God of War: Ascension

I am a huge proponent of the God of War series. With Ascension, I’ve beaten each game in the series including every game on the PSP (and I replayed them on the PS3). This is a prequel story I think. It takes place “before the time of the Titans” as Kratos breaks his blood oath to Ares, whatever that means. Because he does this, he gets pursued by what I think are three (maybe just two) sisters who have the power of illusion and the power to summon bugs. With giant bugs and tricking Kratos into thinking his family is alive, these sisters plan on keeping Kratos chained to Ares for life. SPOILER ALERT: IT DOESN’T WORK supposedly even though it seems like it does based on the games that come after this one chronologically. What all this amounts to is a game that doesn't quite feel as epic as previous iterations. Yes, it still has the giant set pieces and it still makes you feel like an almost god-like warrior, but there's just something missing when the main evil isn't Zeus or Hades or someone awesome like that. 

As you can see, this is the hardest story to follow. Also, the variety of enemies just isn’t up to par with God of War 3 and what enemies this game does have are kind of lame. There are a lot of bug enemies which don’t really fit into this universe to which I had been introduced in previous games. Moreover, the controls have changed from previous installments to incorporate a new feature in which you can harpoon your enemies and hold onto them as you battle other enemies. It's cool in theory but not as fun as I would have hoped. Because of it, I was constantly getting confused with how to do some moves that were previously second-nature to me. On top of that, this game went from having 0 puzzles to having a shit ton in the final hour or so. Lastly, the final boss is pretty lame. Though this is my least favorite of the God of War games, it's easily the best looking (probably the best looking game on PS3). The sound is incredible. The actual gameplay is as fun as ever. If you consider yourself a God of War fan, play this game. Just temper your expectations just a little bit. But damn it feels good to beat another God of War game.