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.