Hello again gamers! As most of you already know, God of War is one of my most favorite video games of all time. I won’t go back into my history with the game again, but long story short, I’ve been waiting on GOW Ragnarok for a very long time. Although, I won’t lie, I started to lose some interest because it took so long to come out, but once I was able to play it, the game really stepped up from the original. Games like this are hard to look at as a critic because they’re so well made, and you get thoroughly invested in the characters and story to the point where you just want to know what is going to happen next. God of War Ragnarok is one of those great video game masterpieces.
Visuals
God of War (2018) was an amazing game and its sequel looks even better. There were moments when it was hard to grab any images that would do the game justice, simply because it has its own movement and flow. Not to mention the diversity of the environments. Kratos and Atreus are taken through all kinds of varied environments this time around, from the frozen open spaces of Midgard to the vibrant and colorful jungle areas of Vanaheim, you get to see a wide range of amazing extremes. The world of Ragnarok is both beautiful and dreadful and it essentially acts as a NPC in the background. Each one of the nine realms has its own vibe, history, and backstory which only add to the dramatic tale. The amazingly talented teams from Santa Monica Studios really know how to make quality games, and Ragnarok is no exception. They’ve managed to elevate what was already great in the first game and fine tune it into this new experience with more diverse enemies, less repetitive boss fights, and more engaging level design.
Storyline
Ragnarok’s story doubles down on humanizing Kratos and connecting him to the player in a much more personal way. For me, Kratos’ story has always been personal, especially because of how I found my emotions mirrored though his story, and as I get older and gained new perspectives of life and the world around me, Kratos has done the same. He approaches his challenges much more maturely and less explosive like he used to and this allows him to be a much more relatable character even though we can still see his inner rage through the cracks. Those moments of Kratos reacting towards Atreus with compassion instead of aggravation reflect his growth and reveal an unseen side of him that personally, I would have never thought possible. All of Kratos’ progress runs parallel to his son’s experiences as he is discovering who he truly is, where he comes from, and what he is capable of. Both characters work more cohesively this time around even when they’re apart, and this only makes their bond stronger. The whole experience really highlights the true gift behind the game; its writing.
Why any of this matters
In a very general sense, I think gaming has been declining in quality these last few years, even though the tech behind them continues to get more powerful. To me this shows that the lack quality is due to poor execution from trying to make a quick buck instead of solid storytelling. In the case of God of War Ragnarok, it was like a breath of fresh air when everything else felt stale. I will admit it is a much slower paced game but once you start diving into it, you get to experience a truly heartfelt story that continues to bring epic fantasy action and powerful character growth for Kratos and his son. This kind of deep story telling doesn’t come around often so when you get a chance to play a game like this, it’s truly worth checking out.
As always if you made it down here, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this post. God of War Ragnarok was such an awesome game and I really took my time with it (especially because of work), but I really connected with the character development (again, but in a new way). I look forward to the next game in the series and hope Atreus continues to grow with Kratos as they conquer their way through their next adventure. Have an awesome day, and keep an eye out for more posts to come from about new and older games I’ve been trying out whenever I can.
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