User Reviews

There's too many good things to say about this game. For me this definitively wins game of the year over the great Elden Ring. Although gameplay is just built upon 2018 is still feels fresh and has the players always on his toes. Opposed to the 2018 game, this one has plenty of enemy variety. Where this game really sets itself apart is story and characters. I now think of kratos at a top 10 character in fiction. The story is great and connects everything in a way for the most impactful ending for kratos. He finally becomes a loved god and has healthy relationships around him. Even though I wanted to absolutely tear apart Odin and Thor, the way the game went made the story much better. And I still got to choke Heimdall to death. My one complaint would be that ragnarok should've contained multiple levels and Thor's final fights should've been bigger in scale, maybe even having them fight on Jormandgandrs back. The soundtrack ramps up the epicness of Ragnarok though and even Hozier makes a song for this soundtrack. Bear did an amazing job with it. Cory and Eric did an amazing job with this game and deserves a lot more recognition than it will ever get due to it being a PlayStation exclusive and people being addicted to cod and nothing else. I live the twist in this game although I saw it coming and had since watching a YouTube theory on it back in 2018. Can't believe it guessed it. Hurst is amazing as Thor and I prefer this to mcu even. I enjoyed that they went all out with the 2 realms we hadn't visited yet. The Thor revive screen was fun and creative. The spear was a great weapon and added new thoughts to a players combat. So many touching scenes, fun fights, lores, discoverable areas, great visuals, and great dialogue make this game. Kratos and Atreus connection is amazing, mimir is a great brother, freya compliments Kratos, Odin is a business dictator and Thor his hammer. I'm going to have to think whether this is the best game ever made, but it is definitely worthy of being in the conversation.

Where do I even start. I dont think I've ever felt this way with a game before, and I can only assume its due to the hype from 2018, but I genuinely hated nearly every moment I spent playing this game. This game was an incredible disappointment after all the hype. Some could argue nothing would ever live up, but somehow I think if Corey Barlog was still in charge we would've gotten a very different experience.

The ending was rushed, Atreus sections were shoved in endlessly, the puzzle feature is made for a toddler to play, the combat and UI is so similar it seems like its the same as the last game and the only changes they made makes it worse to play. The new weapon is only given over 2/3rds of the way through the game so you basically spend the entire game playing with the tools you had last time. But the biggest issue by far is the story.

The story is a confused, rushed, and bloated mess that meanders all over the place rather than being genuinely interesting and compelling. Its an incredible step down from the quality of the 2018 game and I am genuinely amazed so many people consider it to be so good. If 2018 was a breath of fresh air, Ragnarok feels like a punishment.

Kratos is basically the same character he in 2018, and Atreus is still an annoying kid, only this time you're forced to keep playing the game as him instead of Kratos. THIS will go down in my opinion as one of the worst decisions in gaming sequel history, you put time into developing a playable Atreus rather than a usable Mjolnir.... I just dont know what to say anymore, the phrase common sense feels like its lost all meaning when talking about this game.

I had a list of some smaller things I was most excited for after getting into Norse mythology in 2018, and I have now updated the list with what my reaction was when it was showed/not showed here.

1: Getting to use Thors Hammer - didnt get to use it. This is God of War and you dont let us use Thors hammer in the Norse saga?.... I will never understand this. Feels like a decision made by people who have never played a God of War game in their lives and it baffles me that this wasnt added to this game.

2: Fighting Thor - kind of early so a bit of a letdown how easy it was (didnt feel that way about Balder at all), then half assed at the end before unceremoniously killed by Odin. Just the end to a disappointing portrayal that seems very disconnected from what we heard about him previously. They wanted to make him sympathetic so they sacrificed the cool aspect of him to make him 'deep'. And it really doesnt work for me.

3: Seeing Asgard - just looks like a farming town despite the previous game teasing Asgard with rooms lined with Gold. In GoW 2018 Mimir literally says in a golden walled room "I'd recognise Odins lavish tastes anywhere". So now that we know he lives in a crappy wooden hut that seems just a little bit silly.

4: Meeting Odin - How is this the Odin we've teased up until now? He genuinely feels like he was written by someone who didnt play the first game. We were told in the last game that Odin lost his eye when Mimir tricked him with the Well of Knowledge, and yet now its just that he looked into a crack. Why? Because he had to be a nice guy? He just comes across like a New York mob boss, im surprised you didnt make him say "Capisce", it was so out of place.

5: Fighting Surtr - didnt happen, Surtr turned into the Dude from The Big Lebowski because haha.

6: Meeting Fenrir - became pointless, just used as a teleport plot device. Felt like a Marvel or Star Wars movie at this point adding in things you recognise despite them making no sense. As a Norse mythology fan (partly due to the previous game) I can safely say you did a terrible job adapting it.

7: Meeting Skoll and Hati - showed the trailer scene and then did nothing with them... Seemed like trailer hype for nothing. Yet another 'hey guys, you recognise this?' moment.

8: Getting some OG God of War epic scale action set pieces/moments - none. Was this even a God of War game? 2018 did it with Jormungandr and undead Thamur, or even moments like Kratos flipping the realm travel room. But here? It feels so uninspired it's painful to watch.

9: Seeing where the story goes - apparently nowhere so I guess thats awesome.

All in all it was probably the most disappointed gaming experience I've ever had. I cant pretend the game is terrible by any means, because it isnt. But to act like its some masterpiece or in any way close to the incredible game they made in 2018 is just insanity. I have no idea how so many came away from this game with a positive perception of it. This game couldve been so much more and after the years of excitement I feel so deflated its insane. I wish I never got excited for it in the first place and I definitely wont get another one.

Firstly, I don't understand how someone can give a game 10/10 yet add "there are some flaws".

Secondly, the title of my review is simple: if this were a standalone game and we'd never come across another like it, it'd probably be an 8/10. But this is both a sequel to an already amazing game and this was specifically made to be awesome on the PS5, which is an incredible console. On both points it's a let down.

Now, onto my review.

I'll keep it simple and make my points in...well, point form.

The good:

• storyline. Not great, but still pretty good.

• voice acting. Amazing again, although at times a fake Kratos does some bits during the side missions, which is...odd.

• weapons. Great weapon mechanics once again, and even better with the addition of a new one.

• length. Yes, there are A LOT of side quests, but let's be honest: no one plays a game only for the main story narrative. Besides, the side quests give you a break from the heavy main story.

The bad:

• combat. Don't get me wrong, the new moves are cool. But it's infuriating all too often. The regular dudes are harder than the bosses because they don't stumble at all while you're beating them to a pulp, and they just whack you with a stick (no, literally, a stick) and you stumble.

• not enough Kratos-time. Playing Atreus is fun, but not if it's nearly half the game. And his combat isn't great.

• the menu interface. Sure, looks spiffy, but I've got a 75 inch 4k screen and I feel like the words take up a third of the screen.

• combat. Did I mention how bad it is? Yeah. You evade and get hit. The indicators are in the middle of the screen, so you have to look at the actual arrow tip itself (in GoW 2018 the arrows were also where the enemies actually were). (I can't tell you how many times I've let an enemy hit me just to figure out where they're coming from.)

The ugly:

• for a PS5 game, it looks like an early PS4 game. The scenery is beautiful, but the characters are two dimensional. They look... Flat, or something. No skin tone, armour looks plastic, even the blades look like cardboard.

• Muspel is boring. GoW 2018 was fun when in both Muspel and Niflheim. But in this there's only Muspelheim, and it's not fun.

• some side characters are terrible. I hate Ratatoskr, and Lunda is annoying. I know she was brought in to replace the Huldra brothers, but honestly, she gets on my nerves.

• Freya is... Well, let's see. Condescending. Patronising. Has a superiority complex. Never apologises for her mistakes. Blames EVERYONE. Asks for an opinion, but then cuts them off mid-sentence and tells them "Enough!"
• the writing leaves a lot to be desired. Kratos goes back to hating his son, then trusting him, then not, then lying to him, then angry that his son doesn't tell him EVERYTHING. The pacing doesn't feel right.

Here's what I think happened here:

• the makers, director, etc were pushed to getting this game out before Christmas, and so the combat, storyline, the visuals, even some of the voice acting, was rushed. Dialogue didn't fit in at times.

• Cory Barlog knew they wanted this game to be the end of Kratos in Norse mythos, but knew he couldn't pull it off in a) one game, and b) within the shorter timeline. So he gave the reins up. As a result, the game suffers and we all have to deal with it.

• Sony wanted their product, regardless of the outcome. The first was a success, so the second will be as well. But this game is a poor imitation of the first.

As I said, if this was a game on its own, I probably would give it 8. But compared to its former title, it pales.

Sorry, Santa Monica. If there's another GoW, I probably won't buy it if Cory isn't the director.

Such a good game. The first few minutiae of the game got me hooked immediately. The new part of the game where you can get shields is amazing and clever and the new mechanics as Atreus is great. Storytelling is amazing graphics and dialogue and even little things like lip syncing is perfect. The realism is just amazing and the textures of the game is great and the puzzles are great so not too hard and not too easy that's also the same as the boss fights but a bit harder. Haven't cams across a single bug yet and the amount of thing that you can discover are great so overall it's and amazing game and you should definitely play it.