Ragnarok Is Upon Us

By Andrey Nalbantov | Published December 17, 2022

Ever since the middle of October, I have been dodging social media in order to keep myself safe from any spoilers regarding “God Of War: Ragnarok”. I wanted a blind experience while going into what I expected to be an amazing adventure in the magical realms inspired by Norse Mythology.

31 hours later, it is safe to say that this amazing experience is something that is not often seen in video games. “God Of War: Ragnarok” takes the formula of its 2018 predecessor and improves immensely. 

The story of “God Of War: Ragnarok: takes us a couple of years after the events of the first game. The two main protagonists, Kratos and his older and more mature son Atreus are navigating through the harsh snowy conditions of “Fimbulwinter” in search of answers and preparation for Ragnarok.

The lovable dwarf brothers Brok and Sindri are back, and this time they serve as combat partners throughout some of the chapters. Freya, the queen of Valkyries, is back for revenge after Kratos snapped her son’s neck in the previous game.

While at the start of GoW: Ragnarok, she is viciously hunting us to enact her revenge, throughout the later chapters of the game she ends up forming a partnership with the main characters.

GoW: Ragnarok does everything bigger and better than its predecessor, but bigger is not always the right choice. Before I dive into all the positives, I will address the main complaint I encountered throughout the 31 hours of gameplay. At points, the game feels bloated from all the content there is. 

While every side mission has a small piece of importance, it was hard for me to keep track of all the favors I had to complete for spirits scattered around the realms. While some favors had a sad background or served as a lore marker to the main story, most just felt forgetful. In the end, I could not help but feel a lack of care about completing yet another spirit favor.

Now that the only negative is moved out of the way, it’s time to discuss the positives. They will be separated into the following categories: Story, enemy variety, combat, and visuals.

Story: One of the best aspects of the 2018 predecessor was it’s beautiful and tragic at times story. In Ragnarok, the developers not only managed to tell yet another beautiful story but also managed to tell it in such a manner that it leaves a mark. The writing is meaningful, and wholesomely funny at times as well. Certain events throughout the story left me emotional, and others made me angry, creating even more desire in completing the game. 

What makes the story even better is the voice acting. Voice actor Christopher Judge as Kratos yet again delivers another astonishing performance. The voices behind Odin and Thor, give the characters identity and weight, creating impactful moments all throughout the game. 

Enemy variety: One of the biggest complaints I had about the first GoW was the lack of enemy variety and mainly the fact we had to face the same troll boss fight, only in different colors in multiple encounters. In Ragnarok, this has been improved immensely. The regular enemies have a bigger variety, from raiders, and clingy reptilians, all the way up to Einherjar(the best warriors in Asgard). 

Boss fights have been improved greatly too. While trolls and dragons from the last game are back as occasional mini-boss battles, the big boss encounters are bigger and better. From a massive wolf that keeps coming back to life to multiple encounters against different Aesir gods. The big boss encounters are creative and filled with adrenaline, one of which was also pretty annoying – Heimdall I’m looking at you.

Combat: The combat in Ragnarok has received a big improvement too. It’s faster and more diversified. Companions have different skills and benefit the combat in various ways. Kratos is faster and more nimble, and his fight movements feel refreshing in comparison to the 2018 processor.

Weapons have new abilities, and we finally have a new weapon added to the arsenal – the Draupnir Spear. 

Finally, let’s talk about visuals. The visuals of GoW: Ragnarok are incredible. Santa Monica has crafted a beautiful world that pushes the graphical boundaries. Characters are immensely thorough to the most minute detail. Emotions on characters are incredibly animated. Environments are beautiful and make you feel like you are surrounded by the world created in Ragnarok.

God Of War: Ragnarok is not only a prime example of a sequel video game well done. Big and better with some small gripes. But, a video game worthy enough to be considered a Game of the Year contender, but also quite possibly a Game of the Year winner.

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