Let me start by saying that God of War Ragnarok is a good game and you should play it. It’s definitely not one to miss. Most outlets seem to be giving it a 10/10; I wouldn’t go that far, I’d probably stick it at a 9, with its predecessor at a 10.

As of right now, I have played through the majority of the game and finished the entirety of the story and the majority of the side quests. I’m mainly hung up on the two big endgame bosses, Gna and Hrolf. And let me tell you, they are tougher than anything in God of War (2018).

Additionally, this isn’t a comprehensive review, just a couple of notes that I had banging around. I suppose you could always just talk to me if you want to hear more or discuss.

First off, I have some nitpicks about the controls. Nothing too crazy, but I felt that it overcomplicated after God of War (2018). The new weapon of the Draupnir Spear was great, but I felt the triangle for the charge up actions on all three weapons was overkill and cluttered the controls a bit. I also found myself missing the barehanded fighting from 2018. It was there, but felt like it had very much hit the sidelines.

I loved the addition as Freya as a companion. She was great and the conversations between her, Mimir, and Kratos were some of my favorites of the year.

But my biggest hangup was the narrative. One of the strengths of God of War (2018) was the tightness. It was wholly centered around Atreus and Kratos’ relationship. It was a lean machine that was doing everything exactly on purpose.

Ragnarok did the opposite. It went from an intimate fantasy story about a father and son with an epic fantasy in the background to an epic fantasy in the forefront with an attempted intimate story in the background. And it just wasn’t my favorite.

Due to my familiarity with the epic fantasy genre, I was just bored with the scale that SMS was trying to create with Ragnarok. I wanted those intimate moments between characters, which were there, but they were undercut by the extreme amount of new characters that were added.

Not to mention they retconned all of the interesting Jormungandr stuff from the first game.

All in all, it’s still a very good game and I would highly recommend it, but Game of the Year?

Probably not. My bet is that it swings to Elden Ring (which I do believe is a 10/10). Ragnarok just kept the ball rolling from its previous game that was revolutionary (and God of War very rightly won Game of the Year) whereas Elden Ring presented something else that was completely revolutionary, opening the broader gaming audience to Soulslikes.

I just want to say it again, Ragnarok is phenomenal, and I haven’t enjoyed playing a game this much since Elden Ring. Check it out, you’ll have a great time!