How many posts have we read comparing God of War with Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden? Personally, I've never been too fond of the comparison, so I've decided to make another one! I've heard similar sentiments in which people have said something like, "God of War is just different" without really giving a reason why. I've also heard people get downright nasty and call it "Square, Square, Triangle of War" or "God of Puzzle." I think there's a number of reasons why the GOW series doesn't compare well with DMC or NG, but I'm just going to focus on the "God of Puzzle" thing and compare the series with another gaming staple that I believe has heavily influenced Sony's Santa Monica studio, but I've never heard anyone mention. 

Without further ado, the series that I'm going to briefly compare with GOW is The Legend of Zelda. I know, it sounds a bit crazy, but I've been playing Twilight Princess on the Wii lately and the similarities are obvious to me. First let's get some of the major differences out of the way. The most apparent one is the lack of an open world in God of War. Personally, I don't think it hurts the comparison much b/c IMO, Zelda's world (at least in TP) is pretty limited and is mostly there for filler and atmosphere; it adds to the sense of adventure that the developers are trying to convey. God of War doesn't need that b/c for better or for worse, the game has plenty of atmosphere as is and Sony makes sure that it's shoved down our throats.

The comparison really shines when you consider the main gameplay mechanic that drives both games, which can simply be called "dungeon crawling." Now I'm using the term very broadly, and in doing so, a lot of games could be called dungeon crawlers. However, the similarity between the two games is in the formula used to progress through these dungeons. The formula can basically be boiled down to "Enter dungeon, progress as far as you can by defeating enemies and manipulating the environment using whatever skills you have, find new skill or item, use it to murder and manipulate some more, fight boss." Again, a lot of games, including DMC and NG, use this formula, but it is God of War that seems to have the greater emphasis on the "manipulating environment" (i.e. puzzle solving) mechanic than the other two games. 

IMO, Zelda is about 20% focused on combat and 80% on manipulation while DMC and NG are on the other end of the spectrum with more of a 80:20 combat/manipulation split. GOW seems to be more towards the middle with a 60:40 ratio. Therein lies the beauty and the beast of the GOW series. For a lot of people, this split is a novel idea that works brilliantly. This is the "God of War is just different" crowd. For others, they see God of War as a game masquerading to be in the same genre as Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden and they hate it for its limited focus on creating great combat. This is the "God of Puzzle" crowd. 

What do you guys think? Am I still crazy? I've got more of these GOW vs NG/DMC comparisons, but I'll save 'em. 

i agree with you in some point,it does use puzzle solving alot,i think its a like dmc/ng and zelda put together,but leaning a bit ore on the dmc/ng part

   Believe me when I say I'm one of God of War's biggest fans...

 But I always thought puzzles in God of War are completely unnecessary. It's a game focused on battle itself, the best thing it delivers is the combat-system. I don't really know what's THAT bad about button-mashers, they still have their tactics and everything...

 But God of War includes all these puzzles... why? The only reason I find is so that the reviewers don't call the game "mindless" or something like that. But, honestly, does Kratos look like the most intelligent guy on Earth? Does he have or need to be?

^but they also add value to the game,its a bit short as it is,and without the puzzles it would of been even shorter

Most people compare the three, because they are all hack and slashes. Zelda is an Action-Adventure. I do somewhat agree with your comparison though. God of War does have alot of puzzles, and Dungeon Crawling like Zelda, but there are many differences. The first one is mini games/Side Quests. Zelda has many of these especially in Majora's Mask. God of War doesn't have any of these, but that is ok since they are two different genres.
Another difference is that zelda uses more items in the puzzles, while god of war is more of pushing and pulling things.
Then you have the very different combat systems, which is relative to their genres.
Those are just some of the obvious ones that you haven't mentioned, but there are many more. I don't think Action games should be compared with Action-Adventures. God of war takes many different aspects from many different games, and puts it in one, so I think it compares to both. I forgot to mention that TP isn't a good representation of zelda games. Especially the 2d ones. The 2d zelda games were far less sectioned, and less linear. Its hard to compare anything to zelda, because almost every zelda game is different.

Off-Topic How are you enjoying TP? More than you were a few weeks ago? Where are you at? When you finish, and if you are interested in playing other games in the series I recommend Alttp(Excellent Gamplay, and made most of what zelda is like today, and Majora's Mask( A more charcter focused game, so if you like those then it may be your favorite. It is very depressing, and has a very good central theme)

The puzzles are usually simple lever pushing and at one time a real 10 piece puzzle.

As for the OT, I see the compaison, one difference is what's after the open world, the Zelda cities and stuff. The open world isn't just for show, its like the interface (interface?) ; it makes a very big difference.

I forgot to mention that the boss fights in Zelda are very different, than the ones in God of War. ANd the dungeons have a certain format than the ones in God of War.

^in some way the bosses are sorta the same,just a normal attack wont kill them,you hve to find a way to kill them

The bosses in zelda just seem bigger(I don't me by size), they easier to distinguish as boss fights, and each one is very unique. I can't say the same for god of war.

actually they are also unique on god of war,zeldas might be a bit better but they are also very good on god of war