i can respect GoW for it's plot, but QTEs to me scream lazy game design. I was at Graciano's house watching him play Wolverine and he was mashing B....so that Wolverine could pull off a panel to some satellite or something... QTEs can defiantly enhance games though, Shenmue and Resident Evil 4 come to mind.
It does urk me when QTEs are just thrown in superficially. I just finished Uncharted, and it had a few in it, but it saved right beforehand and they were the same button combos every time. So on the one hand, it's less annyoing because you can just remember the combination and breeze through it on the second round, but then it seems like there's no point to having them in there in the first place. One thing about the GoW QTs were at least when you were doing 'special' moves, they were predicable. "I need to hit triangle to stab this bitch in the face". Like, an extension of the normal controls, just more timing based instead of the game wondering if you were paying attention like a lot of them.
I liked the Dungeon designs and puzzles in God of War. Thats one thing that kept me going in both games. I'm interested in the third game, but I don't have a PS3...yet.
In Short, God of War is an OverGlorified Arcade Beat'em Up game with a few puzzles and a maniacal story about greek mythology. I Myself never saw what others did either. I Find most games in it's genre much more enjoyable , Even Star wars the Force Unleashed which I loved even though it was terribly flawed. I've been absolutely amazed by Bayonetta though. I want to buy it terribly much. Beyonetta is everything GoW wishes it could be IMO.
To be clear, I wasn't saying that I found God of War arousing. But the concept of sex appeal includes more than titillation. Maybe the action of the mini-games wasn't on screen because of various censorship requirements, but that had the (probably unintentional) effect of making it more tasteful. Sparse clothing on the humans and gods, and the lack of clothing on the monsters, made sexuality matter-of-fact in the game world and not a point of exploitation. In this context, it's almost artistic. I hasten to add the disclaimer that it's not really mature. Sexuality in God of War is presented in a way that a twelve-year-old might understand clearly. Issues of gender equity and role reversal remain unaddressed, and rightfully so since nobody playing an action-platformer with heavy combat is going to spare the time to think about those things. For that, you have to play Ar Tonelico.
Well, as a Greek, I imagine that all greeks were dressed in a "sexier" fashion back then. Nudity isn't really a big deal in most European countries, unlike the US
Picked up the first but I don't think I ever finished it. Hack'n'slash gets boring so quickly. I didn't actually begrudge the QTEs in it, they were generally well suited to that kind of button-mashing game, but then I also don't tend to hate QTEs anything like as much as a lot of people. Kratos is a completely bland and uninteresting character, by the way. I'd heard so much about how evil and fucked up and dark and RAAARGH he is, I just assumed there'd be something there. The anti-hero thing is really overdone in gaming (and elsewhere) these days, and God of War is a good example of just how fucking tired and cliched and trite it can feel.
Not to spoil it, but I liked how the first game ended as far as a character arc goes for Kratos. He didn't get what he asked for, but he earned something else in its place. And for once, the name of the game actually means something relevant. Kratos isn't deep, but I wouldn't mind another 20 hours with him.
