Game Overview

Title: God of War Ragnarok
Genre: Action-adventure
Release Year: 2022
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Santa Monica Studio

Synopsis: “God of War Ragnarok” continues the epic saga of Kratos and his son Atreus, set in the mythical world of Norse gods. This installment, developed by Santa Monica Studio, concludes the Nordic adventures of Kratos, blending intense combat with a deeply emotional narrative. Players will navigate the complexities of father-son relationships, mythological conflicts, and the looming threat of Ragnarok, all while exploring rich, diverse environments.

The God of War series began as extremely violent slashers about the Spartan Kratos, obsessed with anger at the gods of Ancient Greece. They were pathos-filled, colorful, and bloody games to the extreme. But in 2018, the series experienced a soft relaunch, and here is already a restrained and experienced Kratos raises his son Atreus in the midst of the scenery of myths of Scandinavia. Not forgetting the brutality, of course, but already more down-to-earth.

Story and Setting

God of War Ragnarok continues and completes the “Nordic” saga of Kratos. We tell you how the final conflict between the Spartan and the gods of Scandinavia turned out to be so expected by many players.

God of War 2018 started out extremely slow. And there is nothing surprising in this, because the developers from Santa Monica Studio needed one game to overlap the tone of the seven previous parts. Instead of rage in the format of a video game, the authors presented a parable-reflection on the relationship between parents and children, which itself feels extremely measured and wise.

In the case of God of War Ragnarok, the new rules of Kratos’ life and the nuances of his relationship with Atreus are already known to everyone, so the story doesn’t waste time on unnecessary explanations. Atreus turns out to be quite dangerous to the Nordic gods, so he is interested in him personally Odin. The guy has his own motives, but not all of them he is ready to share with his father Kratos, which the latter is not happy about. And all these family conflicts unfold against the background of the approaching end of the world – Ragnarek.

Plot Complexity and Character Development

In God of War 2018, the story was extremely simple and straightforward. The entire game, if you take out the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, which took up most of the scenario, felt more like a prologue to something bigger. That bigger thing was God of War Ragnarok.

Instead of a pilgrimage to the memory of Atreus’s dead mother – the sublime pathos of the end of all worlds, instead of a relatively modest set of characters – all the major names of Nordic mythology.

God of War Ragnarok does not trifle and accelerates almost from the very first minutes, and the scale of what is happening here is prohibitive.

But what’s really interesting is that even though the game’s story has grown several times in size, it still manages to remain touching and almost intimate. The relationship between Kratos and Atreus in God of War Ragnarok reaches a whole new level, their quarrels and reconciliations are perceived almost on a personal level. And the complex twists and turns of the Nordic gods’ fates create an interesting contrast to the protagonists’ attempts to come to an understanding.

Characterization and Lore

In God of War Ragnarok even the occasional characters turned out to be very charming, and even the main ones you will remember for a long time. Conflicts from the previous part get interesting and unexpected developments here, but new heroes are not lost against the background of the old ones and also get a worthy place in the general plot. The gods in the game are rather despicable, and one can’t help but share Kratos’ antipathy towards them. But almost everyone still has their moments, during which you can show them if not sympathy, then at least pity or respect.

The image of Kratos in God of War Ragnarok has evolved even more. In the new game, the protagonist is not afraid to be portrayed as somewhat awkward and emotionally weak. Especially against the background of Atreus, next to whom the Spartan regularly resembles an alien from another, quite outdated era. Thanks to this, Kratos as a character is humanized even more. If the 2018 installment failed to make you fall in love with the protagonist, Ragnarok will almost certainly remedy that.

World Exploration and Additional Content

The focus on characters didn’t stop Santa Monica Studio from also better revealing the Nordic setting itself, full of unique creatures and curious lore. God of War 2018 in many ways felt more like an excursion into a new setting for the series. Ragnarok lets you enjoy mythical Scandinavia in all its glory, exploring each of the nine worlds.

And there is a lot to explore in God of War Ragnarok, because there is plenty of additional content in the game.

All sorts of improvements, additional stories and secrets, among which there is even a place for references to other PlayStation exclusives, will help you stay with Kratos and Atreus for dozens of hours. And even without third-party activities, the main plot of Ragnarok will take you 20-30 hours. The developers certainly didn’t trifle with the game.

Combat System and Gameplay

God of War Ragnarok battle system develops the ideas of the previous part. It is still a relatively simple slasher, which borrowed a lot of ideas from Dark Souls. Blows in the game are mostly slow, but tangible. In this part Kratos has been added more skills, so Ragnarok now has a lot of room for creative killing of enemies, which was lacking in some places in the previous part.

Additional interest is added by gameplay for Atreus, who has become a full-fledged playable character. He feels a bit cut down in relation to Kratos’ capabilities, but he has enough interesting findings. And that’s the trouble with all slashers with multiple characters, because someone is bound to stand out from the rest with his abundance of abilities. Something similar was in Bayonetta 3 and Devil May Cry V.

Unique Gameplay Elements and Bosses

Also in God of War Ragnarok, the authors fixed the problem with bosses, which was a major criticism for many in the previous part. In God of War 2018 there were too few interesting battles, they can be practically counted on the fingers of one hand. In God of War Ragnarok, the number of powerful and breathtaking opponents has increased many times, so you won’t get bored.

Game Presentation and Fanservice

There are enough unique moments in the game, where you can feel the handiwork and creative ideas of the developers. Unique encounters and situations, flirting with the player’s expectations, unexpected dialogs and findings – God of War Ragnarok likes to surprise. And it doesn’t shy away from referring even to the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale fighting game, in which Kratos was one of the characters. Which, of course, somewhat ruins the immersion and authenticity of the story. But as a fanservice, such moments work perfectly.

Critique of Mechanics

The only significant problem with the game is the ubiquitous climbing on ledges for PlayStation exclusives, the mechanics of which don’t seem to have changed since the first installment of Uncharted.

The moments where Kratos and Atreus have to climb somewhere feel like an artificial plug to get the player to listen to more dialog. They ruin the overall pace, and seeing them over and over again in different games is frankly annoying.

Graphics and Performance

However, the overall merits of God of War Ragnarok’s scrambling in no way diminishes it. It’s still a finely-tuned adventure that looks and sounds amazing. Of course, that’s in the PlayStation 5 version. On PlayStation 4, be prepared for regular loading and sub-loading, as well as generally pretty average graphics. Which, however, still looks decent.

Conclusion and Finale

The developers promised that God of War Ragnarok will be the finale of Kratos’ Nordic adventures. Frankly speaking, this thesis can still be somehow questioned, because the ending of the game in terms of structure and meanings raises some questions. But as the finale of an important stage in Kratos’ life, the game was definitely successful.

God of War Ragnarok successfully combines opposites. It is at the same time pathos and concise, large-scale and somewhat chamber-like, epochally loud and dramatically modest. It’s a game that, through the prism of its fantastic setting, flirts with many simple everyday themes – and does it filigree.

It’s also a pleasure to play. In fact, even just watching it is a pleasure. What more do you need from a great game?

Final Thoughts and Review Summary

Pros:

• An excellent conclusion to the Scandinavian saga of Kratos and Atreus
• Technologically advanced graphics with sharp textures and long range drawing
• Lively dialog and references to the past parts of the series
• Dynamic Combat System: Offers a refined and juicy combat experience with a large variety of enemies and a diverse array of fighting techniques.
• Large variety of enemies and loot
• Non-trivial puzzles
• Awesome music
• Perfect performance and no bugs

Cons:

• Tightness of some story episodes
• Claustrophobic locations and other PS4 limitations
• Spoilers on completing the puzzles from the partners.