God of War (2018) Tells a Terrible Story and Tells It Terribly

[Joris-truly]

Finally finished watching this great essay. After finishing GoW 2018 I struggled with some of the same character writing choices this essay explains.

But first off, let me clarify that game development is incredibly hard from a creative and production standpoint. So even releasing this enormously ambitious game is incredible on it's own.


As a script writer myself, I find this to be real helpful in understanding character writing.

Edit: I personally liked the game very much so, even though I haven't played the original trilogy. I thought the writing was OK if a bit melodramatic on the character writing side, and a lot of key character choices didn't feel earned. But the video helped in getting grip on the internal/external conflicts of a character, which is a really hard and long process in screenwriting to get right. And I can't even imagine getting it right when developing games with all there shifting parts and technical hurdles.

Yes, the video is long but i consumed it bite sized when going on a walk.

Enjoy!

MOD EDIT: This is not OP's channel, they are simply sharing a video that they enjoyed.

 

[Transistor]

Let's try this again

 

[Manfred]

Finally finished watching this great essay. After finishing GoW 2018 I struggled with some of the same character writing choices this essay explains.

But first off, let me clarify that game development is incredibly hard from a creative and production standpoint. So even releasing this enormously ambitious game is incredible on it's own.


As a script writer myself, I find this to be real helpful in understanding character writing.

Enjoy!

MOD EDIT: This is not OP's channel, they are simply sharing a video that they enjoyed.

Click to shrink...

Could you please summarise his points rather than doing a hit&run with this 3hours videos, thanks. Or maybe a transcript exists ?

 

[LavaBadger]

Questionable dialogue choices? Sure. Issues with writing around the women of the story? Absolutely.

A "terrible story" told "terribly?" No, not at all. I don't know where a person can logically conclude that.

OP, want to take a stab at summarizing some of arguments made here? This is a 3 hour long video.

 

[The Dark Shape]

Sure, boss.

 

[theultimatesandwich]

3 hours? Oooooof, I don’t got time for that.

 

[Vertpin]

I heavily disagree with this video analysis.

 

[Ladomania]

Thought it was pretty good but if that's how you feel then I won't hate

 

[-Tetsuo-]

 

[Nooblet]

You're not really gonna get a discussion on this subject in this thread without summerising the video/doing bullet points. If not then just elaborate your own opinion rather than redirecting the explanation somewhere else after opening a topic.

I don't think anyone's going to watch a 3 hour long video to have a discussion.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I don't think I can watch 3 hours about a game whose story didn't engage me or enflame me all that much.

Like it's not a GREAT story but it's also not so bad that I would want to watch a 3-hour schadenfreude video dissecting it.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

I can't really commit three hours in order to properly engage with what you're saying, but the strength of the language used (Tells and Terrible Story and Tells it Terribly) makes me inclined to disagree right out of the gates. I would think even a cynic wouldn't think the story and storytelling were worse than average.

 

[onpoint]

Yeah... a quick summary would be helpful. If it were like a 10 minute video I’d watch and converse, as I also didn’t love the narrative in the game, but 3 hours is a lot to bite off.

 

[Couscous]

I'm not going to watch three hours of a questionable YouTube video just to discuss things in this thread. Can OP not give a summary at the very least?

 

[Coi]

It's a video game. Don't expect the best stories.
Me, personally, I loved it.

 

[DumpsterJuice]

I'm not going to watch three hours of a questionable YouTube video just to discuss thing in this thread. Can OP not give a summary at the very least?

Click to shrink...

Agreed. One of my all time favorite games and I would love to discuss this, but a 3hr vid is too long.

 

[ArjanN]

I agree in the sense that it suffers from having to be a long-ish AAA game compared to the core story it's telling.

 

[mindsale]

I thought it was pretty well-realized.

 

[Tophat Jones]

I thought the ‘Untangling God of War’ video did a very good job at showing the opposite. And it was a 10x shorter video. Anyone have cliff notes?

 

[DitaParlo]

few days ago someone posted this (the extreme opposite haha)

 

[Anarion07]

God of War (2018) Tells a Great Story and Tells It Amazingly

 

[madridi-gh]

looks at the thumbnail, looks at the length of the video ...

 

[DrSopa]

3 hours????? ufff

 

[Tyaren]

Hard disagree. It's a well-written and well-thoughout story. Here's a great video by someone who can explain it a lot better and a lot more beautifully than I could here:

 

[brokeastronaut]

few days ago someone posted this (the extreme opposite haha)

Click to shrink...

This is a much much better vid than the one in the op.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

But OP is a script writer himself so surely he knows what he is talking about it ahem.

I am sure you have some points, but seems pretty hyperbole just to excuse the whole script.

Not too long ago there was even a video assessing how smart they implemented the Norse mythology into their game lol.

 

[biggy]

I don't know how much the rest of you know about screenwriting (I'm an expert)

 

[Russell]

No.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I agree in the sense that it suffers from having to be a long-ish AAA game compared to the core story it's telling.

Click to shrink...

Especially in a series where the average length ranges from 6 to 12 hours.

God of War (2018) is basically double that.

That might be my only real complaint and, even then, I think the story it tells is, at least, more engaging for me.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

It was alright. Started off well but lost steam. The pacing of the game in general didn't help with that though. The story might have left a stronger impression if the game was half as long.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

I mean there are definitely some tropes:

Mom/woman fridged.
Dad/Child
Road blocks ingame to move the plot
Atreus too sudden internal struggle (that has been explained though to be fair)

Hmm what else

 

[Neuromancer]

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt

 

[Potato Mage]

I find most video games have cheesy stories if you take the story on its own, probably because they have to include a gameplay loop. The immersion of playing makes up for the basic plots.

To be honest I loved the last God of War but I don't even think I completely knew what the story was while I was playing and never really cared. For some reason Kratos wants to pretend he's not a god anymore and lie to his son about it, he has to learn that lying is bad and fight some monsters and Gods and stuff and there was an ominous painting at the end. I'm ok with that.

 

[EagleClaw]

A 3 hours video about the bad storytelling in a game just shows how good storytelling in games have become.

 

[ARobotCalledV]

I agree in the sense that it suffers from having to be a long-ish AAA game compared to the core story it's telling.

Click to shrink...

I feel the length adds to the narrative. The journey to the destination feels consequential. If they had reached the end point within ten hours, it wouldn't have had as much of an impact to me.

 

[janusff]

 

[Bansai]

The game had a few low points (e.g. Atreus' sudden mood swing, Kartos' inconsistence with his words and actions after certain sickness occurred), but overall, it was an excellent story.

I listened to this video some time ago while playing something, it focuses mostly on those very few low points and repeats them ad nauseam. The person who made it clearly knows their stuff, but they got too hung up with driving home certain points.

That title also doesn't help, video itself is much more tame.

 

[Melpomene]

I think three hours might be longer than I spent trying to play this game, let alone watching someone attempt to tear it to pieces.

In any case, I certainly hope there’s a more nuanced case they’re trying to make in three hours worth of video, because “it is bad” is a pretty ignoble critical goal to spend that much time and energy arguing on just about anything.

 

[s y]

It was aight. Kept me interested which is the most I ask of a game story.


Not nearly interesting enough to watch a critique longer than 20 minutes, that's for sure.

 

[Javier]

Finally finished watching this great essay. After finishing GoW 2018 I struggled with some of the same character writing choices this essay explains.

But first off, let me clarify that game development is incredibly hard from a creative and production standpoint. So even releasing this enormously ambitious game is incredible on it's own.


As a script writer myself, I find this to be real helpful in understanding character writing.

Enjoy!

MOD EDIT: This is not OP's channel, they are simply sharing a video that they enjoyed.

Click to shrink...

If you're a script writer, watch this:

few days ago someone posted this (the extreme opposite haha)

Click to shrink...

 

[Nokagi]

Nah it was pretty good.

 

[Singher]

I think taking three hours to have to explain to me that something is terrible, is a sign of a bad critique

 

[Jakenbakin]

I thought the ‘Untangling God of War’ video did a very good job at showing the opposite. And it was a 10x shorter video. Anyone have cliff notes?

Click to shrink...

I agree with your sentiment if not your math.

But fuck it, I'll try to watch it and see how long I last.

 

[Betty]

Nah, got 20+ minutes in and not only is the video not very good but the guy is completely wrong.

"There is no defining internal conflict for Kratos that causes him to undergo that process of introspection"

Bullshit, his entire life has shown him that being a God is nothing but misery and paints a huge target on yourself and he wants Atreus to be protected from that.

He still tries to continue it after Atreus wakes up but as the boy confronts him he realises he cannot keep this up and must tell the truth.

So nah, the video is all wrong.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

use those scriptwriting skills and summarize this 3 hour video pls

 

[Lucini]

few days ago someone posted this (the extreme opposite haha)

Click to shrink...

The extreme opposite and a perfect rebuttal. The story was fine.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

The game had a few low points (e.g. Atreus' sudden mood swing, Kartos' inconsistence with his words and actions after certain sickness occurred), but overall, it was an excellent story.

I listened to this video some time ago while playing something, it focuses mostly on those very few low points and repeats them ad nauseam. The person who made it clearly knows their stuff, but they got too hung up with driving home certain points.

That title also doesn't help, video itself is much more tame.

Click to shrink...

God of War: Kartos Racing hell yeh.

 

[Lube Man]

It's honestly one of the few stories in a game that feels like it's progressing without forcing you to go to point A or point B to collect intel, and teaches some great lessons about family and growing up. There's no dull moment in the story. In fact, I would stop moving to listen to every dialogue. It's a fantastic journey, and I felt like I grew old with the characters in those hours.

Need more AAA games with stories that are meaningful instead of some Intel collecting stories, or stopping the big baddie from existing because he's bad and we are prettier.

 

[Swiggins]

That's a hard no from me dawg.

 

[discotheque]

I don't remember much about it except that I hated the kid by the end