Unfortunately, this gradual evolution actually manifests as devolution when the series is arranged chronologically. Mechanical systems like stamina meters and weapon upgrades are continually being tweaked and in many cases improved. The “abili-tease” of having to relearn all your combinations and magic from one sequel to the next requires a hefty suspension of disbelief, but a prequel stretches the concept past the point of absurdity. In addition to the narrative problems that prequels create, they also tend to clash with the interactive and iterative nature of video games. As cool as the Hecatonchires is, it’s not as intense as interactively obliterating Zeus, the king of the gods, a figure Kratos has been chasing for years (and also happens to be Kratos’s dad, of course). They’re all visually gorgeous and clever from a gameplay perspective, but there’s never any question about how things will turn out. There is little-to-no character development, so every conflict takes the form of a huge monster and an intense fighting sequence. The point is that it is difficult to get too invested in Ascension‘s story and characters because I already know how the story plays out on a grand scale.
You get to participate in destroying the entire pantheon of gods and then you end Kratos’s life with your last action in the game (well, until the inevitable God of War 4, I suppose). Kratos’ story is Aristotelian in its simplicity and execution: his hubris causes great personal tragedy, which then leads to a massive struggle with an immensely cathartic payoff that ultimately doesn’t really leave anyone all that happy.īy the end of God of War 3, you’ve followed Kratos through the death of his family.
God of War’s plot might not be the most revolutionary story ever told, but it has a certain ancient Greek appeal: bickering gods, lots of sex and violence, and a simple, yet dramatic plot. They are meant to be part of the experiences of Kratos overall, yet they were never mentioned in the story’s main series. Because the core trilogy has such a clear plot, the prequels are put in a tough narrative position. No one ever mentions the time that Kratos killed the furies or talks about how there used to be elephant beasts roaming around the world. When enough little details pile up, they start to distract from the consistency of the overall narrative. They’re almost a cliche, but for good reason: Why wouldn’t Obi-Wan ever tell Luke about midichlorians? Why would the imperial Moffs sass Darth Vader about the Force when they are clearly old enough to have been alive during a time when Jedi roamed the galaxy? Did everybody forget about Qui-Gon? The classic examples are the Star Wars prequels. It is challenging because the game constantly reminds me about how much I dislike prequels, especially in video games.Īs is the case in non-interactive media, prequels often muddy a story’s overall plot. Despite my fandom, God of War: Ascension is proving to be a challenge and not in the sense that I’m having a hard time beating the enemies (it actually feels easier than most of the other games). By my rough estimate, I’ve written over three-thousand words specifically about the games, and I’ve probably made reference to them in dozens of other columns. I’ve played all the games multiple times and on various difficulty settings. This post contains spoilers for the God of War series.
0 kommentar(er)
