God of War Ragnarok review: Get in loser, we’re stopping the apocalypse

Title: God of War Ragnarok
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Publishers: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (reviewed on), PlayStation 4

You guys, the hype for this game wasn’t even funny. I shoved $87 dollars into Sony’s mouth and said, “TAKE MY DAMN MONEY!” And I regret nothing. It is widely agreed that God of War 2018 was a masterpiece if you couldn’t tell by its winning Game of the Year and it was well deserved. It’s safe to say that God of War Ragnarok was a highly anticipated game but that meant that the bar was set ludicrously high. There was no way that any game could truly live up to the anticipation. Grab your Leviathan Axe, sharpen your Blades of Chaos and gird your loins because lightning can strike twice, boy.

For those of you that have made the poor choice of not playing the 2018 God of War, the story follows Kratos, a demi-god from ancient Greece who full-on decimated Mt. Olympus and killed his father, Zeus. After leaving his past behind, he ends up mixed in with Norse mythology and married to a warrior named Faye who hid the fact that she was one of the last giants of Jotunheim. That means their son, Atreus, is part god, part giant and part human. He is known by the giants as Loki. Well, Kratos pisses off Odin, Thor and Freya in their task to spread Faye’s ashes. The first game ends with the oncoming of Fimbulwinter which proceeds Ragnarok.

That means that God of War Ragnarok begins years after the first. Kratos and Atreus have been training should they need to fight during Ragnarok. Freya is trying to kill Kratos for accidentally on purpose killing her son and Atreus is still trying to figure out what everything means. When Thor and Odin show up one day in an effort to make nice with Kratos, they are given the ol’ heave-ho out the door until Thor decides to take his pound of flesh for the death of his sons.

What happens next is an adventure full of faces new and old in an effort to stop the end of the world and figure out what this all means for Atreus. Is his future already etched in stone or can he make his own way?

This game is incredible. That’s it. Review over.

I’m kidding of course but I’m not sure how I can even describe my love for God of War Ragnarok. It looks stunning, the story is even more incredible this time around and the gameplay is smooth and buttery. The only thing and I mean ONLY thing that showed any small level of imperfection was some issues with graphical clipping at the beginning of the game. There was an update and things seemed a lot smoother after that.

We get to see a new side of Kratos in God of War Ragnarok. Kratos in 2018 was cold and distant. He’s still kind of cold and distant but you see the desperation to protect his son now. You see a softness toward Freya and her grief. There are more levels to Kratos besides just anger. His pain has layers and we start to see that more in this game.

Atreus has grown mentally and physically. He’s a young man. His voice has changed and he has become incredibly strong compared to his beginnings. He is curious and wants to know his past so he can take control of his future. It’s something we can relate to…in a less magical sense of course. God of War Ragnarok isn’t about Kratos letting go of his past and working through his pain. This game is about taking control of your own future and creating your own destiny and that is a beautiful thing.

The gameplay mechanics seem a bit more balanced in God of War Ragnarok than it was in its predecessor. Fighting in the last game seemed unbalanced and Kratos was very OP, that is unless you were fighting a Valkyrie. In that case, you might as well have been fighting with a spoon because you would do about the same amount of damage to them. The fights seem harder and take a more strategic approach. It’s less button-mashing and more actual fighting.

The map seems larger and the environmental graphics seem larger than life. Whether you are fighting a huge beast or you are studying the tiniest of mushroom people, there is so much to look at and exploring is one of the best parts.

If you haven’t played God of War Ragnarok, what are you even doing with your life? Playing Gotham Knights? Get the hell outta here. Buy the game before it gets Game of the Year…AGAIN.

God of War Ragnarok (PS5) Score: 10/10

God of War: Ragnarok is a masterpiece in game design and perfect in every way. It may very well be the best game of 2022.