Gamers miss the OG God Of War hack-and-slash gameplay

Video games have come a long way in the last twenty years and although some changes are for the better, some fans miss the way things used to be. This is the case for one player who recently revealed they miss the original God of War’s hack-and-slash gameplay.

God of War was first launched in 2005, followed shortly by God of War II and God of War III. After an eight-year hiatus, the series returned with 2018's rebooted God of War followed by the sequel God of War Ragnarök in 2022. Over the course of its lifetime, the series has undergone a number of changes, including its setting and combat style.

Check out God of War Ragnarök below!

The original God of War title saw its protagonist, the Spartan warrior Kratos, use his weapons in a series of hack-and-slash combos. However, in its recent adaptations, the combat relies more on close-range and tactical battles as well as Kratos’ ‘Rage’ ability which does just that – makes him into the Incredible Hulk’s less-green brother. Despite the remake’s success, not everyone is happy with this new style of combat in favour of its previous hack-and-slash gameplay.

“Playing Dante’s Inferno again because of Halloween season, and it has me missing the old GoW type over the top hack-and-slash games”, said one Reddit user. “I would love to see something like this done on an AA budget today.” Another user attributes the changes to the RPG genre, “The open world and RPG aspects really water down the experience also. I just miss the old formula and hate the current state of gaming where everything has to mimic other successful titles (open world, RPG) or be rebooted into something it never had to be to appeal to a larger audience.”

With a sequel to God of War Ragnarök recently teased by an industry insider, we could be seeing another title in the franchise very soon. Whether or not it will go with the new or old combat formula, however, remains to be seen.