[Released today] The masterpiece action that won the Game of the Year will be revived after four years! Review the PC version of "God of War"!
[Released today] The masterpiece action that won the Game of the Year will be revived after four years! Review the PC version of “God of War”!
January 15, 2022 11:000
Action Adventure PC Game Review PC Game Planning Article
[Released today] The masterpiece action that won the Game of the Year will be revived after four years! Review the PC version of “God of War”!
From Saturday, January 15, 2022, the PC version of the action game “God of War” was released. The original PS4 version of this work was also selected for the 2018 Game of the Year, and has sold about 19 million copies to date. This time, I got the chance to play the PC version of such a masterpiece in advance, so I will deliver the review in this article.
Father and son head to the top of the world to fulfill their mother’s will
In the world of Greek mythology, his hometown, Kratos once traded with the war god Ares and became a demigod with great power. However, when he lost his family in the plot of Ares, he began to hate not only Ares himself but also the gods themselves, killing the Greek gods with anger. Time has passed since the story of such a past work, and Kratos, who has flowed into the world of Norse mythology, has built a new life with his wife, Faye, and his son Atreus.
The story begins when Faye dies of illness. Following the will of her late mother, Kratos and Atreus set out on a journey to sow her ashes from the top of the nine highest mountains in the world.
However, Kratos suffers from his fatherly behavior because he has left his son to take care of him. Atreus, on the other hand, remembers only his mother and doesn’t know his father. Under the theme of “father and son,” the relationship between the two is carefully portrayed during the journey.
At the beginning of the story, there is nothing like a conversation between them. When it comes to Kratos, he says “read” and “come” instead of sentences. In addition, he hesitated to put his hand on his shoulder even though he tried to praise Atreus, and on the other hand, when he tried to rampage with anger, he slammed with a harsh tone, and his words and actions as a clumsy father are the story. It can be seen everywhere.
Throughout the whole story, Kratos is particularly sensitive to anger and revenge. There is regret for his horrific revenge in the world of Greek mythology. He clumsyly tries to teach Atreus to think and act with his head because he doesn’t want him to follow the same path, but his son knows little about his father. So I’m not quite convinced. To avoid the past, Kratos doesn’t say much, and Atreus, who tried to walk up, also sneaks and passes each other.
Although they collide due to differences in thinking, the two grow up little by little through various battles and encounters. The appearance can be enjoyed not only as a game but also as a movie. Most of the depictions are entwined with the main story, and it seems that the tempo of the story is not impaired, but it is also great that the graphics as if they were live-action have made it possible to produce even the smallest details such as facial expressions and movements. Games with realistic graphics may no longer contain cinematic elements.
A dynamic battle to defeat the enemy with overwhelming power
Kratos of this work mainly uses a melee weapon called “Leviathan”. The attack by Leviathan has a narrow attack range as a whole, but its power is high, and if it is a small fish enemy, it can be defeated one after another. If you release the skill, combo techniques will be added, and you will be able to perform various techniques little by little. Some of them have the skill to throw Leviathan like a boomeran, and eventually it is possible to handle not only short distances but also long distances with one Leviathan.
You can unlock various skills by using the experience points gained by defeating enemies.
Melee weapons can be equipped with a special skill called “rune attack”. There are “normal” and “heavy” rune attacks, and the types of attack techniques that can be learned in each are different. Since any technique is involved in a normal attack, you can put it in the middle of the combo and use it as a closing of the attack. However, once you use Rune Attack, it takes time to activate it again, so you need to think about where to use it.
You can prevent enemy attacks while holding the “Guardian’s Shield”. By defending against the opponent’s attack in a timely manner, “parry” will occur and it is possible to counterattack immediately.
The main weapon of Kratos is not only Leviathan, but also the “Blaze of Chaos”. This weapon is a specialty of Kratos in his past work, wielding a twin sword attached to a freely stretchable chain. This can attack a wide area with a quick movement against Leviathan, which was suitable for defeating the enemy in front with a heavy blow. It is a weapon with a different strength than Leviathan, and it is a reliable existence. However, the timing of release is a little late, and it can only be used after the middle of the story.
Leviathan and Blaze of Chaos are basically easy to handle, although they are not suitable. It is best to use it properly according to the situation, such as Leviathan when attacking one person intensively, Blaze of Chaos when dealing with a hordes of enemies. Each attack technique is different, but it is also good that the operation method is the same. Once you have learned which one to use, you can apply that feeling to one of your weapons. Since the main weapon can be switched instantly, I was grateful for the simple and easy-to-understand operability.
So far I have explained the actions of Kratos, but Atreus also participates in the battle. His specialty is the bow, which is not as aggressive as Leviathan or Blaze of Chaos, but has special effects depending on the type of arrow, allowing it to weaken or restrain the enemy it hits. The player can specify when to shoot the arrow. Restraint is particularly useful and can unilaterally attack some fast-moving enemies. The combo of approaching the opponent restrained by the arrow and deciding at once with Leviathan’s accumulated attack was pleasant and useful until the end.
In this review, I played this work to the end, but overall the difficulty of the battle is high. Even with the normal I chose, I had a hard time in the middle boss battle. While concentrating on one enemy, he was attacked from another direction, and as a result of neglecting defense and evasion, his physical strength was often reduced to the limit.
This was surprising because the basic idea of the “God of War” series was to kick off a line of small fish enemies. I don’t know if Kratos also shows that it’s declining with age, or if the graphics have become more realistic, making it harder to take flashy actions like in the past, but this “God of War” Then, it is necessary to be cautious to some extent. Easy is recommended for people who are not good at action.
Field exploration where moderate mystery solving is fun
Centering on “Midgard”, which is the base of adventure, Kratos and Atreus will explore multiple worlds such as “Helheim” and “Alfheim”. Midgard has “Jörmungandr” that makes the mountains look small, Helheim is full of snowstorms, and “Muspelheim” is full of volcanoes and magma. The fantasy world is expressed with live-action graphics, and it’s fun just to explore.
Jörmungandr and the Giants
It’s easy to misunderstand because each world is so wide, but this game is not an “open world”, but an orthodox game consisting of multiple single roads of different sizes. However, there are many types of that one road.
A short distance from the temple in the center of Midgard is dotted with small land and caves. There is a little mystery solver there, and if you clear it, you can find a treasure chest. When you leave the cleared dungeon and move by ship, a new dungeon appears on the screen. Go there to solve the mystery and find the treasure chest again. Although not related to the main story, this work is full of dungeons where you can get resources and items when you challenge it, and it is crafted to make you want to explore the vast world.
Most of the mystery solving itself can be solved in a few minutes. However, using ice, which is a special ability of Leviathan, it is characterized by being elaborate, such as freezing unstoppable gears and opening doors.
The volume of each dungeon is modest, but thanks to that, the tempo is rather good. You can finish it quickly and go to the next one. Since the main means of transportation in this work is a boat, it takes a considerable amount of time to cross the sea, but as I mentioned earlier, you may find new land, so just looking at the scenery is fun. In addition, fellow Mímir tells a story about Norse mythology. Thanks to the elements that are interesting one after another, long trips are not a pain.
The neck on the right side of Atreus is Mímir. Familiar with all fields as a “knowledge giant”
Since this work is based on the Norse mythology itself, the story of Mímir is quite useless. The relationship between the Earth and Vanirs, why Valkyrie and others send the souls of warriors to Valhalla, and what is Odin, the main god of Norse mythology? The volume of the conversation was tremendous, and I heard a different story every time I played for about 30 hours.
In the middle of the story, “fast travel” that allows you to go back and forth between places instantly will also be released.
This work also has a replay element. Some of them are Muspelheim and “Niflheim”. In Muspelheim, battles with enemies under specific conditions are the main focus. Not only is it suitable for testing your skills, but if you clear the conditions, you will also receive resources for weapons and equipment as a reward.
In Niflheim, you can challenge a dungeon whose structure changes every time you challenge. The dungeon is filled with fog that erodes Kratos, and while in the fog, the dedicated gauge decreases, and when it reaches zero, the physical strength decreases instead, and the game is over. Since you can get resources limited to Niflheim here, you have to decide whether to go to the back or return to the entrance while consulting with the remaining amount of the gauge.
Niflheim dungeons are particularly addictive. I enjoyed the conflict between the desire to go deeper and catch the treasure chest and the risk of having to start over if I died, so I played here for more than 10 hours.
What specs do you need to play comfortably?
The performance required to play the PC version of “God of War” has already been announced on each distribution site. The specifications required for the two environments, minimum and recommended, are summarized below.
● Minimum environment
CPU: Intel i5-2500k (quad core 3.3GHz) or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (quad 3.1 GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 960 (4GB) or AMD R9 290X (4GB)
Memory: 8GB DDR
● Recommended environment
CPU: Intel i5-6600k (quad core 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2400 G (quad core 3.6 GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD RX 570 (4GB)
Memory: 8GB DDR
* Excerpt from the Epic Games website.
On the other hand, the performance of the PC I used in this review is as follows.
● My PC environment
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor 3.59 GHz
GPU: GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER
Memory: 16GB
There are presets in the graphic settings of this work, and up to 4 levels of “low”, “original”, “high”, and “ultra” are prepared. If you select “Customize”, you can also modify the texture and shadow items individually.
I played with the above system with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 full HD and a preset of “high”, but the average frame rate was 100-70. I was able to play comfortably without any processing omissions.
When I set the preset to “Ultra” as a trial, the frame rate is 90 to 70, which is not much different from when it is “High”. However, my display cannot produce ultra HD or 4K resolutions. If you want to set a higher resolution, you will need a PC with even better performance.
At the time of its release, it was the “God of War” that I mentioned on PS4, but this time it was the first time in about four years, so I was able to play with a fresh feeling. Not only a story about father and son, but also exciting action and field creation that does not make players bored are just right for the game of the year. The sequel to this work, “God of War Ragnarok,” will be released this year, so if you haven’t played it, you may want to try it as a preparation, and if you have already played it, you may want to touch it as a review.
(Sentence, Natsumu Naiyoshi)
⇒ Steam version “God of War” https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1593500/
⇒ Epic Games version “God of War” https://www.epicgames.com/store/ja/p/god-of-war
[Title information]
■ God of War
Genre: Action Adventure
Compatible models: PC (Steam, Epic Games)
Scheduled release date: Saturday, January 15, 2022
Price: 4,900 yen (tax included)
CERO examination schedule
Developer Santa Monica Studio
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
(C) 2021 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. God of War is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC.
January 15, 2022 11:000
Action Adventure PC Game Review PC Game Planning Article
[Released today] The masterpiece action that won the Game of the Year will be revived after four years! Review the PC version of “God of War”!
From Saturday, January 15, 2022, the PC version of the action game “God of War” was released. The original PS4 version of this work was also selected for the 2018 Game of the Year, and has sold about 19 million copies to date. This time, I got the chance to play the PC version of such a masterpiece in advance, so I will deliver the review in this article.
Father and son head to the top of the world to fulfill their mother’s will
In the world of Greek mythology, his hometown, Kratos once traded with the war god Ares and became a demigod with great power. However, when he lost his family in the plot of Ares, he began to hate not only Ares himself but also the gods themselves, killing the Greek gods with anger. Time has passed since the story of such a past work, and Kratos, who has flowed into the world of Norse mythology, has built a new life with his wife, Faye, and his son Atreus.
The story begins when Faye dies of illness. Following the will of her late mother, Kratos and Atreus set out on a journey to sow her ashes from the top of the nine highest mountains in the world.
However, Kratos suffers from his fatherly behavior because he has left his son to take care of him. Atreus, on the other hand, remembers only his mother and doesn’t know his father. Under the theme of “father and son,” the relationship between the two is carefully portrayed during the journey.
At the beginning of the story, there is nothing like a conversation between them. When it comes to Kratos, he says “read” and “come” instead of sentences. In addition, he hesitated to put his hand on his shoulder even though he tried to praise Atreus, and on the other hand, when he tried to rampage with anger, he slammed with a harsh tone, and his words and actions as a clumsy father are the story. It can be seen everywhere.
Throughout the whole story, Kratos is particularly sensitive to anger and revenge. There is regret for his horrific revenge in the world of Greek mythology. He clumsyly tries to teach Atreus to think and act with his head because he doesn’t want him to follow the same path, but his son knows little about his father. So I’m not quite convinced. To avoid the past, Kratos doesn’t say much, and Atreus, who tried to walk up, also sneaks and passes each other.
Although they collide due to differences in thinking, the two grow up little by little through various battles and encounters. The appearance can be enjoyed not only as a game but also as a movie. Most of the depictions are entwined with the main story, and it seems that the tempo of the story is not impaired, but it is also great that the graphics as if they were live-action have made it possible to produce even the smallest details such as facial expressions and movements. Games with realistic graphics may no longer contain cinematic elements.
A dynamic battle to defeat the enemy with overwhelming power
Kratos of this work mainly uses a melee weapon called “Leviathan”. The attack by Leviathan has a narrow attack range as a whole, but its power is high, and if it is a small fish enemy, it can be defeated one after another. If you release the skill, combo techniques will be added, and you will be able to perform various techniques little by little. Some of them have the skill to throw Leviathan like a boomeran, and eventually it is possible to handle not only short distances but also long distances with one Leviathan.
You can unlock various skills by using the experience points gained by defeating enemies.
Melee weapons can be equipped with a special skill called “rune attack”. There are “normal” and “heavy” rune attacks, and the types of attack techniques that can be learned in each are different. Since any technique is involved in a normal attack, you can put it in the middle of the combo and use it as a closing of the attack. However, once you use Rune Attack, it takes time to activate it again, so you need to think about where to use it.
You can prevent enemy attacks while holding the “Guardian’s Shield”. By defending against the opponent’s attack in a timely manner, “parry” will occur and it is possible to counterattack immediately.
The main weapon of Kratos is not only Leviathan, but also the “Blaze of Chaos”. This weapon is a specialty of Kratos in his past work, wielding a twin sword attached to a freely stretchable chain. This can attack a wide area with a quick movement against Leviathan, which was suitable for defeating the enemy in front with a heavy blow. It is a weapon with a different strength than Leviathan, and it is a reliable existence. However, the timing of release is a little late, and it can only be used after the middle of the story.
Leviathan and Blaze of Chaos are basically easy to handle, although they are not suitable. It is best to use it properly according to the situation, such as Leviathan when attacking one person intensively, Blaze of Chaos when dealing with a hordes of enemies. Each attack technique is different, but it is also good that the operation method is the same. Once you have learned which one to use, you can apply that feeling to one of your weapons. Since the main weapon can be switched instantly, I was grateful for the simple and easy-to-understand operability.
So far I have explained the actions of Kratos, but Atreus also participates in the battle. His specialty is the bow, which is not as aggressive as Leviathan or Blaze of Chaos, but has special effects depending on the type of arrow, allowing it to weaken or restrain the enemy it hits. The player can specify when to shoot the arrow. Restraint is particularly useful and can unilaterally attack some fast-moving enemies. The combo of approaching the opponent restrained by the arrow and deciding at once with Leviathan’s accumulated attack was pleasant and useful until the end.
In this review, I played this work to the end, but overall the difficulty of the battle is high. Even with the normal I chose, I had a hard time in the middle boss battle. While concentrating on one enemy, he was attacked from another direction, and as a result of neglecting defense and evasion, his physical strength was often reduced to the limit.
This was surprising because the basic idea of the “God of War” series was to kick off a line of small fish enemies. I don’t know if Kratos also shows that it’s declining with age, or if the graphics have become more realistic, making it harder to take flashy actions like in the past, but this “God of War” Then, it is necessary to be cautious to some extent. Easy is recommended for people who are not good at action.
Field exploration where moderate mystery solving is fun
Centering on “Midgard”, which is the base of adventure, Kratos and Atreus will explore multiple worlds such as “Helheim” and “Alfheim”. Midgard has “Jörmungandr” that makes the mountains look small, Helheim is full of snowstorms, and “Muspelheim” is full of volcanoes and magma. The fantasy world is expressed with live-action graphics, and it’s fun just to explore.
Jörmungandr and the Giants
It’s easy to misunderstand because each world is so wide, but this game is not an “open world”, but an orthodox game consisting of multiple single roads of different sizes. However, there are many types of that one road.
A short distance from the temple in the center of Midgard is dotted with small land and caves. There is a little mystery solver there, and if you clear it, you can find a treasure chest. When you leave the cleared dungeon and move by ship, a new dungeon appears on the screen. Go there to solve the mystery and find the treasure chest again. Although not related to the main story, this work is full of dungeons where you can get resources and items when you challenge it, and it is crafted to make you want to explore the vast world.
Most of the mystery solving itself can be solved in a few minutes. However, using ice, which is a special ability of Leviathan, it is characterized by being elaborate, such as freezing unstoppable gears and opening doors.
The volume of each dungeon is modest, but thanks to that, the tempo is rather good. You can finish it quickly and go to the next one. Since the main means of transportation in this work is a boat, it takes a considerable amount of time to cross the sea, but as I mentioned earlier, you may find new land, so just looking at the scenery is fun. In addition, fellow Mímir tells a story about Norse mythology. Thanks to the elements that are interesting one after another, long trips are not a pain.
The neck on the right side of Atreus is Mímir. Familiar with all fields as a “knowledge giant”
Since this work is based on the Norse mythology itself, the story of Mímir is quite useless. The relationship between the Earth and Vanirs, why Valkyrie and others send the souls of warriors to Valhalla, and what is Odin, the main god of Norse mythology? The volume of the conversation was tremendous, and I heard a different story every time I played for about 30 hours.
In the middle of the story, “fast travel” that allows you to go back and forth between places instantly will also be released.
This work also has a replay element. Some of them are Muspelheim and “Niflheim”. In Muspelheim, battles with enemies under specific conditions are the main focus. Not only is it suitable for testing your skills, but if you clear the conditions, you will also receive resources for weapons and equipment as a reward.
In Niflheim, you can challenge a dungeon whose structure changes every time you challenge. The dungeon is filled with fog that erodes Kratos, and while in the fog, the dedicated gauge decreases, and when it reaches zero, the physical strength decreases instead, and the game is over. Since you can get resources limited to Niflheim here, you have to decide whether to go to the back or return to the entrance while consulting with the remaining amount of the gauge.
Niflheim dungeons are particularly addictive. I enjoyed the conflict between the desire to go deeper and catch the treasure chest and the risk of having to start over if I died, so I played here for more than 10 hours.
What specs do you need to play comfortably?
The performance required to play the PC version of “God of War” has already been announced on each distribution site. The specifications required for the two environments, minimum and recommended, are summarized below.
● Minimum environment
CPU: Intel i5-2500k (quad core 3.3GHz) or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (quad 3.1 GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 960 (4GB) or AMD R9 290X (4GB)
Memory: 8GB DDR
● Recommended environment
CPU: Intel i5-6600k (quad core 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2400 G (quad core 3.6 GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD RX 570 (4GB)
Memory: 8GB DDR
* Excerpt from the Epic Games website.
On the other hand, the performance of the PC I used in this review is as follows.
● My PC environment
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor 3.59 GHz
GPU: GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER
Memory: 16GB
There are presets in the graphic settings of this work, and up to 4 levels of “low”, “original”, “high”, and “ultra” are prepared. If you select “Customize”, you can also modify the texture and shadow items individually.
I played with the above system with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 full HD and a preset of “high”, but the average frame rate was 100-70. I was able to play comfortably without any processing omissions.
When I set the preset to “Ultra” as a trial, the frame rate is 90 to 70, which is not much different from when it is “High”. However, my display cannot produce ultra HD or 4K resolutions. If you want to set a higher resolution, you will need a PC with even better performance.
At the time of its release, it was the “God of War” that I mentioned on PS4, but this time it was the first time in about four years, so I was able to play with a fresh feeling. Not only a story about father and son, but also exciting action and field creation that does not make players bored are just right for the game of the year. The sequel to this work, “God of War Ragnarok,” will be released this year, so if you haven’t played it, you may want to try it as a preparation, and if you have already played it, you may want to touch it as a review.
(Sentence, Natsumu Naiyoshi)
⇒ Steam version “God of War” https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1593500/
⇒ Epic Games version “God of War” https://www.epicgames.com/store/ja/p/god-of-war
[Title information]
■ God of War
Genre: Action Adventure
Compatible models: PC (Steam, Epic Games)
Scheduled release date: Saturday, January 15, 2022
Price: 4,900 yen (tax included)
CERO examination schedule
Developer Santa Monica Studio
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
(C) 2021 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. God of War is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC.
