OK, It's been a while since I actually loved a singleplayer game like that. And this one nailed it !

God of War is objectively a masterpiece of its genre. Especially the PC version, offering a visually stunning (still to this day) journey.
I already knew the game from playthroughs I watched on internet when it released, and I was a bit sceptical about the TPS view, being a fan of the old Kratos ways of PS2/PS3.
But in all honesty, even if the 2018 reboot doesn't have the epic scale and scenery of previous installments, it is still a very well polished and memorable experience on its own.

The characters are well written and their evolution throughout the story (which is compelling as well) is really interesting.
Gameplay wise, GoW's fights are pretty satisfying despite the complexity of controls, and the RPG aspect of crafting/upgrading armors, weapons, and skills; is well balanced. Not too much, not too barebone. The leveling of Kratos is actually fun, smooth and rewarding.

The leveldesign and exploration are not boring at all. All dungeons feel nice to visit and roam in, the puzzles are sometime a little tricky but never infuriating like in other games. There is lot of backtracking here and there (to unlock areas with newly equipped items), but Santa Monica made sure that each new trip in a familiar place is full of surprises and worth your time.
Finally, the "openworld" thingy is not the worst idea here. It is rather limited and well thought through to make it organic and not artificial.


Now it is not to say the game is perfect, so here are some minor gripes I'd like to point out :
- Some "puzzles" are unclear wether they can be solved the first time you come across them, or if you have to move further into the dungeon for a later solution (or even come back with new item). That had me pointlessly scratch my head several times for 10-15min, looking around like I missed something.
- As I mentionned it earlier, the controls (keyboard/mouse) are a little confusing, between skill activation and special attacks triggering, or even the many menus in inventory. I think it could have been better. But you get used to it after a while.
- All characters are pleasant to listen to. But some tend to chat whenever they want, especially when you don't pay attention or when you are focused on something. I like this game's lore, but I probably missed half of it because I couldn't control the discussions. A prompt button with each character, allowing the player to manually pick a topic would have been great.
- The loot system of the game is fine, it is just a shame that a lot of items feel redundant or useless. For context, my first playthrough took me 50hrs, I did 100% of the content, and I only swapped my whole armor set twice considering how lame were most of the other sets. The loot lack some balance. But perhaps it's just me.


Regardless, I warmly recommend this game to anyone in search for a quality singleplayer odyssey !