Episode 81 - The Birth Pillar - God of War

There is one unavoidable truth you will never escape: you cannot change. You will always be... a podcast. Welcome back to the show, where today we’re going to take a look at the return of the God of War franchise with the, uh, aptly titled “God of War.” We meet Kratos this time around on a much more somber mission than in previous games, with him setting out with his son to scatter his wife’s ashes on the highest peak in the realms. This is of course swiftly interrupted and the journey continues but with more of a focus on the action combat the series is known for. This isn’t to say that the gameplay is unchanged, as the polish here has gone into smooth, satisfying animations and really tremendous visuals which help make the fighting feel, for the most part, fluid and satisfying. Yet, despite this polish and despite the budget, there is some niggling feeling that something else could have been done and we discuss what it is that makes this feel like maybe a little less than the triumph it was largely sold as. We’re going to talk about the value of iteration over innovation, implementation of RPG elements in seemingly every game, and what is truly the genre-defining title in the arms (big beefy arms)-race that is Buff Guy Games. Thanks for joining us again this time, it’s a few days late but there were some holidays and some driving and stuff that prevented us from finding a convenient time to record so we hope you’ll forgive us. Next time we’re going to take a step in a decidedly different direction to talk about Baba Is You, an indie puzzle game that works on the very abstract formula of moving words and objects around the screen to change the rules that govern how you interact with the world. It’s fascinating, and we hope you’ll join us for it. And hey, maybe you’re wondering “NOCLIP, why are you talking about this game that released last year and most people don’t really consider to be that relevant anymore? Also, why don’t you like anything? Jesus. Consider yourself uninvited from all future parties we might hypothetically have cause, honestly? Honestly? You’re bringing everyone down.” Well, for one, harsh. And for two, maybe the relevant games discussion you’re looking for can be found on our Discord server, where we have a great group of people with whom we recently live-reacted to E3 and are always up to talk about the recent developments and old favorites. Come join us! https://discord.gg/tRNNSJ6