God of War 2018 was one man’s story. Like the tales of Odysseus, Perseus, or Shrek, we only ever saw the story from a single perspective. In many ways, it’s part of what made that game so great. The fact that the entire game was a single continuous camera shot was an incredible achievement, it let you hone in on Kratos and his relationship with those around him.
However, I was left wanting more out of the world. There was plenty of talk of the Asgardians plotting and scheming in the background, but we never got to see any of it. Odin is mentioned in almost every other sentence, but we don’t get any idea of what he’s actually doing during Kratos and Atreus’ journey.
This is one of the major ways in which God of War Ragnarök breaks away from its predecessor. The visual language of the first game is by no means thrown out, but this time it’s willing to use more hidden cuts and a roaming camera to frame things better. It puts me in mind of the original God of War series, where the camera would regularly pull back to capture the scale of your colossal opponents.
It allows for a much deeper story with a larger cast of characters and closer looks into their lives. No matter how seemingly unimportant a character is they have a meaningful arc that pays off by the end of the story, something almost no other triple-A game could pull off with a cast this size. It’s clear that the team at Santa Monica understood how important the narrative prowess was to the first game’s brilliance.
Brilliance is the appropriate word for this game’s writing too. Whenever a character speaks, you feel like you have to listen because they’re bound to say something that will garner a strong reaction. If a moment wants to be funny, it will make you laugh, if it wants to be impactful, it’ll make you hang on every word. It’s an incredible achievement for a game about a man who looks like Stone Cold Steve Austin got really into body paint.
That’s not to ignore the stellar performances of the voice cast. Christopher Judge redefines Kratos as a more calm and caring man who can still rip his enemies limb from limb; Sunny Suljic imbues Atreus with young and curious energy, dripping in uncertainty about who he truly is; Ryan Hurst gives Thor a menacing aura; Richard Schiff as Odin is a charismatic cult leader; and Daniell Bisutti turns the soft and caring Freya into a vengeful god.
Progression feels a lot different this time around. In the first game, you set out with a clear goal and were constantly prevented from getting there. In Ragnarök, your objective keeps changing, giving the feeling of constant progression, rather than setbacks.
Another overarching theme of God of War was that of learning. Kratos was doing everything he could to teach Atreus how to be a strong warrior, but there was always the sense that Atreus was teaching Kratos a thing or two along the way – Ragnarök brings that to the forefront. Kratos is a much more caring man, he’s learned to read Norse, and knows when to give his son more independence.
It isn’t just lip service to those ideas either, it’s baked into how the game plays. Atreus no longer hangs onto Kratos’ back while climbing, he makes his own way. He’s more capable in battle, having the confidence to fight in close quarters and knowing when to back off and let loose with arrows. He fights more as his own entity, rather than just a tool for Kratos to command.
Combat is mostly the same as before, but everything feels so much smoother. Switching between the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos is as easy as tapping a button like before, but everything else has had an extra layer of refinement that makes fights flow in a whole new way.
Your dodges and dodge-rolls can now cancel almost any action, allowing for much quicker reactions to incoming attacks. Kratos steps around the battlefield with finesse like never before and you’ve got grapple points that let you jump up and slam down on enemy’s heads. Despite that, things still feel as heavy and impactful as they did before, none of that power has been lost. One of the optional boss fights put me in mind of a FromSoftware game with how carefully I had to time blocks, parries, and dodges as I chipped away at a massive health bar.
Enemy variety has been ramped up significantly, addressing one of the first game’s biggest issues. I was still encountering new enemy types over 30 hours in. This goes for boss battles too, there are a lot more of them and they’re more spectacular than ever. That’s not all though, there are some new “combat styles”, to put it in a spoiler-free way. It’s a surprise you should discover for yourself, but they’re fantastic additions.
Ragnarök has a perfect understanding of what everyone’s expecting from this game. If anything, the marketing surrounding the game has been deliberately crafted to make it seem like a slightly grander retread of the first game. That’s simply not the case though, as it is a master of pulling the rug out from under you and giving you surprise after surprise both in terms of story and gameplay.
With nine realms to explore, you’ll be constantly thrown into new environments, each holding its own visual spectacles. The care that went into making each realm feel distinct in the first game has been ramped up to incredible levels, even bringing shocking new sights to old locations as Fimbulwinter takes hold of Midgard. If you want to visit the Lake of the Nine, you better bring some skates.
If you’re a long-time fan of the God of War series, then there’s a lot more in here for you than the first time around. More than just nods and references, Ragnarok gives us a more introspective Kratos who is willing to address his past and reflect on his actions.
God of War 2018 was an astounding game – one of the best of all time – but this sequel blows it out of the water. Everything has been improved upon. If you’re tempted to sneak a peak at what’s in store before you play, I implore you to think again. It won’t be long before spoilers litter Twitter’s landscape, so hunker down until you’ve had the chance to see it first-hand.
Written by Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
