CHAPTER 1: I LIKE RETURNAL BUT PLEASE PLAYSTATION STUDIOS YOU DON'T HAVE TO SLAP A ROGUELIKE/LITE INTO EVERY IP YOU HAVE
I hold the Norse God of War games in a very high regard, they are among my favorite games ever, and I still think they are some of the best of PlayStation Studios. To the point that for a while, I made it my mission to talk nonstop to my friends about why I found these games to be so good, specially after I first played through 2018 back in early 2019.
However, because my gaming plans are a mess, I took more than I expected to actually get into this DLC, but after watching the high praise it got, I went into it with huge expectations.
Now that I'm here after beating it, I feel in the awkward situation of having to complain about a game with mid gameplay with a wonderful story once again (specially after having done so recently with Alan Wake). But I just don't feel like these games were made to be Roguelites, in a way I have to complain about Returnal's success because it gave PS Studios the idea that they could slap Roguelikes into their some of their IPs as it also happened to The Last of Us Part II earlier this year.
By this, I mean that the idea of implementing the quirks of the genre into God of War meant that the best way they could do it was by removing all of Kratos' rune attacks and gearset perks you get throughout the main story and then offer them back as equipment for your runs, with pretty much no changes whatsoever. While at the same time, hitting the player with the realization that they are going to have to grind for stats by doing multiple runs because chances are (specially if you are playing on higher difficulties) that you will get statchecked by enemies that take too long to die and hit too hard because I guess they looked at their gear system and went "ah yeah, this is what people liked the most about these games".
By this, I don't mean that you can't get some cool perks nearing the final boss of a run, but more often than not, the effects won't just be as interesting as some you could get in other games of the genre, it's weird because here it just feels like they crafted the safest Roguelite known to man and that's saying a lot. But what do I know, at the end of the day, a lot of this could come from personal bias as well, since this isn't one of my favorite genres, aside from a couple of exceptions I can count with one hand.
Like I don't want to sound rude, specially after they put out this DLC for free in the most absolute gigachad move ever, God bless you Sony Santa Monica, but despite that, there is still something that you have to pay for while playing this DLC, which is time, and while you might have a better experience than I had with it, it still is as valuable as money itself.
CHAPTER 2: KRATOS FINALLY WENT TO THERAPY
With that out of the way, I can safely say that a big saving grace of the DLC was the storytelling, there will be some mild to heavy spoilers, as I'll try to keep it brief, so beware.
Once again I found myself immersed in the world and the emotional struggle of Kratos as he and Mimir have some of the most down to earth type of conversations I've seen in the duology, their dynamic is just stellar.
As Helios showed up on the first time, I started getting a bit worried as Kratos' behavior started showing some aspects of his old self from the Greek series, his first reaction was to almost draw the Blades of Chaos, and thinking just in the goal to be reached, he almost burnt Mimir into a crisp thinking that he had just swapped places with his former enemy. For a moment, I genuinely thought that just because he was dealing with an Olympian again, after all he had not changed at all, his old self was just dormant.
At this point the plot twist reveals itself, Tyr, the actual god this time, was the one who invited both to attend Valhalla, to what purpose? Therapy! I think I speak for many people who have gone through this franchise that Kratos is someone that genuinely needed it, specially with how the character was portrayed in this duology, with how clearly he had been repressing his feelings throughout the years, specially in front of Atreus.Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping your patient, is by beating the shit out of them in a fantastic boss fight that carries so much of the DLC for me... wait no, scratch that, that doesn't sound good...
Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping HIS patient is by helping him come to terms with who he was to accept just about what the rest of his life is going to be, after all, you can't blame Kratos for not feeling appropriate for the role, but at the same time, just like everyone around him, you know he is the right guy to be the new God of War of the Nine Realms.
In the end, what Kratos needed was not to forgive himself, but instead to realize that he was just not that monster anymore, even if Athena was right, and he will always be one, the point is that at this point, he has clearly learned to tame it, and will actually be willing to listen to those around him. And I support anyone who has that type of mental health realization.
I hold the Norse God of War games in a very high regard, they are among my favorite games ever, and I still think they are some of the best of PlayStation Studios. To the point that for a while, I made it my mission to talk nonstop to my friends about why I found these games to be so good, specially after I first played through 2018 back in early 2019.
However, because my gaming plans are a mess, I took more than I expected to actually get into this DLC, but after watching the high praise it got, I went into it with huge expectations.
Now that I'm here after beating it, I feel in the awkward situation of having to complain about a game with mid gameplay with a wonderful story once again (specially after having done so recently with Alan Wake). But I just don't feel like these games were made to be Roguelites, in a way I have to complain about Returnal's success because it gave PS Studios the idea that they could slap Roguelikes into their some of their IPs as it also happened to The Last of Us Part II earlier this year.
By this, I mean that the idea of implementing the quirks of the genre into God of War meant that the best way they could do it was by removing all of Kratos' rune attacks and gearset perks you get throughout the main story and then offer them back as equipment for your runs, with pretty much no changes whatsoever. While at the same time, hitting the player with the realization that they are going to have to grind for stats by doing multiple runs because chances are (specially if you are playing on higher difficulties) that you will get statchecked by enemies that take too long to die and hit too hard because I guess they looked at their gear system and went "ah yeah, this is what people liked the most about these games".
By this, I don't mean that you can't get some cool perks nearing the final boss of a run, but more often than not, the effects won't just be as interesting as some you could get in other games of the genre, it's weird because here it just feels like they crafted the safest Roguelite known to man and that's saying a lot. But what do I know, at the end of the day, a lot of this could come from personal bias as well, since this isn't one of my favorite genres, aside from a couple of exceptions I can count with one hand.
Like I don't want to sound rude, specially after they put out this DLC for free in the most absolute gigachad move ever, God bless you Sony Santa Monica, but despite that, there is still something that you have to pay for while playing this DLC, which is time, and while you might have a better experience than I had with it, it still is as valuable as money itself.
CHAPTER 2: KRATOS FINALLY WENT TO THERAPY
With that out of the way, I can safely say that a big saving grace of the DLC was the storytelling, there will be some mild to heavy spoilers, as I'll try to keep it brief, so beware.
Once again I found myself immersed in the world and the emotional struggle of Kratos as he and Mimir have some of the most down to earth type of conversations I've seen in the duology, their dynamic is just stellar.
As Helios showed up on the first time, I started getting a bit worried as Kratos' behavior started showing some aspects of his old self from the Greek series, his first reaction was to almost draw the Blades of Chaos, and thinking just in the goal to be reached, he almost burnt Mimir into a crisp thinking that he had just swapped places with his former enemy. For a moment, I genuinely thought that just because he was dealing with an Olympian again, after all he had not changed at all, his old self was just dormant.
At this point the plot twist reveals itself, Tyr, the actual god this time, was the one who invited both to attend Valhalla, to what purpose? Therapy! I think I speak for many people who have gone through this franchise that Kratos is someone that genuinely needed it, specially with how the character was portrayed in this duology, with how clearly he had been repressing his feelings throughout the years, specially in front of Atreus.
Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping HIS patient is by helping him come to terms with who he was to accept just about what the rest of his life is going to be, after all, you can't blame Kratos for not feeling appropriate for the role, but at the same time, just like everyone around him, you know he is the right guy to be the new God of War of the Nine Realms.
In the end, what Kratos needed was not to forgive himself, but instead to realize that he was just not that monster anymore, even if Athena was right, and he will always be one, the point is that at this point, he has clearly learned to tame it, and will actually be willing to listen to those around him. And I support anyone who has that type of mental health realization.