The ending of a story can color everything that came before, for better or worse. This is something I have to keep reminding myself as I have tried to think about how I would review God of War Ragnarok, because I felt, as many have, that the game felt more and more rushed as the titular finale came closer and closer. But ultimately, thinking back on the moments of the journey, I can't let my judgement be too clouded, because there was so much I loved (and honestly, the ending wasn't even bad, it just didn't live up to what came before).
In many ways, the simplest way to assess Ragnarok is that it is the inverse of its predecessor– while God of War had a great story and lacking mechanics, Ragnarok has great mechanics and a lacking story– but that is a little too reductive of both games.
It is true that most of my gripes from the last game have been addressed, mechanically speaking. The UX is way better, the enemey variety and complexity is there and the worlds are bigger.
Unfortunately, for me, some of that expansion is where things start to suffer. I think there's a pretty solid analogue in the new DOOM games- after the success of the reboot, the studios went hogwild in enhancing the sequel, resulting in some amazing mechanics, but also in the loss of the special, understated, 'will-this-even-work' barebones storytelling that made them hits.
There's an argument that we need more characters than the few we had in 2018– heck, the whole world may be ending, so we need to see who else is affected by it, right? Kratos and Atreus fixed their relationship, so we need to see them go beyond that towards their friends and community, right?
It all makes sense on paper, and the performances and writing are solid, but often I missed the quiet journey from before.
I still think the game is amazing, and I wish I could articulate what I would even want specifically, but there's just something here that isn't leaving me feeling whole. Maybe in the postgame, or when I eventually replay it down the road, I will figure it out. In the meantime, I still highly recommend it.
In many ways, the simplest way to assess Ragnarok is that it is the inverse of its predecessor– while God of War had a great story and lacking mechanics, Ragnarok has great mechanics and a lacking story– but that is a little too reductive of both games.
It is true that most of my gripes from the last game have been addressed, mechanically speaking. The UX is way better, the enemey variety and complexity is there and the worlds are bigger.
Unfortunately, for me, some of that expansion is where things start to suffer. I think there's a pretty solid analogue in the new DOOM games- after the success of the reboot, the studios went hogwild in enhancing the sequel, resulting in some amazing mechanics, but also in the loss of the special, understated, 'will-this-even-work' barebones storytelling that made them hits.
There's an argument that we need more characters than the few we had in 2018– heck, the whole world may be ending, so we need to see who else is affected by it, right? Kratos and Atreus fixed their relationship, so we need to see them go beyond that towards their friends and community, right?
It all makes sense on paper, and the performances and writing are solid, but often I missed the quiet journey from before.
I still think the game is amazing, and I wish I could articulate what I would even want specifically, but there's just something here that isn't leaving me feeling whole. Maybe in the postgame, or when I eventually replay it down the road, I will figure it out. In the meantime, I still highly recommend it.