God Of War Ragnarök review – a myth of father and son-David Jenkins-Entertainment – Metro

God Of War Ragnarök – being a dad isn’t easy (pic: Sony)

The biggest PS4 and PS5 exclusive of the year is finally here but can Ragnarök live up to the spectacle of the previous God Of War?

The 2018 God Of War deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest franchise reinventions of all time. Despite the subtitle-less name it was not a reboot, but instead a direct continuation of the story of Kratos – a god of war from Ancient Greece who up until that point had been one of gaming’s most loathsomely amoral protagonists. The games are almost unplayable nowadays, for anyone that’s not a terminally moody teenager, and yet they had to have existed in order for the new game to happen, and for Kratos to embark on one of the greatest redemptive journeys that gaming has ever seen.

If God Of War had been some low budget indie game its themes would not have seemed so surprising, but it was a massive budget AAA PlayStation exclusive and Sony deserve just as much credit for publishing it as Santa Monica Studio do for making it. By the end of the game Kratos was transformed, from a heartless monster into not only a loving father but someone that wanted to seek out and help other people.

You might think that leaves nowhere for the sequel, on both PlayStation 5 and 4, to go but while, at the start of this new game, Kratos has become overly protective of his son he’s still a good person (well, god) and becomes even better through the course of this new journey. The character-based storytelling is exceptional on any level, but most especially for such a violent, previously nihilistic, action game franchise.

Although the above is all true, judging the game as a whole it’s clear it’s not quite so perfectly formed as its predecessor. The primary problem, oddly, is the plot, which is so vaguely sketched that at times it seems almost non-existent. At the beginning of the game Kratos and his son Atreus – who has learnt his Nordic name is Loki – are merely trying to stay out of everyone’s way, since their actions in the previous game caused the start of Ragnarök, an end of the world myth that seems to be everywhere in pop culture at the moment.

Not only have the duo upset Odin’s ex-wife Freya, by preventing her son from murdering her, but they’ve also attracted the attention of Odin and Thor – although at the beginning of the game there’s a half-hearted attempt at a truce, which is actually a ruse for Odin to try and convince Atreus to fulfil a prophecy where he willingly joins him.

The game spends an awful lot of time meditating on the concept of unavoidable fate, which is fine in the context of Nordic beliefs at the time but is hardly a subject that needs much arguing against in the modern day. It does, however, bring to mind the themes of Terminator 2 and we suspect that film has been a great influence here, given it’s also a violent action experience with an anti-war message.

It’s debatable how clearly that concept, and the one about the perils of seeking vengeance, is put across by the conclusion of the story, but the biggest problem with the plot is how formless it is. Odin is not a very proactive adversary and Kratos and his allies spend an awful lot of time talking about how they don’t know what to do or where to go, which becomes increasingly demoralising when you’re already feeling that way as a player. This ends up making everything seem very directionless, with the plot’s goals all being very vague until almost the last moment.

It’s a good job, then, that all the action is still as much fun as ever. God Of War is a third person action game not dissimilar to other big name Sony franchises, but with much more involved combat and only a semi-open world structure.

Kratos still has his axe from the last game, but it can now generate ice powers, which are more effective against certain enemies. From the start of the game, he can also use his Blades of Chaos, from the original trilogy, which generate fire. A third weapon, with more vaguely defined wind powers, is introduced much later, but worrying about the elemental effects is rarely necessary and the pause while Kratos switches weapons means you can’t mix up combos Bayonetta or Devil May Cry style.

The combat does have more depth to it than before, and there are separate skill trees to unlock for each of the weapons but, much like the story, they’re utilised in the most imprudent way possible. Whenever you upgrade a weapon, to unlock a new level in the skill tree, you usually have enough experience points to instantly buy them all at once. Even with the first set of abilities, you unlock so many at once it’s overwhelming.

This is a terrible idea because some of the moves and abilities involve very specific control commands (which is good) but because they take time to learn, and you’re suddenly bombarded with half a dozen at once, it’s very easy to completely forget about them. The game isn’t especially easy but on normal difficulty we were often aware we were only ever using a small subset of the available moves, with the game providing no incentive or reminder to do anything else.

These issues were present in the original but are exacerbated here because of the multiple weapons. However, Ragnarök does improve on the role-playing elements from the last game, which previously felt like mere inventory busywork. There are still too many special amulets, runes, and other buff-providing items but they’re easier to manage this time round and if nothing else there’s an auto-equip button.

The puzzles have got very stale though, and while a few are quite clever none are very interesting, with far too many involving freezing gears to keep doors open or working out a way to move a crane so you can swing across a gap. These account for what must be 75% of the game’s puzzles and when you get a bunch of them in a row, which happens more than once, it begins to feel disappointingly uninspired. Although it’s even more irritating that whoever your companion is will blurt out the solution just seconds after you start trying to work it out.

God Of War Ragnarök – the graphics can still impress, despite being cross-gen (pic: Sony)

Ragnarök’s other problem is that the majority of realms you visit are places you’ve been before. The nine realms are a big part of Nordic mythology but most of them were already featured in the first game, so there are a lot of return visits. They’re mostly new areas, and there’s always an attempt to add something new – such as the puzzles involving bouncing your axe off special gems in the elf realm of Alfheim – but that can’t prevent the feeling of déjà vu.

You spend a lot of time in Vanaheim and Svartalfheim, which weren’t featured in the original, but the former is a fairly stock example of a forest world and while the latter is the home of the dwarves the place still manages to look completely deserted even when you’re in the capital city.

Although there is a variety of different companions, including some substantial playtime as Atreus (who plays surprisingly similarly to Kratos, despite his bow), in terms of the world you’re exploring everything feels so empty and lifeless. That was also the case in the previous game and we’re still not sure what the explanation is meant to be within the game’s lore.

What’s especially frustrating about the locations is that they all follow the same formula and structure, with very little variation in terms of visuals or basic layout. There’s one noticeable exception that riffs on Jack and the Beanstalk style iconography, which is easily one of the most interesting sequences in the game, but it’s the only diversion like that.

The graphics are overall very good, even if the facial animation is beginning to look a bit outdated, but the worlds you explore are disappointingly uninteractive and artificial. Whether you can or cannot climb or jump off a cliff often seem arbitrary, with the otherwise unstoppable Kratos often having his progress impeded by a small ledge.

The use of invisible walls often means you can’t sidle round objects you could obviously fit between, all of which begins to recall the feeling of touring a theme park attraction. This impression is reinforced in Svartalfheim, in particular, which is full of fences with lots of dwarven mining equipment on the other side, which really does make it feel like you’re just walking through a Christmas grotto.

Santa Monica Studio has already confirmed this will be the last entry to be based on Nordic myths and it’s easy to imagine there are multiple reasons for this, not least the fact that what was originally a startlingly innovative take on a moribund franchise is quickly starting to feel old hat. Many were upset that this is a cross-gen game and it’s clear everything has been designed for the limitations of the PlayStation 4, with no obvious use of the PlayStation 5’s power.

Beyond that, there’s just a lot of very odd design decisions. This extends even to the voice-acting, which is very good on a technical level but has some bizarre choices in terms of accents – as well as noticeably more modern dialogue than last time, which often feels out of place. Almost every character is very obviously American, and this includes a dwarf that talks like a Southern belle stereotype and Odin’s actor who seems to be channelling Steve Buscemi in a Mafia role.

The only accents that are even remotely Nordic are reserved for nameless, cannon fodder enemies. The one obvious exception is Mimir, voiced by Scottish actor Alastair Duncan, who we can only assume was being paid for how many times he could utter the word ‘brother’ in a single game. He’s far more annoying than he was in the original but, again, the game makes things worse by having all the other characters keep commenting on it.

Despite the flaws, Ragnarök is still a very entertaining game. It’s longer than its predecessor and while, like the last the game, the combat and limited range of enemies does start to get old a little before the end there’s a mountain of post-game content that will still have you coming back for more.

The end, which naturally we’re not going to spoil here, is a little disappointing though, not just because the final battles are slightly underwhelming but because there’s what many will see as a cop-out in terms of the story. Expectations are subverted at numerous points but the one at the end feels like the least interesting direction they could have taken things.

Ragnarök’s greatest success is not the action, the exploration, and certainly not the plot. Instead, it’s the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, which is going to resonate strongly with everyone, but especially fathers and sons or those from a troubled family.

Everything from the sacrifices necessary to become a parent to the awful inevitability of dealing with a parent whose time may be coming to an end are handled organically and in a very relatable manner – despite the fantastical nature of the characters. Questions of forgiveness, guilt, and dealing with loss are channelled through other characters as well, although there are enough inconsistences with Freya’s portrayal that she doesn’t seem quite so believable.

God Of War Ragnarök – Freya is the game’s other main character (pic: Sony)

The gradual thawing of Kratos’ personality, his struggle to communicate his love for his son, and Atreus’ attempts to both support his father and forge his own path are handled so masterfully well it seems all the stranger that the game could have made such obvious mistakes elsewhere.

There’s even a successful attempt to humanise Thor and his kin, somewhat in the style of The Last Of Us Part 2, which again is impressively subtle in the way it depicts a fractured but still loving family.

Action video games always struggle to tell meaningful stories about normal human emotions, for the simple fact that for the majority of any game you’re constantly killing people or things, but here it works. The context of everyone being a god or mythological being helps but mostly it’s just good writing, good performances, and the willingness to take time out from the action to show how the characters feel and how the events are affecting them – and all without any overlong cut scenes.

Ragnarök gets some things wrong but the things it gets right almost no other action game ever has, and that at least is a godlike achievement.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (previewed) and PlayStation 4
Price: £69.99
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Release Date: 9th November 2022
Age Rating: 18

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