Could this be the PS5’s greatest game to date?
The freezing winds of Fimbulwinter have come to Midgard, making survival for Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir in the Norse wilds even more challenging than before. Kratos, still bearing the knowledge of his past mistakes, wants to spare Atreus the bloody lessons he learned from his conflict with gods. He wants to keep his son safe, above all, and their confrontation with Baldur has vindicated the belief that only tragedy will come from further entanglements with the Aesir. Together, Kratos and Atreus will have to make a choice about which path they will take. Whatever they choose will define the fate of all those living in the Nine Realms as Ragnarok approaches. Whatever your choice of combat strategy, the enemies that await in God of War Ragnarök will be ready. The realms have grown harsher, and a whole host of new creatures from across Norse mythology will test your skills. God of War Ragnarök will take you to the previously unreachable Vanaheim, Svartalfheim, and Asgard – as well as to new areas from locations featured in the last game. Exploring the realms will take you everywhere from verdant, otherworldly jungles to intricate subterranean mining networks. This next instalment in the series will bring you a more diverse, beautiful, and mysterious variety of locations than in any other God of War game.
The PS4 reboot of sorts for God of War changed Kratos from the God of War to a Father doing what he can to protect his son Atreus. The end of the game hinted that Atreus was in fact Loki, which leads to him wanting answers to his destiny in the sequel. We see conflict between Father and Son here that makes the whole thing uncomfortable for everyone else like Mimir, but it’s good to see Atreus growing up and showing some rebellious behaviour at the beginning few hours. I won’t spoil the story, but it’s a superb follow-up to the first game and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.
I absolutely loved the 2018 game from beginning to end, it was literally my favourite game of that year. Everything from the story and combat to the puzzles and exploration was superb and I thought nothing could top it…but I was wrong. Ragnarok knocks it out of the park with a few surprises, tougher puzzles, new items, new weapons and new abilities that go above and beyond what I expected from the sequel. While the controls will feel familiar to those who played the last game, the new additions and the vast scale of the new areas blows the original out of the water.
The PS5 hardware pushes the game to a whole new level with the most stunning game that the console has to date. The character models are the most detailed I have ever seen, while the environments are superb and on a larger scale than the original. The visual effects are also stunning, especially the weather effects. The game gives players options for either performance or resolution and these all run great regardless of what you decide to choose. Personally, I chose the Higher Framerate which runs as smooth as butter.
The DualSense is supported incredibly here with impressive haptic feedback and adaptive triggers for the situation. Voice-acting is as incredible as the original thanks to the impressive cast and the legendary Christopher Judge reprising his role as Kratos from the 2018 game. The soundtrack is on another level with its epic score that fits each scenario perfectly.
The Verdict
Simply put, I cannot find a single flaw in God of War Ragnarok. All elements including story, gameplay and presentation are simply outstanding. It surpasses the 2018 game in every aspect, which I thought would be impossible. But when a game is as brilliant as this, I cannot be mad in being wrong and so as a result, I cannot give it anything else other a perfect score.