If I'm gonna hear someone say one more time that it's just "more of the same" I'm gonna detonate myself and everyone in a 5km radius. I fucking despise this very new trend of calling sequels that don't look massively different "the same". GoW already had an enormous amount of innovation with 2018, it doesn't need more for a while. Also GoW 2 and any OG GoW game to follow, excluding 3, play nearly identically to 1 but nobody bats an eye, it's only bad apparently when new games do it
Anyways, gonna link the full review here(if I ever make one) after I play the game for a while:https://www.backloggd.com/u/Shrouls/review/618952/
Anyways, gonna link the full review here(if I ever make one) after I play the game for a while:https://www.backloggd.com/u/Shrouls/review/618952/
This is a very difficult game for me to rate or even render any kind of final judgment on because I find the tension between its ambitions and the realities of its production in today's gaming landscape hard to reconcile. At its best, it fully transcends the limitations and deficiencies of video game storytelling and is very well-written, well-acted, and at times quite powerful. But it is also a game that is - for lack of a better term - 'triple-A'ed' within an inch of its life, and the experience is deeply and unavoidably compromised as a result.
For starters, it is officially a member of the UNCHARTED 4 Club for games that could and should be literally half as long as they are. Thirty hours for main story only on an action game is absolutely unthinkable. There is nothing that it accomplishes in that amount of time that it could not comfortably do in fifteen. Every mission is at least a third too long. There are whole SECTIONS of the game and GROUPS of characters that could just be hacked off (probably starting with Atreus' narrative-momentum-annihilating adventures with his little FORSPOKEN-ass neurodivergent girlfriend) and do nothing but improve the experience as a result of it. And it's not just the story length - every aspect of the game - areas, sidequests, systems, loot, menus, DIALOGUE - all bloated beyond belief for seemingly no other reason than that the publisher probably mandated what their HowLongToBeat times had to read as.
And this is again where it's hard to come down on one side or the other with the game. Because all the bloat, all the unnecessary collectibles and constant character patter and whatever else are still quite well done, and with the same care and skill as the meat of the game. They did their best! It shows in every corner, truly! But in the end so much of it feels unnecessary.
Less easy to stomach is the very modern feeling you get from minute one of playing - that this is a game that is TERRIFIED of people losing interest in it. The handholding, the tooltips, the pointless loot every X amount of steps (some in the absolute silliest of places, plotwise), the companion characters reminding you verbally of status effects EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU CONTRACT ONE - possibly more severe than any other game I've played. There are times when my little guys were giving me puzzle hints before I even knew there was a puzzle, ffs. And that specifically is something that is measurably worse here than even GOW '18, where it was already a minor irritant. Were the devs promised additional days of vacation based on playerbase trophy unlock percentages or something?
So yeah, in short, it's really held back by being a major Sony game made in the 2020s, and it frustrates me. So goddamn Game Awards-core. But you look at so much of it, you look at the masterful final run where it all comes together, and then the ending (which, let me just say, as the recent father of a son ....... it hits! It hits.) and it's tough for me to believe that these truly talented people with real storytelling (and game design! the combat is still great) chops wouldn't want to make a tighter experience that actually respected its audience's intelligence as players, just a smidge.
I really hope this particular industry wave breaks and rolls back at some point. It's gotta, right?
For starters, it is officially a member of the UNCHARTED 4 Club for games that could and should be literally half as long as they are. Thirty hours for main story only on an action game is absolutely unthinkable. There is nothing that it accomplishes in that amount of time that it could not comfortably do in fifteen. Every mission is at least a third too long. There are whole SECTIONS of the game and GROUPS of characters that could just be hacked off (probably starting with Atreus' narrative-momentum-annihilating adventures with his little FORSPOKEN-ass neurodivergent girlfriend) and do nothing but improve the experience as a result of it. And it's not just the story length - every aspect of the game - areas, sidequests, systems, loot, menus, DIALOGUE - all bloated beyond belief for seemingly no other reason than that the publisher probably mandated what their HowLongToBeat times had to read as.
And this is again where it's hard to come down on one side or the other with the game. Because all the bloat, all the unnecessary collectibles and constant character patter and whatever else are still quite well done, and with the same care and skill as the meat of the game. They did their best! It shows in every corner, truly! But in the end so much of it feels unnecessary.
Less easy to stomach is the very modern feeling you get from minute one of playing - that this is a game that is TERRIFIED of people losing interest in it. The handholding, the tooltips, the pointless loot every X amount of steps (some in the absolute silliest of places, plotwise), the companion characters reminding you verbally of status effects EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU CONTRACT ONE - possibly more severe than any other game I've played. There are times when my little guys were giving me puzzle hints before I even knew there was a puzzle, ffs. And that specifically is something that is measurably worse here than even GOW '18, where it was already a minor irritant. Were the devs promised additional days of vacation based on playerbase trophy unlock percentages or something?
So yeah, in short, it's really held back by being a major Sony game made in the 2020s, and it frustrates me. So goddamn Game Awards-core. But you look at so much of it, you look at the masterful final run where it all comes together, and then the ending (which, let me just say, as the recent father of a son ....... it hits! It hits.) and it's tough for me to believe that these truly talented people with real storytelling (and game design! the combat is still great) chops wouldn't want to make a tighter experience that actually respected its audience's intelligence as players, just a smidge.
I really hope this particular industry wave breaks and rolls back at some point. It's gotta, right?
God of War continues with the trend of big budget first party Sony titles playing it safe. Playing it safer than a German insurance consultant. It’s more of God of War. Exactly that, nothing more and nothing less. It’s basically as much a seamless continuation gameplay wise as it is story wise. And that’s not a bad thing. If you loved God of War the first time around, which I did, then you’ll be in for a treat. The devs managed to keep me invested and enjoying myself throughout platinum’ing both games. I don’t necessarily think I’d be stoked for a third time though. It’s very conservative in the way it doesn’t really try out new things and it’s one of the most video gamey video games. Nothing will surprise you from a gameplay perspective, but it’ll engulf you in an astonishingly well told story with insanely good voice actors and overall production values. It doesn’t set new standards visually, like Horizon did and it doesn’t elevate storytelling like TLOU did, but it’s through and through a spectacle as you would expect from Kratos and his shenanigans. With truly epic fight sequences and set pieces, I absolutely loved playing through this game, what a big bang to end the year with. I’m curious and excited where a full blown next gen title from Santa Monica studios will lead us next.
love to get backseated in a game with the complexity of a "put the shape in the hole" puzzle for toddlers
Having played God of War Ragnarök left me with complicated feelings that I find difficult to sort out. I was not familiar with the series before playing God of War (2018), but I loved the reboot and was seriously impressed by it; story, direction, gameplay, soundtrack etc. all felt being coherent to one 'vision'. In my mind it’s comparable to a statue, where the artist has this single piece of marble and they need as definitive of a vision as possible of the end product beforehand because there is no room for mistakes. Well, in game development there is certainly room for mistakes, but as the God of War Making-of shows, the team learned from them and that vision - coming mainly from game director Cory Barlog - was the groundwork everything could thrive on.
It seems to me that Ragnarök lacks a vision - which doesn’t mean that a lot of care, planning and designing wasn’t put into it, because that is definitely the case. And there are things I seriously enjoyed about Ragnarök that ultimately aren’t overturned by the things I didn’t enjoy, but gravely soured by them. Ragnarök’s 'statue' isn’t made from one block; head, torso, arms and legs are glued together from different materials.
So what did I enjoy? I liked many individual character moments and some character arcs. The acting was strong and I loved seeing Kratos at his probably most emotionally vulnerable. I liked Kratos‘ and Atreus‘ relationship which felt like a natural growth from 2018, although it was at times inconsistent - but this is more of a 'plot problem' and I’ll get to that later. Overall the story had several emotional moments that hit me; without these I would be even more critical of it, I think.
I also liked the depiction of the Æsir gods, mainly Thor and Odin, and how the theme of fatherhood, redemption and personal growth was carried over from 2018. The soundtrack, too, carried over with nice new arrangements of known themes as well as memorable new ones.
The visuals were beautiful. I was originally wondering if there would not be enough variety with Fimbulwinter, but aside from Midgar and the inherently snowy worlds there was no 'winter' elsewhere. There was also more enemy variety and more fun - and unexpected - mini-bosses throughout the world. Lastly, I very much appreciated seeing more creatures and events of the mythology in action that were only hinted at in God of War (2018).
For the things I didn’t enjoy, I’ll start with which is probably a 'me' problem: the combat. I was struggling with enemies attacking from all sides which wasn’t pleasant to deal with considering Kratos’ comparably slow movement and the camera which is too close. I don’t remember having this problem with the reboot, although the combat is practically the same. The user reviews I’ve read either say that Ragnarök’s combat is better or that it didn’t do enough to fix the mistakes of its predecessor, so it being worse is maybe just my take.
Though what I am sure about is that Ragnarök‘s upgrade system is worse than 2018’s. It is too bloated, too RPG-like. There is too much to collect and upgrade, coupled with unintuitive UI/menus. I much prefer the simpler and less tedious approach in the reboot. I love RPGs, but when I play an Action-Adventure I don’t want to go into the menu and manage my loot and craft upgrades all the time. There are other ways to make the player feel progression.
Lastly, but most importantly, the story. I’m usually not someone to wonder how things could have been, but Ragnarök has at least two instances where it is so aggressively not following through with the plot that I can’t help but wonder. The first instance is that the game did not elaborate on things set up by God of War (2018). Even as someone who rather casually follows the lore I did expect these things to at least get mentioned, but ideally being a core part of the story in either a straightforward or twisted manner. The second instance is when the game treats or reveals plot points to be important and then they lead to nothing. This happening more than once, and considering pacing isn’t Ragnarök’s strongest suit anyway, leaves me not understanding why the developers would make these choices.
Coming back to the topic of lack of 'vision', for me it’s most noticeable by the lack of motivations or intentions the characters have. For the first half of the game I struggled to identify any defined goal for Kratos or Atreus. It feels more like the plot needs them to work things off a checklist. It is also not until later in the story where we get a more interesting take on the whole concept of 'fate'. Besides, there is still like one fundamental question that I think got never asked in the first place (but also doesn’t seem relevant to the story at all so idk how important that really is). Overall the story seems to not really know where it is going and how it is getting there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good things happening along the way, but it‘s heavily inconsistent.
To be fair, wrapping the saga up in this game had to be difficult because God of War’s focus on a personal story forced Ragnarök to introduce the Æsir and set up and resolve the 'twilight of the gods' which it couldn’t really live up to - the finale was especially disappointing. On the other hand it weirdly doesn’t even feel like it necessarily wants to be a sequel - in some ways narratively, but more importantly spiritually - and just ends up feeling like a 'franchise entry'. For me, the spark that made the reboot special sadly didn’t carry over to Ragnarök.
PS: This got longer than expected, though I feel that I narrowed down my main concerns as much as possible. I’m not sure about the star rating, 3 or 2,5 stars? It might change.
It seems to me that Ragnarök lacks a vision - which doesn’t mean that a lot of care, planning and designing wasn’t put into it, because that is definitely the case. And there are things I seriously enjoyed about Ragnarök that ultimately aren’t overturned by the things I didn’t enjoy, but gravely soured by them. Ragnarök’s 'statue' isn’t made from one block; head, torso, arms and legs are glued together from different materials.
So what did I enjoy? I liked many individual character moments and some character arcs. The acting was strong and I loved seeing Kratos at his probably most emotionally vulnerable. I liked Kratos‘ and Atreus‘ relationship which felt like a natural growth from 2018, although it was at times inconsistent - but this is more of a 'plot problem' and I’ll get to that later. Overall the story had several emotional moments that hit me; without these I would be even more critical of it, I think.
I also liked the depiction of the Æsir gods, mainly Thor and Odin, and how the theme of fatherhood, redemption and personal growth was carried over from 2018. The soundtrack, too, carried over with nice new arrangements of known themes as well as memorable new ones.
The visuals were beautiful. I was originally wondering if there would not be enough variety with Fimbulwinter, but aside from Midgar and the inherently snowy worlds there was no 'winter' elsewhere. There was also more enemy variety and more fun - and unexpected - mini-bosses throughout the world. Lastly, I very much appreciated seeing more creatures and events of the mythology in action that were only hinted at in God of War (2018).
For the things I didn’t enjoy, I’ll start with which is probably a 'me' problem: the combat. I was struggling with enemies attacking from all sides which wasn’t pleasant to deal with considering Kratos’ comparably slow movement and the camera which is too close. I don’t remember having this problem with the reboot, although the combat is practically the same. The user reviews I’ve read either say that Ragnarök’s combat is better or that it didn’t do enough to fix the mistakes of its predecessor, so it being worse is maybe just my take.
Though what I am sure about is that Ragnarök‘s upgrade system is worse than 2018’s. It is too bloated, too RPG-like. There is too much to collect and upgrade, coupled with unintuitive UI/menus. I much prefer the simpler and less tedious approach in the reboot. I love RPGs, but when I play an Action-Adventure I don’t want to go into the menu and manage my loot and craft upgrades all the time. There are other ways to make the player feel progression.
Lastly, but most importantly, the story. I’m usually not someone to wonder how things could have been, but Ragnarök has at least two instances where it is so aggressively not following through with the plot that I can’t help but wonder. The first instance is that the game did not elaborate on things set up by God of War (2018). Even as someone who rather casually follows the lore I did expect these things to at least get mentioned, but ideally being a core part of the story in either a straightforward or twisted manner. The second instance is when the game treats or reveals plot points to be important and then they lead to nothing. This happening more than once, and considering pacing isn’t Ragnarök’s strongest suit anyway, leaves me not understanding why the developers would make these choices.
Coming back to the topic of lack of 'vision', for me it’s most noticeable by the lack of motivations or intentions the characters have. For the first half of the game I struggled to identify any defined goal for Kratos or Atreus. It feels more like the plot needs them to work things off a checklist. It is also not until later in the story where we get a more interesting take on the whole concept of 'fate'. Besides, there is still like one fundamental question that I think got never asked in the first place (but also doesn’t seem relevant to the story at all so idk how important that really is). Overall the story seems to not really know where it is going and how it is getting there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good things happening along the way, but it‘s heavily inconsistent.
To be fair, wrapping the saga up in this game had to be difficult because God of War’s focus on a personal story forced Ragnarök to introduce the Æsir and set up and resolve the 'twilight of the gods' which it couldn’t really live up to - the finale was especially disappointing. On the other hand it weirdly doesn’t even feel like it necessarily wants to be a sequel - in some ways narratively, but more importantly spiritually - and just ends up feeling like a 'franchise entry'. For me, the spark that made the reboot special sadly didn’t carry over to Ragnarök.
PS: This got longer than expected, though I feel that I narrowed down my main concerns as much as possible. I’m not sure about the star rating, 3 or 2,5 stars? It might change.
What an absolute fucking mistake it was to purchase this game based on all the hype it generated. I didn't last 10 minutes with this unmitigated dumpster fire of a game. Nu-Kratos sucks and the boy serves literally no purpose to the overarching plot. The dialog very much feels like it was written by a bunch of bratty kids. I don't get how Sony could allow their precious first party to fall victim to this kind of shit.
O melhor jogo do ano. Absolutamente melhor que o primeiro jogo na saga nórdica em todos os aspectos, também dando um fim digno pra mesma, de forma magnífica, ficará na minha cabeça por um bom tempo.
This review contains spoilers
They put his ass in a bakugan
This review contains spoilers
I was originally planning on reviewing this game with little to no spoilers like I usually do, but it's pretty difficult considering most of this game builds off of what it's predecessor did with it's story and gameplay. So here's what I'm gonna do, the first few paragraphs (not counting this paragraph) will be my spoiler free review and then everything after that will be my spoiler review. I'll still avoid mentioning major story stuff though.
I will say that God of Ragnarök is very similar to its predecessor, but in a way where it makes every aspect better. Like a true sequel should.
Kratos' gameplay feels familiar, though different enough. Unarmed combat is basically gone which isn't a huge loss to me, I got used to the change pretty quickly. You get the Blades of Chaos way earlier and now they can be used for traversal and puzzles which is cool.
The soundtrack is absolutely incredible, Bear McCreary outdid himself. I keep humming the Huldra Brothers theme. 😭
Every location in this game looks just stunning. They really made each Realm look distinct.
There's a lot more enemies when compared to GoW 2018 and there's more variety too. Not to mention there's way more boss fights, a big improvement ngl.
I thought about getting the platinum trophy for this game, but I decided against it when I realized how many collectibles and optional enemy encounters there are. Look, I love playing this game, but I'm not gonna do loads of side content if it just makes me like the game less.
The story goes by at much faster pace than you'd expect. Sure, the plot of this game feels less like a single journey and it's chapter based this time, but it makes God of War Ragnarök stand out more. The bond of Kratos and Atreus is what matters more than anything else and this game never forgets that.
⚠️ SPOILERS FOR THE GAMEPLAY AND STORY OF GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN CAUTION ⚠️
So I'll start this spoiler review with some of the smaller spoilers, with the bigger stuff in the back half of the review.
Atreus being playable surprised me at first and now it makes perfect sense. He feels different enough from Kratos that it benefits the games pacing.
I don't get why people dislike Ironwood and the search for the Norns. Neither of those sections are all that bad as people say, they're crucial for the games themes.
Freya is a pretty good addition as a companion. I ship her and Kratos.
The Draupnir Spear is a great addition to Kratos' arsenal. It's very fun to throw like five spears at a single enemy and then just detonate all of them at the same time. Though, I will say that it gets introduced really late into the main game and by that time I already unlocked most of the skills for the Blades of Chaos and the Leviathan Axe so there wasn't much a reason to even use the Draupnir Spear during combat.
Odin is an excellent antagonist and I like how he's acts more like a mob boss than what you'd expect. Manipulative antagonists are always more interesting to me than a big dude who just wants to destroy/conquer the world or whatever.
I love God of War Ragnarök's overall themes of fate and form vs nature. It's just so rich when you dig into it. It expertly builds upon what GoW 2018 set up.
I will say that God of Ragnarök is very similar to its predecessor, but in a way where it makes every aspect better. Like a true sequel should.
Kratos' gameplay feels familiar, though different enough. Unarmed combat is basically gone which isn't a huge loss to me, I got used to the change pretty quickly. You get the Blades of Chaos way earlier and now they can be used for traversal and puzzles which is cool.
The soundtrack is absolutely incredible, Bear McCreary outdid himself. I keep humming the Huldra Brothers theme. 😭
Every location in this game looks just stunning. They really made each Realm look distinct.
There's a lot more enemies when compared to GoW 2018 and there's more variety too. Not to mention there's way more boss fights, a big improvement ngl.
I thought about getting the platinum trophy for this game, but I decided against it when I realized how many collectibles and optional enemy encounters there are. Look, I love playing this game, but I'm not gonna do loads of side content if it just makes me like the game less.
The story goes by at much faster pace than you'd expect. Sure, the plot of this game feels less like a single journey and it's chapter based this time, but it makes God of War Ragnarök stand out more. The bond of Kratos and Atreus is what matters more than anything else and this game never forgets that.
⚠️ SPOILERS FOR THE GAMEPLAY AND STORY OF GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN CAUTION ⚠️
So I'll start this spoiler review with some of the smaller spoilers, with the bigger stuff in the back half of the review.
Atreus being playable surprised me at first and now it makes perfect sense. He feels different enough from Kratos that it benefits the games pacing.
I don't get why people dislike Ironwood and the search for the Norns. Neither of those sections are all that bad as people say, they're crucial for the games themes.
Freya is a pretty good addition as a companion. I ship her and Kratos.
The Draupnir Spear is a great addition to Kratos' arsenal. It's very fun to throw like five spears at a single enemy and then just detonate all of them at the same time. Though, I will say that it gets introduced really late into the main game and by that time I already unlocked most of the skills for the Blades of Chaos and the Leviathan Axe so there wasn't much a reason to even use the Draupnir Spear during combat.
Odin is an excellent antagonist and I like how he's acts more like a mob boss than what you'd expect. Manipulative antagonists are always more interesting to me than a big dude who just wants to destroy/conquer the world or whatever.
I love God of War Ragnarök's overall themes of fate and form vs nature. It's just so rich when you dig into it. It expertly builds upon what GoW 2018 set up.
i cant wait to have you in my life im but an empty shell of myself until you touch my soul with your incredible story, fights and exploration. i will bust so hard my wall will be painted white like the skin of Kratos. this game will be unrivaled under the heavens it shall be the apex of storytelling THE ZENITH OF FIGHTING MECHANICS AND IT WILL BE THE PEAK OF FICTION THIS WORLD HAS EVER SEEN NOTHING WILL TOP IT I WOULD KILL THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE JUST TO HAVE A SNIFF OF THIS GAME.
the way they just kept stroking my shit i damn near started fainting at the first thor fight AND THE LAST 2 HOURS DONT GET ME CHEEEEEEEEESED😩😩😩😩 THE GOATS KRATOS AND ATREUS
the way they just kept stroking my shit i damn near started fainting at the first thor fight AND THE LAST 2 HOURS DONT GET ME CHEEEEEEEEESED😩😩😩😩 THE GOATS KRATOS AND ATREUS
Sony summoning 1,000+ unnamed individuals to give this game a 4.5 and above on backloggd.com
First let me start this review by saying that while I thought God of War (2018) was a very good game and liked it a lot I was never of the opinion it was a masterpiece or one of the greatest games ever made like a lot of people claimed. However I truly believe God of War Ragnarok is a genre defining masterpiece that only comes around once in a generation and improved upon God of War (2018) in genuinely every way imaginable. Ragnarok is the kind of game that even when I wasn't playing it because of work and other things all I could do was think about how much I wanted to play it and I know it is an experience that will stay with me until the day I die.
Like all good sequels God of War Ragnarok only expands upon what its predecessor set-up making everything bigger and more grandiose and turning it up to 11. The action and set-pieces (Seriously some of this stuff is so over-the-top it could give DMC or MGR a run for its money), the cast of characters, the bosses, the references to Norse myth, the side quests and most importantly the scope and stakes of the narrative, there's just so much more of ALL of it.
Speaking of the narrative, it is just simply incredible and not an exaggeration to say this game has some of the best writing in all of video games. Picking up 3 years after the events of God of War 2018, we see Kratos and Atreus trying to survive through Fimbulwinter in Midgard when Thor and Odin give them a surprise visit asking for peace in hopes of staving off Ragnarok and from there on things spiral out of control into a massive adventure across the Nine Realms with a complex narrative about prophecy, fate and war tangled in a web of character threads that span multiple families and all their interpersonal drama which slowly unravels and at the heart of it all is a story of a father and son with a bond so strong they would do anything to protect one another even if it means pushing each other away in the process with the hope of defying prophecy and fate itself all the while inadvertently slowly causing that very same prophecy to come true with every action they take to so desperately avoid it. Honestly never thought I'd see the day that a God of War game would make me cry, but Ragnarok got me not 1, but 3 different times. One of the most emotionally charged narratives I've experienced in awhile.
However a great narrative is meaningless without equally great characters to support it, but thankfully Ragnarok has them in spades. From the protagonists and heroes to the antagonists and even the side characters, every single one is written fantastically with realistic personalities and relatable, human goals they strive towards. Also not a single character feels underused, every one has their own arcs that give them time to shine and the sheer amount of character development and growth everyone in the game goes through is just staggering.
You simply can't talk about Ragnarok without mentioning its stellar blockbuster acting performances that are every bit as impressive as any movie. This game without a doubt has some of the greatest voice acting performances I've ever heard and they're paired up perfectly with the hyper realistic character models and animations that show just as much raw emotion as the voice performances themselves. From Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic as Kratos and Atreus to Danielle Bisutti as Freya, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Richard Schiff as Odin and Ryan Hurst as Thor among many others, every single performance is masterfully acted and genuinely any character on the screen at any given time has the ability to steal a scene and make it their own because they're just all that talented and captivating.
Now I could talk about how much I love the narrative themes, characters and acting performances all day long, but since I want to keep this review relatively spoiler free lets talk about the gameplay now and it is rare a big budget AAA game has gameplay as captivating and enjoyable as the story because they usually focus more on the story, but Ragnarok manages to have its cake and eat it too so to speak because the gameplay is just as amazing as everything else.
Combat feels vastly improved upon having access to two weapons that have expanded move sets and skills right from the start of the game and eventually getting a new 3rd weapon adds so much more diversity and depth to the combat system allowing for chaining together much more satisfying combos than in 2018 that during my entire 45 hour playthrough I found the combat consistently enjoyable and entertaining.
One of my biggest complaints about God of War 2018 was the unnecessary pseudo RPG elements and I figured they'd be worse in Ragnarok, but somehow they are much better thanks to being expanded upon (Including a better and more in-depth crafting system) and right from the beginning of the game you have more choices available to you since you have both your weapons from God of War 2018 immediately at the start alongside a decent size skill tree for each weapon, 3 different types of armor and a shield and new mechanics and skills that are slowly unlocked and added on top of all that. One minor nitpick for me is that your level is still determined by your gear instead of actual battle experience and stat allocation so it's still not a true RPG, but it is very close to it in every other way.
Another minor complaint about 2018 I had was the lack of enemy variety and re-skin troll mini bosses, but Ragnarok also improves on that adding so many new enemy types, various creatures from Norse myth and fun mini-bosses and of course the main bosses which are without a doubt some of the coolest spectacles I've ever seen in a game.
Finally my biggest major complaint about God of War 2018 was the boring open world segments and despite having much heavier emphasis on exploration and more open world segments in Ragnarok they were consistently more enjoyable thanks to the beautiful and stunning art direction and incredible graphical fidelity that breathes so much diverse life into all of the Nine Realms and actually incentivizes you to explore them more. Also the fact the exploration is much more linear at first and slowly opens up as you progress further through the story unlocking various things reminded me of a Metroidvania style design and encourages you to backtrack to previous areas to find new secrets and thanks to heavier emphasis on platforming via grapple points and Uncharted-like climbing and there being legitimate dungeons to explore in the overworld with valuable loot to find exploration is both fun and always feels worthwhile. I also can not express how much I love that all your weapons are utilized as tools for puzzle solving and platforming as well enough because it makes for some super creative design choices which also helps to always keep exploration fresh.
I have to mention the side quests as well because they are much better compared to 2018 since they actually add to the world-building or provide extra detail and depth to characters. Honestly some of the side quests in this game are better written than most games main story, that's just how great the writing is in Ragnarok. Even side quests that you think are probably pointless busywork usually end up revealing some small detail about the world, a character's backstory or even just give you a meaningful interaction between Kratos and Atreus or other various characters so it is always worth doing aside from the quest rewards (like new gear or crafting materials) you get which are quite valuable in their own way.
Bear McCreary's score deserves to be mentioned as well because it is simply masterfully composed and from triumphant to melancholic it and just about everything in between it adds so much more emotional weight to every single scene that I just can not imagine the game without it.
God of War Ragnarok is the big budget Sony Blockbuster formula at its best. A true masterclass in both storytelling and game design that everyone deserves to experience. Ragnarok is one of those rare games where every single thing about it is just as perfect as possible, from the narrative and characters to the acting performances, gameplay, art, visuals and score there is simply nothing about this game I would change and when it all comes together it creates something truly special that will stand the test of time for decades to come and be remembered as not only one of the best games of 2022, but one of the best games of all time as well.
Like all good sequels God of War Ragnarok only expands upon what its predecessor set-up making everything bigger and more grandiose and turning it up to 11. The action and set-pieces (Seriously some of this stuff is so over-the-top it could give DMC or MGR a run for its money), the cast of characters, the bosses, the references to Norse myth, the side quests and most importantly the scope and stakes of the narrative, there's just so much more of ALL of it.
Speaking of the narrative, it is just simply incredible and not an exaggeration to say this game has some of the best writing in all of video games. Picking up 3 years after the events of God of War 2018, we see Kratos and Atreus trying to survive through Fimbulwinter in Midgard when Thor and Odin give them a surprise visit asking for peace in hopes of staving off Ragnarok and from there on things spiral out of control into a massive adventure across the Nine Realms with a complex narrative about prophecy, fate and war tangled in a web of character threads that span multiple families and all their interpersonal drama which slowly unravels and at the heart of it all is a story of a father and son with a bond so strong they would do anything to protect one another even if it means pushing each other away in the process with the hope of defying prophecy and fate itself all the while inadvertently slowly causing that very same prophecy to come true with every action they take to so desperately avoid it. Honestly never thought I'd see the day that a God of War game would make me cry, but Ragnarok got me not 1, but 3 different times. One of the most emotionally charged narratives I've experienced in awhile.
However a great narrative is meaningless without equally great characters to support it, but thankfully Ragnarok has them in spades. From the protagonists and heroes to the antagonists and even the side characters, every single one is written fantastically with realistic personalities and relatable, human goals they strive towards. Also not a single character feels underused, every one has their own arcs that give them time to shine and the sheer amount of character development and growth everyone in the game goes through is just staggering.
You simply can't talk about Ragnarok without mentioning its stellar blockbuster acting performances that are every bit as impressive as any movie. This game without a doubt has some of the greatest voice acting performances I've ever heard and they're paired up perfectly with the hyper realistic character models and animations that show just as much raw emotion as the voice performances themselves. From Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic as Kratos and Atreus to Danielle Bisutti as Freya, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Richard Schiff as Odin and Ryan Hurst as Thor among many others, every single performance is masterfully acted and genuinely any character on the screen at any given time has the ability to steal a scene and make it their own because they're just all that talented and captivating.
Now I could talk about how much I love the narrative themes, characters and acting performances all day long, but since I want to keep this review relatively spoiler free lets talk about the gameplay now and it is rare a big budget AAA game has gameplay as captivating and enjoyable as the story because they usually focus more on the story, but Ragnarok manages to have its cake and eat it too so to speak because the gameplay is just as amazing as everything else.
Combat feels vastly improved upon having access to two weapons that have expanded move sets and skills right from the start of the game and eventually getting a new 3rd weapon adds so much more diversity and depth to the combat system allowing for chaining together much more satisfying combos than in 2018 that during my entire 45 hour playthrough I found the combat consistently enjoyable and entertaining.
One of my biggest complaints about God of War 2018 was the unnecessary pseudo RPG elements and I figured they'd be worse in Ragnarok, but somehow they are much better thanks to being expanded upon (Including a better and more in-depth crafting system) and right from the beginning of the game you have more choices available to you since you have both your weapons from God of War 2018 immediately at the start alongside a decent size skill tree for each weapon, 3 different types of armor and a shield and new mechanics and skills that are slowly unlocked and added on top of all that. One minor nitpick for me is that your level is still determined by your gear instead of actual battle experience and stat allocation so it's still not a true RPG, but it is very close to it in every other way.
Another minor complaint about 2018 I had was the lack of enemy variety and re-skin troll mini bosses, but Ragnarok also improves on that adding so many new enemy types, various creatures from Norse myth and fun mini-bosses and of course the main bosses which are without a doubt some of the coolest spectacles I've ever seen in a game.
Finally my biggest major complaint about God of War 2018 was the boring open world segments and despite having much heavier emphasis on exploration and more open world segments in Ragnarok they were consistently more enjoyable thanks to the beautiful and stunning art direction and incredible graphical fidelity that breathes so much diverse life into all of the Nine Realms and actually incentivizes you to explore them more. Also the fact the exploration is much more linear at first and slowly opens up as you progress further through the story unlocking various things reminded me of a Metroidvania style design and encourages you to backtrack to previous areas to find new secrets and thanks to heavier emphasis on platforming via grapple points and Uncharted-like climbing and there being legitimate dungeons to explore in the overworld with valuable loot to find exploration is both fun and always feels worthwhile. I also can not express how much I love that all your weapons are utilized as tools for puzzle solving and platforming as well enough because it makes for some super creative design choices which also helps to always keep exploration fresh.
I have to mention the side quests as well because they are much better compared to 2018 since they actually add to the world-building or provide extra detail and depth to characters. Honestly some of the side quests in this game are better written than most games main story, that's just how great the writing is in Ragnarok. Even side quests that you think are probably pointless busywork usually end up revealing some small detail about the world, a character's backstory or even just give you a meaningful interaction between Kratos and Atreus or other various characters so it is always worth doing aside from the quest rewards (like new gear or crafting materials) you get which are quite valuable in their own way.
Bear McCreary's score deserves to be mentioned as well because it is simply masterfully composed and from triumphant to melancholic it and just about everything in between it adds so much more emotional weight to every single scene that I just can not imagine the game without it.
God of War Ragnarok is the big budget Sony Blockbuster formula at its best. A true masterclass in both storytelling and game design that everyone deserves to experience. Ragnarok is one of those rare games where every single thing about it is just as perfect as possible, from the narrative and characters to the acting performances, gameplay, art, visuals and score there is simply nothing about this game I would change and when it all comes together it creates something truly special that will stand the test of time for decades to come and be remembered as not only one of the best games of 2022, but one of the best games of all time as well.
This review contains spoilers
GOW is a great follow-up to the first game, it gave me everything I wanted and more. The plot is more disjointed and not as tight as the first game, but I think that was to be expected as it had to fit more in. I love how the mythology feels familiar yet is constantly challenging expectations. Odin was perfect, I’m glad they stuck to the mythology and showed that he wasn’t Zeus, he wasn’t this muscular king but a highly intelligent and cunning mastermind. Thor is just ripped straight from the sagas, a red haired giant. Heimdall was a personal favourite, I loved how they interpreted his character.
The best thing about the game is the continuation of Kratos and Atreuss relationship growth. I like the way Kratos looks at his son and how he finally learns to trust in his son's strength and intelligence. The mocap between the actors was just beautiful, the subtle eye movements of Kratos showing how proud he is and Atreus smiling when he’s put on equal ground to his father.
The gameplay is the same, but that’s good as I just like the way it feels, especially on hard boss battles. The game is as beautiful as ever, with particular attention paid to Asgard, I’m so thankful that it wasn’t maid to be a carbon copy of Mount Olympus, but mirroring a traditional Viking village with a great hall to match.
The ending was pretty awesome, I’d be happy if it was left there without another game. The siege of Asgard was awesome. Odin's boss battle could have been better, but overall I liked it.
The best thing about the game is the continuation of Kratos and Atreuss relationship growth. I like the way Kratos looks at his son and how he finally learns to trust in his son's strength and intelligence. The mocap between the actors was just beautiful, the subtle eye movements of Kratos showing how proud he is and Atreus smiling when he’s put on equal ground to his father.
The gameplay is the same, but that’s good as I just like the way it feels, especially on hard boss battles. The game is as beautiful as ever, with particular attention paid to Asgard, I’m so thankful that it wasn’t maid to be a carbon copy of Mount Olympus, but mirroring a traditional Viking village with a great hall to match.
The ending was pretty awesome, I’d be happy if it was left there without another game. The siege of Asgard was awesome. Odin's boss battle could have been better, but overall I liked it.
The best god of war in terms of everything.
this game has literally more cutscenes than actual gameplay
Serving as a direct sequel, God of War Ragnarök carries over much of the same appeal as its predecessor, only now it’s grander in scope as it widens the Norse mythos and builds toward a climatic finish for the saga. Rather than the relatively personal story of Kratos and Atreus journeying to spread Faye’s ashes, Ragnarök sets focus on prophecy and fate as Kratos and Atreus try to understand their role in combating the Aesir gods and Ragnarök, widening the cast of characters and opening up all the Realms with plenty more to uncover.
What stands out the most about Ragnarök is how lavishly presented it is. Cutscene direction is still exceptional with the “one shot camera” never breaking away from the start, and the way it follows the chaotic action and battles through the game was pretty spectacular. In general it looks amazing, from the textures on the character models to the gorgeous environments of the Realms, there was rarely a point where I wasn’t impressed by it visually.
Ragnarök mostly plays similarly to 2018, though they improved on small things that I appreciated. There’s a bit more momentum to combat and they also touched on enemy variety which is improved from what I remember of 2018, though I still have mixed feelings on that which I’ll get to. The Axe is still a really creative weapon and a joy to use, and also starting off with the Blades adds more to your arsenal from the jump which was good. And the shields you can use give more options for building Kratos’s stats, though I just stuck with the default for parries which was always fun to do.
One big improvement though is how side content is handled. While the main quests are pretty linear, they usually result in a side quest or multiple to follow afterwards. These are always well worth doing since they branch away to more open areas in the realms that are entirely optional, and there’s plenty to explore in them.
I mentioned that the main quests are linear, very much so. GoW has a loop of fighting waves of enemies in small zones separated by crawl spaces or climbing rocks, I’d guess a design limitation to still accommodate PS4. While this was fine in 2018, it’s more noticeable here that it isn’t doing much to take advantage of the new hardware, and that also extends to loading. For instance there’s still mystic gates that make you walk around the same area every time you travel between realms, which yes does serve as a way to deliver more dialogue, but didn’t seem necessary either.
And about combat, it’s fun and they did improve on variety where they could, but it still wasn’t quite enough given the game is pretty dense. After the first few hours you’ll still be fighting mostly the same enemies the entire game, and it just got fatiguing as it reached closer to the end. Bosses were well done but also somewhat of a letdown, starting off with an amazing first one but none that really match it in spectacle past that in my opinion (a same complaint I had with 2018).
Another gripe is how chaotic combat can be with how constrained the camera and level design felt. It kinda seemed like there’s too much going on at times, especially when there’s multiple enemies at once and they also throw projectiles at you. The camera’s so close you can hardly focus other than a small arrow indicator and enemy callouts, and I can’t remember if this was also the case with 2018 but it seemed more annoying to me here. But I also played on a higher difficulty so this may not be as bothersome on lower ones.
About the story itself, I think it’s good but I also felt it was a bit overstuffed? It spends a lot of time with build up, perhaps too much and some portions of the game can really stretch on pretty long. Yet despite the slow pace for most of the game, it kinda goes to a breakneck sprint to wrap things up in its final hours which I found kinda disappointing. Most of the side characters are fine, but I also wasn’t particularly attached to them either which may have made latter portions of the game fall a bit flat for me. Still, Santa Monica does a great job exploring their take on the mythology and I was mostly satisfied with how they handled wrapping up this duology.
What stands out the most about Ragnarök is how lavishly presented it is. Cutscene direction is still exceptional with the “one shot camera” never breaking away from the start, and the way it follows the chaotic action and battles through the game was pretty spectacular. In general it looks amazing, from the textures on the character models to the gorgeous environments of the Realms, there was rarely a point where I wasn’t impressed by it visually.
Ragnarök mostly plays similarly to 2018, though they improved on small things that I appreciated. There’s a bit more momentum to combat and they also touched on enemy variety which is improved from what I remember of 2018, though I still have mixed feelings on that which I’ll get to. The Axe is still a really creative weapon and a joy to use, and also starting off with the Blades adds more to your arsenal from the jump which was good. And the shields you can use give more options for building Kratos’s stats, though I just stuck with the default for parries which was always fun to do.
One big improvement though is how side content is handled. While the main quests are pretty linear, they usually result in a side quest or multiple to follow afterwards. These are always well worth doing since they branch away to more open areas in the realms that are entirely optional, and there’s plenty to explore in them.
I mentioned that the main quests are linear, very much so. GoW has a loop of fighting waves of enemies in small zones separated by crawl spaces or climbing rocks, I’d guess a design limitation to still accommodate PS4. While this was fine in 2018, it’s more noticeable here that it isn’t doing much to take advantage of the new hardware, and that also extends to loading. For instance there’s still mystic gates that make you walk around the same area every time you travel between realms, which yes does serve as a way to deliver more dialogue, but didn’t seem necessary either.
And about combat, it’s fun and they did improve on variety where they could, but it still wasn’t quite enough given the game is pretty dense. After the first few hours you’ll still be fighting mostly the same enemies the entire game, and it just got fatiguing as it reached closer to the end. Bosses were well done but also somewhat of a letdown, starting off with an amazing first one but none that really match it in spectacle past that in my opinion (a same complaint I had with 2018).
Another gripe is how chaotic combat can be with how constrained the camera and level design felt. It kinda seemed like there’s too much going on at times, especially when there’s multiple enemies at once and they also throw projectiles at you. The camera’s so close you can hardly focus other than a small arrow indicator and enemy callouts, and I can’t remember if this was also the case with 2018 but it seemed more annoying to me here. But I also played on a higher difficulty so this may not be as bothersome on lower ones.
About the story itself, I think it’s good but I also felt it was a bit overstuffed? It spends a lot of time with build up, perhaps too much and some portions of the game can really stretch on pretty long. Yet despite the slow pace for most of the game, it kinda goes to a breakneck sprint to wrap things up in its final hours which I found kinda disappointing. Most of the side characters are fine, but I also wasn’t particularly attached to them either which may have made latter portions of the game fall a bit flat for me. Still, Santa Monica does a great job exploring their take on the mythology and I was mostly satisfied with how they handled wrapping up this duology.
God of War Ragnarök is a true successor to God of War (2018), it essentially is that game but with more. More enemies, environments, characters, game mechanics, and side content. Making the whole package a very enjoyable experience and really fun to play, so much so I couldn't help but go for 100% completion as I wanted to continue to kill things with my axe.
The story is also very good, as it continues to be character driven and explores the many different relationships between the cast. I think the only issue I have with Ragnarök is it can have trouble tying all of these smaller stories into the main, over-arching narrative without pacing issues and weird moments that don't make too much sense but need to happen for things to move along. Not a deal-breaker but stops it from being a perfect 10/10.
All-in-all I had a great time and can't wait to see what Santa Monica Studios does next.
The story is also very good, as it continues to be character driven and explores the many different relationships between the cast. I think the only issue I have with Ragnarök is it can have trouble tying all of these smaller stories into the main, over-arching narrative without pacing issues and weird moments that don't make too much sense but need to happen for things to move along. Not a deal-breaker but stops it from being a perfect 10/10.
All-in-all I had a great time and can't wait to see what Santa Monica Studios does next.
now THIS is the game I wanted 2018 to be.
improves SO much of what 2018 laid out but it wasn't afraid to call back to the original series. combat is satisfyingly similar to God of War 3 in its animation, down to the executions. animation itself isn't afraid to let loose, no longer stiff in combat and in transforms and allowed to actually flow nicely.
the story blows 2018 and even arguably most of the 'prestige' Sony games out of the water. They did not hesitate to make you laugh, make you cry, and make you feel a satisfy end to Kratos's story (and the beginning to Atreus's). This game has what 2018 didn't have - personality. Hell, at time I felt like I was watching an actual play!
nearly every problem I have in the new series has been addressed and fixed in this entry. i'm glad i had the privilege to actually play it right to the end, and it's post credits content
improves SO much of what 2018 laid out but it wasn't afraid to call back to the original series. combat is satisfyingly similar to God of War 3 in its animation, down to the executions. animation itself isn't afraid to let loose, no longer stiff in combat and in transforms and allowed to actually flow nicely.
the story blows 2018 and even arguably most of the 'prestige' Sony games out of the water. They did not hesitate to make you laugh, make you cry, and make you feel a satisfy end to Kratos's story (and the beginning to Atreus's). This game has what 2018 didn't have - personality. Hell, at time I felt like I was watching an actual play!
nearly every problem I have in the new series has been addressed and fixed in this entry. i'm glad i had the privilege to actually play it right to the end, and it's post credits content
Kratos and Freya fucked so many times I can't even imagine.
Depois de mais 50 horas nos noves reinos, eu posso dizer que os desenvolvedores superaram e muito minhas expectativas além de encerrar a saga de forma excepcional .
ele não inova e nem tem mudanças radicais porque ele não precisa, a formula do 2018 tinha bastante potencial e Ragnarok aprimora e muito com tds suas melhorias e adições . Ragnarok em suas primeiras horas já tem mais inimigos e chefes do que o primeiro jogo inteiro além da evolução dos laços de Kratos e Atreus que me fizeram chorar de tão fortes e emocionantes e não são feitos só na historia principal as missões secundarias são extremamente importantes para o enredo.
fui pego de desprevenido com essa conclusão da saga nórdica.
ele não inova e nem tem mudanças radicais porque ele não precisa, a formula do 2018 tinha bastante potencial e Ragnarok aprimora e muito com tds suas melhorias e adições . Ragnarok em suas primeiras horas já tem mais inimigos e chefes do que o primeiro jogo inteiro além da evolução dos laços de Kratos e Atreus que me fizeram chorar de tão fortes e emocionantes e não são feitos só na historia principal as missões secundarias são extremamente importantes para o enredo.
fui pego de desprevenido com essa conclusão da saga nórdica.
Another landmark achievement by Santa Monica studio and quite possibly my game of the year. God of War Ragnarok feels like one of the first truly next gen experiences and is a phenomenal success on so many levels that it is absurd. The amount of work taken to get here must have been unthinkable but it was proven well worth it.
God of War (2018) set a new precedent for blockbuster games, feeling familiar yet also refreshing and blowing away all expectations. As its sequel, ragnarok builds and expands in all the right places and ultimately ends up trouncing those expectations once again. Every aspect of ragnarok comes together beautifully - forming a triple a game that truly delivers on that status.
In recent years i've definitely found myself shying away from big scale triple a games, especially western blockbuster games. For the most part I think a lot of them just kind of tick a load of boxes and lack originality. Whilst being big budget epics with massive mainstream appeal, what I find surprising about the reboot of god of war and its sequel is their heart. These feel like personal experiences and even though I don't always vibe with it fully on some levels (notably a bit of a lack of 'charm') , I found a deep appreciation and emotional resonance with the narrative, characters & settings. There's so much care put into these games and ragnarok goes to heights I hadn't expected even after playing Gow 2018. The way characters are fleshed out and develop and the themes presented in particular got me all emotional when it all came to an end.
Its not a surprise that ragnarok is a stunning game to behold, just like its prequel it has absurdly gorgeous setpieces, state of the art motion capture animation and of course, meticulous detail and care put into all of its nine realms and their inhabitants, its all mesmerising. Its all scored beautifully and these environments wouldn't mean nearly as much without raganarok's epic story. Ragnarok is a story about fate and subverting prophecy, making one's own path and being the best version of yourself you can be. Its a story about family, about progress, about purpose and I loved every moment of it. Seeing kratos and atreus develop before my eyes like this was captivating, the way their story concludes sees them as truly changed people.
The characters are what this game does best in my opinion, owing to stellar performances across the board. If there's one thing I took from this game and one thing that I think it should be properly acknowledged for, its how it builds complex and interesting characters. They are all soaked in lore and they develop, change, form and break bonds and together deal with their problems head on. Characters I didn't care much about in GoW 2018 suddenly break into their own and blow me away - shoutouts to Freya and Sindri. And of course, there's the inclusion of its new faces - most notably Odin & Thor, who actually pleasantly surprised me with how they turned out. You're told so much about them in GoW 2018 that it formed an idea of them in my head and it was cool to see them for who they actually are, flaws and all. The moments between characters as they grow and change and become closer are just so good that I can't praise them enough.
Gameplay wise I knew what I was in for but even then I was once again pleasantly surprised. Ragnarok's combat & puzzles are more dynamic and more satisfying than ever - keeping its essentials but making small changes and big new additions that just kept everything feeling great. Ragnarok's main story beats are paced (for the most part) so well and the gameplay paces itself with it, offering up new tools, new areas to traverse, new enemy types and new setpieces to gawk at. It starts off a bit slow as it did take some time for me to fully immerse myself but once I did I could not let go. As far as combat systems go, it doesn't get much better than this - playing it on hard was the perfect call, making every encounter feel dangerous and satisfying to overcome. The number of tools and options to play around with, the build routes you can go down, the skills and tactics you can employ and the reactive nature of its fast paced combat kept me satisfied from beginning to end. Shoutouts to the boss fights in this game too, they really are something else.
Gameplay wise the only places it kind of struggles in are entirely a matter of personal opinion - and that is in its perfectly serviceable side quests & other side content, fairly laborious traversal and the way it can insist on itself. The biggest culprit of these is down to the game's insistence on being one long shot from beginning to end like GoW 2018 - which like, is really admirable and impressive and stuff, but is often more of a hindrance and a nuisance. Locking traditional fast travel and forcing the player to run through huge sections to find collectibles, reach side quest objectives or optional fights doesn't always feel worth the time and the amount of times I had to sit through 10-15 minutes of straight running/climbing/boating to reach one little objective marker is kind of silly. If you're just following the main story then don't expect to ever run into this as a problem, but when trying to fully complete the game its a real chore - the game HAS a normal loading screen in it already, just let me fast travel from the map menu like basically every other game please lol.
Oh yeah also characters need to learn to shut the fuck up when you're trying to experiment and solve a puzzle, it actively makes puzzles unfun - GMTK did an awesome short video on this on youtube, as its an issue that I think extends beyond just this game - its something with understandable accessibility foundations, but it should be an optional toggle or something because it can really hinder the flow of the game and the level of personal fulfilment at times.
But this doesn't stop the game from being a masterpiece, a sheer landmark in every sense of the word and a perfect sequel that blew me away yet again. I'll be thinking about these characters and that extraordinary ending sequence for quite some time - might even deserve the GOTY win over elden ring imo much as I also love elden ring. Games are good!
God of War (2018) set a new precedent for blockbuster games, feeling familiar yet also refreshing and blowing away all expectations. As its sequel, ragnarok builds and expands in all the right places and ultimately ends up trouncing those expectations once again. Every aspect of ragnarok comes together beautifully - forming a triple a game that truly delivers on that status.
In recent years i've definitely found myself shying away from big scale triple a games, especially western blockbuster games. For the most part I think a lot of them just kind of tick a load of boxes and lack originality. Whilst being big budget epics with massive mainstream appeal, what I find surprising about the reboot of god of war and its sequel is their heart. These feel like personal experiences and even though I don't always vibe with it fully on some levels (notably a bit of a lack of 'charm') , I found a deep appreciation and emotional resonance with the narrative, characters & settings. There's so much care put into these games and ragnarok goes to heights I hadn't expected even after playing Gow 2018. The way characters are fleshed out and develop and the themes presented in particular got me all emotional when it all came to an end.
Its not a surprise that ragnarok is a stunning game to behold, just like its prequel it has absurdly gorgeous setpieces, state of the art motion capture animation and of course, meticulous detail and care put into all of its nine realms and their inhabitants, its all mesmerising. Its all scored beautifully and these environments wouldn't mean nearly as much without raganarok's epic story. Ragnarok is a story about fate and subverting prophecy, making one's own path and being the best version of yourself you can be. Its a story about family, about progress, about purpose and I loved every moment of it. Seeing kratos and atreus develop before my eyes like this was captivating, the way their story concludes sees them as truly changed people.
The characters are what this game does best in my opinion, owing to stellar performances across the board. If there's one thing I took from this game and one thing that I think it should be properly acknowledged for, its how it builds complex and interesting characters. They are all soaked in lore and they develop, change, form and break bonds and together deal with their problems head on. Characters I didn't care much about in GoW 2018 suddenly break into their own and blow me away - shoutouts to Freya and Sindri. And of course, there's the inclusion of its new faces - most notably Odin & Thor, who actually pleasantly surprised me with how they turned out. You're told so much about them in GoW 2018 that it formed an idea of them in my head and it was cool to see them for who they actually are, flaws and all. The moments between characters as they grow and change and become closer are just so good that I can't praise them enough.
Gameplay wise I knew what I was in for but even then I was once again pleasantly surprised. Ragnarok's combat & puzzles are more dynamic and more satisfying than ever - keeping its essentials but making small changes and big new additions that just kept everything feeling great. Ragnarok's main story beats are paced (for the most part) so well and the gameplay paces itself with it, offering up new tools, new areas to traverse, new enemy types and new setpieces to gawk at. It starts off a bit slow as it did take some time for me to fully immerse myself but once I did I could not let go. As far as combat systems go, it doesn't get much better than this - playing it on hard was the perfect call, making every encounter feel dangerous and satisfying to overcome. The number of tools and options to play around with, the build routes you can go down, the skills and tactics you can employ and the reactive nature of its fast paced combat kept me satisfied from beginning to end. Shoutouts to the boss fights in this game too, they really are something else.
Gameplay wise the only places it kind of struggles in are entirely a matter of personal opinion - and that is in its perfectly serviceable side quests & other side content, fairly laborious traversal and the way it can insist on itself. The biggest culprit of these is down to the game's insistence on being one long shot from beginning to end like GoW 2018 - which like, is really admirable and impressive and stuff, but is often more of a hindrance and a nuisance. Locking traditional fast travel and forcing the player to run through huge sections to find collectibles, reach side quest objectives or optional fights doesn't always feel worth the time and the amount of times I had to sit through 10-15 minutes of straight running/climbing/boating to reach one little objective marker is kind of silly. If you're just following the main story then don't expect to ever run into this as a problem, but when trying to fully complete the game its a real chore - the game HAS a normal loading screen in it already, just let me fast travel from the map menu like basically every other game please lol.
Oh yeah also characters need to learn to shut the fuck up when you're trying to experiment and solve a puzzle, it actively makes puzzles unfun - GMTK did an awesome short video on this on youtube, as its an issue that I think extends beyond just this game - its something with understandable accessibility foundations, but it should be an optional toggle or something because it can really hinder the flow of the game and the level of personal fulfilment at times.
But this doesn't stop the game from being a masterpiece, a sheer landmark in every sense of the word and a perfect sequel that blew me away yet again. I'll be thinking about these characters and that extraordinary ending sequence for quite some time - might even deserve the GOTY win over elden ring imo much as I also love elden ring. Games are good!
Cometi a loucura e comprei, joguei e me apaixonei.
Como tinha dito na review do GOW, fiquei muito tentado a comprar, mesmo sem poder e tendo várias coisas para usar o meu dinheiro, mas pra facilitar um pouco o meu lado, meti um gift card parcelado em muitas vezes e digamos que assim o meu bolso agradece. Agora, sem mais delongas, vou falar sobre o game, mas também não vou ser tão extenso, mas sim bem direto.
Maior, mais bonito, mais denso e complexo, mas será que melhor?
No geral ele faz as mesmas coisas que o antecessor, mas aqui a proposta é mais ousada e melhor definida, afinal de contas, toda a mudança que a série teve foi validada como ótima pelo público então agora é hora de continuar com as boas ideias. O combate segue o mesmo molde, com uns refinamentos, acréscimos e mudanças em alguns poderes e armas, principalmente pelo acréscimo de uma arma nova que eu não vou mencionar o que é pq nao quero limitar essa review com a flag de spoiler.
Achei MUITO mais fácil navegar pelos menus de confecção e aprimoramento de itens, porém, não sei se achei a melhor decisão fazer com que os recursos não sejam suficientes para upar tudo e, como o jogo ainda não tem +newgame no final, você vai se encontrar com muitos equipamentos que você gostaria de ver upado no máximo e não vai conseguir upar mais.
Na jogabilidade, as mecânicas de combate são ótimas, elas têm muitas camadas de complexidade e você pode escolher como lutar com estilos próprios ao mesmo tempo que mescla (e é bom mesclar mesmo pois você golpeia com mais força) vários combos com as armas diferentes e seus respectivos poderes. Agora, uma coisa na jogabilidade que eu não gostei muito foi dos vários pontos cegos que podem acontecer quando você enfrenta muitos inimigos ou os Bersekers (mini bosses chatos pra caralho) e uma miniboss (difícil demais) em específico que também não vou falar quem. Contra ela e contra alguns bersekers, por eles serem muito rápidos, eles acabam dando uma investida e ficando atrás de você no ponto cego, facilitando com que eles golpeiam e mesmo estando com mira definida nos inimigos, sofri com alguns bugs que ela simplesmente saia do foco e gerava um retrabalho no combate.
Os cenários são surreais de tão lindos, mesmo jogando no PS4 e tendo sim um serrilhado aqui e ali e uma resolução bem menor, essa versão não deixa a desejar em absolutamente nada. Dessa vez, vamos conseguir viajar por todos os reinos e a exploração deles vai mudar MUITO. Mesmo passando por alguns lugares iguais, a construção deles, por conta do finbulwinter, vai estar bem diferente e não com aquela sensação de “requentaram isso aqui”.
Atrelado ao cenário eu vou mencionar a exploração desse game que é algo delicioso de se fazer. Com uns 400 coletáveis que se misturam entre as sidequests eu não senti, em momento algum, aquela sensação de cansaço por estar coletando e explorando pq tudo é muito fluido e não é difícil de coletar (como aqueles jogos que botam as paradas mega escondidas). Você vai achando organicamente ao longo do game, ainda mais por ele ser de certa forma linear. As sidequests não são muitas e agregam MUITO valor a história, principalmente uma que você descobre em uma localização “secreta” (e esse secreta só está assim pq o local tbm é fácil de ser encontrado, basta finalizar uma sidequest em específico que o local vai abrir). Enfim, a exploração é uma das mais gostosas que eu já vi em um game.
História e personagens eu vou colocar junto pq não tem como estar separado. Aqui tudo é maior, desde a quantidade muito superior de pessoas que aparecem, quanto a profundidade que todos agregam para a história. Vai desde a um plot twist surpreendente que te deixa puto até o plot twist que te faz entender o que já aconteceu no outro jogo. Vai da simplicidade de uma personagem amiga até os profundos conflitos que ela mesmo vai fazer você passar. Vai de um encontro que ao mesmo tempo traz alívio e frustração. Vai da emoção de conseguir o perdão e, por fim, vai das lágrimas da perda de quem vai de vez e de quem só vai por um tempo.
Respondendo a pergunta do subtítulo, God of War Ragnarok é, sem dúvida alguma, top 5 dos melhores jogos que eu já joguei na vida.
Como tinha dito na review do GOW, fiquei muito tentado a comprar, mesmo sem poder e tendo várias coisas para usar o meu dinheiro, mas pra facilitar um pouco o meu lado, meti um gift card parcelado em muitas vezes e digamos que assim o meu bolso agradece. Agora, sem mais delongas, vou falar sobre o game, mas também não vou ser tão extenso, mas sim bem direto.
Maior, mais bonito, mais denso e complexo, mas será que melhor?
No geral ele faz as mesmas coisas que o antecessor, mas aqui a proposta é mais ousada e melhor definida, afinal de contas, toda a mudança que a série teve foi validada como ótima pelo público então agora é hora de continuar com as boas ideias. O combate segue o mesmo molde, com uns refinamentos, acréscimos e mudanças em alguns poderes e armas, principalmente pelo acréscimo de uma arma nova que eu não vou mencionar o que é pq nao quero limitar essa review com a flag de spoiler.
Achei MUITO mais fácil navegar pelos menus de confecção e aprimoramento de itens, porém, não sei se achei a melhor decisão fazer com que os recursos não sejam suficientes para upar tudo e, como o jogo ainda não tem +newgame no final, você vai se encontrar com muitos equipamentos que você gostaria de ver upado no máximo e não vai conseguir upar mais.
Na jogabilidade, as mecânicas de combate são ótimas, elas têm muitas camadas de complexidade e você pode escolher como lutar com estilos próprios ao mesmo tempo que mescla (e é bom mesclar mesmo pois você golpeia com mais força) vários combos com as armas diferentes e seus respectivos poderes. Agora, uma coisa na jogabilidade que eu não gostei muito foi dos vários pontos cegos que podem acontecer quando você enfrenta muitos inimigos ou os Bersekers (mini bosses chatos pra caralho) e uma miniboss (difícil demais) em específico que também não vou falar quem. Contra ela e contra alguns bersekers, por eles serem muito rápidos, eles acabam dando uma investida e ficando atrás de você no ponto cego, facilitando com que eles golpeiam e mesmo estando com mira definida nos inimigos, sofri com alguns bugs que ela simplesmente saia do foco e gerava um retrabalho no combate.
Os cenários são surreais de tão lindos, mesmo jogando no PS4 e tendo sim um serrilhado aqui e ali e uma resolução bem menor, essa versão não deixa a desejar em absolutamente nada. Dessa vez, vamos conseguir viajar por todos os reinos e a exploração deles vai mudar MUITO. Mesmo passando por alguns lugares iguais, a construção deles, por conta do finbulwinter, vai estar bem diferente e não com aquela sensação de “requentaram isso aqui”.
Atrelado ao cenário eu vou mencionar a exploração desse game que é algo delicioso de se fazer. Com uns 400 coletáveis que se misturam entre as sidequests eu não senti, em momento algum, aquela sensação de cansaço por estar coletando e explorando pq tudo é muito fluido e não é difícil de coletar (como aqueles jogos que botam as paradas mega escondidas). Você vai achando organicamente ao longo do game, ainda mais por ele ser de certa forma linear. As sidequests não são muitas e agregam MUITO valor a história, principalmente uma que você descobre em uma localização “secreta” (e esse secreta só está assim pq o local tbm é fácil de ser encontrado, basta finalizar uma sidequest em específico que o local vai abrir). Enfim, a exploração é uma das mais gostosas que eu já vi em um game.
História e personagens eu vou colocar junto pq não tem como estar separado. Aqui tudo é maior, desde a quantidade muito superior de pessoas que aparecem, quanto a profundidade que todos agregam para a história. Vai desde a um plot twist surpreendente que te deixa puto até o plot twist que te faz entender o que já aconteceu no outro jogo. Vai da simplicidade de uma personagem amiga até os profundos conflitos que ela mesmo vai fazer você passar. Vai de um encontro que ao mesmo tempo traz alívio e frustração. Vai da emoção de conseguir o perdão e, por fim, vai das lágrimas da perda de quem vai de vez e de quem só vai por um tempo.
Respondendo a pergunta do subtítulo, God of War Ragnarok é, sem dúvida alguma, top 5 dos melhores jogos que eu já joguei na vida.
A sony precisa parar de fazer isso
GOD DAMN
This is one incredible meaty ass game. I knew for a while this was probably gonna be my game of the year but I didn't really know I was going to love it this much. The scale is bigger, the problems I had with the original have mostly been fixed, and the story packs a much bigger punch. When the credits were rolling I was just left there with a big goofy smile on my face, glad that video games that have the ability to inspire, challenge, and harness emotion like this are being made today. 100% recommendation here, this is one true masterpiece for the ages.
This is one incredible meaty ass game. I knew for a while this was probably gonna be my game of the year but I didn't really know I was going to love it this much. The scale is bigger, the problems I had with the original have mostly been fixed, and the story packs a much bigger punch. When the credits were rolling I was just left there with a big goofy smile on my face, glad that video games that have the ability to inspire, challenge, and harness emotion like this are being made today. 100% recommendation here, this is one true masterpiece for the ages.
Not a ton I can say without spoilers but extremely fun character writing, a great touching plot and fun combat held back by a few odd design choices (mostly the sheer amount of offscreen enemies and the camera being up inside Kratos)
Gods of Warrrrr! May your hammer be mightyyyy!
Truly a huge emphasis on the narrative which really blew me away with this game and the constant character development from the Ol' school Kratos to the man he is now was great to experience and see. Everything about this game was a major upgrade from the original although I am constantly seeing this same kind of pattern with Horizon, Last of Us, and any other big story-driven sony games. Nonetheless, it was a great playthrough and game, but I would to see some diverge from the typical kind of rabbit hole of side events in these big open-world games. It was crazy how I could not even look at a puzzle for more than five minutes and your companions do not need to be running their mouths 24/7 and have me yelling at the T.V like Adam Sandler saying "ALLRIIIIGHHHHTTTT!!!!" One hell of a lively cast for all the characters, truly the best part of the whole game was the cutscenes and events that would ensue! Pop this in your PlayStation boy because its hammer time!
Truly a huge emphasis on the narrative which really blew me away with this game and the constant character development from the Ol' school Kratos to the man he is now was great to experience and see. Everything about this game was a major upgrade from the original although I am constantly seeing this same kind of pattern with Horizon, Last of Us, and any other big story-driven sony games. Nonetheless, it was a great playthrough and game, but I would to see some diverge from the typical kind of rabbit hole of side events in these big open-world games. It was crazy how I could not even look at a puzzle for more than five minutes and your companions do not need to be running their mouths 24/7 and have me yelling at the T.V like Adam Sandler saying "ALLRIIIIGHHHHTTTT!!!!" One hell of a lively cast for all the characters, truly the best part of the whole game was the cutscenes and events that would ensue! Pop this in your PlayStation boy because its hammer time!
A worthy final for the norse saga.
This game serves as a perfect final for the norse sage and pretty much for the franchise in general. I don't need Kratos to slay the gods of egypt but it still would be a welcomed thing.
The graphics and gameplay don't really differ from its predecessor. Some little things have been improved like an additional weapon for example. If you liked the combat in GOW4 you will like it here aswell. This game also seems to improve on the exploration side on the game. Some of the side quests even got their own boss fight with a little history though I am not really familiar with those of this game or GOW4.
The story more or less is as good as in GOW4 or even slightly better on its own right. Kratos gets a lot of character development in this game. He pretty much goes thru some of the best developments for any fictional character I have ever seen. Atreus also gets some character development. One of his gameplay segments though, despite the good storytelling, just dragged way to long. The 2nd one to be more precise.
This game also has a better variety of boss fight compared to GOW4 aswell. Not so many trolls around in this game. The before mentioned combat for my personal taste could offer some... well Hack n Slash action. It's kinda annoying that enemies stun you more often than you stun them. Also they sometimes just attack you to much in a row. Miss to evade one attack and a few others will follow afterwards. That can become some huge pain in the ass.
I also would have prefered it if the story would be concluded after the main credits. After the end of the game their is still some story after it, which I would have prefered to be simply part of the games main event.
The final is epic ass fuck and also shows some emotional side of the game along with the previously mentioned development of Kratos as a characters. It was beautiful.
9/10 giant wolves.
This game serves as a perfect final for the norse sage and pretty much for the franchise in general. I don't need Kratos to slay the gods of egypt but it still would be a welcomed thing.
The graphics and gameplay don't really differ from its predecessor. Some little things have been improved like an additional weapon for example. If you liked the combat in GOW4 you will like it here aswell. This game also seems to improve on the exploration side on the game. Some of the side quests even got their own boss fight with a little history though I am not really familiar with those of this game or GOW4.
The story more or less is as good as in GOW4 or even slightly better on its own right. Kratos gets a lot of character development in this game. He pretty much goes thru some of the best developments for any fictional character I have ever seen. Atreus also gets some character development. One of his gameplay segments though, despite the good storytelling, just dragged way to long. The 2nd one to be more precise.
This game also has a better variety of boss fight compared to GOW4 aswell. Not so many trolls around in this game. The before mentioned combat for my personal taste could offer some... well Hack n Slash action. It's kinda annoying that enemies stun you more often than you stun them. Also they sometimes just attack you to much in a row. Miss to evade one attack and a few others will follow afterwards. That can become some huge pain in the ass.
I also would have prefered it if the story would be concluded after the main credits. After the end of the game their is still some story after it, which I would have prefered to be simply part of the games main event.
The final is epic ass fuck and also shows some emotional side of the game along with the previously mentioned development of Kratos as a characters. It was beautiful.
9/10 giant wolves.
alright god of war ragnarok is finished. I enjoyed some of the final bits but overall the game is still a disappointment to me. Just wanted to get the levels over with as they are boring to traverse, and the writing is atrocious and comes off as flabby.
to say the least, I am satisfied with the wrap up of krato’s story, from the beginning early games to now; it’s quite a beautiful evolution of character.
to say the least, I am satisfied with the wrap up of krato’s story, from the beginning early games to now; it’s quite a beautiful evolution of character.
It should not be possible for a platform-defining AAA game in 2022 to have writing this good. Everything I know about the material realities of game production make me believe that anything this nuanced, this heartfelt, this willing to sacrifice "gaminess" in exchange for a truer and deeper story, should crumple like cardboard under the sheer size of teams needed to coordinate a game of this size and expense. And yet: here it is. A top notch example of writing not just for games but for storytelling as a whole, not just sitting in an 80 hour video game but earning the time it asks you to spend on it.
The writing is easily enough to make this game worth playing, but the rest of it is certainly solid enough not to turn a player away. The core combat systems are very strong, but they're hampered by the fact that the encounter design doesn't seem to know quite what to do with it. The player's moveset is built around a Dark Souls-style framework of asking the player to understand and commit to the wind-ups of their attacks in order to land powerful hits, but the battles don't seem to understand this. Enemies will teleport around the arena and only stagger unpredictably as though they're meant for a style of game much more like the original God of War series, effectively punishing the player at random for trying to reason through combat like the system seems to demand.
The encounters also lean heavily on fights with multiple enemies to dial up the difficulty. Although there are a fair number of (delightful!) fights with particularly tricky single enemies, the more challenging fights involving groups almost uniformly suck. Again, the combat system doesn't seem to be designed for this: enemies can freely attack even when they're offscreen, meaning that any commitment the player makes to attack the enemy they're focused on can just get broken by a projectile or mob slamming in from nowhere.
The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing, which is honestly what I expect everywhere in a game this size. The fact that the combat works as well as it does given that is still impressive, and the fact that the writing is straight up excellent is nothing short of a miracle.
The writing is easily enough to make this game worth playing, but the rest of it is certainly solid enough not to turn a player away. The core combat systems are very strong, but they're hampered by the fact that the encounter design doesn't seem to know quite what to do with it. The player's moveset is built around a Dark Souls-style framework of asking the player to understand and commit to the wind-ups of their attacks in order to land powerful hits, but the battles don't seem to understand this. Enemies will teleport around the arena and only stagger unpredictably as though they're meant for a style of game much more like the original God of War series, effectively punishing the player at random for trying to reason through combat like the system seems to demand.
The encounters also lean heavily on fights with multiple enemies to dial up the difficulty. Although there are a fair number of (delightful!) fights with particularly tricky single enemies, the more challenging fights involving groups almost uniformly suck. Again, the combat system doesn't seem to be designed for this: enemies can freely attack even when they're offscreen, meaning that any commitment the player makes to attack the enemy they're focused on can just get broken by a projectile or mob slamming in from nowhere.
The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing, which is honestly what I expect everywhere in a game this size. The fact that the combat works as well as it does given that is still impressive, and the fact that the writing is straight up excellent is nothing short of a miracle.
can we admit shit like this is game awards bait the same way that movies about movies are oscar bait