CHAPTER 1: I LIKE RETURNAL BUT PLEASE PLAYSTATION STUDIOS YOU DON'T HAVE TO SLAP A ROGUELIKE/LITE INTO EVERY IP YOU HAVE
I hold the Norse God of War games in a very high regard, they are among my favorite games ever, and I still think they are some of the best of PlayStation Studios. To the point that for a while, I made it my mission to talk nonstop to my friends about why I found these games to be so good, specially after I first played through 2018 back in early 2019.
However, because my gaming plans are a mess, I took more than I expected to actually get into this DLC, but after watching the high praise it got, I went into it with huge expectations.
Now that I'm here after beating it, I feel in the awkward situation of having to complain about a game with mid gameplay with a wonderful story once again (specially after having done so recently with Alan Wake). But I just don't feel like these games were made to be Roguelites, in a way I have to complain about Returnal's success because it gave PS Studios the idea that they could slap Roguelikes into their some of their IPs as it also happened to The Last of Us Part II earlier this year.
By this, I mean that the idea of implementing the quirks of the genre into God of War meant that the best way they could do it was by removing all of Kratos' rune attacks and gearset perks you get throughout the main story and then offer them back as equipment for your runs, with pretty much no changes whatsoever. While at the same time, hitting the player with the realization that they are going to have to grind for stats by doing multiple runs because chances are (specially if you are playing on higher difficulties) that you will get statchecked by enemies that take too long to die and hit too hard because I guess they looked at their gear system and went "ah yeah, this is what people liked the most about these games".
By this, I don't mean that you can't get some cool perks nearing the final boss of a run, but more often than not, the effects won't just be as interesting as some you could get in other games of the genre, it's weird because here it just feels like they crafted the safest Roguelite known to man and that's saying a lot. But what do I know, at the end of the day, a lot of this could come from personal bias as well, since this isn't one of my favorite genres, aside from a couple of exceptions I can count with one hand.
Like I don't want to sound rude, specially after they put out this DLC for free in the most absolute gigachad move ever, God bless you Sony Santa Monica, but despite that, there is still something that you have to pay for while playing this DLC, which is time, and while you might have a better experience than I had with it, it still is as valuable as money itself.
CHAPTER 2: KRATOS FINALLY WENT TO THERAPY
With that out of the way, I can safely say that a big saving grace of the DLC was the storytelling, there will be some mild to heavy spoilers, as I'll try to keep it brief, so beware.
Once again I found myself immersed in the world and the emotional struggle of Kratos as he and Mimir have some of the most down to earth type of conversations I've seen in the duology, their dynamic is just stellar.
As Helios showed up on the first time, I started getting a bit worried as Kratos' behavior started showing some aspects of his old self from the Greek series, his first reaction was to almost draw the Blades of Chaos, and thinking just in the goal to be reached, he almost burnt Mimir into a crisp thinking that he had just swapped places with his former enemy. For a moment, I genuinely thought that just because he was dealing with an Olympian again, after all he had not changed at all, his old self was just dormant.
At this point the plot twist reveals itself, Tyr, the actual god this time, was the one who invited both to attend Valhalla, to what purpose? Therapy! I think I speak for many people who have gone through this franchise that Kratos is someone that genuinely needed it, specially with how the character was portrayed in this duology, with how clearly he had been repressing his feelings throughout the years, specially in front of Atreus.Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping your patient, is by beating the shit out of them in a fantastic boss fight that carries so much of the DLC for me... wait no, scratch that, that doesn't sound good...
Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping HIS patient is by helping him come to terms with who he was to accept just about what the rest of his life is going to be, after all, you can't blame Kratos for not feeling appropriate for the role, but at the same time, just like everyone around him, you know he is the right guy to be the new God of War of the Nine Realms.
In the end, what Kratos needed was not to forgive himself, but instead to realize that he was just not that monster anymore, even if Athena was right, and he will always be one, the point is that at this point, he has clearly learned to tame it, and will actually be willing to listen to those around him. And I support anyone who has that type of mental health realization.
I hold the Norse God of War games in a very high regard, they are among my favorite games ever, and I still think they are some of the best of PlayStation Studios. To the point that for a while, I made it my mission to talk nonstop to my friends about why I found these games to be so good, specially after I first played through 2018 back in early 2019.
However, because my gaming plans are a mess, I took more than I expected to actually get into this DLC, but after watching the high praise it got, I went into it with huge expectations.
Now that I'm here after beating it, I feel in the awkward situation of having to complain about a game with mid gameplay with a wonderful story once again (specially after having done so recently with Alan Wake). But I just don't feel like these games were made to be Roguelites, in a way I have to complain about Returnal's success because it gave PS Studios the idea that they could slap Roguelikes into their some of their IPs as it also happened to The Last of Us Part II earlier this year.
By this, I mean that the idea of implementing the quirks of the genre into God of War meant that the best way they could do it was by removing all of Kratos' rune attacks and gearset perks you get throughout the main story and then offer them back as equipment for your runs, with pretty much no changes whatsoever. While at the same time, hitting the player with the realization that they are going to have to grind for stats by doing multiple runs because chances are (specially if you are playing on higher difficulties) that you will get statchecked by enemies that take too long to die and hit too hard because I guess they looked at their gear system and went "ah yeah, this is what people liked the most about these games".
By this, I don't mean that you can't get some cool perks nearing the final boss of a run, but more often than not, the effects won't just be as interesting as some you could get in other games of the genre, it's weird because here it just feels like they crafted the safest Roguelite known to man and that's saying a lot. But what do I know, at the end of the day, a lot of this could come from personal bias as well, since this isn't one of my favorite genres, aside from a couple of exceptions I can count with one hand.
Like I don't want to sound rude, specially after they put out this DLC for free in the most absolute gigachad move ever, God bless you Sony Santa Monica, but despite that, there is still something that you have to pay for while playing this DLC, which is time, and while you might have a better experience than I had with it, it still is as valuable as money itself.
CHAPTER 2: KRATOS FINALLY WENT TO THERAPY
With that out of the way, I can safely say that a big saving grace of the DLC was the storytelling, there will be some mild to heavy spoilers, as I'll try to keep it brief, so beware.
Once again I found myself immersed in the world and the emotional struggle of Kratos as he and Mimir have some of the most down to earth type of conversations I've seen in the duology, their dynamic is just stellar.
As Helios showed up on the first time, I started getting a bit worried as Kratos' behavior started showing some aspects of his old self from the Greek series, his first reaction was to almost draw the Blades of Chaos, and thinking just in the goal to be reached, he almost burnt Mimir into a crisp thinking that he had just swapped places with his former enemy. For a moment, I genuinely thought that just because he was dealing with an Olympian again, after all he had not changed at all, his old self was just dormant.
At this point the plot twist reveals itself, Tyr, the actual god this time, was the one who invited both to attend Valhalla, to what purpose? Therapy! I think I speak for many people who have gone through this franchise that Kratos is someone that genuinely needed it, specially with how the character was portrayed in this duology, with how clearly he had been repressing his feelings throughout the years, specially in front of Atreus.
Tyr, serving as a fantastic therapist, understands that the best way of helping HIS patient is by helping him come to terms with who he was to accept just about what the rest of his life is going to be, after all, you can't blame Kratos for not feeling appropriate for the role, but at the same time, just like everyone around him, you know he is the right guy to be the new God of War of the Nine Realms.
In the end, what Kratos needed was not to forgive himself, but instead to realize that he was just not that monster anymore, even if Athena was right, and he will always be one, the point is that at this point, he has clearly learned to tame it, and will actually be willing to listen to those around him. And I support anyone who has that type of mental health realization.
Corporate greed has been seeping its way into the gaming world for years now. But, thankfully, the consumer does still get some W's. I would've gladly paid $20 for a Ragnarök DLC. Santa Monica Studios is making the highest quality video games out there AND setting an example of how to treat your fans right.
This was a cool DLC. It didn't have quite as much roguelite depth as other games of the genre, but it was still saved by the fact that it was God of War. The roguelike mechanics felt most influenced by Hades. We got some insight into Kratos' character, and I'm a sucker for that; he is one of the most complicated characters in video game history and one of the most prestigious.
This was a cool DLC. It didn't have quite as much roguelite depth as other games of the genre, but it was still saved by the fact that it was God of War. The roguelike mechanics felt most influenced by Hades. We got some insight into Kratos' character, and I'm a sucker for that; he is one of the most complicated characters in video game history and one of the most prestigious.
I really wish this wasn't a rougelite. I just do not enjoy what makes that genre at a fundamental level (restarting from the beginning of a run when you die, having to rely on rng for builds and the procedural generation) by their nature no matter what they do to try and change things around, they get very repetitive after the first two runs for me and typically you need to do multiple complete runs to get the whole story regardless. If it wasn't for the story contained in this I would have continued to ignore it. While I do think Ragnarok's combat is better than God of War 2018's, it is not why I enjoyed the game and I still vastly prefer the style of combat from the original trilogy and Chains of Olympus to it. Speaking of, seeing aspects from those games was nice to see and I would see it as Santa Monica putting respect on what came before especially with a specific line of dialogue in its ending. Even with the story being as well done as it is, along with its ending and Christopher Judge continuing to kill it as always, it did not outweigh the fact that this dlc by design was combat oriented and while generally not daunting, even put difficulty modes in it, it did not feel worth the 5 or so runs it took to actually reach the payoff. I am not a "its the journey not the destination" person, the destination needs to be worth the effort it took to get there. It being free doesn't change how I feel about it and I gladly would have paid for a more God of War reboot duology styled dlc over this.
Santa Monica, you absolutely spoil us
A free dlc that’s longer than this year’s COD campaign
A free dlc that’s longer than this year’s COD campaign
Ascend through Valhalla to help Kratos fumkin' THINK.
An incredible free DLC for GoW Ragnarok, and a wonderful little love letter to the older fans of the series. I originally thought it was just a whatever-arena-thing to have a repeatable combat challenge for those who solely wanted more combat, but boy was I mostly wrong. In reality, it's a quaint and relatively short rogue-like story epilogue that takes advantage of the game's great combat and fun upgrades, in order to deliver a very competent take on the genre it replicates. Past the combat, it also constantly references back to Kratos' past in great, and sometimes humorous ways, to spruce things up for us story lovers. Without saying much else, this DLC concludes the character arc for Kratos following Ragnarok, and it's very worth playing. :)
I love this series.
IT'S FREE WITH THE GAME, LITERALLY JUST PLAY IT
An incredible free DLC for GoW Ragnarok, and a wonderful little love letter to the older fans of the series. I originally thought it was just a whatever-arena-thing to have a repeatable combat challenge for those who solely wanted more combat, but boy was I mostly wrong. In reality, it's a quaint and relatively short rogue-like story epilogue that takes advantage of the game's great combat and fun upgrades, in order to deliver a very competent take on the genre it replicates. Past the combat, it also constantly references back to Kratos' past in great, and sometimes humorous ways, to spruce things up for us story lovers. Without saying much else, this DLC concludes the character arc for Kratos following Ragnarok, and it's very worth playing. :)
I love this series.
IT'S FREE WITH THE GAME, LITERALLY JUST PLAY IT
Free DLC in 2023 is crazy
For 2023, my game of the year never felt solid. I liked Baldur's Gate 3, but I never finished it, and I didn't really connect to the combat. Since I haven't finished Alan Wake, I tried to steer away from Alan Wake 2. And because it's such a rehash of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom doesn't truly deserve it in my opinion.
Anyway, I was ok with 2023 just not being my kind of year in terms of "the best game", but nope, I was dead wrong.
God of War Valhalla, swept down the chimney a week late and stole Santa's cookies and milk. At the 90th minute, this game won me over completely.
Essentially a game that DARES to ask (seriously (no actually (for real and completely unironically))) :
What if Kratos went to therapy?
GOTY 2023, HANDS DOWN WITHOUT A DOUBT
How the fuck is this free???????
Anyway, I was ok with 2023 just not being my kind of year in terms of "the best game", but nope, I was dead wrong.
God of War Valhalla, swept down the chimney a week late and stole Santa's cookies and milk. At the 90th minute, this game won me over completely.
Essentially a game that DARES to ask (seriously (no actually (for real and completely unironically))) :
What if Kratos went to therapy?
GOTY 2023, HANDS DOWN WITHOUT A DOUBT
How the fuck is this free???????
Fun mode. The challenges are awesome. If you are the kind of player to switch weapon mid-combo this DLC is for you. Valhalla is an aptitude test for your mechanical mastery of the combat; and a genuine healing journey. We've never gotten anything quite like this before. I beat it in less than six hours and my mind is blown from the quality of this FREE update.
The writing of God of War Ragnarok becomes somehow more powerful over time as it reconciles a lot of trauma Kratos and friends have over the terrible things that have happened in their lives and it's not corny in the slightest. If someone told me in 2007 that Kratos would go to therapy and have friends who accept him for exactly who he was, and as he currently stands -- I would not believe them. But we are here and this content is untouchable in it's healing narrative. I feel like a monumental task has been accomplished here.
Even the chuds who are going to be talking a lot of shit on Youtube and TikTok about this being woke and gay are going to be lowkey crying and finding emotional resonance and peace with what happens. There is going to be input delay the next time a hard R comes out their mouth. This shit is powerful.
Valhalla is fucking FREE too. Sony could have charged money for it but it was put out for free and I'll remember it as one of their biggest dubs of this year.
The writing of God of War Ragnarok becomes somehow more powerful over time as it reconciles a lot of trauma Kratos and friends have over the terrible things that have happened in their lives and it's not corny in the slightest. If someone told me in 2007 that Kratos would go to therapy and have friends who accept him for exactly who he was, and as he currently stands -- I would not believe them. But we are here and this content is untouchable in it's healing narrative. I feel like a monumental task has been accomplished here.
Even the chuds who are going to be talking a lot of shit on Youtube and TikTok about this being woke and gay are going to be lowkey crying and finding emotional resonance and peace with what happens. There is going to be input delay the next time a hard R comes out their mouth. This shit is powerful.
Valhalla is fucking FREE too. Sony could have charged money for it but it was put out for free and I'll remember it as one of their biggest dubs of this year.
Nice little Christmas gift from Santa Monica studios. They even got Santa in their name. Har Har.
Valhalla is a neat dlc for God of War fans and those enjoy its combat system. Nice character arc for Kratos. The boss fights are cool. My only problem is that if you die, you gotta start all over. Before the final boss, you got to go through 3 realms, fight one of Valhalla's chosen, fight a mini boss, then fight 6 more of Valhalla's chosen in Greece. After all that, you fight the final boss and if you die, you gotta do that all over again. Gets kinda long, tedious and repetitive. Thing is, you have to repeat that process a minimum of 3 times anyway because of story. Wish there was a checkpoint mechanic, but I guess that would defeat the purpose of what this dlc is supposed to be: a gauntlet run where you acquire resources and upgrades the more enemies you slay.
Overall, it's a fun dlc and one worth checking out, especially since it's free. It just gets a little repetitive.
Valhalla is a neat dlc for God of War fans and those enjoy its combat system. Nice character arc for Kratos. The boss fights are cool. My only problem is that if you die, you gotta start all over. Before the final boss, you got to go through 3 realms, fight one of Valhalla's chosen, fight a mini boss, then fight 6 more of Valhalla's chosen in Greece. After all that, you fight the final boss and if you die, you gotta do that all over again. Gets kinda long, tedious and repetitive. Thing is, you have to repeat that process a minimum of 3 times anyway because of story. Wish there was a checkpoint mechanic, but I guess that would defeat the purpose of what this dlc is supposed to be: a gauntlet run where you acquire resources and upgrades the more enemies you slay.
Overall, it's a fun dlc and one worth checking out, especially since it's free. It just gets a little repetitive.
Can´t believe this is FREE.
A very competent roguelite built upon the foundations of an already excellent combat system that is rabidly fun from beginning to end in a seamless mix of combat and a story that calls to those long standing fans of the franchise without leaving out the ones that may have started the worshipping of our favourite god in 2018.
And WHAT AN ENDING too, the cherry on top to the Norse saga and the final destination in one of the best character development archs in recent history with Kratos. Legendary stuff right here. 🍒🪓
I have mastered myself, I have mastered Valhalla ❄️💙
A very competent roguelite built upon the foundations of an already excellent combat system that is rabidly fun from beginning to end in a seamless mix of combat and a story that calls to those long standing fans of the franchise without leaving out the ones that may have started the worshipping of our favourite god in 2018.
And WHAT AN ENDING too, the cherry on top to the Norse saga and the final destination in one of the best character development archs in recent history with Kratos. Legendary stuff right here. 🍒🪓
I have mastered myself, I have mastered Valhalla ❄️💙
Men would rather go to Valhalla than go to therapy
As someone who played and loved the original God Of War trilogy: Holy shit!
As someone who played and loved various “rogue” games like Hades: Holy shit!
And even if you’re someone who just played Ragnarok and loved it: Holy shit!
I would’ve easily paid $20+ dollars for this, the amount of work and care that went into it is incredible for a free update. A reminder of how insanely well the God Of War combat is done. A must play for God Of War fans and probably one of the best free DLCs of all time.
As someone who played and loved various “rogue” games like Hades: Holy shit!
And even if you’re someone who just played Ragnarok and loved it: Holy shit!
I would’ve easily paid $20+ dollars for this, the amount of work and care that went into it is incredible for a free update. A reminder of how insanely well the God Of War combat is done. A must play for God Of War fans and probably one of the best free DLCs of all time.
a love letter to the fans and it’s free??? I wasn’t expecting anything from this dlc, story wise, but it surprised beyond measure. The combat has never been more fun and the reinclusion of Greek music was the cherry on top of this masterpiece.
Não há muito o que falar aqui a não ser que essa expansão é uma carta de amor para todos os fãs de GoW. O êxtase de nostalgia que eu senti em diversos momentos foi algo que conseguiu me conectar com o meu eu pequeno que era fanático pelos jogos antigos da franquia e o que eu mais admiro nisso tudo é uma DLC desse calibre vir totalmente gratuita, com adições incríveis e até mesmo algumas surpresas! Santa Monica se provando mais uma vez ser uma dev fantástica, tanto pelo carinho que eu ela tem por sua maior franquia e o carinho pelos fãs.
Excelente expansão, prato cheio para fãs da saga grega e um modo Roguelite bastante sólido.
I have said before that Ragnarok is my easily my favorite GoW game. The way it weaved its massive tale of the Norse mythology, how it neatly tied it all at the end, and the massive strides it took to flesh out GoW 2018's combat fundamentals; it's a crowning achievement. And yet, it doesn't stop there. Valhalla feels like another leap forward, one that is taken with a good reason. While Ragnarok mostly deals with the world around Kratos, Valhalla looks within him, as he deals with a possible path to the future that is deeply connected with his past; a self he no longer wishes to be. Utilizing various lessons learned from the booming Roguelike genre, Valhalla shows this struggle through gameplay, as each repeated attempt to understand the self are displayed outwards: gaining a variety of powerups to approach things differently each time. Looking at things from a slightly different perspective. To keep moving onwards even when you have to start over, and over, and over, until clarity is achieved. But there is no end to self improvement. Valhalla always awaits you, and it is why this DLC is a gift that we all should be grateful of.
This is just Kratos in therapy and I am all for it. Just a great little DLC adventure and a perfect capstone to the main game that closes the loop on Kratos and his entire journey. This would honestly be the perfect place to retire him and let him live out the rest of his days in hope and peace.
This is a great surprise. A solid roguelike on its own but also a gratifying conclusion of Kratos' road to becoming the Norse God of War. Fuckin loved it
I enjoyed my time with the base game, so this expansion both getting announced and being free definitely caught my attention. This does a great job of expanding on the story the base game left off on, exploring Kratos as a character and how he's evolved throughout the series. They also have plenty of other small side stories from other characters as well, giving lore-hungry players something to chew on.
The gameplay of Valhalla is truly a treat. It's a roguelite experience, meaning you start a run, you either make it to the end or die, and if you die, you start at the beginning. There's ways to increase your stats at the end of each run, successful or not, to make further attempts easier. You collect all sorts of skills and perks as you advance through encounters, including new moves that have a set amount of charges that don't recharge, making you have to think about the proper times to use them.
I played on the game's equivalent of "Normal" and was able to see all the major story content after around 5-6 hours, and even after that you're encouraged to keep doing runs to see more smaller lore bits and become even stronger, so there's plenty here to keep you engaged.
If you loved. God of War Ragnarök and want more of that game's story and gameplay, you have no reason to overlook this DLC, especially since it's FREE!
The gameplay of Valhalla is truly a treat. It's a roguelite experience, meaning you start a run, you either make it to the end or die, and if you die, you start at the beginning. There's ways to increase your stats at the end of each run, successful or not, to make further attempts easier. You collect all sorts of skills and perks as you advance through encounters, including new moves that have a set amount of charges that don't recharge, making you have to think about the proper times to use them.
I played on the game's equivalent of "Normal" and was able to see all the major story content after around 5-6 hours, and even after that you're encouraged to keep doing runs to see more smaller lore bits and become even stronger, so there's plenty here to keep you engaged.
If you loved. God of War Ragnarök and want more of that game's story and gameplay, you have no reason to overlook this DLC, especially since it's FREE!
You give me more focus on developing Kratos’ character with a unique spin on the combat I already love, I give you 4 stars no questions asked
Also, with how much NEW and insanely cool stuff they put in here, I can’t believe it’s a free expansion, thank you Santa Monica
Also, with how much NEW and insanely cool stuff they put in here, I can’t believe it’s a free expansion, thank you Santa Monica
Exactly... Kratos has one of the best redemptions I've ever seen.
Damn Roguelike, I got really stressed at some points, but that's the good thing, you take the journey with Kratos, you don't just see his journey, you share it with him. You and Kratos have to be prepared to advance, It's totally beautiful
Damn Roguelike, I got really stressed at some points, but that's the good thing, you take the journey with Kratos, you don't just see his journey, you share it with him. You and Kratos have to be prepared to advance, It's totally beautiful
Rather disappointing yet a good epilog.
Writing this while still looking at the credits. Playing this game was pretty frustrating. It's short but kinda stretched long at the same time and it totally drags. Why? Because there is no real checkpoint system. When you die you start back at the riverbank and have to retry some of the progesses you make which just sucks ass. Seriously it kinda felt like work rather than entertainment. You go to the same places all over again and fight more or less the same enemies and healing items are rather scarce. That ain't a good combination with the games "checkpoint system" and makes the game longer than it needed to be and not on a good way. I would have prefered something more in the line as with "Bioshock - Burial at Sea".
The story is good for what it is. It gives a better insight of the regrets Kratos got over his past and what he thinks about his actions in the old days. I also liked his interactions with "Helios". Especially when Kratos told him he was sorry for killing him. And the ending again was great and for sure a good therapy session for Kratos.
With that being all said. Valhalla kinda proofs me as someone who mostly plays games for the story that story isn't anyway. The way the levels were designed wasn't fun at all. I literally changed the difficulty from medium to easy on the final phase.
As a free to play this would be an 8/10. However I rate all expansion packs like I do with any other game, so...
6/10 therapy sessions.
Writing this while still looking at the credits. Playing this game was pretty frustrating. It's short but kinda stretched long at the same time and it totally drags. Why? Because there is no real checkpoint system. When you die you start back at the riverbank and have to retry some of the progesses you make which just sucks ass. Seriously it kinda felt like work rather than entertainment. You go to the same places all over again and fight more or less the same enemies and healing items are rather scarce. That ain't a good combination with the games "checkpoint system" and makes the game longer than it needed to be and not on a good way. I would have prefered something more in the line as with "Bioshock - Burial at Sea".
The story is good for what it is. It gives a better insight of the regrets Kratos got over his past and what he thinks about his actions in the old days. I also liked his interactions with "Helios". Especially when Kratos told him he was sorry for killing him. And the ending again was great and for sure a good therapy session for Kratos.
With that being all said. Valhalla kinda proofs me as someone who mostly plays games for the story that story isn't anyway. The way the levels were designed wasn't fun at all. I literally changed the difficulty from medium to easy on the final phase.
As a free to play this would be an 8/10. However I rate all expansion packs like I do with any other game, so...
6/10 therapy sessions.
How.........how in the name of god did Santa Monica do it.
Somehow.......they made a FREE dlc, more content rich, more story rich, and more meaningful to the greater series then most paid dlcs.....I'm just...shocked. Santa Monica has reached a peak with this era of GoW, even if the rougelike gameplay is shallow and no where near as other games in this field; they still hit it out of the park with the writing and acting. No joke Naughty Dog wishes they could write a character as good as Santa Monica writes Kratos it is unreal how great he is in this.
I'm just glad I ended this year off with kino instead of the last Saints Row reboot dlc pack because how boy that would've been depressing.
Somehow.......they made a FREE dlc, more content rich, more story rich, and more meaningful to the greater series then most paid dlcs.....I'm just...shocked. Santa Monica has reached a peak with this era of GoW, even if the rougelike gameplay is shallow and no where near as other games in this field; they still hit it out of the park with the writing and acting. No joke Naughty Dog wishes they could write a character as good as Santa Monica writes Kratos it is unreal how great he is in this.
I'm just glad I ended this year off with kino instead of the last Saints Row reboot dlc pack because how boy that would've been depressing.
Disappointed that it wasn’t longer! Ties a nice little bow for Kratos”s story for now, and actually got me interested in rougelikes. Also, it’s free - who can say no to that.
Wasn't a fan of the base game at all, but Valhalla is a wonderfully crafted combat centric experience and a nice epilogue to the nu-GoW story. It's a very accessible roguelike mode that makes Kratos face his past in a way the new games hadn't shown before.
Issues exist, obviously, and many carry over verbatim from the main game. The camera is still wonky, dialogue is still a bit too quippy and some encounters last way too long. However, this is still worth a play if you're invested in the story or just enjoy GoW combat.
Issues exist, obviously, and many carry over verbatim from the main game. The camera is still wonky, dialogue is still a bit too quippy and some encounters last way too long. However, this is still worth a play if you're invested in the story or just enjoy GoW combat.
Uma das maiores surpresas que eu já tive, essa expansão é uma carta de amor a franquia. Um epílogo introspectivo para a jornada de Kratos, recheado de conteúdo novo e surpresas do passado envolto em um looping de gameplay prazeroso.
É muito mais do que eu esperava, God of War Ragnarök tem um dos meus sistemas de combate favoritos nos jogos, e aqui tendo esse fator aleatório do gênero roguelike, cria um looping viciante, a quantidade de conteúdo novo me impressionou também, essa expansão é um triunfo.
É muito mais do que eu esperava, God of War Ragnarök tem um dos meus sistemas de combate favoritos nos jogos, e aqui tendo esse fator aleatório do gênero roguelike, cria um looping viciante, a quantidade de conteúdo novo me impressionou também, essa expansão é um triunfo.
I cannot believe the plot of an actual God of War story is Kratos being tricked into going to therapy.
How is this free DLC???
I would give this 5stars but I'm personally not a fan of roguelites so while I love the combat, the entire loop wasn't that interesting to me. The story and character stuff is an easy 10/10 tho. As someone who has been playing these games since the original trilogy this was an extremely rewarding experience. And just in general this is a great epilogue that makes Kratos' journey even better
I would give this 5stars but I'm personally not a fan of roguelites so while I love the combat, the entire loop wasn't that interesting to me. The story and character stuff is an easy 10/10 tho. As someone who has been playing these games since the original trilogy this was an extremely rewarding experience. And just in general this is a great epilogue that makes Kratos' journey even better
An astonishingly high quality free DLC that expands upon my favorite game of 2022. This pushed me to master the combat in a way that I didn't in the base game, and even though I haven't played the original GoW trilogy, seeing Kratos confront and overcome his demons was amazing all the same.
This DLC also reminded me just how fucking gorgeous Ragnarok is and how absurd the graphical fidelity on display here is - you can see every pore on that man's bald head. Now one of my all-time favorite DLCs.
This DLC also reminded me just how fucking gorgeous Ragnarok is and how absurd the graphical fidelity on display here is - you can see every pore on that man's bald head. Now one of my all-time favorite DLCs.
Not finished it yet but this is cooler than i thought it would be. There's quite a lot of effort put into this for a free dlc.