God of War 2018 was a game I already liked a lot when it first came out but grew to love more and more as time went on and repeat playthroughs. God of War Ragnarok however is a game where my opinion on it hasn’t actually changed since it first came out. Because I already loved this game a Helheim of a lot back in 2022 and still love it just as much now! Which is ironic because it was only my second favourite game of 2022 back then with my actual number one back then being LEGO Skywalker Saga but since then and thinking about it more, Ragnarok has moved up on that placement.
Like with God of War 2018 a lot of why I adore this game so much is because of the story and characters. I loved 2018’s more personal lower stakes storyline and Kratos was trying to raise Atrus to be a better man than he was back in the Greek saga but I also love the more higher stakes story of this game. I mean, it’s literally a story about one of the biggest events in Norse Mythology but even beyond that the dynamic between Kratos and his son Atreus is what helps this story a lot not to mention all of the returning and new characters are great additions not to mention the wider scope since you explore ALL of the nine realms this time and it sucks that I can’t actually talk about it two much without spoiling both this game AND 2018 as a lot of the plot threads are carried over from that. I will say though, Odin is a great villain and a great manipulator and the story as a whole has some of the most emotional moments in the whole series.
The gameplay itself has been improved a lot since 2018 as well. Not only do you get both the Leviathan Axe AND Blades of Chaos at the start of the game but you also get a variety of shields all with different effects for different playstyles such as a focus on parrying or charging enemies. And, a customizable rage mode this time to either be like the classic rage, heal yourself or insta kill smaller enamies. Some people really dislike the RPG elements of the Norse games but stuff like this is why I don’t actually mind that much as it can lead to some pretty fun builds and playstyles when you experiment enough with different armours, shields and the new amulet for enchantments. And there’s also the “new” spear weapon with the Draupnir spear which, I say new but in reality it does feel a lot like the Arms of Sparda from Ghost of Sparda. Doesn’t mean I don’t have fun using it. Like with 2018, Atreus is your companion for most of the game however you actually get joined by other companions at points two! You can’t customize them like you can Atreus or *censored for spoilers* but it’s still cool to have those switch ups during gameplay. What really surprised me about the gameplay though was that you played as Atreus during a few moments. I was not expecting this at all and I’m gonna say it, the Atreus sections get memed on WAY two much! I’m not going to act like his gameplay is better than Kratos’s because it’s not but even if I gave you the infamous Ironwood chapter he’s actually a lot of fun to play as and playing as him does certainly break up gameplay a bit if your just burning though the main story.
Then there’s a bunch of other stuff I love about this game like the soundtrack, the visuals, how you can actually customize the appearance of armour, the Valhalla DLC, there’s a lot I adore about this game and as a whole I’d say it’s a wonderful continuation of what was already a fantastic re-invention of the God of War series. Oh, and to all the people who were seriously trying to create drama around this game because of Angrboda’s skin colour, please and kindly ♥♥♥♥ off lol.
