entirety already. Just like we see several Thanoses and Spider-Mans and Gamoras in the MCU movies … The narrative of the story was entirely shifted. Literally a reboot in every sense of the word. But also a continuation of what we know.
@@frogglen6350 You obviously haven’t seen Cory barlog explaining how he views the mythologies 🤡 And I didn’t say it wasn’t a sequel, dumbfuck 😂 I said it’s more like another universe with the same backstory. It is literally a reboot. It’s not GoW 4 🤡 It’s GoW 2018. Everything about the the hardware and software and mechanics of the game is different. It is a *reboot* 😂 Are you really arguing that? And you already misinterpreted everything I said. Cory directly answered this question of “Is this the same Kratos we knew in the old games?” He answered in a “yes, but no” way. He said he views the mythologies like they’re happening in alternate universes “slightly paraphrased but not a lie or misrepresentation at all.
I don't think I'm going to try the DLC for a while. I'm glad everything is enjoying it but I've experienced too many roguelike DLCs recently and they tend to feel samey
I definitely expected he would be the final final boss but ending wise I enjoyed that Kratos confronting his biggest "demon" and just berating him like I'm sure he does sub consciously quite often
it’s meh just to much distance between doors and if you use the skull one you can skip a few but lose crucial upgrades to fight tyr and it sucked how you had to fight tyr multiple times they could’ve used a checkpoint at his boss fight
I tried the dlc but I can’t stand kratos anymore.. cannot deal with his constant pontificating and philosophizing bullshit anymore.. I really tried to get into this dlc, but by the time I went through the first few rooms I was so sick of hearing kratos and mimir speak I had to turn it off
It wasn’t “Marvel like” *AT ALL* 😂🤡🤡🤡 Nothing childish about this game. And “Childlike” is actually a good thing-but again, not an accurate description here.
