God of War Ragnarok is a very safe game. It makes some attempts to fix issues with the last game, for example giving Freya a stronger character arc, and furthering Kratos’ story as he ages and finally starts to open up as a man. But there are no risks taken. Atreus’ sections make up most of the more compelling times in the story but I found myself wishing they made up a lot more of the game.
There is a lot of filler; even ignoring side quests, time spent in between dramatic moments is often just run of the mill combat, walking along corridors and climbing.
The game relies a little less on the one take over the shoulder camera but it still struggles with it, obfuscating characters emotional reactions and even in combat making it hard to see what’s happening around you.
Where GOW2018 held back introducing too many of the Norse gods, Ragnarok instead contains a very bloated cast. Some smaller characters get drawn in to the main story when we barely know them.
There are a couple of beautiful moments there towards the end, but they just don’t justify the time spent getting to them.
I know this has become a bit of a moaning list of complaints but I had to let this out somewhere. I would have loved the game to focus nearly entirely on Atreus; or even have Kratos cast off the Blades of Chaos and let go. The game would benefit from being a lot shorter. Perhaps it’s trying to deliver something like Witcher 3- it does share a lot of its themes and ideas- but it might do better to embrace a shorter, tighter adventure, as it feels more like a stretched out Naughty Dog game in a bigger world.
There is a lot of filler; even ignoring side quests, time spent in between dramatic moments is often just run of the mill combat, walking along corridors and climbing.
The game relies a little less on the one take over the shoulder camera but it still struggles with it, obfuscating characters emotional reactions and even in combat making it hard to see what’s happening around you.
Where GOW2018 held back introducing too many of the Norse gods, Ragnarok instead contains a very bloated cast. Some smaller characters get drawn in to the main story when we barely know them.
There are a couple of beautiful moments there towards the end, but they just don’t justify the time spent getting to them.
I know this has become a bit of a moaning list of complaints but I had to let this out somewhere. I would have loved the game to focus nearly entirely on Atreus; or even have Kratos cast off the Blades of Chaos and let go. The game would benefit from being a lot shorter. Perhaps it’s trying to deliver something like Witcher 3- it does share a lot of its themes and ideas- but it might do better to embrace a shorter, tighter adventure, as it feels more like a stretched out Naughty Dog game in a bigger world.