The end of times has never looked so good! (God of War Ragnarok, in spoiler-free review)

     Wow. That's how I would review this game in one word. Santa Monica Studio did a fantastic job with God of War (2018), and I was worried that the new game in the series that just released, God of War Ragnarok, wouldn't be able to hold up against the incredible feelings left behind from that game. Those fears were entirely unfounded because this game is a jam. I just rolled credits a few minutes ago and I am honestly blown away by so many different things about this game. This game was honestly what came to mind whenever I was trying to make up my mind in the decision between PS5 and Xbox Series X or S first. I thought to myself, "which console will play the sequel to God of War?" So the choice for PS5 was pretty simple, as you can imagine. Today I'll try to keep things brief and spoiler free as I gush for a little while about this game. Get your Leviathan Axe and your Blades of Chaos ready, because it's time to dive into the land of Midgard once again.

A God Becomes A Man

    The moment that this game begins, the player joins Kratos sitting alone in a cave, having a moment to himself as he looks longingly at the pouch that once held the ashes of his beloved wife, Faye. Immediately, you get a sense of how this game is going to be a bit sadder and that Kratos is more fragile than he was in previous games. Kratos is dealing with the knowledge of seeing his death predicted on the wall of Atreus's cave (Or Loki's, as it turns out that was the name that Faye called him). Atreus has grown up a lot in the two or so years that Fimbulwinter has been going on and since the last game ended. He's now a teenager, and as such, he's dealing with a lot of emotions for the first time. Kratos has clearly had more time to work on being a better and more caring father in the time since the first game, and he has definitely opened up a bit more. Though the game is obviously focused on the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, every single character from the first game gets a pretty impressive new character arc in this new story. Freya is naturally furious from the end of the last game, when Kratos and Atreus killed her son, Balder, and as such, she attacks basically right away. In fact, it seems she has been attacking the whole time in-between the two releases. I can't give much more away about the story, but the characters in this game are so incredible, including some only alluded to in the first game. There was one character that showed up pretty early on that I literally cheered to see, though I don't want to spoil who it is. The music and character themes are just as good in this game, if not better, than the first. I was especially happy to hear some new themes for different characters who stepped into the spotlight much more than they did in the previous title. Again, I don't want to talk too much about new characters, but I will say that at least one theme from God of War (2018) makes much more sense after meeting a character that somewhat embodies it. As someone who played the 2018 release time and time again, I have to say that there is a lot to be happy about, and in terms of story, Santa Monica Studio really knocked it out of the park.

Sure, the story is good, but how does it play?

    I've heard people say in the last several weeks since release that this game took everything good about the last game and improved it, and that is extremely true. Nothing has been overlooked this time around, and even though the time spent climbing up mountains or cliffs is still somewhat slow and tedious, they made traversal as a whole much better this time around. God of War (2018) didn't give you the Blades of Chaos until at least half way through the game, but in this game, you start with them pretty much right out of the gate, and as such, the traversal even implements them. There are a lot of times where Kratos uses the Blades of Chaos as a grappling hook to get up to higher cliffs or to swing across chasms and it always feels so satisfying. I knew that this was going to be a mechanic because of commercials, but it honestly feels so much better than I thought it would be. It's certainly not new to the series, as they're literally connected to Kratos and definitely used in the other games in this way, but it just feels so good. While we're on the topic of traversal, the scopes of these worlds are so much bigger than they were the last time around. Even the realms that we went to in the last game have been added onto or changed pretty dramatically. With the coming of Fimbulwinter, everything has changed across all realms, not just Midgard. Midgard does have perhaps the most obvious changes with everything so frozen over that you can no longer use the boat to traverse the Lake of Nine. You travel via a sled pulled by wolves, which is a great mechanic. This isn't to say that the boat is gone entirely, as many realms are ripe to be explored, many of which with water still in them. In the past game, the Lake of Nine was where the vast majority of the "Open World" elements were kept, but in this game, almost every realm you go to has its own "Lake of Nine" area. A few areas are just for story segments, of course, but for the most part, the game is almost entirely open for you to explore. Not only open, but you're encouraged to explore all of it to find the different artifacts that are scattered around. This is an aside, but my favorite artifacts have to be Kvasir's poetry, which connects the "God of War" universe to other Sony properties in the same way that the Lorbs did in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. You find poems that Kvasir wrote about Uncharted, The Last of Us Part 2, Dreams, and hilariously, MLB The Show, among many others. You know that I love crossovers, even in deep lore, so when I found the first one, I was incredibly excited to find all 14.

    The combat of this game feels as satisfying as ever, and though your companion has different types of special arrows from the first game, they're almost as simple as those. Some of the puzzles involving the second arrow type really caused me trouble, but eventually I was able to work them out. Basically, the first type of arrow works with sound waves, and once you hit an enemy with enough of them, it's easier to stun them with your melee attacks. The second one is a runic shot that basically amplifies your elemental abilities, either Frost or Fire, and allows you to make chain reactions. The chain reactions are crucial to the torch puzzles involved with certain Nornir chests, which took me entirely too long to understand. Don't make the same mistakes that I made! Something about these puzzles felt a lot better than the first game, though it may just be that I may be better at the game overall than I was when I first played God of War (2018). I think overall, this game may be slightly easier than it's predecessor, though I chose the balanced mode in both, because I don't want to get too overly frustrated. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a super easy game by any means, there were definitely a lot of times where I felt like I was right on the verge of death and I would have to play really defensively until a healthstone was dropped, I just feel like the last one was harder. That's not a bad thing, it's just a thing, and I don't really mind about it one way or another, since I was enjoying myself the entire way through the game.

Dialogue and Writing

    The character interactions in this game are, in my opinion, top notch. As I said earlier, Kratos has opened up much more, and developed into a more human-like character. He's not very good at telling stories, but in this game, there's one point where he actually tries to tell a story like Mimir would tell it, and it's honestly a really nice touch. He even acknowledges that Mimir is obviously a much better storyteller, and the other people cheer him on and encourage him to keep going. There's one mission where he goes through a whole side quest because Atreus sensed a creature in pain, and at the end, Atreus asks him why he did it. Kratos then says that if Ragnarok is indeed coming, he just wants to spend some time with his son before then. Lines like these are really what make this game something special. The bonding of Kratos and some other parents in this game (which I can't super discuss without going into spoiler territory) leads to him talking about his relationships from the older games in the franchise. He discusses Caliope, his daughter who he accidentally killed before the first game in the series, he discusses his brother, Deimos briefly, and he even talks to Mimir about his homeland, something that I don't really remember him ever doing in the previous game. Kratos has come a long way, and while he still hasn't forgiven himself for what he has done, he does take solace in his current actions, possibly feeling that he's making up for his past mistakes in some small way. Atreus is obviously the other main character here, as he's beginning to come more into his own in this game, and is trying his best to find his place in the world as Loki, and who he is supposed to be. He knows that he's supposed to have some big role in Ragnarok, but he just doesn't know much about how big of a role that is.

    I have to talk about a few performances that stood out to me in a big way before I wrap this little review up. Freya is an absolutely incredible character, and her speech in the end of God of War (2018) swearing vengance against Kratos for the death of Balder made me so excited to see what she would be up to in this game. That excitement was well rewarded, as Freya has possibly the best character arc in this whole game. She is absolutely phenomenal, and while I can't say much, as I could never do any of these characters justice through my words, she comes out a tragic but triumphant character, and one who is finally understanding of her place in the realms. Mimir is as fun and enjoyable as you remember, and this time around, we actually hear some of his backstory, including his romance with the queen of the Valkyries, Sigrun. The Huldra Brothers, Brok and Sindri had some of the most shocking character arcs that I've seen in a game, especially after the previous game played them as mainly comic relief. This time, however, both of the brothers have some incredible bits of dialogue where it's revealed that they're much more than they seem. 

    It would be wrong of me to talk about only heroes here, as I need to talk about how much I enjoyed Thor and Odin's roles in this game. They're the "big bads," there's no doubt about that, and in the first game of this era, they seemed to be looming over the action, even though they were never seen or heard from directly. The first confrontation with them in this game, however, was very different from what I was expecting. Thor shows up outside Kratos's house with mead and claims to just want to talk, and Odin follows soon after. First of all, I just want to say that Odin looks and sounds so completely different from how he would have sounded in my head. I feel like he talks different from everyone else in the entire franchise, and I love it. It shouldn't work as well as it does, but it is absolutely incredible to have Odin giving a completely different and more restrained performance than everyone else. Thor also brings a really striking depiction of probably the best known of all of the Norse gods in pop culture today. He's kind of a bumbling numbskull, but he hits hard, so Odin keeps him on the payroll, so to speak. Not to mention that he has one heck of a mean swing when you fight him early on in the game. I wasn't sure if they could have made the Balder fight from the beginning of God of War (2018) better, but they really outdid themselves here.

    Honestly, friends, I could go about this game all day long and I would still have much more to say, but I need to wrap myself up here. God of War Ragnarok is nothing short of a masterpiece, and one that pushes the bar for creativity and storytelling in video games even higher than it's already been. The gameplay is enjoyable on a consistent basis with almost every single nook and cranny of the Nine Realms full of great little collectibles (again, don't miss out on the writings of Kvasir, they were a true genius). This game is easily my favorite game that I've played this year, and a game that I hope others are loving as well. It's a story all about fighting against destiny and finding your own path in this world, even if others may not be able to travel alongside you, and it handles themes of unspeakable loss and unfathomable love with respect and passion past what I've seen from this medium before. I truly cannot wait to see what Santa Monica Studio has in store for players in the future, but for now, I'm completely blown away by the game that they created here.

    Thank you so much for reading this post, friends. I adore this game and I hope you will enjoy it as well if you give it a try. Kratos and Atreus have an incredible journey ahead of them in this game, and though I can't share the full plot here, I just want to say that I loved it. I hope you all have a great week, and thanks again for reading this very long review! I'm Jonathan, your Self-Proclaimed God of War Fanboy, and I'll talk to you again soon!