Been wanting to try out Back4Blood. DmC V is a nice addition too.

 Just ordered a mech game from Japan from Level-5. Megaton Musashi. Took a gamble since I can't read Japanese but finished imports before so maybe. Hopefully fun.

I really like the way Naughty Dog and Sony have handled things for the most part. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's style of 'let's make an IP and rely on it for all of eternity" works when their quality is as high as it is, but I like Sony's more segmented style. Make Killzone and Resistance, give each 3-5 games, then move on. Sly cooper? Few games to make it a series or trilogy, then move on. Uncharted, Jak and Daxter, inFamous, etc. Most of their franchises they'll make a few games, then move on. 

Because of that, we ended up with Naughty Dog making Crash Bandicoot for a while, then moving on to create Jak, then moving on to create Uncharted, then moving on (mostly) to create The Last of Us. 4 iconic franchises, none milked too dry. I love it. I also love that Insomniac had a vaguely similar style with the exception of Ratchet & Clank. they did Spyro, then moved on to do a Ratchet trilogy on Ps2, then on Ps3 they split to do Resistance and more Ratchet, then on Ps4 they did...more Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man. 

I love that Guerilla Games went on from Killzone to make the excellent Horizon games. 

I love that sucker Punch went on from Sly Cooper then inFamous to create Ghost of Tsushima. 

I love that Santa monica took the generic hack and slash GOW games and were willing to try something new with the action RPG style 2018/Ragnarok. 

I love that we get a nice blend of extended franchises AND new experiences AND new IP with Sony. sometimes shit doesn't hit or fails or disappoints but you can't pretend they don't at least try new things. They've got variety and quality and quantity. Yeah that means we occasionally get drivel like Destruction All-Stars or sad failures to launch/imitations like PS All-Stars Battle Royale (which I actually liked but it's no Smash Bros.) yeayay, fangirl and all, but this is why I'm so into Sony's shit. When they release a new IP or try something new, there's good reason to pay attention because we could get a new iconic IP or a Classic retelling. There's always that risk but like....that's art. Not all art is going to be successful. 

IF you're not taking risks, you become EA or Activision or Ubisoft. When was the last time any of them did something new and interesting and risky that wasn't also just a microtransaction gold rush right to our wallets? Sony out here proving singleplayer games without microtransactions or 'perpetual money machine' mechanics can still sell well. Didn't Uncharted 4, Horizon, Spider-Man, and God of War 2018 ALL sell 20 million or more on Ps4? I swear I remember seeing those numbers but upon fact checking I see that's not the case? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_PlayStation_4_video_games

I go there and see that Horizon is cited at 10 million but a simple google reveals it also sold 20 million? Doesn't matter. Point is, PS4 was a beast, Sony is doing well, and I love the ecosystem because of the games. Performance isn't as important as gaming experiences and Sony is regularly pushing amazing stuff that doesn't feel like work/a job and sells well. Good stuff. Keep it up. 

lol - I'm actually watching the anime for it.

Its on Season 2 right now - just watched episode 10 of season 2 the other day

I will say that my only true disagreement is calling the original GoW trilogy a generic hack and slash, for me they were really quality games hitting all the boxes I needed at the time (and I didn't even played the original version, played several years after the fact).

To be fair I confess I actively dislike God of War's original trilogy/Ascension. that version of Kratos is just a shitty, shitty person. I hated playing as him. All the talk of how it's a tragedy is nonsense. Kratos did everything to himself, he deserved everything that came to him, and it felt like a 12 year old with too much time watching Slipknot suddenly got slipped a Greek Mythology textbook. 

HAted them. Hated Kratos. Hated the gameplay (It felt really basic and generic, almost patronizing with its puzzles, etc), and it was just edgelord nonsense. No idea why people like it so much. 

Your vision and opinion is certainly valid, I do agree he partially deserved it, but a lot of his actions were fruit of Ares.

yeah, Ares was punishing him for his bloodlust. Ares was the cause but it wasn't without good reason on Kratos' part. 

I don't think the general consensus is that Kratos is some innocent hero. He's not a good person. But I think it's important to realise the many ways in which the Gods don't bother to help him. 

Kratos ends up killing his family in servitude of Ares. (who is complicit) . After 10 years of wanting to erase those memories (not find redemption), he is merely forgiven from the Gods (they know what he wants but don't give it to him). When wanting to end his life, he is told he will become a God (which is something he clearly doesn't want). When they aren't happy with him as a God, they kill him .

Kratos is is all rage, all self-loathing. But I also don't think the narrative or characterisation is presented deeply enough for most people to care. The GoW trilogy is just an evolution of the 2D arcade beat em up genre, which is where most of it's appeal comes from (imo).

Personally, I think the GoW trilogy is better than something like the DMC trilogy. Not that I don't like the latter, I just find the former to be immensely more fun to play. Kratos being the way he is was a lot more unique than what gaming was going for (vs the altruistic hero or smart Alec bad boys).

But I'm also glad they have moved past that because it clearly wasn't a sustainable element over a long period. 

I do agree the story wasn't deep or gave all the info on the original trilogy, but for me it was enough to infer the reasons and justifications of what happened and ties and explain most if not all the complains people make on the norse myth.