As deep into God of War 2018 I am right now, I could actually see people not liking this game a ton, based on what they are wanting from it. Despite the massive success it is, this game is not what the old God of War was. It has essentially every core aspect for the most part (Except for different weapons), but it's no longer a big, bombastic, action fest. It's slow paced, there's a greater focus on world building and story, the exploration can have you spending hours just doing everything but the main progression. I've only fought one giant creature in the 6 to 10+ hours I've played. In the previous God of War games, I probably would've killed a Hydra, a Titan, and 2 gods by now. It's got more in common with the new Tomb Raider series than God of War.
Not that this makes it bad, it's a really good game no matter what, but of people I've seen that go "God of War? Nah...", I can see why.