Just like its predecessor, Requiem convinces with great characters, their development, their interaction and the general story. Especially the new characters were really likable and fit in organically. The world-building was also excellent once again. However, the game is also anything but feelgood and almost earns the title as misery porn. And the ending really destroyed me completely, even if it was consistent.

However, there are deductions for the gameplay loop. It was really tedious at some point after almost 17 hours and felt redundant. There wasn't enough variety despite the many alchemy skills, and the rat swarm stages in particular were incredibly stretched out at times. 3-4 hours less would have done the trick.

Still, Requiem is a fantastic gaming experience and brings Amicia and Hugo's story to a close. Two great characters that I don't think I'll ever forget.

God of War Ragnarok is narrative pleasure on the highest technical level. The Nordic world of the gods has once again been brought to life in great detail. There is maximum love in every detail, no edge is left unpolished and every moment has been buffed to perfection. The characters are once again superbly written and their development is absolutely coherent, and the introduction of new characters is also successful. There are two things that are a bit of a sticking point: pacing. After the game takes a lot of time to build up in the first 10-12 hours, the last 5-6 hours feel really rushed - especially if you ignore the sidequests. Ragnarok itself feels like it takes an hour to play, even though that's what everything is leading up to. And the second point is the core gameplay. You're already familiar with it from the 2018 part, and even though there are many innovations in detail, the core remains the same. And after a good 15 hours, a slight oversaturation set in. What was also missing were more boss fights, which used to be the flagship of the series. They were few and far between and also unusually unspectacular.

All in all, God of War Ragnarok is still a great game and a wonderful journey, with emotional highlights. The main story of the next installment doesn't have to last 25 hours for me.