I came for the boobs and gore but found so much more
I recently played God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla and quickly found out that I barely remember Kratos' story at all. I came into the series as a horny teen who played for the boobs and gore so I guess I didn't pay attention to anything beyond those at the time. That's why returning with a mature mindset and appreciation for story/character + the context of Valhalla and Kratos' recent development was a massive payoff that I didn't expect returning to this game.
The combat aged like fine mead. It's snappy, has a lot of combo and ability variety that keeps the flow of combat so satisfying. Blades of Chaos is iconic from the get-go and the finishers are brutal af. I never got bored of the combat at all.
My only gripe throughout was some section that breaks the pace or was a bit too difficult (Pushing the box while archers rain arrows down on you, slooowly pushing giant pillars even with the kick, that one section where bats will push you down the beams, etc) and also sometimes the grab finishers misses but overall, super fun experience.
check my logs for moment-to-moment thoughts and a best/worst of list at the end
7.45 hours and later, I give God of War a 4.5/5
I recently played God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla and quickly found out that I barely remember Kratos' story at all. I came into the series as a horny teen who played for the boobs and gore so I guess I didn't pay attention to anything beyond those at the time. That's why returning with a mature mindset and appreciation for story/character + the context of Valhalla and Kratos' recent development was a massive payoff that I didn't expect returning to this game.
The combat aged like fine mead. It's snappy, has a lot of combo and ability variety that keeps the flow of combat so satisfying. Blades of Chaos is iconic from the get-go and the finishers are brutal af. I never got bored of the combat at all.
My only gripe throughout was some section that breaks the pace or was a bit too difficult (Pushing the box while archers rain arrows down on you, slooowly pushing giant pillars even with the kick, that one section where bats will push you down the beams, etc) and also sometimes the grab finishers misses but overall, super fun experience.
check my logs for moment-to-moment thoughts and a best/worst of list at the end
7.45 hours and later, I give God of War a 4.5/5