i thought that the original god of war was a great game with a bunch of odd design choices that make it frustrating.
1.) hades pillars - the stupidest, dumbest, craziest game mechanic ever conceived by mankind. no fun can be achieved from climbing them, and they're far too unforgiving, which results in you spending an hour on something that isn't fun at all.
2.) too few boss fights - after you've killed your hundredth minotaur, it ain't fun anymore.
3.) desert of lost souls - finding 3 banshees in this huge area, all of them having a random path, will take forever. stupidity reigned in this part of the game. god of war is about searching?
god of war 2, however, is an absolute masterpiece. good thing that idiot jaffe was replaced.