The game is absolutely amazing in its visuals, sound, and exploration. However, it's the story that is utterly astounding. The game is done in one long cut--no load screens [or, rather, cleverly hidden load screens] except if the character dies--which, for me, was frequent even on the normal setting. This gives a personal connection to these characters as we follow Kratos every moment of the game.
Despite being a mythologically based story set in a fantastical world, the plot is intensely personal, starting with Kratos building a pyre for his recently deceased wife and taking his son on a journey to follow her final request of scattering her ashes from the highest mountain of the realm. In short, that is the main plot, but it gets wildly--yet believably (in a fantastical way)--complicated as some of the Aesir decide to get involved. I loved the decidedly different take on Norse mythology (i.e. Thor is NOT a good god) from most modern versions, but especially appreciated the deft handling of the relationship between a son and father who do not really know one another.
One bizarre issue that I had with the game is Christopher Judge's voice as Kratos, or rather, with the character model of Kratos. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Judge's voice as his is certainly a voice fitting to play a mythological super-powered god. However, every time I heard it, I pictured the powerful Black actor in my head, not some albino Spartan. I know of no way to fix this issue in a way that would satisfy me other than retconning Kratos to come from Africa.
My only other issue with the game is that it induced levels of rage that I have not had this frequently while playing a game for quite a while. Everything took too long to take down, bosses required old-school pattern recognition ad nauseum, and the controls were not nearly as responsive as the last couple of games that I've played (which were, admittedly, two of the best games I've ever played). Still, the wonderful story and beautiful worlds were enough to keep me slogging through the frustrating combat and grind-heavy upgrading system.
Even with my frustrations, I may some day come back to this game just to experience the story again, this time with knowing its last-minute twist.