I wanna like this as much as other people do. I genuinely did enjoy it and I think the graphics and cutscenes and how smoothly it runs are all amazing and deserve a ton of praise. Releasing a game of this quality without bugs or frame drops is seriously impressive. I liked the story, didn't love it. I liked Odin a lot and I think the themes were interesting as far as prophecy and free will and things like that. I really liked the combat and the weapon and combo varieties that you can string together. The different builds you can create using the gear and skill systems are all really good as well. The world is huge and full of genuinely fun content. The Mythology and lore is possibly my favorite part. There is literally nothing wrong with this game and it is higher quality than almost anything you can find from other AAA studios right now. But for some reason I feel it is missing something, like it has an emptiness to it and I have no idea why. In some ways, I liked God of war 2018 better, although this is certainly a better, more well made video game

this is a very average game, but not a bad one. the story isn't anything crazy, but i've had my fun with it. it's simple "turn off your brain and kill enemies" sorta fun, so don't expect too much from it.

i believe this game sadly has too many fates characters in it and not enough characters from other FE games. i would've loved to get characters from different games in the main story, not just as dlc content. the three original characters are pretty decent. the twins are cute but not very deep characters. darios was sorta fun, but it's a shame he wasn't playable.

the soundtrack was very average as well, no song really standing out to me.

I miss the time when Nintendo gave even a remote shit about the user experience. The Nintendo 3DS remains probably my favorite system as far as an "era" goes, for Nintendo's efforts in pushing socialization with almost every 1st party game offering effortless local wireless multiplayer, and a good number offering huge download play such as Mario Kart 7, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, and Mario Party Island Tour; usually these came with restrictions but MP:IT allowed you to play entire party games with no restrictions (even if that game is scuffed, the minigames were solid anyways)

You cannot tell me with a straight face that things didn't go massively downhill after Iwata passed. I'm not saying the man is perfect or whatever but in the landscape of gaming both then and especially now, he felt like the last remnant of pure enthusiasm along with Reggie for literally anything they're doing. Nintendo Directs lost all their value the moment they stopped doing skits, this is what things like Sony's State of Play fail to understand that makes them a laughing stock every time they have one, but Nintendo fans seem to not realize Nintendo's own directs have been just as shallow ever since as well.

The Nintendo of today is a far cry from the Nintendo that did this, and it's depressing every time I think about it. A Nintendo console should strive to be more than just an underpowered vehicle for a handful of exclusives, and they've utterly forgotten about that; when even features like the Mii maker are buried deep in menus and are never used for anything.

I've always loved video games for as long as I can remember, but the 3DS made me realize you can do so much more with a platform than host exclusives; but just as quickly as the efforts came, they left, and they'd rather you forget about them.

Finally, shoutouts to Pretendo, for attempting to revive the Miiverse messageboards and online services; leave it once again to fans to keep alive the best of Nintendo when Ninty can't be assed to spend a few bucks on the Windows XP server in the janitor's closet.

i honestly dont even know what to say. i feel like making a long review for this game is pointless because at least in my eyes absolutely everything this game had to offer was so polished and amazing. before i go farther i did want to say i never finished the first game, because i lost interest. i got my ps5 bundled with this game, so i played it since it was all i had. even though i never even finished the first game and had no attachment to any of the characters besides knowing their relationships with each other, i still somehow felt hooked within the first 5 hours. i never planned on even going back to the first game until i completed this one last night in the ams, i was exhausted but i still managed to open up the first game for the first time in a year because ragnarok just made me love the series. im not even a fantasy or mythology nerd, but wow.
the gameplay was something i always loved. even in the first game when i didnt care about anything else, i kept playing for the combat because it was so genuinely fun. the way that it is polished in ragnarok, and the added features are still so smooth and amazing. i actually understood what i was doing and what tactics would be best at what times. it also did not take me too long to learn how to craft, upgrade, or use the skill tree which usually, i struggle with. it really is a game that is rewarding with its combat, and you can pick it up and appreciate it right away.
i really honestly cant decide if i like the story or the combat more. i think theyre tied because i really was not expecting to care so much about a story that i missed a whole first game of. i immediately understood the dynamics, the conflict, etc. there were plot twists at the end that really got me. i thought i knew whatd happen at the end but they absolutely got me. it was amazing. any game that's plot points get a verbal reaction out of me when im alone in my room are worthy of at least 3 stars.
so to sum-- amazing game. it may not have won goty but its truly my goty. i would play it all over again just for the different mechanics with the ps5 controller. anyways, i will be going back and playing the first game

When GoW 2018 came out, it took me a couple tries until I fully completed it, and once I did, I found myself enjoying it. It definitely was not a perfect experience, but was a good game with a ton of heart and took God of War to an interesting direction, one I've seen a lot of people as of late say it was bad. So with Ragnarok now out, I feel the exact same way I did with 2018, more or less

Gameplay wise, it's still the same in most areas. It's the same feel with a little more quirks added to it. I think the gameplay change from the originals to this was the most polarizing aspect of modern god of war, which is kind of fair I remember 2018's combat being solid but nothing incredible, and Ragnarok is more or less the same. It can be beefy and it's not even close to bad or as shallow as some would say, but it's not the flashiest or most memorable combat. Enemy variety is a little better here too. In regards to difficulty, I played on the 2nd highest difficulty and didn't have too much of an issue, but there were moments were I lost control basically and got ganked until I died, which was not fun ! Puzzles were so fucking lame in this game, because none of the NPCS shut the fuck up and let me learn. It's way too hand holdy with that, if you're gonna have a puzzle let me fuck around and figure it out, don't just shove the answers in my face. Bosses are also marginally better, some really fucking cool fights, and I think they also reused bosses less (unless it was for a side quest which ofc they do it's a side quest). Mechanically, they're simple, fight them, maybe a cutscene and maybe you do a finisher on them, but the spectacle is still there and it kept my ape brain entertained. One thing Ragnarok fucked up on is the side sections as Atreus. Now to be fair, most of the time his sections aren't as bad as I thought they'd be, and the combat isn't terrible, and it never overstays it's welcome until one section were you think it's almost over but then it goes on, and on, and on. It becomes tedious. Mentioning it, Ragnarok has moments were sections overstay their welcome, adding a ton of padding to keep you going on the same thing.

Graphically, this is a good looking game. I played this on PS5 at 60 FPS (which felt super nice) and found moments of downtime where I was just admiring the view. The game also has a nice range of aesthetics with all the realms you visit as well. Bear McCreary's soundtrack is also pretty solid, hearing those bassy booming chants really adds so much to the experience of the game.

The story of the game was def the highlight I loved 2018's story a lot, and I loved this one too, but at the same time, when you see Anthony Burch's name in credits, you can tell he was involved. Ragnarok has the uncanny ability to tell a hell of a story and get you emotionally invested, but sideswipe you for a bit with a terrible line or two. Also, hearing Atreus constantly say "yikes" was really goofy to me idk why but it was lol. But then you'd get sucked back into the world and story after, making it only a minor inconvenience. The highlight of the story is 100% still the connection between Atreus and Kratos, some incredible story moments throughout, and the big sequence near the end was a damn cool spectacle. Enjoyed most of the new characters as well too, Thor was a highlight for me (despite not having as much screen time as I thought he would). Don't want to say too much about the story because I don't want to get into spoilers, but it's good. Trust me.

Overall, Ragnarok is another good game, and gave a lot of closure to this saga as well. I enjoyed my time with it and my SEVENTY SHILLBUCKS (good god) were well spent. GOTY? Nah. Elden Sweep baby. But I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a story driven experience, especially if you enjoyed GoW 2018.

Masterfully done, great story with amazing twists and turns that keep you guessing.

The gameplay is very refined, though not that different from the previous game.

A perfect ending for Kratos' story.

Mechanically, the previous game was as polished as you'd expect from an infinity-budget flagship title, but had a few odd wrinkles that I'm happy to report this game ironed out. Gear is improved - instead of being locked to one of the three endgame sets, everything has the same level cap and you can choose a build based solely on which unique effects you like the best. The pacing is a little better, too: the Valkyrie-equivalent optional bosses get more powerful as you work your way through them, so you can't just clean them out the instant you unlock them, and some challenges are actually locked to the postgame so you have more of a reason to do it. Outside of a few things, the game's also much more explicit about the side objectives that require backtracking, marking them on your map once you have the requisite powerup, though I can understand why that may not be a plus for some people.

I don't have much to say about the story. I'm not sure why people keep calling it unpredictable, as I think it plays its thematic hand pretty early, though there are plenty of fun and memorable moments on the micro scale. The writing can get pretty "Saturday morning cartoon"-y at times - characters are sillier and quippier across the board, and friends are made pretty quickly despite the constant hand-wringing about the difficulty of forgiveness - but beneath that, the core duo of Kratos and Atreus remains interesting and engaging as they try to carve out a functional, supportive family in the middle of an apocalypse they just can't seem to leave the center of.