izigame.me

A stunningly beautiful game with characters you grow to love. This is quite the adventure and I was 'all in' within a few minutes of starting. In the midst of Norse mythology, it is a sweet and heartwarming story about a father and a son building a relationship.
For me, it was a tough game, as I don't excel in combat. Thus, I played on the easiest setting which still was challenging. There is no real penalty for death (just try again) and the explicit save system has dozens of slots.
The fights are relentless... monsters and spirits just keep showing up along your path and you do not have stealth options to avoid them. I used 'brute-force' combat (charging forth with weapons blazing) and learned a new level of coordination with my keyboard and mouse to control special moves and runic attacks. In between encounters, there are environmental puzzles to solve, scenery to take in, and some tricky moves to open doors and chests. What a journey and I'm sorry to see it end!
You will do a fair bit of climbing and jumping but (at least in easy mode), you can't miss a jump or fall off an edge. This was much appreciated!
Completionists will need to grind through two extra realms/areas that become accessible towards the end of the game.. Neither added anything to the story (in my opinion) and I slogged through both in search of the associated achievements.
The rest of the game is, in a word, spectacular! Great story, characters, voice acting, cinematics, etc. The game world is huge and diverse and you travel by foot, by boat and (ultimately) by fast travel through mystic gates. There are more collectibles than one can count and it pays to explore every corner of every environment. Resources abound and it was only at the end that I was short on rare items when I was trying to upgrade armor and weapons.
I can't say enough good things about God of War. If you like 'big' game worlds with a captivating story, like Assassins Creed Origins or Horizon Zero Dawn, then this game is definitely something you will enjoy.