What is God of War: Ragnarok?
God of War: Ragnarok (Ragnarok for the remainder of the review) is the latest installment in Sony’s God of War series. It is a third person action role-playing game (rpg) where you play as the Greek god of war, Kratos, in the land of Norse mythology during Fimbulwinter and leading up to Ragnarok. It is the sequel to 2018’s God of War which is my second favorite game of all time and where the title of this blog derives its name. Ragnarok is available on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5, I played it on PS5. It took me around 27 hours over the course of 2 months to finish the main story, and it takes around 38 to beat both the main story and side missions.
Game Review:
Ragnarok is the sequel to what is considered one of the best games of all time, so it has a lot to live up to. If you haven’t played God of War (2018), know there are spoilers ahead for that game. Ragnarok picks up several years after the conclusion of the first game, when Kratos’s son Atreus is older (around 13-15). It takes place during Fimbulwinter, a time of cold storms leading up to the event of Ragnarok where Asgard is attacked and destroyed. The lands are ravaged and changed from what we see in the previous game, for example Midgard is frozen in snow and ice. Kratos and Atreus have clearly changed from their adventures of spreading Kratos’s wife’s ashes in the previous game. Atreus is more capable and is discovering new powers and abilities while also being more curious about who he is and his Giant lineage. While Kratos is still his dour, intense self, you can see that he has grown more affectionate for Atreus and slightly more trusting of his abilities. Kratos is content living in their cabin in the woods trying to outlast Fimbulwinter but events and people push them to leave on an adventure to discover more.
Ragnarok has probably my favorite story in a video game this year. The God of War franchise may have my single favorite arc for a character. In the original series Kratos is an angry force of destruction only bent on revenge and violence. The original series I think is emblematic of an immature teenager trying to be rebellious and edgy, thinking they’re cool. The new reboot games of 2018 and now Ragnarok don’t pretend that those games didn’t exist, but rather use them as a way of showcasing how someone deals with shame, guilt, and regret. Kratos is a torn character, trying to escape the evils of his past while trying to help his son be better than he was. Ragnarok is the continuation of the story of Kratos learning how to not fall into his old ways but learning how to break cycles of violence. Kratos exemplifies that when we mess up, we can’t just say sorry; we must be better.
Ragnarok also continues the reboot series’ intimate glimpse of a relationship between father and son. Kratos and Atreus have this struggle throughout the game of trying to learn how to trust each other but also wanting to look out for each other. Each of them has their different motivations and methods for trying to keep each other safe. Kratos has to learn to let go of some control, let Atreus prove himself and make important decisions. Atreus has to learn how to communicate and be honest with his father. There are some scenes in the game that brought a tear to my eye. One situation was a moment where Atreus messed up badly, he lied and did something that hurt his dad and friends. When he returns to Kratos, there is still the wreckage of his mistake, needing to be fixed. What Kratos does next is proof of his growth as a character, he doesn’t tell Atreus that he needs to go fix it and he doesn’t lecture Atreus. He tells Atreus that they will fix it together. He walked alongside Atreus and helped him when he needed him most. That is how a father should respond to their child.
Ragnarok doesn’t stop there, it continues the heavy and impactful themes. It deals with things like destiny vs free will. Atreus’ mom was a Giant of Jotunheim, a people known to use prophecy and predict the future. Atreus must learn to navigate prophecies of his own life and choose whether to believe the prophecy and follow the written path, or decide his own destiny. Ragnarok contains a great commentary on what it means to have free will or whether we are trapped in a predetermined set of events. This is a question that I feel like a lot of people, myself included, wrestle with in our real lives and admire pieces of art that try to tackle these questions.
Gameplay in Ragnarok is very similar to gameplay in 2018’s God of War. It is 3rd person action combat where you have 2 special abilities, heavy attacks, light attacks, a dodge roll, a parry, some ranged abilities, and a number of different combinations you can use in combat. I think the combat is incredibly refined and feels great to play, especially Kratos’s axe which can recall like Thor’s Mjolnir in Marvel movies. I will say that the skill tree has a bunch of unlockable skills that frankly, I forget about in the middle of combat. The number of available combos can be overwhelming, but thankfully enemies are designed so that even more basic play can still do the trick.
Ragnarok does expand on the gameplay in 2018’s God of War. Firstly, there’s a much larger variety of enemies, particularly bosses in this game. There was a complaint in the prequel that you often fought the same bosses over and over again, but in Ragnarok you fight a much larger selection of bosses, each fight feeling fun and challenging in its own way. Ragnarok also adds to the variety in that there are many more environments that you get to play in, seeing all 9 realms of Norse mythology. I won’t spoil anything but there are also a few times when the game completely changes how you’re playing and it’s both surprising and thoughtfully done.
Puzzles litter the world of Ragnarok. The puzzles are built into the world and dungeons in a way that makes them super engaging and they always have some reward waiting at the end of the puzzles. Some people might get bored because puzzles aren’t why they come to the God of War series. But I found the puzzles to be the right balance of elaborate and approachable, and to be so beautifully woven into the game that it doesn’t seem like a distraction but more of a part of Kratos and Atreus’ journey. The biggest gripe I have with the puzzles is the in-game hint system. Too often a companion or side character will basically give you the answer before you’ve even had time to think about it. If the developers waited a little longer to give hints, it would be much more engaging.
One of my favorite features that carried over from the prequel is that the game is designed in a single shot, meaning that the camera never cuts or fades, but is always following someone or something. This is incredibly impressive, especially in a few scenes where there would naturally be a cut. The one-shot adds a spectacular atmosphere and makes a few scenes feel even more epic, rivaling big budget Hollywood cinematography. This camera adds so much both to the epic, bombastic scenes but also to the more intimate emotional scenes. I absolutely love the cinematic quality of Ragnarok.
Family Friendliness:
Ragnarok is not a family friendly game. There is a lot of cursing from NPCs. There is a lot of gore from killing enemies, albiet considerably less gore and more tastefully done than in the original series. I played this game during my son’s nap times with headphones on so he couldn’t hear the sounds. This is not a game to play in front of kids, it’s rated M for a reason. But I also think that this game is a beautiful portrayal of the parent-child relationship and I would recommend this to any parent interested in video games, especially dads.
Features for Parents:
Despite not being family friendly, Ragnarok is pretty parent friendly. You can save basically anywhere with great checkpointing so you don’t lose progress when you save. This game also lets you pause whenever, including during cutscenes, great for needing to go help the family. This game also features a vast portfolio of accessibility features for the player. I am not super qualified to talk about these but I really enjoyed having adjustable subtitles so I could see what was being said and not miss anything.
Final Verdict:
God of War: Ragnarok is easily one of the best games ever made. I don’t know where I rank it yet in my personal favorite games list but it’s high up there. It has a touching story while also maintaining moments of epic scale and action. It adds more layers to its action while still being approachable. It uses incredible cinematography to portray the beautiful story of father and son. This game is a must play for anyone who is interested in video games.