Of course, the most important part of Greek mythology is that Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins are the bad guys. I don’t think I’m out of place saying many were trepidatious about God of War (2018), seeing the titular war deity from Greek mythology trudging around in the land of Norse mythology with a child. “This isn’t the God of War I remember!” many probably exclaimed before playing that opening and getting the concept. The kid is annoying and Kratos is still angry, he’s just trying to hold it back for the kid. I genuinely love God of War (2018), completing it in a weekend.

God of War Ragnarök is a bit different, obviously. Where God of War (2018) was a funeral procession up a mountain interrupted by gods, Ragnarök is “more of the same” stylistically but at a strange point in the story. It may be a couple of years on, but the direction, camera movement, and cutscenes feel like a film major’s wet dreams come to life. You are still in that tricked one-shot like we saw with Birdman, 1917, and obviously Rope. It is still as stunning as before, but I feel the original magic might have faded as we also saw worlds appear in fractions of seconds with Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

The biggest change to me seems to be the pacing, something taken from the success in 2018 and used as permission to be a touch more pretentious, the “prestige” thing it previously aimed for. That isn’t to say I hate Ragnarök, but we’ll get this more in a minute. I feel stupid saying it, but part of me feels like God of War Ragnarök is sitting there in a smoking jacket watching, waiting to see when you sit back in awe of its world-beating storytelling and cinematic prowess. Meanwhile, it sometimes forgets it is a game.

It is the difficult sequel syndrome for me, not its actual qualities. The worlds, the storytelling, the performances, the cinematography, and the technical aspects are great to fantastic. What else do you expect from the typical PlayStation-produced big-budget single-player experiences? I’d like a little less pushing forward with contextual button pressing and a touch more of that exploration, puzzle solving, and regular fighting arenas. All of that is still here but feel pushed aside to make way for taking control of Atreus for an hour.

I’ve mentioned it already but where 2018’s title was a slow march up a hill to spread ashes, you still had this kid who was sometimes quite annoying. Purposefully so. A couple of years later and Atreus is still annoying but in that teenager phase, this time as the overall goal feels less defined. The story of God of War Ragnarök is simply “Oh, Ragnarök is coming, let’s try not to die as a result of this whole upending of the Norse worlds and apocalyptic event.” You know, an easy task if you ask certain people.

For me, it feels less defined of a goal probably because you are sharing two perspectives. You have Kratos, who singlehandedly brought Olympus to its knees and knows that feeling, but also doesn’t want to lose his son as well. As Kratos practically wants to run from Ragnarök during Fimbulvetr, you have Atreus marching us straight to it, trying to follow the prophecy and push away from it when it’s uncomfortable too. As an old man who is trapped in the body of a late 20-something, I care about and share Kratos’ apprehensive perspective more than Atreus’ teenage whims.

Again, from a writing and technical aspect I get it, but working in almost every bit of the series’ history as well as Atreus’ teenage desire to be right all the time, it feels bloated. Weighed down by a slower pace for an action title that spends more time walking through beautiful worlds, reminding us of Kratos’ past and adding lore to the giants than it might allow for exploration and those fighting arenas you step into a lot. If you’re just looking for a longer experience, you’ll get that in heaps, but it does feel less tight and well-defined as an experience too.

Maybe I’m looking at it from a theming perspective, but playing on a smaller PC monitor than a 4K TV across the room, the camera halfway up Kratos’ hairy crack feels somewhat constraining. All the pieces of the 2018 gameplay are there, it should feel mostly the same given it is, albeit with a couple of additions. Yet somehow there are times when it feels a bit more claustrophobic. With a bit more speed and aggression on show from every creature and enemy, it can feel overwhelming sometimes with the new mechanics for both Atreus and Kratos. Something the RPG aspects also feel like they are weighing down on.

If I keep dinging Ragnarök like this, it might come off that I think it is in fact a bad game. It is not, but it is being compared to an all-time favorite from the last 10 years, so Ragnarök is already fighting an uphill battle. Much like Kratos and Atreus fight the uphill battle against Hemsworth and Hopkins’ stand-ins, George Carlin on meth and Endgame Thor. When you are thrust into boss fights and fighting arenas that don’t feel like they are thrown in out of courtesy, I quite enjoy God of War Ragnarök for being what I love about the series: Epic battles, sometimes against the odds.

It would just be nice if they didn’t feel as spread out as possible. The best example I’ve got is when Atreus and Angrboda are in Grýla’s house, after giving “birth” to what becomes Jörmungandr (the World Serpent). The entire chapter feels like it goes on for so long. Maybe that’s my dislike of Atreus showing again. Either way, it practically ends in a standard video game arena boss battle with a game of the floor is lava. Again, I don’t mind it as a concept, I enjoyed the boss battle and the significance, it is heart-wrenching towards the end of it.

The Grýla boss battle is the only decent fight in that hour-to-hour-and-a-half long chapter quickly followed soon after by the Vanadis fight. I return to the pacing, which breaks up what is arguably the best part of this two-game run through Norse mythology. The epic scale that these battles sometimes take, either emotionally or in terms of the cinematography, is heightened and so unique currently in all of video games. There is nothing like this as you fly around on the other end of Mjölnir under Thor’s whim, fighting battles that are (once again) epic.

In terms of extra tools on offer through gameplay and the occasional puzzle to explore, God of War Ragnarök does fine in that regard. It might seem like another thinly veiled attack, but it builds on the 2018 installment well enough until some of those combat mechanics start cluttering your ability to remember what does what and when to use it. A change in Kratos’ rage was the first example of that being most notable. Though Atreus’ abilities aren’t much easier to remember (or care about), for that matter either, leading me to employ companion abilities more often in tricky situations.

Though since we’re talking about a PC release in 2024, it must be said the performance mostly stays true throughout. I did have to employ some DLSS while running the high-ultra presets occasionally, with some areas dropping from a stable 60 frames to an occasional 40 frames per second. Thankfully there are several options at hand when it comes to solving performance while playing, with the menus designed in such a way to see your changes in real time. That is something I wish more games did.

That’s not all, however. Much like the PS5 launch of The Last of Us Part II, the accessibility options far exceed what 90% of games even try to do, notably including the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima earlier this year. From screen readers and audio descriptions, tapping or holding for button presses, to simple controller options. More importantly, high contrast and visual stuff are what put a lot of games to absolute shame. Be it markers on the wall to highlights on Kratos vs enemies, this is what I think a lot of games in the Triple-A space are sometimes missing.

I’ve tried desperately to reiterate that I don’t hate God of War Ragnarök, and I don’t. I think the pacing is done due to being emboldened by God of War (2018)’s success, something that somewhat feels grating when that was a better-paced adventure. When God of War Ragnarök is good, it is great, fantastic even. When you are playing as a child who wants to flirt with another fabled god-child of Norse mythology while roaming the woods, it gets tiresome easily. The core of 2018 is still there with a few welcome additions, but also a few flabby bits hanging over the side.

Ultimately, I am going to say God of War Ragnarök is good, but probably much better when you play it without the pressure of getting a review done in a reasonable time. Visually and stylistically, God of War Ragnarök exceeds its predecessor’s ability, the only detracting points are when either it spends time after time reminding you of the entire series’ history, or when the mechanics at play feel overbearing. Hopefully, the minor performance hiccups here or there are sorted sooner rather than later, but otherwise another great PlayStation PC port with small issues on the technical side and slow story elements from a superficial side.

A PC review copy of God of War Ragnarök was provided by PlayStation Publishing LLC for this review.

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God of War Ragnarok

$59.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• The same brilliant action with a few additions.
• Great storytelling.
• Stunning worlds and design.

Cons

• Slower pacing spreading out the gameplay a lot more.
• A bloated and overweight set of mechanics.