God of War: Ascension

God of War: Ascension
Developer(s)	SCE Santa Monica Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Series	God of War
Release date(s)	NA March 12, 2013 EU March 13, 2013 AU March 14, 2013
Release type	PlayStation 3 exclusive
Genre(s)	Action, Adventure, Hack and slash
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
GameID(s)	BCES01741 (IRD), BCES01742 (IRD), BCUS98232 (IRD), NPEA00445, NPUA80918, NPHA80258, BCJS37008 (IRD), BCAS25016 (IRD), NPJA00094 Prison of the Damned Demo NPEA90123, NPUA70265, NPUA70269, NPHA80251 Demo NPEA90115, NPUA70244, NPHA80235 Multiplayer Beta BCET70050, NPUA70216 Soundtrack NPEA00441, NPUA30124
Internal resolution	1280x720
Quick links	Check Compatibility Open Issues Search Google Wikipedia Page

God of War: Ascension is the seventh installment in the God of War series and prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, the game is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, the former servant of the God of War Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. Kratos was therefore imprisoned and tortured by the three Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper Orkos, Kratos escapes his imprisonment and confronts the Furies to be completely free of his bond to Ares.

The gameplay is similar to previous installments, focusing on combo-based combat with the player's main weapon—the Blades of Chaos—and other weapons acquired by the new World Weapons mechanic. It continues the use of quick time events and adds a new, promptless, free-form system. Four magical attacks and a power-enhancing ability can be used as alternative combat options, and the game features puzzles and platforming elements. Ascension is the only installment in the series to include multiplayer, which is online-only and features modes for both competitive and cooperative play. It also features a redesigned combat system, new gameplay mechanics, and downloadable content. From October 2012 to March 2013, a social experience was available online in the form of a graphic novel titled Rise of the Warrior, a prequel story that tied into the game's single-player and multiplayer modes.

Configuration

Options that deviate from RPCS3's default settings and provide the best experience with this title are listed below.

CPU configuration

Setting	Option	Notes
SPU block size	Mega	Improves performance, doesn't seem to reduce stability.

GPU configuration

Setting	Option	Notes
ZCULL accuracy	Approximate	Improves performance over precise. Don't try relaxed as it breaks graphics and kills performance.
Write color buffers	On	Fixes lighting issues.

Advanced configuration

Setting	Option	Notes
Accurate RSX reservation access	On	Prevents random freezing/crashing while playing the game.
Sleep timers accuracy	As Host	Slight performance improvement.
RSX FIFO accuracy	Atomic	Helps with stability.

Recommended patches

Game patches are available through the RPCS3 Patch Manager. To enable them, right-click a game in RPCS3 then select "Manage Game Patches". Game Patches are created by RPCS3's community, and can alter how a game runs. More information can be found here.

Recommendation	Patch name	Notes
Highly recommended patch	Disable MLAA, Disable SPU MLAA	Improves performance and allows Resolution Scaling to work properly.
Recommended patch	Disable Motion Blur, Skip Intro

Known Issues

This title is currently not considered "playable", as the hardware requirement is too high. But it can be played with decent performance on a good CPU, especially if you use the game's patches.

Special Notes

Netplay testing

For the complete list of games tested with RPCN, please check the RPCN Compatibility List.

Game Version	RPCS3 Version	Connects?	Create/Join lobbies?	Match with others?	Online features working?	Requires custom servers?	Notes
1.12	N/A	No	No	No	No	Not available

Patches

Anchors:
  gowa_mlaa_notes: &gowa_mlaa_notes
    "Allows for the use of Resolution Scaling in this title.\nSet Resolution Scale Threshold to 1x1 for proper scaling of effects."

  gowa_104_title: &gowa_104_title
    "God of War: Ascension":
      BCES01741: [ 01.04 ]
      BCES01742: [ 01.04 ]
      BCUS98232: [ 01.04 ]
      BCAS25016: [ 01.04 ]
      BCJS37008: [ 01.04 ]
      NPEA00445: [ 01.04 ]
      NPUA80918: [ 01.04 ]
      NPHA80258: [ 01.04 ]

  gowa_112_title: &gowa_112_title
    "God of War: Ascension":
      BCES01741: [ 01.12 ]
      BCES01742: [ 01.12 ]
      BCUS98232: [ 01.12 ]
      BCAS25016: [ 01.12 ]
      BCJS37008: [ 01.22 ]
      NPEA00445: [ 01.12 ]
      NPUA80918: [ 01.12 ]
      NPHA80258: [ 01.12 ]

PPU-3a63ecc6e9b81a984d2fe0a481febc3e26b57810: # GOWA.SELF 1.04
  "Disable MLAA":
    Games: *gowa_104_title
    Author: "illusion, ZEROx"
    Notes: *gowa_mlaa_notes
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x0083ce77, 0x00 ]
      - [ be32, 0x00390724, 0x60000000 ]
      - [ be32, 0x00390754, 0x60000000 ]
  "Disable Depth of Field":
    Games: *gowa_104_title
    Author: "ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ be32, 0x004342bc, 0x38a00000 ]
  "Disable Motion Blur":
    Games: *gowa_104_title
    Author: "ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ be32, 0x00437810, 0x38a00000 ]
  "Skip intro":
    Games: *gowa_104_title
    Author: "Illusion, ZEROx"
    Notes: "Skips SCE intros up to first video\n2.0 Skips intro video."
    Patch Version: 2.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x00204d5b, 0x01 ] # Skip intro video on first run
      - [ be16, 0x00411ff4, 0x4800 ] # Skip intro logo
      - [ be32, 0x003efa04, 0x480225f5 ] # func call
      - [ be32, 0x00411ff8, 0x3c60009e ] # lis r3,0x9e
      - [ be32, 0x00411ffc, 0xa063c1d0 ] # Current video 2 bytes
      - [ be32, 0x00412000, 0x2f836f70 ] # cmpwi cr7,r3,0x6f70
      - [ be32, 0x00412004, 0x419e0010 ] # beq
      - [ be32, 0x00412008, 0x3c600094 ] # lis r3,0x94
      - [ be32, 0x0041200c, 0x80630e94 ] # r3 = Button data
      - [ be32, 0x00412010, 0x48000008 ] # b
      - [ be32, 0x00412014, 0x38600040 ] # X button
      - [ be32, 0x00412018, 0x4e800020 ] # Return
  "Unlock FPS":
    Games: *gowa_104_title
    Author: "ZEROx, illusion"
    Notes: "Unlocks internal timestep calculation. Increase vblank to match your desired framerate."
    Patch Version: 2.0
    Patch:
      - [ bef32, 0x0039e284, 1000 ]
      - [ bef32, 0x002cae2c, 10000 ] # Timestamp
      - [ bef32, 0x0083b2cc, 60 ] # Target FPS, main float
      - [ be32, 0x002cadd8, 0x60000000 ]
      - [ be16, 0x002c537e, 0x93cc ] # 1000.0f gameplay speed scaling
      - [ be16, 0x002caec6, 0x93cc ] # 1000.0f sync
      - [ be16, 0x002caf6e, 0x93cc ] # 1000.0f sync
      - [ be16, 0x003ef71a, 0x93cc ] # 1000.0f video playback speed scaling

PPU-3a0b43e4a5f4bfea64f53612ee7c5d990f88129c: # GOWA.SELF 1.12
  "Disable MLAA":
    Games: *gowa_112_title
    Author: "illusion, ZEROx"
    Notes: *gowa_mlaa_notes
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x0083d007, 0x00 ]
      - [ be32, 0x00397754, 0x60000000 ]
      - [ be32, 0x00397784, 0x60000000 ]
  "Disable Depth of Field":
    Games: *gowa_112_title
    Author: "ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ be32, 0x0043bcbc, 0x38a00000 ]
  "Disable Motion Blur":
    Games: *gowa_112_title
    Author: "ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ be32, 0x0043f210, 0x38a00000 ]
# Moved FPS 1.12 to canary. TODO: re-add when fixed.

PPU-93623f42f6f50bed58ca60927ed43beab749a2cd:
  "Disable MLAA":
    Games:
      "God of War: Ascension Demo":
        NPEA90123: [ 01.00 ]
    Author: "illusion"
    Notes: *gowa_mlaa_notes
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x007dc0b7, 0x00 ]

PPU-ea2fc413782cda9d615cd0d68b096bfe54c780be:
  "Disable MLAA":
    Games:
      "God of War: Ascension Demo":
        NPUA70244: [ 01.00 ]
    Author: "illusion"
    Notes: *gowa_mlaa_notes
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x00776efb, 0x00 ]
  "Disable Motion Blur":
    Games:
      "God of War: Ascension Demo":
        NPUA70244: [ 01.00 ]
    Author: "ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ be32, 0x00143a9c, 0x38a00000 ]
  "Skip Intro":
    Games:
      "God of War: Ascension Demo":
        NPUA70244: [ 01.00 ]
    Author: "illusion, ZEROx"
    Notes:
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ byte, 0x001a1927, 0x01 ]
      - [ be16, 0x00024a6c, 0x4800 ]

Canary Patches

PPU-3a0b43e4a5f4bfea64f53612ee7c5d990f88129c:
  "Unlock FPS":
    Games:
      "God of War: Ascension":
        BCES01741: [ 01.12 ]
        BCES01742: [ 01.12 ]
        BCUS98232: [ 01.12 ]
        BCAS25016: [ 01.12 ]
        NPEA00445: [ 01.12 ]
        NPUA80918: [ 01.12 ]
        NPHA80258: [ 01.12 ]
    Author: "ZEROx, illusion"
    Notes: "Unlocks internal timestep calculation. Increase vblank to match your desired framerate."
    Patch Version: 1.0
    Patch:
      - [ bef32, 0x003a52b4, 1000 ]
      - [ bef32, 0x002d024c, 6667 ]