Intro:
Finding yourself in the growth of humanity isn’t the easiest. There’s doubt, confusion, anger and most of all regret. God of War Ragnarök shows us humanity in the lives of gods changing their future when prophecy spat in their face. This game has a delicate balance of puzzles, bosses, intricate game design and a slow burn story that creates a dynamic flow. All of these different components bring together what the God of War Ragnarök experience is. Sometimes though, this balance is thrown off by meaningless puzzles, some filler content and non-avoidable battles killing what immersion there was in the game. God of War Ragnarök is an incredible feat of developmental, narrative and graphic proportion that I feel tried to do too much in certain areas but hit the nail on the head in others.
A Story for the Ages:
God of War Ragnarök displays true narrative finesse, its story continues where God of War 2018 left off. It showcases a slow burn and utilizes the element of surprise in an organic way. This 3rd person action-adventure open world game lets you in on each character's personality, and bonds you to them over a period of time. With eighteen chapters spanning the game, there is time to meet with and explore the games story and characters in its entirety. Even the Mimir and Atreus will remind you that you are in no rush and encourage you to explore as much as possible. The main story will take on average 20-25 hours to complete, and still has more to explore after the main story is done. With a slow burn of a story like this one it will take time to get into the flow of it, if this type of storytelling isn’t your cup of tea, then maybe the intense action and puzzles will be more suited to your pallet. With chaotic moments that turn gentile at the drop of a hat, everything is unpredictable in this game, in the best possible way.
A long Haul:
While this game is stunning visually, has a truly inspired story, and captivating dialogue, I felt as if there were so many filler moments in the game that took me out of feeling immersed. Some of the puzzles felt unneeded, some moments felt like side quests more than main parts, and the fact that Mimir or Atreus had to tell me clues for puzzles half the time annoyed me endlessly. Why tell me an answer when I’m already so close to figuring it out?
By the time all is said and done the game is far longer than it needs to be as far as the inclusion of puzzles and unneeded bits in chapters to lengthen them. it could have been a 15-hour game tops and it would have left me wanting more. By the time I finished the game I was happy I wouldn’t have to fight another horde, but sad that the story and adventure had ended.
Every other issue I have pales in comparison to the main problem I had with God of war Ragnarök, the hordes of enemies you face at every turn. You just finished fighting Heimdall, have horde, you just finished a mini boss and a horde of monsters, here have another horde. I felt like I was on Oprah and there's going to be a horde of monsters under my chair. At first, it was fun, but then fun turned into annoying really quickly especially when you’re already low on health and still have two Wyverns to fight plus another three Einherjar Tamers. These fighting segments could have been paced better throughout the game and have fewer enemy chunks in certain spots. It reminded me a little of Dark Souls 2 and a bit of Final fantasy 15 to an extent. While the way in which we fight the enemies is so unique, after you see the enemy types and what they can do it just gets dull and repetitive after a while. The only segment where I found the brawl actually fun was when we played as Atreus and had to get Thor from the bar. Best bar fight, ever.
Controls, Controls, Controls:
The controls in this game are some of the smoothest I’ve ever seen besides Assassins Creed Valhalla. God of War Ragnarök takes the controls from the previous installment and keeps the same control work while enhancing on it, making it more fun to experience. Something new in this installment of God of War, you can play as Atreus in certain sections. By far some of the best gameplay is with Atreus, his abilities are fun, slick, and certain combos just make the experience a lot more satisfying to play.
Defying Prophecy:
God of War Ragnarök embodies great usage of psychology, manipulation of another person, great dialogue and brilliant storytelling. God of War 2018 took the God of War franchise, gutted it and made it into a new being entirely. Kratos, over the span of the franchise grew, matured and became the father and person he’s always wanted to be. Learning to control his anger and tendencies enough to realize that being a father is more of a responsibility than being a god ever was and ever will be.
This games story is a special one, and while we’re not all-powerful gods we still can learn a great deal from this games journey, humility, patience, and the courage to let go of old wounds that haunt us.
"Fate only binds you if you let it. Do what is necessary, not because it is written."
-Kratos.
