God of War 2018 was the game that really sold me on the series, with my biggest complaint being that I wished there was more of it. After finishing Ragnarok, I feel my biggest takeaway is that I wish there was less of it.
It's a very well put together, beautiful game with combat that remains as good as the first (if maybe a bit to much of the same), enchanting music, and a story that ultimately ends in a very satisfying way. The new weapon is fun, and I enjoyed the alternate gameplay style they added. All of the performances were great, and especially some of the later bits will remain in my mind for a long time to come.
But the journey to get there is some of the most strangely unevenly paced content I have seen in a game recently. I don't mind slow levels focused on worldbuilding and general plot setup, but some of these chapters are not only slow, they simply do not know when to end. Especially in the first half most chapters simply drag on the same simple points for way too long, presumably to hammer in the plot if for some reason you did not get it.
Hell, the main story of this game doesn't trust the player with any sort of adversity. All of the main story encounters are remarkably easy on normal, and the characters CONSTANTLY quip out the solutions to puzzles just as you find them. It is actual insanity how simple most of the puzzles in this game are, but it's doubly insane how often your companion will pipe up with the solution not even 5 seconds after seeing it. Let the player think and experiment if they have to!! Meanwhile, side content literally 10 feet off the main path will beat the bricks off of you just for looking in its direction. The balancing is just so strange.
I feel like I have been pretty negative here, but again, I enjoyed the game enough by the end. I just wish I liked it more than that.
It's a very well put together, beautiful game with combat that remains as good as the first (if maybe a bit to much of the same), enchanting music, and a story that ultimately ends in a very satisfying way. The new weapon is fun, and I enjoyed the alternate gameplay style they added. All of the performances were great, and especially some of the later bits will remain in my mind for a long time to come.
But the journey to get there is some of the most strangely unevenly paced content I have seen in a game recently. I don't mind slow levels focused on worldbuilding and general plot setup, but some of these chapters are not only slow, they simply do not know when to end. Especially in the first half most chapters simply drag on the same simple points for way too long, presumably to hammer in the plot if for some reason you did not get it.
Hell, the main story of this game doesn't trust the player with any sort of adversity. All of the main story encounters are remarkably easy on normal, and the characters CONSTANTLY quip out the solutions to puzzles just as you find them. It is actual insanity how simple most of the puzzles in this game are, but it's doubly insane how often your companion will pipe up with the solution not even 5 seconds after seeing it. Let the player think and experiment if they have to!! Meanwhile, side content literally 10 feet off the main path will beat the bricks off of you just for looking in its direction. The balancing is just so strange.
I feel like I have been pretty negative here, but again, I enjoyed the game enough by the end. I just wish I liked it more than that.