So I picked up Ascension a few days ago. I'm on my second run-through right now. Here are some impressions:

First thing's first; this is the best looking game I've ever played for the PS3, no contest. The level of detail is jaw-dropping; it's amazing what they're still pulling out of the Cell this late in. I was constantly left in awe by how amazing everything looked. Santa Monica knows how good it looks too, however, and is often overzealous about showing how epic everything is. There were several points in which Santa Monica's fetish for blockbuster spectacle drowned out the "gameplay " part of the game. 

Just in the opening segment with the Hekatonchires, there were several moments where I could barely tell what was going on. Throughout the game, the camera would sometimes zooms out way too far during combat just to show how huge and pretty everything is. Nor do the new minigames--button-mashing affairs broken up by hugely-telegraphed attacks while you stab away--break up the monotony that comes with the cinematic kills of regular enemies. 

That was one of many issues I had with the combat, which was a mixed bag--a disappointment after how much fun I had with the demo.

I really appreciated the changes in the controls, and the amazing new grappling mechanics. I've always wanted to grab enemies from long range and attack while holding the opponent from afar. But overall, fighting feels like a real slog; the "weaker and inexperienced" Kratos, along with the replacement of an actual arsenal with weapon drops and elemental power-ups, made fights a chore after a while. I can understand why they took that approach from a story standpoint, but that doesn't make it anymore fun. (I miss the Nemean Cestus. *sadface* )

And the story was the weakest part of the campaign for me.

The other prequels in the series on the PSP covered story elements that I was genuinely curious about. I wanted to see Kratos's other tasks before he fought Ares (Chains of Olympus), and what happened between God of War 1 and 2 (Ghost of Sparta). But I was deeply skeptical about the segment of the timeline covered by Ascension as soon as we heard about what would be covered, and playing through it only confirmed my initial doubts.

We already knew how much of a burden the death of Kratos' family was on his mind. That has been the central thrust behind Kratos' character from the beginning. We didn't need to spend an entire game on his inability to cope with their deaths, or go over every detail of how he broke his bond with Ares. The only other aspect of Kratos' past I want to see is the time BEFORE he made the oath to Ares--and even that wouldn't be worth full-on console treatment from the main team IMO.

And that's the main issue I have with the single-player. While it plays decently enough, it doesn't feel like it needs to exist. Throught the game, I kept wondering why they couldn't just put these resources towards a God of War IV on PS4, or a new IP entirely. While pretty to look at and grand in visual scope, the game itself feels really small-ball and inconsequential--which I never once felt about either of the PSP prequels.

This was the weakest single-player experience I've ever had with a God of War game.

The camera issue only happens 4 times in the whole game. So it is not a game breaking issue. It bothers a bit but it is not something abysmal really.

Regarding the combat, if you learn how to use the new mechanics it is really fun :) 

Story wise yeah, It required more cutscenes, and the cutscenes it already has need more impact. But it is a nice story for me.

i agree with the camera issue pissed me off more than once while playing and yeah the from a story point of view its not as compelling as GoW 3 for example imo

but i don't really agree with your comments on kratos' arsenal if anything i feel as if i had more options in combat this time around

the elemental upgrades each add unique moves as you upgrade them that imo make them about as different as the claws, blades and whip were to each other in GoW 3
on that note though the cestus still remains as my favourite GoW weapon

Same here. :)

As to the variety issue: I didn't feel the elemental upgrades added the same variety as new weapons did in past games. Plus you had ALL of those weapons with you at all times, as opposed to being limited to just carrying one dropped weapon at a time like in Ascension--and being limited to whatever the game feels nice enough to give you on top of that. It was a big step down in variety to me.

The camera got a little ridiculous in the beginning. It was like SMS was trying to say, "LOOK AT THE SCALE MUTHAFUCKAS!" After that it was pretty manageable.

As for the combat. I don't see how anyone that's a fan of hack n' slash games or any of the previous GOW entries could call the combat in this game a chore. Even my brother, who generally dismissed the series in favor of DMC (we've had loooong arguments about this) agrees with me that this is one of the greatest playing hack n' slash games in existence. You can't just bulldoze your way through enemies or spam L1+Square like the old games, which makes the gameplay much more dynamic and faster paced. This is the first game since GOW1, where I wanted to immediately run through the entire game all over again.

As for the story. I agree with the OP mostly. The cut scenes were way too spaced out and throughout most of the game, they seemed pointless. Towards the end though, things made more sense in my opinion. I will say that the ending left me thinking, "Okay. Didn't we already know most of this?"

I still have yet to get into the MP though. Hopefully this weekend.

I love this game no stupid challenges. :D

The only change I didnt like is the new parry system. Before its was just quickly tap L1 before you get hit now it tap L1 and press X. I mean just why?