Before this came out, I remember telling my friend that I was less excited than I expected to play it. I LOVED the last one and I'm super invested in Sony Santa Monica's decision to transform Kratos from a stacked himbo that violently slaughters mythological monsters and has QTE shag sessions with Greek maidens to a vulnerable daddy figuring out how to communicate healthily with his teenage son. But with my guide work ramping up and my patience for the Christmas slate wearing thin, I just couldn't bring myself to 100% buy into Ragnarok.
Then I opened the game, that belter of a score erupted, some of the best cutscenes I've ever watched started playing and, after an hour of incredible set pieces, I experienced one of the best boss battles I've played in years. In just 60 minutes Kratos had me wrapped around his muscley little finger again.
And that's mainly because Sony Santa Monica just fundamentally understands the cinematic action blockbuster. God of War: Ragnarok (if you ask me) isn't a "perfect game". The menus are cumbersome, the combat grows repetitive after long stints, and (please don't attack me with pitchforks) its story, while phenomenal at capturing grounded, distinctly human character moments, is a little too clean-cut and easy at points, often failing to satisfyingly resolve its biggest narrative threads or mysteries.
But everything that didn't work for me was counterbalanced by just how well Santa Monica nails what it needs to nail to make this a bombastic epic. The writing is second to none, making you mill around already-explored areas for minutes just to hear Kratos and Atreus ramble on about a Norse legend or previous adventure. The boss battles are some of the best I've ever experienced in a video game; just frantic clashes that seamlessly weave intense, reaction-based combat with superb cutscenes and interactive moments. And then there's just the overall presentation of the game; the beautiful visuals, the world-class performances, the top-notch sound design.
But at the centre of it all, what makes the game really hit is how unafraid it is to get intimate with its main players. Sony Santa Monica really just understands this new take on Kratos so well: what he fears, why he fights, what he regrets. I ugly cried more times than I care to count during the final moments of Ragnarok due to how much time is dedicated to exploring Kratos and Atreus' characters. Both are so well-realised and are given so much time to breathe, despite the game focusing on such a spectacle-heavy cataclysmic event.
In the end, it's that beautiful synergy between personal character growth and epic spectacle that ultimately makes Ragnarok such a special game. The original was an introspective dissection of Kratos as a character more than it was a real dive into Norse mythology, while this sequel feels like it manages to highlight more of the fantastical Norse elements (one of the main side characters is literally a talking squirrel) alongside continuing to forge a new direction for Kratos' character.
It makes Ragnarok a wonderful partner piece to its predecessor. It feels more like a "Volume 2" for GoW 2018 than it does a full-fledged new entry in the series, and honestly, I prefer that. Both games are interconnected and essential to one another, and seeing as we were all obsessed with 2018, that means a meaningful continuation of the action and story we came to love.
There are a million things you can talk about with Ragnarok; it's a shockingly big game with a lot of moving pieces, surprising moments and unexpected ideas that I don't want to spoil. All I can say is I can't wait to see what's next, and that's assuming there is something next. Of course, this game just went ahead and made some cold hard smackeroos, so Sony will undoubtedly be knocking on Santa Monica's door every other day to ask for a sequel, but there's also part of me that thinks they could end it here and it would be a fitting conclusion to the franchise's nearly two-decade-long stint.
But rather self-entitledly, I don't want it to end here. Ragnarok might not only be one of the best blockbuster video games I've ever played, but one of the best blockbusters I've ever experienced in any medium. It goes against every belief I have about storytelling or franchise fatigue, but I don't care. I'll keep playing God of War games until every mythology has been exhausted and Kratos is throwing hands with Slender Man if it means we can keep watching the God of War and Boy chatting shit with a talking head in a row boat.
Then I opened the game, that belter of a score erupted, some of the best cutscenes I've ever watched started playing and, after an hour of incredible set pieces, I experienced one of the best boss battles I've played in years. In just 60 minutes Kratos had me wrapped around his muscley little finger again.
And that's mainly because Sony Santa Monica just fundamentally understands the cinematic action blockbuster. God of War: Ragnarok (if you ask me) isn't a "perfect game". The menus are cumbersome, the combat grows repetitive after long stints, and (please don't attack me with pitchforks) its story, while phenomenal at capturing grounded, distinctly human character moments, is a little too clean-cut and easy at points, often failing to satisfyingly resolve its biggest narrative threads or mysteries.
But everything that didn't work for me was counterbalanced by just how well Santa Monica nails what it needs to nail to make this a bombastic epic. The writing is second to none, making you mill around already-explored areas for minutes just to hear Kratos and Atreus ramble on about a Norse legend or previous adventure. The boss battles are some of the best I've ever experienced in a video game; just frantic clashes that seamlessly weave intense, reaction-based combat with superb cutscenes and interactive moments. And then there's just the overall presentation of the game; the beautiful visuals, the world-class performances, the top-notch sound design.
But at the centre of it all, what makes the game really hit is how unafraid it is to get intimate with its main players. Sony Santa Monica really just understands this new take on Kratos so well: what he fears, why he fights, what he regrets. I ugly cried more times than I care to count during the final moments of Ragnarok due to how much time is dedicated to exploring Kratos and Atreus' characters. Both are so well-realised and are given so much time to breathe, despite the game focusing on such a spectacle-heavy cataclysmic event.
In the end, it's that beautiful synergy between personal character growth and epic spectacle that ultimately makes Ragnarok such a special game. The original was an introspective dissection of Kratos as a character more than it was a real dive into Norse mythology, while this sequel feels like it manages to highlight more of the fantastical Norse elements (one of the main side characters is literally a talking squirrel) alongside continuing to forge a new direction for Kratos' character.
It makes Ragnarok a wonderful partner piece to its predecessor. It feels more like a "Volume 2" for GoW 2018 than it does a full-fledged new entry in the series, and honestly, I prefer that. Both games are interconnected and essential to one another, and seeing as we were all obsessed with 2018, that means a meaningful continuation of the action and story we came to love.
There are a million things you can talk about with Ragnarok; it's a shockingly big game with a lot of moving pieces, surprising moments and unexpected ideas that I don't want to spoil. All I can say is I can't wait to see what's next, and that's assuming there is something next. Of course, this game just went ahead and made some cold hard smackeroos, so Sony will undoubtedly be knocking on Santa Monica's door every other day to ask for a sequel, but there's also part of me that thinks they could end it here and it would be a fitting conclusion to the franchise's nearly two-decade-long stint.
But rather self-entitledly, I don't want it to end here. Ragnarok might not only be one of the best blockbuster video games I've ever played, but one of the best blockbusters I've ever experienced in any medium. It goes against every belief I have about storytelling or franchise fatigue, but I don't care. I'll keep playing God of War games until every mythology has been exhausted and Kratos is throwing hands with Slender Man if it means we can keep watching the God of War and Boy chatting shit with a talking head in a row boat.