When the saga of God of War announced a change of style in 2018, the world of gamers has risen by providing a banal standardization of the videogame standards in vogue in those years. Upon his arrival, the “new” God of War’s Santa Monica Studio not only has it proven to be up to the change but has enormously enriched the universe of Kratos managing to win the award “Game of the year”And dozens of other prestigious awards. For this, when we heard of the arrival of God of War Ragnarok, its direct sequel, we couldn’t hold back the enthusiasm. Today, thanks to PlayStation, we can tell you something about God of War Ragnarok in this review, WITHOUT SPOILERS.
Regarding the latter point, it is necessary to make a clarification. Ragnarok contains many elements, old, new, revisited, some simpler, others wonderful and it is not our intention to tell you all about them. If to some this review of God of War Ragnarok may seem sparse, know that it is an act of love towards you to guarantee you, when the game launches on November 9th, a genuine experience.
Hoping that this clarification has reassured you in the “Spoiler”, let’s start!
Our God of War Ragnarok review
God of War Ragnarok is set a few years after the events of God of War. Kratos and Atreus come face to face with the unleashed (and never ended) events of the first chapter, including the upcoming Ragnarok, the final battle of Norse mythology, which will lead to the end of the Gods and the world. The arrival of Ragnarok shocked the 9 kingdoms hit by a unnatural wave of frost and the threat of the end has stirred up the Norse gods who, as we saw at the end of the first chapter, will go to visit Kratos’ house.
From here a series of epic adventures will begin for the protagonists as only Santa Monica Studio can tell. The hypothetical final battle of the Gods also joins the stories of the other characters. Kratos will have to choose whether to fight, once again, a war against the gods or avoid it to protect Atreus, while the latter, after discovering the true divine nature of him, is still looking for his path that could lead him into dangerous paths. Freya is still looking for revenge after the killing of his son at the hands of Kratos and to these will be added other plots between old and new characters.
In all of this, we will finally have the opportunity to explore all nine realms of Norse cosmology and embark on a journey that is nothing short of epic just waiting to be undertaken.
Winning Kratos doesn’t change
From the point of view of Gameplay, we find Kratos as we left him. The basis of the combat and exploration of the realms has not changed but we find numerous improvements and varieties of gameplay really interesting. Kratos will once again be able to rely on the mythical Leviathan and at Chaos Spade who will present a all new and broader skill set compared to the previous chapter. We will absolutely need it because even the variety of enemies has increased, from classic draugr to giant monsters, from well-known mountain trolls to new creatures from mythology. For each kingdom there will be new enemies, challenges and side quests that will reveal more about the protagonists’ past and the history of the kingdoms.
The game we have come to love since 2018 is now simply “more“. Wider, longer, with more enemies, skills, attacks, and so on. Kratos’ mobility is even faster and more frenetic than, unit to one better verticality of the areasguarantees super adrenaline-pumping and satisfying combat sequences. To all this are added the longer secondary missions, the elimination of Odin’s spies around the world returns but we also find new combat challenges, the arena of Muspelheim and so on.
Alas, we must / want to stop here once again on the news in terms of gameplay which are many and some, shocking, but to tell you about them here would be bad. Just know that the evolution of the characters is not only at the plot or character level, but deeper.
Between men and gods
And it is precisely in the charm and psychology of the characters that part of the beauty of God of War Ragnarok lies. That leap that took place in 2018 is repeated which brings to the fore the psychology and character of the characters, deeper and more intricate in Ragnarok. Atrus is now a teenager and has recently discovered the divine nature of him, this will lead him to ask questions about the future and above all about his role in the upcoming Last Battle, seen as an opportunity to free himself from the yoke of Odin. Kratos instead, moving away from his role as God of War, would like to escape from the main events affecting the 9 kingdoms and protect his son.
But Arteus is no longer a child, his character is much stronger and more combative and will lead him to clash several times with Kratos. We also notice this change during gameplay, Atreus will move more autonomously, sometimes anticipating his father’s moves and will also be more active in battle, much more active. The relationship between them will once again be the central theme enriched by the stories of old characters, such as Mimir, Freya and the two dwarves Sindri and Brok and those of new characters such as the Norse God of War and the other deities.
Finding out how the relationships evolve between them was really exciting and the main storyline (lasting about 40 hours) blends perfectly with pure action scenes.
A leap forward also for the technical sector
Everything we have read so far is accompanied by a graphic improvement, compared to the previous chapter, truly remarkable. Although we are faced with a title still cross-gen (it will be available on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5), the graphic improvements are there and are remarkable. For this God of War Ragnarok review, we tapped the full potential of the PS5. Here we will have the possibility to choose between various modes: the Performance mode with dynamic resolution between 1440p and 2160p up to 60fps, the Performance con High Frame Rate active lowers the resolution to 1440p and enjoys an unlocked framerate at 60fps and finally the quality modewith a native resolution of 2160p and a framerate of up to 30fps. We enjoyed the adventure by preferring Performance as the drop in frame rate of the quality mode disturbs the game’s performance quite a bit, especially during the action scenes.
Whatever your preference, know that Ragnarok boasts excellent graphics quality, in line with today’s standards. The color rendering is perfect with a great attention between light and dark and the level of detail of the models of the main characters is much higher than in the previous chapter. Similarly, the animations and effects during the fights have been improved making the action more immersive than ever. In this regard, honorable mention should be made to the support to the DualSense and to haptic vibration which, although it does not represent a fundamental element, fully succeeds in its intent to make you feel the action on your hands.
Excellent, once again, the dubbing of the characters, both in Italian and in original (English), which proposes the same voices of the actors of the previous chapter. Voices that know how to give body and soul to characters who are already wonderfully well written.
The God of War Ragnarok review in brief
Compared to the previous chapter, God of War Ragnarok is simply “more”. Richer, more compelling, more exciting than a title that already bordered on perfection. The characters and their stories “explode” together with a more engaging and articulated level of action. The basic gameplay has not changed (why should?) But it reserves some surprises that will leave you speechless and that we could not in any way spoil you in this review.
It’s up to you to find out what wonderful news, twists and turns the storyline of God of War Ragnarok holds, and you won’t have to wait long to take on the role of the God of War.
God of War Ragnarok will be available on November 9th on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
PRO
- An even deeper and more developed plot
- Always fun gameplay and with a series of interesting new features
- The nine realms are beautiful
- More attention to skills and interactions between characters
- Dubbing still remains one of the best
VERSUS
- Some “Already seen” here and there
- No revolution