You have to hit the shield bash right after the parry to interrupt, if you delay they will continue.  There are some bosses that do multiple hits you cannot shield bash through but you find that out quickly.

I know I was one of those people who was like, why is this new studio moving away from the GOD of War previous games to this over the shoulder look.  I played every GOD including the PSP versions so I was pretty much invested in that game mechanic but I also was willing to see how this new mechanic would work.  I was hoping they would nail it.

Ultimately I guess we can agree to disagree. But I also think you take some of my negatives out of context.

My issue with the difficulty is specifically at the start, at a time when you are still learning what to upgrade, new elemental mechanics, new combos, shield requirement etc. I am perfectly okay with the game ramping up in terms of complexity and difficulty (even on standard mode) but it felt unbalanced at the start

With regards to cutscenes the game already has standard cutscenes that gives context to what you doing. But the additional chatter is too much for me - not to mention how all the companion characters are constantly giving you the dam answers to the few challenging puzzles.

Most PS5 controller additions are optional and can be turned off. But I personally feel the game could have at least added proper support for the dual sense. The axe mechanic I was talking about in my post is not during gameplay (it happens a handful of times throughout the game like when you are mining for material etc.). These are small additions.

5 years is a long time - im not saying build the game up from scratch but the formula as you mentioned needed to be shaken up a little bit more for me. We can get into how in another thread, but I feel I will head strongly into spoiler territory. 

I also did not read any reviews etc. Came into it fresh. But I am leaning towards not being in agreement with the incredibly high scores - that being said I still rate the game a solid 9/10. Its okay for us to disagree on this. 

Not sure how Elden Ring fits into the discussion but I guess I also had a number of issues with Elden Ring but still rate very highly.

I'm just starting the game now, jeez what a lot of settings, yet no way to skip cinematics! The beginning is the typical don't care, let me play first before you talk my ears off. I was not in the mood for a movie but guess I'll just have to wait until their done 'setting the mood'. Naughty Dog handles the start of their games a lot better.

Oh, I think I'm allowed to press a button now.

Hmm, can't find an FoV slider or how to move the camera back. I loved that from Tlou pt1, this low FoV and Kratos filling up a big part of the screen is not a nice way to play. Damn this game is hard to get into.

These settings... Any clue how to detach movement from camera direction, like any normal 3rd person game? How do you look behind you while running in the other direction?

I'll test this, some enemies make their combo very fast so will be hard to parry and bash, but it will be worth. I still prefer to roll away because usually these enemies comes in swarms so even if you parry and counter one you are prone to receive hits from the other enemies that wouldn't be on the line affected by the bash.

I found this game start a lot easier than 2018 as I was already used to the mechanics. And if your problem is the start of the game you can just reduce the difficult for that portion, for GmGoW you can only reduce the difficult and won't be able to go back, since no trophy is attached to the difficult. And I fail to see how someone that finished a Souls title would complain about the difficult on the balanced setting for GoW. Do you think Soul should be easier and offer easier difficult?

If you are satisfied with small additions to use the PS5 controller then they exist and perhaps you didn't notice, but when you do some R2 QTE for hacking some environment there is resistance from the trigger. I may be wrong, but the shaking was also different from what I would have on PS4, but can't be sure. you can also do some special mapping for like quick turn around and aiming with the gyro. There is proper support for it, and not all games will use all the new features of the control. You have to accept that this game was ultimately a PS4 game that for PS5 had only some graphical improvements. I would say the only reason the team could say that PS4 didn't restrict what they wanted to do was because they wanted to do a PS4 game.

The game have been shaked a lot, and without spoiler you are going to play it to know.

Go play GOW 2018 again, on standard difficulty it takes 3-4 axe hits on the starting level to kill a typical enemy - the game ramps up in difficulty and scenarios as it progresses. In Ragnarok its about twice as many with standard axe hits at the very start. Also its not that I cant handle the difficulty I can, it just makes the combat feel less impactful at the start. Even more so considering that this is the second game - so I should be feeling pretty powerful already right? Also makes no sense in the context of the spoiler tag above.

Again not sure why people keep bringing up souls games in responses....very different games. But if you want to get into Elden Ring difficulty - they too missed the mark. Either the game was obtusely difficult to get through or when using certain mechanics was waaaay too easy.

For me the controller support that was added was overly basic and a far cry from other games. 

I believe I'm over half way in the game, but lets see what happens in the rest of it.

I would have to say all your negatives I did not see them that way.

I had absolutely no problem with the difficulty in the balance portion of the game.  Late game or side quest sub bosses I expect to be a challenge as they are optional.  Just going through the story is pretty much a breeze.

I do not like a bunch of cut scenes breaking up the flow of the game, I prefer the characters talking and giving substance to what you are doing during the game instead of a bunch of cut scenes taking me out of the game.

I prefer no extra BS with the PS5 controller.  This really isn't the game I want anything distracting me from pulling off the moves I am trying to do.  Its neat for about a few minuets than it becomes a chore and a bother.

I have no problem with the game, its a sequel and I did not expect it to stray from an already tight formula.  Now if they have another GOD in another setting, I would expect some changes but I am not sure what exactly you expected in 5 years.  The game is mostly bug free, all the controls elements are as tight as expected and the game as a whole has over 90+ hours of content to get through.  I pretty much almost 100% the whole game and it took me about 90+ hours to complete with all side quest and end game content.  

No, I am not disappointed with GODR at all, I read no reviews and care little about score as I was going to purchase the game anyway because of the first.  I came in the game with no grand expectations as I find that always kills a game for me, instead I want to play the game and enjoy what it offers.  I have my quibbles with the game and there are definitely situations I believe could have been improved on but the total package was a great experience for me.  One thing I wish they had was New Game +.  I would love to go back through the game with all my upgrades and amour.  There are amour and upgrades you cannot get until late game and it would be great to go through the harder difficulty with them.

I do not know if this game beats Elden Ring for GOTY but its definitely can be in the running.  Its an exceptional game which does side quest better in my opinion then Elden ring but the reply value is much lower.  The 2 games are really nothing alike but there are few games I would say is worth my 70 bones.

I feel like you not actually addressing the points I'm raising. They've gone from 4 hits to close to 10 hits per mob and all you say is "change the difficulty". I feel we will go nowhere with this if thats the level of response.

I am not the souls fan base - it has no relevance here. You have no idea what my thoughts are on souls difficulty. 

I feel like you not actually addressing the points I'm raising. They've gone from 4 hits to close to 10 hits per mob and all you say is "change the difficulty". I feel we will go nowhere with this if thats the level of response.

I am not the souls fan base - it has no relevance here. You have no idea what my thoughts are on souls difficulty.