Sony has launched a limited-edition God of War controller. The responses are quite diverse and mixed, from positive to negative. If you see how divided people’s opinions are, you might think they had a game release that was controversial. The controller carries the classic red of Kratos and the Omega sign, and the company calls it “a legacy in your hands” – it sure is a strong statement.
Nonetheless, surveying the reactions will reveal nothing less than turmoil. Basically, some gamers are really going off the rails for it, like iammarcus, who wrote: “Yessssssirrrrr!! Thanks a lot PlayStation.. my collection now has this and my Iconic Blue!!” Conversely, several individuals criticized the design, dubbing it “lazy” and “boring” – Flaco, for instance, only opined “Ehh this design was lazy” and left.
The price tag of the item is another point that sparks heated discussions. Stealth aptly summed it up in his post: “It looks like a dope controller imo, but the price is diabolical.” No doubt, that there is limited edition controller at stake, which means you will have to pay more than the standard DualSense for it. Yet, some people are really torn between whether to get it or not.
This leads to the age-old question reappearing again about the drifting sticks that always come with PlayStation controllers. Himanshu Agarwal made his point clear with a jest saying “stick drift in 1 yr promised officially,” which ows that it kinda stings but it is also true? In the comments to this post one could notice numerous users sharing their experience of having to replace many controllers due to the stick drifting issue. Eternal_Brandon even recalled: “I just bought one three months ago and it already has stick drift and I only play for a couple of hours every third day” – man, tough luck.
In all honesty, the debate about the designer got exceptionally heated among the users. They were arguing and supporting their positions for quite some time! GhostOfSparta1, for his part, was calling it constantly “boring,” while Jacobkyle333, meanwhile, was clarifying that the controller was indeed a deliberate tribute to Kratos. They seem to be from different planets and even different types of gaming, which is probably their main topic after all.
Many others, however, were asking for more God of War content instead – EddieDaWolf, for instance, directly “Give us a remastered trilogy of god of war” straight up, which I completely agree with, honestly! And Vastayan put it perfectly when he remarked “God of War 20th Anniversary deserved better…” – which almost accurately depicts what very many people who dislike the controller design think.
What is most unexpected is how different opinions can be when it comes to preferences in controllers. For example, some people would say they have had nothing but problems with Xbox controllers, whereas some would never give them up even if they were to be isolated from the world. And all this raises the question of whether limited edition controllers are worth the extra bucks? Do they really have the good design or are they just? What about the features?
The controller does indeed look very nice – the Omega sign in white and Kratos’ tattoos in deep red are quite a stunning combination. It is pretty obvious that the theme is about God of War. But I do support those who demanded more, for instance, some texture, extra colors, or whatever. Oops, was I saying? Oh yes, controller designs.
At the end of the day, limited edition controllers will always be in dispute. Some people taking part in these discussions collect them as a ritual while others dismiss them as a money-wasting hobby. God of War 20th Anniversary edition seems to be sticking to that very pattern – love it or hate it, people are still talking about it. For a franchise that has existed for two decades, that might be the most important thing, keeping the chat going until the next release.
Regardless of whether you think of it as a collectible item or as overpriced and uninteresting, the fact remains that God of War is still capable of attracting an audience even after all these years. This is a massive win for a franchise that made its debut on PS2. The controller may not have universal appeal, but it is still a wonderful piece of gaming history that hardcore fans can literally have in their hands.
