Is it me or is the combat somehow ... "off"?!

[Swimfan]

I'm immensely enjoying Ragnarök for its story and more subtle moments. The presentation is as always top notch and while they have some strange pacing issues in there, I can't wait to see where it all ends.
And then - for some godforsaken reason - there's the combat.
I have played the first GoW reboot like 6 times on my PS4 and then again on PC but I HATE combat in this entry and I'm still trying to figure out why. I'm dying to some of the harder optional encounters like 3-4+ times in a row and can't say what exactly went wrong.
My best guess so far is that they expect me to throw and aim stuff all the time while the camera is actively fighting me?! Lock-on losing its target constantly maybe? It's also apparent to me - and correct me if I'm wrong - that this game has some strange obsession with Soulsborne games cranking small attacks from minor enemies up to way too much damage out of nowhere.

What is your experience? Am I going nuts here? I looked it up and people seem to be split about it.

[meep_meep]

I'm currently playing through it for the first time (on PS4) and while my opinion of the combat is more favorable than yours, I think there are some oddities that I've had to get used to. (I just got through the "Forging Destiny" chapter where you get your third weapon.)

I'm playing on Give Me No Mercy, and the biggest thing I notice about the combat (at least at this difficulty) is that Kratos really feels like a glass cannon. If I dive in to the middle of a bunch of enemies, I'll probably die, even if they are low level. Attacks with longer windups are not usually feasible in large groups because enemies will always hit me first.

I don't remember exactly how this compares to GoW2018 but in the old God of War games I seem to remember that you usually had a decent range of AoE attacks that would help you always stay in the middle of the fight without getting immediately killed. However, in this game, I've found that I usually have to isolate opponents first and then try to fight them one at a time. Also, I have to rely on companions a lot more in order to apply status effects and do chip damage in order to survive.

I think this causes a bit of ludonarrative dissonance because you're the "God of War" but have to end up playing cautiously and strategically in order to win.

I've found that my favorite fights are usually the ones against large single-target enemies like Fiske because in those fights I can just go all out and focus on blocking, parrying, and comboing without having to constantly be dodging out of the way.

That said, once I figured out the "rhythm" of the normal group combat encounters I've been enjoying myself a lot more. Kratos's ranged abilities are actually pretty cool and if you're careful with your positioning you can be really effective with ranged, especially with the third weapon.

FWIW, I'm using gyro aim and that's been immensely helpful for tracking fast-moving enemies. I think I'd be struggling quite a bit more if I were trying to use traditional dual-analog aim.

[Yakumo]

I only played through each GOW once, on Give Me God of War, Ragnarok did away with i-frames, so instead of the mostly runic build I used in the original GOW I ended up barely using runic attacks. The skill modifiers and skill labours (https://www.ign.com/wikis/god-of-war-ragnarok/Skills) also changed the balance a lot and you have to work out the best for you and also work through the labour to get full strength out of it as well so things can seem a bit lacking compared to it's predecessor until you figure those out also.

I've finished everything in Ragnarok except for Hrolf and Gna and I've been trying to beat them for weeks now, lol.

[meep_meep]

Originally posted by Yakumo:

I only played through each GOW once, on Give Me God of War, Ragnarok did away with i-frames

Oh, was that changed? I wasn't paying that much attention to the differences (and it's been like 5 years since I played GOW2018) but I do remember feeling like I had more room to execute special moves and combos in GOW2018 compared to this game.

Speaking of the skill modifiers, I've found that speccing into a Stun-heavy build (with lots of Stun modifiers and the Nidavellir's Finest armor set) is a pretty effective way of dealing with mobs, at least in the mid-game where I currently am. If you can stun enemies more quickly and get a health burst when you stun grab them, it makes it a lot easier to survive mobs.

[Darkside99x]

God, yes.

Replayed 2018 and picked this up to play back to back and combat in this is just worse in general. So far Atreus is far more effective in combat than Kratos.

[Spiegel]

Originally posted by Darkside99x:

God, yes.

Replayed 2018 and picked this up to play back to back and combat in this is just worse in general. So far Atreus is far more effective in combat than Kratos.

It feels a bit silly that his bow is as good in close combat as Kratos axe.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by Darkside99x:

God, yes.

Replayed 2018 and picked this up to play back to back and combat in this is just worse in general. So far Atreus is far more effective in combat than Kratos.

Yeah, you‘re right … for some reason I actually prefered playing as Atreus

[Eas]

Well yeah hopefully so, since it's a story driven part of the game when you play Atreus.

There is no point in having balance between story and fighting in this case which make it a lot easier to play with him but also pretty boring imo because you have really long and slow story part and close to no rewarding combat.

Since I'm playing God of War can I at least get one of the both from him ? Like the god or the war since when it comes to Atreus it feels like I didn't get any of them and bought a walking simulator.

Though I would love to see him get destroyed by dragons or gods or any of the high difficulty and overpowered ennemies his father has to take down just to feel a bit refreshed.

[Desert Fox]

combat in this game sucks ass compared to the first god of way in midguard at this point a kitten could fight better then kratos serslsy its a juggle fest no healing fight after fight not to mention every enemy in the game can one shot you katros cant even dodge or block to save his life save your money refund it

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by Desert Fox:

combat in this game sucks ass compared to the first god of way in midguard at this point a kitten could fight better then kratos serslsy its a juggle fest no healing fight after fight not to mention every enemy in the game can one shot you katros cant even dodge or block to save his life save your money refund it

I think one of the problem is movement during combat - try to diengage during combat to collect some pickups, I dare you ;-p
Also: It doesn‘t help that the difference in difficulty between campaign combat and sidequests is totally chaotic. You might be in a lv 3 campaign area but a sidequest just next to it might be a lv 6 encounter that just one-shots you. This trial&error approach becomes truly annoying.

[Turtles]

I just beat God of War 2018 and started playing this right after. The combat definitely feels way worse. I think the issue is that blocking and parrying don't do ♥♥♥♥ in this game compared to the last one. Enemies will just continue attacking through a parry so it actually feels detrimental to block instead of dodging away.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by Turtles:

I just beat God of War 2018 and started playing this right after. The combat definitely feels way worse. I think the issue is that blocking and parrying don't do ♥♥♥♥ in this game compared to the last one. Enemies will just continue attacking through a parry so it actually feels detrimental to block instead of dodging away.

Oh you might be on to something there.
I took a 1 year break between GoW 2018's last playthrough and this and I just felt the "strangness" but couldn't really put my finger on it.

[Darkside99x]

it definitely contributes early on, with later upgrades or equipment it does start to function like it did in 2018 but by that stage I had quite enough of the new combat system and lowered the difficulty just to see the story through.

[Krypto]

Skill issue.

[Darkside99x]

If believing that gets you through the day, by all means.

[Krypto]

Genuine skill issue.