‘God of War Ragnarök’ succeeds in every area that matters most
While not quite the masterpiece that its predecessor was, ‘Ragnarök’ is a worthy conclusion to Kratos’s Norse saga
I’ve reached the point in my life where I have to pick and choose the video games that I invest in carefully. I only have time to play a few a year, especially given the increasingly long play times of each new blockbuster release. Each one takes me months to beat at the rate I can play, which is my roundabout way of saying that I just now finished the final story chapter of God of War Ragnarök.
I actually think that my (relative) delinquency in getting to the end of this critically-acclaimed game gives me a nice birds-eye (or raven, per its story) perspective now that the hype has died down. At the very least, now is as good a time as ever to look back on both Ragnarök and its 2018 predecessor. The Norse duology in Kratos’s saga is an impressive accomplishment that, while perhaps not completely perfect, delivered in all the areas that are most important for a project of this scope.
Every big-budget video game, especially those published by first-party Sony developers, is expected to check a long list of boxes right out of the gate. One of those is graphical fidelity, which Ragnarök handles easily. It’s a visual behemoth that traps the viewer’s attention and never lets it go. Snow sparkles and flurries in the wind, every detail on the characters’ fairly jumps out of the screen, and the motion capture ranks among the best of its field.
Another expectation for games of this ilk is a gripping narrative, which Ragnarök delivers through a sprawling adventure that takes a few missteps but never loses the core of its appeal. The central narrative is overly complex at times, almost giving the impression that the writers actively searched for new story threads to include at all costs. The end result is that it’s easy to lose sight of the details, a flaw that is easily forgivable when compared to the emotional depths of the game’s best moments.
A third quality that big-budget console releases usually need to deliver on is gameplay, which is easily the greatest strength of this franchise. Ragnarök is an absolute blast to experience, from its variety of weapons to the satisfaction of timing a dodge just right. I’m not a completionist by any means, yet I found myself hunting down optional bosses for the fun of the challenge. Even at the few moments I felt frustrated, the promise of a successful battle kept me coming back.
My only real complaint about the game is its aforementioned complexity. 2018’s God of War was a tightly-focused story about a father and his son, while Ragnarök takes that story and inflates it like a balloon, filling it with a cacophony of new voices, characters, and motivations to track. This choice — at least partially borne of the decision to cut the Norse saga to two games — leads to pleasant side quests and a central narrative that gets a little jumbled at times.
And yet, the story of Kratos and his son remains as centrally compelling as ever. This is their adventure after all, as the game smartly reminds its players at multiple opportunities. Their dialogue, relationship, and actions in the game are well-written and beautifully acted. Ragnarök is at some level a showcase of what a massive budget combined with excellent voice acting can accomplish. While the complete package isn’t as tightly focused as it was in 2018’s game, the narrative highs here are just as potent.
Zooming back out, the scope of what Sony Santa Monica has accomplished here is impressive. Ragnarök is truly massive — I spent nearly 50 hours completing the main story and all of the major sidequests, but the game assures me that there’s still much more to do even after the credits have rolled. To fill a game with that much content isn’t necessarily difficult (a criticism many have lobbed at many Ubisoft franchises), but to have it all be this much fun to play and run this smoothly is impressive.
Both of the God of War games post-reboot have been phenomenal experiences from every possible angle. It’s true that 2018’s game felt a little more fresh and grounded, but to call Ragnarök anything but a worthy successor to one of Sony’s best games ever is a disservice. Looking back, I have to call this easily one of my favorite franchises in gaming.
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I understand why Elden Ring won game of the year honors for most critics in 2022, but after having played both I have to say that Ragnarök is my personal favorite of the two.
The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.
