God of War Ragnarök is slop for gluttonous consumer pigs.

The game treats you like a child that can't think for itself to ensure the widest possible audience and maximum profits.
The story features well known characters and elements from mythology, so you can clap your hands and point at the screen and go "Hey, I know that guy he's so cool and strong I have also seen him in one of my 50 mind-numbingly shallow marvel movies!!" To Sony, it must feel like jingling keys in front of a baby.
And to put the cherry on top of the most pop culture cake you have ever tasted, every filler dialogue has to be written in a quippy "well this is awkward he's right behind me isn't he? 😜😜" type of way, desperately trying to get you to chuckle, because god forbid a player doesn't have dopamine shooting through his brain for 30 seconds! He might engage with the media beyond the surface level then!

Or atleast that was what I thought my opinion about God Of War Ragnarök would be. Fortunately, this game owned my hating ass. Because even though the game truly does end up feeling somewhat patronizing in its effort to accomodate every possible gamer and non-gamer demographic, and the dialogue truly being quite cringy and forced sometimes, the things this game does really well more than make up for it. There are two elements that really stuck out for me.

The first one is the gameplay, which is sick as hell. There are 3 and a half weapons with dozens of combos and special attacks aswell as - of course - parrying, blocking and dodging, and you'll have to employ all of these mechanics in attunement to a large and diverse cast of enemies. It took some time to get used to all of this complexity, but once I did, fighting turned into an action-packed and well-tuned remix of various offensive and defensive moves that felt incredibly satisfying when I pulled it off smoothly.
There are also two bossfights here that are on par with the best FromSoft-Bosses, which is a compliment I certainly do not give lightly.

The second is Kratos & Atreus's relationship. It is ironic that I likened people being entertained by well-known pop culture characters appearing to jingling keys infront of a baby, when I apparently can't help but get my shit rocked emotionally by every parent-child dynamic I see. For me, Kratos & Atreus's dynamic specifically excels in being quite relateable, with Kratos being a harsh and cold father figure who, while wanting the best for his child and truly loving it, is completely unable or unwilling to ever communicate that feeling. It made me think a lot about my own father and about the father I want to be.
The overarching story meanwhile is engaging from beginning to end, although the plot sometimes moves too fast for the characters to keep up with it, leading to questionable character decisions and some moments not really having the payoff they probably should have.

Lastly, the Valhalla DLC is a pretty cool addition to the game. The fact that it's free gets a fat wholesome updoot from me