There’s nothing like parent-child bonding over a warm fire in the middle of the woods surrounded by nature and Norse gods. In 2018, a semi-reset was hit on the “God of War” franchise that changed the dynamics of not only the gameplay, but also the story presentation with a weathered Kratos trying to be a better dad to his son than he was to his original family in Sparta. What came from this gamble of a long-running series was accolades and praises from solo gamers and journalists alike; putting “God of War” back in the cultural zeitgeist like it was 2005 all over again.
But the 2018 release left a lot of questions on the table and the potential for major gameplay improvements. Like many others, the 2018 iteration left me in awe and I knew that its sequel would be one of my most anticipated games of not only 2022, but also many years. Begging to the gods, I only hoped “God of War Ragnarok” would surpass the heights of a prequel that turned every thought I had about a “God of War” game into something unrecognizable compared to its predecessors while setting a standard rarely reached in gaming.
Did I Complete “God of War Ragnarok”?
The template of “God of War” (2018) is in its finest form with “Ragnarok”. Beginning between the secret ending of its predecessor and the fallout of Baldur’s death, Kratos and his son Atreus are holed up in their home as Midgard has been enveloped by the coldest of elements with the rest of the realms affected by Fimbulwinter in various ways. The arrival of Thor in the secret ending of “God of War” (2018) is a precursor to not only a battle between the god of thunder and the god of war, but also Odin offering Atreus the chance to work with the “All-Father”; leaving Kratos behind. What comes from this offer is a conflict between families, understanding the effects of a father’s expectations for his offspring, and exploring realms both new and old including returning to areas Kratos & Atreus ravaged in the last game.
Upping the ante in every manner, “Ragnarok” provides an extensive story with over forty side quests/“Favors” being associated with almost every realm. Some “Favors” are simple such as collecting flowers with no real reward other than experience points. A majority of the game’s side quests are small bits of action or puzzle-oriented scenarios where NPCs including everyone’s favorite fountain of knowledge Mimir come to terms with their past and have to figure out the next step toward their future. There are hundreds of collectibles including lore scrolls, buried treasures, and the returning Nornir chests where the player will be running around a small area of the map searching for the three pyres needed to break or set ablaze to open a chest housing either health or rage upgrade items or some special equipment.
For players who loved the previous game’s barbaric battles, “Ragnarok” doesn’t skimp on the combat challenges with the returning Muspelheim Trials pushing the player’s skills in terms of patience, timing, switching between weapons, and how fast someone can aim & throw a spirit ball dropped by a fallen enemy. Replacing the Valkyries as the game’s de facto masterfully difficult optional bosses are the Berserkers.
These Berserkers have varying degrees of abilities including one covered in a poisonous gas that makes it difficult to get in for melee attacks, and a sisterhood of opponents where the strategy of who to take down first becomes trial & error as Kratos falls again and again. Capping off the slaughtering of each Berserker may be one of the hardest fights in either of the last two “God of War” games due to the King having all the other Berserker abilities and randomly using them after losing about a quarter of health. There is another incredibly hard battle post-story that rivals, if not surpasses the King Berserker battle, but the strategy for victory is a little easier to grasp due to the foe’s combat not evolving mid-battle like King Berserker.
After fifty-nine hours while playing on “Give Me Balance” (the game’s equivalent of “Normal” difficulty), I overcame all the grandest adversaries in the nine realms, attained every necessary collectible and equipment piece, saw the story play out in full including the end-game “Favors”, and celebrated the life of an NPC that will go down in history as one of the all-time greats to earn my hundredth platinum trophy.
What Makes “God of War Ragnarok” Unique?
Unlike the 2018 version that changed everything about how a “God of War” game is presented, “Ragnarok” sticks with what made the previous iteration unique in comparison to other games in the franchise while expanding upon the foundation set in 2018 in almost every way. Kratos comes equipped with his ice-based Leviathan Axe, his Blades of Chaos enveloped in flames, and a Shield used to block and potentially parry attacks not unblockable (enemy moves indicated by a red circle). The Shield also has another defensive mechanism as certain adversaries have guards or counterattacks that can only be stopped by utilizing a “Shield Break” where the player taps the block button twice in a row quickly (an act that, at times, can be used accidentally in the heat of a hectic battle).
About midway through the main narrative, Kratos is given the Draupnir Spear. Beyond being a new tool for exploration purposes, the Spear adds to Kratos’ arsenal in unexpected ways as he can become a long-to-mid-range fighter mixing thrown spears that can explode and quick stabbing jabs to keep enemies at bay. One of the biggest expansions in regards to combat is the emphasis on elemental properties: fire, ice, wind, poison, and bifrost – the latter temporarily blocks off a portion of health that goes away completely if damage is taken. In “Ragnarok”, using elementals is a necessity as it helps stun enemies quicker for those impressive barbaric finishers. Some foes will actually activate elementally-based armor where the player will have to use the opposing element to destroy that extra health such as the raiders in Midgard being ice-based and only Kratos’ Blades of Chaos doing significant damage. This focus on enemy elemental properties offers a deeper layer of combat strategy the previous game only alluded to or barely rewarded.
An interesting addition to weapon usage is “Weapon Signature Moves” where the player can hold down the triangle button to perform an ice-covering charge up for the Axe for greater cold damage temporarily, a twirling whirlwind of fire when the Blades are equipped so enemies are inflicted with burn quicker while also extending Kratos’ combos, or setting off those thrown spears via the Draupnir.
“Spartan Rage” returns with the original variation being joined by two more forms. There is the aforementioned “Fury” version where Kratos becomes a near invulnerable war machine knocking off an enemy’s health while slowly restoring some of his own. Then there is the “Valor” “Spartan Rage” where the player can use a portion of the “Rage Meter” to restore lost health and, if timed right before Kratos is struck, negates any incoming damage. Sitting between “Fury” and “Valor” is “Wrath”. Depending on what weapon is equipped during a “Wrath” activation, Kratos will run forward and utilize a damaging maneuver with said weapon at the cost of one “Rage Meter” bar.
Atreus comes into this experience a lot more competent as a support character. While running around and doing his own thing during combat, Atreus can be ordered to shoot one of two arrow types at a time: “Sonic” (a concussive arrow type that can temporarily stun enemies without having to fill up their “Stun” meter) and “Sigil” (arrows that can stop impossible-to-hit foes like “Wisps” or hex other adversaries to make them more vulnerable to elementals & status effects). Like Kratos’ weapons, Atreus’ arrows play a major role during exploration by blowing up barrels with “Sonic” arrows or creating a chain of fire to light one of those Nornir pyres. There are also other secondary characters that join both Kratos and Atreus during their respective times separated from one another with someone like Sindri playing a role similar to Atreus in the 2018 “God of War” than being a battle-hardened ally.
Interestingly enough, Atreus becomes a fully playable character during certain sections; causing the player to completely change their more up-close play style as Kratos to a more long-range, hit & run approach due to Atreus not having the greatest amount of health. Atreus has his own “Rage” meter that allows him to transform into his spirit animal, but his transformation is locked into the “Fury” category and doesn’t expand like his father’s. The usage of Atreus in “Ragnarok” is a further example of how different this iteration is compared to its counterparts without skimping on the high quality.
But the game’s combat isn’t perfect mostly thanks off-screen attacks. Though there are indicators of incoming attacks, there will be many a time when the quickness of a foe is faster than the indicator especially if the player hasn’t turned the camera in that adversary’s direction in time. A majority of the time relying on the audio cues of, say Mimir, will be more beneficial than the indicators themselves. Using the lock-on system can be a blessing and a curse with it being easier to identify where a fast-moving enemy is, but it stiffens the ability to move the camera and, at times, prevents defensive rolls by moving the protagonist in correlation with the lock-on instead of away from an incoming attack. The soft-lock can also be a hindrance when taking on multiple foes as Kratos may suddenly target an enemy to his left or right instead of continuing the combo on the enemy in front of him.
Bosses and even mini-bosses are more profound in this one, but possibly not as much as many would’ve hoped. Certain major foes in the last game are reduced to mostly larger secondary challenges to, rightfully so, showcase that Kratos & Atreus are at a greater power & experience levels compared to three years ago. Unfortunately, only a few of the real major bosses leave a lasting impression from a gameplay perspective beyond the optional, tougher enemies. Another combat issue correlates with those optional bosses where they are able to armor through certain attacks, their animations for particular maneuvers can’t be interrupted, and can land devastating blows on Kratos during the final frames of a “Runic” attack where Kratos is stuck in an animation that the player can’t stop or prevent; with no physical indication of being struck until the player looks down to see a chunk of health missing.
Equipment management is a major implementation in this version by, once again, expanding upon the previous template. Everything Kratos can equip, be it his weapons or armor, has the ability to be upgraded eight times to reach a max level of nine (though most items start above level one and grow exponentially as a base number when attained later in the game such as starting at level five or six). Each weapon has a single slot to equip some type of hilt or knob that not only increases up to three of Kratos’ six base stats – “Strength”, “Defense”, “Runic”, “Cooldown”, “Vitality”, and “Luck” – but also potentially add some type of passive or active trait to Kratos while that item is equipped such as one of the Axe’s knobs having a high luck stat that may temporarily boost Kratos’ strength after a kill with the Axe.
Shields work more like weapons in this game with each shield having their own traits and innate abilities while a rond can be equipped to add some type of addition to the “Shield Break” ability. “Runics” return with each offering a different special attack (one “Light”, one “Heavy”) for each weapon that can be upgraded up to three times with experience points. “Relics” are a new type of upgradable attack that, depending on what is equipped, offer various offensive and defensive measures including one relic that leaves behind puddles of poison after the attack’s activation initially causes a poisonous explosion, and another that strikes the enemy before temporarily shielding Kratos from a single attack.
Armor is more straight-forward than the added weapon variety, but will be detrimental in how the player wants to build up their Kratos for battle. Its not always about having the highest-level armor equipped as players will have to weigh what stats they want to increase or decrease while gaining certain abilities like a particular favorite chest piece that would poison enemies after a successful block or parry.
Stat management plays a major role in “Ragnarok” thanks to the “Amulet of Yggdrasil”. With nine slots that must be repaired by finding particular jewels (some can only be obtained by defeating certain enemies), players have the option of equipping “Enchantments” that are reliant on having particular stats at a certain threshold. For example – the “Remedy of Bifrost” enchantment removes small chunks of Bifrost when performing successful attacks, but the perk can only be active if Kratos’ defense stat is at 130; thus making is useless to equip if the player doesn’t have that stat at the necessary level. There are dozens of enchantments so the player doesn’t have to change everything about their load-out to gain some major & minor benefits from the Amulet.
The skill tree returns as well with certain abilities being directly pulled from the last game. This version of the skill tree’s biggest addition are “Skill Labors”. When a player purchases a particular skill, the demand to perform that skill a certain amount of times in combat will unlock a slot where the play can equip a buff to that skill be it added damage, upping Kratos’ defenses during the skill’s usage, making it more elementally powerful, and even helping charge the weapon’s “Weapon Signature Move” meter faster. It also must be noted that Atreus and another secondary character can too gain new skills from the skill tree, upgrade their weapons (though only to level three), equip “Runics”, and change their summon attacks via the menu.
For as impressive as the gameplay additions and features are, nothing compares to “Ragnarok’s” story. Taking place three years after the events of “God of War” (2018), “Ragnarok” doesn’t just focus on the impending Armageddon courtesy of a prophecy handed down by the people of Atreus’ ancestors on his deceased mother’s side of the family tree. Kratos – who has grown to appreciate his son’s spirit and willingness to be his very best while reeling him in to avoid his offspring turning into a spoiled brat with divine powers – struggles throughout the narrative in accepting his son is on his own path even if that path puts him in harm’s way.
The family conflicts don’t begin & end with Kratos & Atreus as the relationships of Odin & Thor, Thor and his daughter, Freya and her deceased son Baldur, and even Mimir being confront by the figurative ghosts of his past when he wasn’t latched onto Kratos’ hip expand upon the emotional depths witnessed a “God of War” game ago. Without delving deep into spoilers, “Ragnarok” provides one of the most emotionally touching, woefully upsetting, and down-right heart-wrenching stories seen in a major video game in years; if not ever. The compelling conflicts, learning of perspectives, and strong resolution alongside immaculate pacing and hefty side missions surprisingly doesn’t collapse under the weight of lofty ambitions while not losing the heart of what made the previous game so masterful in terms of plot presentation.
“God of War” (2018) alluded to the potential realms to be explored in its sequel and, thankfully, “Ragnarok” delivers in grand fashion. The semi-open world of Midgard & the Lake of Nines becomes a frozen wasteland after presenting a relaxing sea in the first game; being only the beginning of exploration options ranging from the expanded desert sections of Alfheim, Vanaheim’s jungle-oriented nature that opens up into a crater suffering from drought, and a Dwarf town where Kratos & Atreus practically scare everyone by simply walking around. The varied locales emphasize the graphical powerhouse that “Ragnarok” is alongside magnificent character models and lighting. Sound is also remarkable mostly thanks to the vocal performances of everyone involved including new castings Ryan Hurst (Thor), Laya Hayes (Angrboda), and Richard Schiff (Odin). When the actual music kicks in it usually happens during the most harrowing of battles and really ups the ante during a potential conquering.
Technically, “Ragnarok” is surprisingly not held back by being a cross-generational release. Though the game obviously loads faster on the PS5, frame rate drops and general stability is strong across the board with two noticeably negative issues happening throughout an entire playthrough including one soft crash during a mini-boss fight where little progress was lost when reloading the save and Atreus getting stuck after climbing down a chain that was fixed by fast traveling via the nearby portal. Only one section in particular caused a significant frame rate drop that, thankfully didn’t involve any combat.
For as fun, and at times flawed, as “God of War Ragnarok” is when in combat, nothing really compares to how masterful the character and story presentation is while setting a new standard for both the franchise and triple-A gaming in a narrative space.
Should You Play “God of War Ragnarok”?
There’s so much to love about “Ragnarok” including the magnificent story, combat options alongside stat building, and the individualization of the nine realms that actually surpasses the limitations expected when teased over four years ago. Due to some slight imperfections mostly associated with the combat and a few technical issues, this isn’t the perfect experience; but as close to perfection as one could hope for in this era of Atreus and his brooding father. If you enjoyed the 2018 iteration, this is a must-buy no matter if you have a PS5 or not. Please, for the love of the gods, do not skip on this immaculate experience worthy of the utmost praise.
