What's This Game All About?
This game needs no introduction (but I’ll give it one anyway!). A true classic. A gem. A generation-defining game. Any number of cliche titles could be given to this game and it would be warranted. Santa Monica studies made a brave decision with this game; shy away from the classic button mash hack and slash, QTE, and linear worlds. Instead, they went with a semi-open world action-adventure, with a more realistic and tactical approach to combat. And it paid off. Big time. Collecting the trophies and obtaining the platinum on God of War was a real journey.
You play as a Kratos, whilst familiar has been drastically reimagined, and his some Atreus. Through the use of a single over-the-shoulder 3rd person camera, accompanied by an exceptional score and engrossing story, you fight through a rejuvenated Norse-mythologically based world. The development of the relationship between father and son is one of the highlights of this game, as well as the action-packed combat and thoughtfully developed side characters.
Disappointingly, I missed most of the older God Of War titles. I was too busy stuck in my ways of playing sports games and platformers on the Nintendo 64. If only I could go back in time and let my child self know what I was missing out on! Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I enjoyed this game and it has convinced me to buy the God Of War saga on the PS3. It’s currently on its way from eBay and should be here any day now. Look out for Platinum Obsession Journeys for each of these titles in the future; I plan to play through all 5 in the, not too distant future.
God of War Trophies
OK, so I’ll start with a caveat and say that I had completed the story of this game a few months ago. All that was left with for my of my God of War platinum was trophies related to side quests, collectibles, and the Valkyrie queen. I had to re-learn all of the controls whilst facing the end-game content. Not something I would recommend unless you drastically lower the difficulty. Something, in hindsight, I probably should have done right off the bat.
Playing through the story without a guide is what I recommend at first. This, in my opinion, is the best way to enjoy the game. It has a fascinating world filled with exceptional side characters and entertaining side quests. Reading a guide would likely, to a degree, limit this experience. The story isn’t huge and should take anywhere from 20-25 hours. After this, I recommend using a guide to work on the collectibles.
I needed one for Odin’s Ravens – small, translucent, often difficult to spot birds scattered around the vast world. There are 51 of these in total, and it wasn’t something I wanted to wander around and check ever every corner (earth, air, and land) for. Additionally, 22 Nornir chests go towards fully upgrading your health and rage. These were also a bit of a chore to find at times. I’m pretty sure I used a guide for the last few of these as well.
In terms of my return to God of War, I cleaned up the side quests and collectibles pretty quickly – collecting the respective trophies. One thing I will mention is the less than intuitive world map used in the game. It pretty much just throws you in a position on a template, irrespective of the terrain surrounding you. So, if you are inside of a cave or a building, these don’t show up on the map and it just places you on top of where this location is. This can be very confusing if you are trying to exactly pinpoint your location and/or which direction you need to go in.
After the sie quests came my first attempt at the Valkyrie Queen, Sigrún. Let me start by saying I hate this b****. Now, I’ve played most of the Dark Souls titles, but I really cannot remember any of the bosses giving me as much trouble as the Valkyrie Queen did. There’s a reason why she is in the top 5 difficult bosses on many lists that I’ve seen. This may have been abetted by the fact I was still trying to master the controls and remember to use my runic attacks. At first, it felt like I could barely even land a hit on her. I lost count of the number of times I screamed, “SHE’S CHEATING”, as she either blinded me and teleported across the arena, or one-shot me from 25m away. As I sat there contemplating whether I would ever beat her, I slowly noticed I was getting better. I was starting to recognise her moves and somewhat preempt her one-shot attacks. Still, this didn’t seem to help a lot, but at least it was progressing.
I started fighting her at around 10 pm. Worst case scenario, I thought to myself, I would be in bed by 1 am. Well, 3 am comes around and I’ve been fighting her for 5 hours. Should I go to bed? No way. My stubbornness was shining through, even though I knew I would be a zombie for work the next day (well, technically that same day). For the next hour or so I got her within 1-2 shots multiple times, and I swear she decided to turn her cheats on again! On the verge of giving up, I decided to give it a few more shots, and low and behold I finally managed to defeat her. It was after 4 am and I had to be up for work in less than 4 hours. But, it was worth it. All God of War trophies collected. Platinum obtained
Trophy facts
Trophies Available – 22 bronze, 9 SIlver, 5 Gold, 1 Platinum
Time to Platinum – 40-50 hours (Depending on skill and difficulty level)
Platinum Difficulty – 5/10
Number of Missable Trophies – 0
Hardest Trophy – Chooser of the Slain (Defeat the nine Valkyries)
Number of Playthroughs – 1 (All required locations can be revisited in free-roam)
Fun Factor – 9/10
Click here to read my previous journey Astro’s Playroom Trophies