An IP that has four installments needs to do something different, some will like it and some will hate it. I personally like the new approach for God of War. I will explain why the original triology hit it's climax when part 3 arrived. You simply can't top that game as accension, (while still enjoyable enough) proved. Sure the game had it's epics but if we are fair it just wasn't as awesome as fighting against gods and titans. A newer more open world (or at least those pop ups of learning) skills seems like a good re-imagining of the series. Why they choose to hold on to kratos is beyond me, anyways the series is starting fresh and does things differently I can only encourage that. Besides I still thought the troll battle was pretty awesome and the battling with the minions still looked good enough especially brutally murdering one with your fists. (Oh come on everyone is a bit of a sadist when playing God of War).
Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar
