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My Thoughts on God of War Ragnarok (NO SPOILERS)
3 years ago
General
Before I begin, I'd like to express that I sadly didn't get the best experience possible because this game ran like shit on my PS4, and I'm not sure who to blame. I blame Sony because this isn't the first time this has happened. Nioh and Yakuza 6 both had similar issues and I have a sneaking suspicion that the original PS4 just cannot handle newer games. Which means I should buy a PS5, which even if I wanted to, I can't! It could also just be that my PS4 is dying because I never really turn it off. I always just put it in sleep mode so when the power goes out it screams at me not to unplug it. Whatever the reason, certain cutscenes would lose their sound or occasionally the gameplay conversations would lag causing the characters to talk over each other. It made the dialogue sound more real as a result... but I knew it was a mess up because the subtitles would quickly stack on top of each other. One cutscene in particular crashed the game and wouldn't let me reload to progress, so I had to reinstall the download disk and turn all the bonus visual settings down to zero just to get it to work. What a pain in the ass!
Onto the game. I feel as though every video game holds a very difficult balancing act between fun gameplay and interesting story telling. One is usually sacrificed over the other so it can be the best it can be. We're not playing Super Mario for it's amazing story, nor are we playing Silent Hill because the controls and combat are just so damn fun. God of War Ragnarok is perfectly balanced in it's gameplay and storytelling and I loved it. I obsessed about several video game series that either stayed bland and mediocre, or just got worse as the series progressed (Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed). God of War was sadly not one of those obsessions. Which really sucks because as other games are aging like milk... this series is aging like a fine wine. I really liked God of War 1 and 2, but because 3 was a PS3 exclusive, I ended up never playing it. I still to this day don't know how the the Greek GoW series ended. I know he kills Zeus by the end. That's all I really needed. Then God of War 2018 came out and I thought it couldn't get any better. It got way better.
Improvements from the last game:
-This game is massive! 3 times as big as the first and you get to go to all 9 realms. A few side missions even opened up entirely new areas to explore, making the game even bigger than that.
-Ledge traversing is so much better. Instead of waiting for Atreus to kick a chain down for you, ya just harpoon your blades of chaos into the wall and throw yourself up.
-Boss battles are so much more improved. You only fought 3 bosses in the last game. This game, you are fighting all sorts of different stuff.
Cons
-Traversing still isn't very fun. Most of this game is bogged down by climbing walls or going through narrow passageways that are just glorified loading screens.
-You still can't jump. Such a bold decision in that last game to take away the jump button. Ariel combat could have made a strong return in this, but nah. Kratos is old and has weak knees.
-The puzzle solution input from the characters is very obnoxious. You'll look around for secrets for 3 seconds and your companion will immediately tell you the solution to the puzzle. But when I was struggling with puzzles I needed to look up how to complete... they just stand there like a moron waiting for you to figure it out!
The game overall is a masterpiece. It's very hard to talk more about what I liked and didn't like without getting into story spoilers. I will say that the last game was about a broken family grieving over the loss of a loved one completing her final wish. This game is now about 2 broken families that are completely destroyed by the actions of ONE asshole family member in particular. Both of which are things I can empathize with on a personal level. If you were on the fence about getting this game, seriously get it. Took me over 60 hours to beat and I was taking my time. I also didn't 100% the game so I'm sure there's plenty I missed. I'd also like to add that by the end of the game as the final credits rolled, I started to tear up. The last game I beat was Bayonetta 3, and at the end of that game all I could think was, "Oh, I guess it's over now." Bayonetta does a little dance and then it says CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU BEAT THE GAME!!! At the end of God of War Ragnarok, I was fucking crying! I was sad, I was joyful, I was relieved, I was depressed. I wanted the story to keep going! I want so much more! When a fucking video game can swell up these emotions based on fictional characters who don't exist, you know they've done something right!
In conclusion, what started as a series about a blood-thirsty monster who wants everything alive to be dead has now evolved into an empathetic father who helps people, saves lives, and does whatever it takes to protect and do what's best for his son. That's fucking character development. One more thing I'd like to add is how incredible the final credits theme song is. It's called "Blood Upon the Snow" and I've been listening to it over and over again since yesterday. Everything that happened up to this point followed by this song is what erupted the tears. If you have no desire to play this game, seriously listen to this song, it is beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxwQOzscbA&ab_channel=casw they even managed to sneak the original God of War theme in there at the end. Spectacular.
Final Score: 9/10
The only thing keeping it from that perfect score was sadly my performance issues. If anybody else had similar issues let me know so I can rule out my PS4 being the issue.
Onto the game. I feel as though every video game holds a very difficult balancing act between fun gameplay and interesting story telling. One is usually sacrificed over the other so it can be the best it can be. We're not playing Super Mario for it's amazing story, nor are we playing Silent Hill because the controls and combat are just so damn fun. God of War Ragnarok is perfectly balanced in it's gameplay and storytelling and I loved it. I obsessed about several video game series that either stayed bland and mediocre, or just got worse as the series progressed (Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed). God of War was sadly not one of those obsessions. Which really sucks because as other games are aging like milk... this series is aging like a fine wine. I really liked God of War 1 and 2, but because 3 was a PS3 exclusive, I ended up never playing it. I still to this day don't know how the the Greek GoW series ended. I know he kills Zeus by the end. That's all I really needed. Then God of War 2018 came out and I thought it couldn't get any better. It got way better.
Improvements from the last game:
-This game is massive! 3 times as big as the first and you get to go to all 9 realms. A few side missions even opened up entirely new areas to explore, making the game even bigger than that.
-Ledge traversing is so much better. Instead of waiting for Atreus to kick a chain down for you, ya just harpoon your blades of chaos into the wall and throw yourself up.
-Boss battles are so much more improved. You only fought 3 bosses in the last game. This game, you are fighting all sorts of different stuff.
Cons
-Traversing still isn't very fun. Most of this game is bogged down by climbing walls or going through narrow passageways that are just glorified loading screens.
-You still can't jump. Such a bold decision in that last game to take away the jump button. Ariel combat could have made a strong return in this, but nah. Kratos is old and has weak knees.
-The puzzle solution input from the characters is very obnoxious. You'll look around for secrets for 3 seconds and your companion will immediately tell you the solution to the puzzle. But when I was struggling with puzzles I needed to look up how to complete... they just stand there like a moron waiting for you to figure it out!
The game overall is a masterpiece. It's very hard to talk more about what I liked and didn't like without getting into story spoilers. I will say that the last game was about a broken family grieving over the loss of a loved one completing her final wish. This game is now about 2 broken families that are completely destroyed by the actions of ONE asshole family member in particular. Both of which are things I can empathize with on a personal level. If you were on the fence about getting this game, seriously get it. Took me over 60 hours to beat and I was taking my time. I also didn't 100% the game so I'm sure there's plenty I missed. I'd also like to add that by the end of the game as the final credits rolled, I started to tear up. The last game I beat was Bayonetta 3, and at the end of that game all I could think was, "Oh, I guess it's over now." Bayonetta does a little dance and then it says CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU BEAT THE GAME!!! At the end of God of War Ragnarok, I was fucking crying! I was sad, I was joyful, I was relieved, I was depressed. I wanted the story to keep going! I want so much more! When a fucking video game can swell up these emotions based on fictional characters who don't exist, you know they've done something right!
In conclusion, what started as a series about a blood-thirsty monster who wants everything alive to be dead has now evolved into an empathetic father who helps people, saves lives, and does whatever it takes to protect and do what's best for his son. That's fucking character development. One more thing I'd like to add is how incredible the final credits theme song is. It's called "Blood Upon the Snow" and I've been listening to it over and over again since yesterday. Everything that happened up to this point followed by this song is what erupted the tears. If you have no desire to play this game, seriously listen to this song, it is beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxwQOzscbA&ab_channel=casw they even managed to sneak the original God of War theme in there at the end. Spectacular.
Final Score: 9/10
The only thing keeping it from that perfect score was sadly my performance issues. If anybody else had similar issues let me know so I can rule out my PS4 being the issue.
CP444
~cp444
Fun game right
