God of War Ragnarök

If you liked the “God of War” soft reboot in 2018, here are 70 more hours of pretty much the same thing to enjoy. For better or worse, it’s the exact same game with wider explorable areas, more playable characters, and a slightly more complex combat system.

I have nothing against the new direction the series is taking, but if the focus is supposed to be on the narrative, the guys at Santa Monica still have a lot to learn from their colleagues at Naughty Dog. The characters lack depth, and the overall direction and pacing are still quite bland for what is supposed to be one of the most cinematic gaming experiences of the last few years. It feels like they could have provided a much more impactful and balanced experience by cutting completion time to half and focusing only on new content, taking care more about each scene and each area, and making sure that each element is meant to add to the experience or provide further insight on the plot and characters. The characters run in circles for dozens of hours, and then it all explodes in the last thirty minutes or so. Every chapter to that point essentially feels the same, with the areas looking different but the same actions being repeated all over again. It’s also weird that the main plot takes so long to complete despite important plot points from the previous game being resolved in contrived and rushed ways, wiping out the dramatic impact of big events that have previously happened. At times it feels like they are going too slow, at times it feels strangely rushed.

I didn’t mind the puzzles, but it’s true that the NPCs tell you the solution right away spoiling the fun. There are also a bit too many chores to do during parts of the chapters that are supposed to be emotionally impacting, at times even killing the tension.

The graphics obviously improved, yet some characters like Freya might have needed some more brushing up.

The tasks to complete this time as essentially the same as in the previous game. The most noticeable difference is the size of the sandboxes, as this time we get to visit multiple worlds full of side-quests and optional areas to explore. The free roaming ended up extending my experience to the point that I got exhausted before the end of the main plot, but at the same time, I enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny and opening doors and shortcuts as I would do in a soulslike. Combat is obviously not as challenging, but there is a degree of complexity to it if we compare it with the previous games in the series.

The most frustrating chore was beating the additional bosses. I liked challenging the Valkyries last time, but the berserkers here felt like a joke, a desperate attempt at stretching gameplay hours even further. The last one was a true nightmare and forced me to lower difficulty levels for the first time. Maybe I misunderstood the whole combat system, or maybe the developers were just trolling me. And finding cheese builds online doesn’t count as a strategy.

So, is it a better game? Technically, it is. Did it feel as fresh? Obviously not. But this is a concern that’s popping up for most of Sony’s first-person games, which are really starting to all feel the same for too many years.

Really really disappointing. For me the God of War reboot was a perfect game, the combat system one of the best I've ever played, the puzzles, the story and the dynamic between Kratos and his kid really seamless and natural. I also found the ending authentically moving.

This sequel feels like it was made by different developers. The open world of the lake and the opportunity for exploration or chance encounters is gone, replaced by a series of linear levels. The dwarves, Mimir and other side characters, who I always found quite irritating and unsuccessful comic relief distracting from the main story are foregrounded here. As unfunny and Joss Wheadon-y the dialogue they came out with before was, the interactions now are just truly horrible and reminded me of the MCU as well as later seasons of Game of Thrones where the writers know where they want each character to be at the end and just start there rather than making the effort to think through how characters might change or evolve through their experiences.

I cannot figure out why they decided to make Atreus an angsty teenager this time around. There was a segment in the last game where he became an arrogant little shit for about an hour before growing out of it and that worked well because it's an accurate representation of what happens when a kid starts to develop their own autonomy or independence as a teen before they grow up a bit more and establish a new relationship with their parents on a more stable and mutually respectful foundation. When Kratos calls him 'son' at the end of the last game it's truly earned. Now they're stuck in the bickering dynamic again and for me that works against everything that last moment was supposed to represent. Playing as Atreus sucks as well, there's no 'feel' to it comparable to Kratos, it reminded me of combat in an Elder Scrolls game.

The combat and levelling systems get reasonably significant overhauls that I didn't find as satisfying as before but these are minor concerns considering how awful the writing's become here.

Ragnarok was quite an ambitious leap from GoW (2018), perhaps too ambitious, but that didn't bother me much. If you played the first Nordic GoW (2018), you get this sinister feeling every time you hear one of the characters talk about the Nordic gods, you hear about all the other worlds while you ride around in a little boat in a lake, and then the sequel ends up being an underwhelming reveal to all of that. They tried to cram too much into one game and open up all the worlds, add to the combat system, increase the length of the game, and further emotionally develop the protagonists but the sense of wonder from the first game is gone. Don't even get me started on the times you play as Atreus. In essence; I'd rather hear about Thor than fight Thor. Overall though, amazing combat and the visual art dramatically exceeds that of the first game.

It follows in the footprint of 2018's reboot, which was a good game.

Ragnarok, though, lacks innovation and depth. The story is cringy, so are some of the characters. Combat is repetitive and gets boring quickly.

I cannot see myself revisiting this game in the near future.

It's for the casual gamer.

Simply put, this game fails to capture the gravitas of the first one, and as a title carrying the name ''Ragnarok'' I felt that it failed in delivering the end of days spectacle it promised. There's also an abundance of jokes that simply don't land compared to the first game.

I liked how mature they made Kratos this time around. I liked the walking sections, angst, hand-holding (puzzle-wise), and drama/melodrama all a fair bit less. The story was tedious and heavy-handed to me until maybe the last maybe 5%. Very good ending. Though the riddle was pretty easy to guess - and I'm a little surprised that the smartest man in the world couldn't figure it out.