Pros
- Epic story with a deeper dive into Norse mythology
- Combat is just as brutally fun as before
- Atreus as a playable character is a welcome addition
- Looks phenomenal on the PS5
Cons
- Frustrating difficulty spikes
- Lots of backtracking in game’s latter half
While it might not be a PS5-exclusive, God of War: Ragnarök is of such a high quality that it’s still one of our favourite PS5 games to date, easily earning itself a full 5-star rating.
2018’s God of War reboot was a fantastic game in its own right, but Ragnarök manages to build upon its foundations and offer a gaming experience like no other. For starters, the game picks up several years after its predecessor, with Atreus now on the cusp of manhood and quickly outgrowing the need for supervision from Kratos.
With Atreus’ yearning for independence however, Kratos fears losing the family he has left, and the emotional tug-of-war that ensues soon becomes the catalyst for a much wider story that draws in the almighty Odin and his powerful son, Thor.
Ragnarök’s new villains are a fascinating pair, and are as fully-fleshed out as our main heroes, thanks to incredible voice acting and motion capture performances. In fact, if you’re after a story-driven adventure (and you’ve already checked out The Last of Us Part 1) then this should be the obvious next choice on your radar.
Gameplay-wise, Ragnarök is very similar to the previous God of War title, so returning players will soon settle back into the gameplay loop. What really sets the newer game apart however are the sections that see you play as Atreus, who moves and fights in a way that’s notably different to Kratos and takes some getting used to.
At the time of the game’s release, there was already a ton of post-game content to check out including a new game plus mode that allows you to tackle the story once more but with most of the weapons you’ve accrued along the way, available to you right from the start. Since then however, Ragnarök has had even more content added via the free Valhalla update.
Acting as something of an epilogue to the game’s main story, Valhalla sees Kratos tackle the posthumous realm with a roguelite style gameplay loop that sees you return to the gates of Valhalla every time you die, but with a few upgrades to make the next run just a bit easier. It’s similar to Returnal from a gameplay perspective, but the story seeks to mesh Kratos’ present with his past in a way that’s incredibly rewarding for long-time fans of the series.
Reviewer: Ryan Jones
Full review: God of War Ragnarök
