What was the point of 'Ascension' in the GoW storyline?

[GearSolidMetal]

Never got around to playing it, since it was a prequel I didn't really see why it would be significant to the GoW trilogy.

And from the cutscenes and gameplay I've seen of it, Kratos still has his ashey skin, so it takes place after he kills his wife and daughter.

So what was the point of it?

 

[RJ43]

Pretty sure the point was to squeeze out any remaining brand value out of the franchise to make a quick buck and hit some sales targets.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Pretty sure the point was to squeeze out any remaining brand value out of the franchise to make a quick buck and hit some sales targets.

 

[GoldenAzazel]

I guess if you're a massive fan of God of War it's worth playing because you get to enjoy the same kinda stuff in previous games. There's nothing drastically new to the game though and the story definitely feels a lot weaker.

It basically takes place after he kills his family, but before God of War 1. The basic plotline is he's in some prison for people who betray their loyalty to gods they've sworn service to because he's turned his back on Ares.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I guess if you're a massive fan of God of War it's worth playing because you get to enjoy the same kinda stuff in previous games. There's nothing drastically new to the game though and the story definitely feels a lot weaker.

It basically takes place after he kills his family, but before God of War 1. The basic plotline is he's in some prison for people who betray their loyalty to gods they've sworn service to because he's turned his back on Ares.

Sounds like it'd be far better if it was set before he killed his family, to see how he was being so full of rage would have been interesting character development.

 

[GoldenAzazel]

Sounds like it'd be far better if it was set before he killed his family, to see how he was being so full of rage would have been interesting character development.

Yeah, that would have been pretty interesting. It's not a bad game by any means though. It still has loads of cool visuals and fun enemy designs like the previous games.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Yeah, that would have been pretty interesting. It's not a bad game by any means though. It still has loads of cool visuals and fun enemy designs like the previous games.

I still have my PS3 in my mom's basement. Maybe I'll pick it up and get GoWA for cheap somewhere.

 

[Dreago]

Ascension is a great game. It has the 2nd best intro mission after Kratos killing Poseidon. I never did play the multiplayer but I thought that the single player was solid for an action game.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I never did play the multiplayer but I thought that the single player was solid for an action game.

From what I hear, it was mediocre at best.

If the servers are still online, its guaranteed its a wasteland.

 

[The One True]

ascension was a big letdown

i was also under the impression that the game would take place before kratos had killed his family. there were so many interesting angles they could have played at, but instead you get some meaningless 3 harpies sidequest that feels even less significant than chains of olympus. overall completely unnecessary unless you only care about the combat, which is as tight as ever

basically it felt like a psp title rather than a worthy followup to gow 3. it's even more disappointing if you happened to watch the goat trailer before playing. they should be sued for false advertising

 

[HereticBD]

I played it a long time ago, so I don't remember all the details, but I do remember it being well done and above my expectations. It just felt like half a game, because they cut the nuts off the campaign, for some lame multiplayer garbage.

The five or six hour campaign was decent enough though. It was unnecessary filler, but enjoyable unnecessary filler.

 

[Hotel Security]

Never got around to playing it, since it was a prequel I didn't really see why it would be significant to the GoW trilogy.

And from the cutscenes and gameplay I've seen of it, Kratos still has his ashey skin, so it takes place after he kills his wife and daughter.

Wait a second...are you asking about the point of the PLOT in a HACK AND SLASH game? There's never a point to the plot in a hack and slash game. The point of any new hack and slash game is to give players more hack and slash. That's always the point. No one should be playing GoW for the plot anyway...outside of the first game, the series' plot has been a mess with plotholes and retcons throughout. The point is Kratos killing stuff.

Pretty sure the point was to squeeze out any remaining brand value out of the franchise to make a quick buck and hit some sales targets.

Also, the point was also to stuff a multiplayer mode that no one wanted down out throats since this was a period where EVERYONE was adding a lackluster MP mode to their single-player series. They were clearly promoting the MP mode first with this game and the campaign mode seemed like a tacked-on mode they put out just to sell the MP.

It was horrible. They changed a ton of the SP mechanics to match the MP, they abused the rage meter to always be building up and auto-activating so you couldn't even save it, they locked a bunch of normal abilities from previous games so you could only use them with rage which limited your options, the magic is horrendous and useless and requires a ton of EXP just to unlock a spell, the side weapons were all useless and nerfed outside of the shield that was only good due to a glitch, almost all the bossfights were terrible but one and the game was clearly rushed out as there were glitches all over the place...the patches for the game were massive and most of them were just to fix MP issues while they largely ignored the SP glitches.

Plotwise, it's a prequel and it about the Furies wanting to kill Kratos because he murdered his wife. There's also some annoying retconning where they imply that nothing that Kratos did was his fault which was pretty lame since that's part of what makes him interesting. They've had a unique character in Kratos and have done nothing but try to make him a cliched "sympathetic hero" in Ascension and in this nuGoW game.

And the worst part is the game suffered with bad reviews and sales and Sony came out of this saying "gamers are getting tired of the same formula" rather than blaming themselves for the mistakes and changes they made that were the real reason why the game suffered. So now we get this casual nuGoW garbage which isn't even hack and slash anymore because Sony can't even admit to themselves that they fucked it up with Ascension. Arrgggh.

I guess if you're a massive fan of God of War it's worth playing because you get to enjoy the same kinda stuff in previous games.

Only problem is this isn't true...I'm a big fan of the previous games and the combat in Ascension was a massive downgrade. They ruined so many systems, had lazy mechanics and limited your options in a ton of fights...some of them even required you to use a certain cheap tool which isn't how H&S is supposed to be balanced. I'm baffled at other responders saying it was a good game since, mechanically, it was a disaster and paled when compared to GoW 1-3.