Zelda God of War PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Of all the games I expected God of State of war to remind me of, The Legend of Zelda was probably right at the very lesser of my list. I mean, how could the hallmarks of Nintendo's flagship adventure franchise maybe exist present in Kratos' latest? This is a game almost a paternal relationship, like The Last of Us. Information technology has a cinematic third-person camera, like Uncharted. Heck, there are fifty-fifty thick, visually luxurious forests, like every Sony game ever according to 1 particularly short-sighted meme.

But no, the new God of War reminds me of Zelda – and erstwhile-school, Ocarina of Time-era Zelda at that. 1 of my takeaways while playing the championship is that it'south got a very Nintendo-esque design philosophy to it. The ol' Big N is brilliant at constantly introducing new systems and mechanics throughout the course of its titles, only to exchange them for something new and so reinvent them later on. God of War does that, perhaps not to the highs of, say, a Twilight Princess, but information technology'south there.

Zelda God of War PS4 PlayStation 4 2

In fact, I find the overall structure of the game to be very Zelda-esque. Prior to release many people feared that God of War would be more Walk of War, as it attempts to ape Naughty Dog titles and elevate its story above gameplay. Just that couldn't be further from the truth: there's virtually something to practise every 30 seconds that you play, be it a small distraction like a floating butt that y'all can smash with your gunkhole or something more designed like a rune puzzle that you need to solve.

Just similar in Zelda, y'all don't have to bother with these periphery distractions if you don't want to – merely you'll be rewarded if you practise. There are a wide range of different chests, containing everything from stat-boosting gear to in-game currency and more than. Many of these chests you'll be able to see just won't actually be able to admission until a much subsequently engagement, when you have the requisite abilities. Information technology'due south like when you see a cracked wall in a Zelda game but have to look until y'all've unlocked the bombs to accident it open.

Zelda God of War PS4 PlayStation 4 3

Heck, fifty-fifty the progression feels similar in some ways. Without spoiling anything, completing dominate encounters will generally advantage you lot with new techniques, which opens up unabridged new portions of the map to you. And how practice you get to these? You sail around, simply like in Air current Waker. The actual water-based navigation is nowhere virtually every bit deep and involved as in Nintendo's cult GameCube archetype, only the sense of discovery equally you dock at new beaches and buildings carries the same awareness.

Obviously the game does deviate from Zelda in some ways; God of State of war'south focus is on combat offset and foremost, traditionally one of the weaker elements of Nintendo's famous franchise. And there are no existent dungeons to discover or dominate keys to locate. Merely you lot don't accept to scratch far beneath the surface to find the Zelda in Kratos' new campaign. And with even Breath of the Wild deviating from the traditions of the series, God of State of war may only scratch your sometime-school Zelda itch.

Practice you think in that location are similarities between God of War and Zelda – or are we stretching things? Has Kratos managed to scratch your Link itch? Find the boss key in the comments section below.