Synopsis: Atreus seeks knowledge to help him understand the prophecy of “Loki” and establish his role in Ragnarök. Kratos must decide whether he will be chained by the fear of repeating his mistakes or break free of his past to be the father Atreus needs.

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Reviewed on: PS5
Also available for: PS4

Cast: Christopher Judge, Sunny Suljic, Danielle Bisutti, Ryan Hurst, Alastair Duncan, Adam J. Harrington, Robert Craighead, Richard Schiff, Kate Miller, Daniel Kountz, Usman Ally, Erica Lindbeck, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Shelby Young, Ben Prendergast

Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Game Director: Eric Williams
Narrative Director: Matt Sophos
Lead Writers: Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Orion Walker, Adam Dolin, Anthony Burch, Lauren Signorino, Shanon Ingles, Aly Samson, Hannah Filipski
Creative Director: Cory Barlog
Lead Producer: Chad Cox
Composer: Bear McCreary

Neither PlayStation nor developer Sony Santa Monica could re-create 2018’s God of War. It reinvigorated a franchise by remodelling its brutal combat for a new age and filling an otherwise bland one-note protagonist with much-needed characterisation. God of War Ragnarok isn’t looking to do that trick again; it doesn’t need to. Instead, it’s building upon everything that was set up in the first game. It isn’t as much of a sequel as it is a continuation. And I don’t mean that in any redundant way. Similar to how The Last of Us Part II continued the first game’s narrative while showing consequences for the characters’ actions and how Ellie grows into an adult. So does God of War Ragnarok, as Atreus, now a teenager, has much more conviction and must face with his father the consequences of their actions from the events of the first game. You don’t get to kill a few gods and think you’ll be safe forever.

God of War Ragnarok picks up roughly three years after the events of God of War (2018). Kratos and Atreus are living day-to-day in their same small cabin in Midgard. With what little magic Atreus has learned, he’s been able to surround their land in a protective spell to keep out those who would want to harm them. On top of that list is Freya, seeking revenge for Kratos killing Baulder, and Thor and Odin after blood payment for the death of Thor’s two sons. To say that Kratos and Atreus’s protective bubble is interrupted isn’t a spoiler, but it’s about as far as I want to go with discussing narrative specifics. Much like the first game, there are more than a few surprises; you, the player, should discover each, just as I did.

What God of War Ragnarok‘s narrative did deliver, however, was the experience I kept hearing others have with the 2018 game. I found Kratos a vast improvement with that game, but still hard to relate to. Atreus was kind of annoying, and the gruff and tough “boy” father/son dynamic was, again, a huge step up from past games in the franchise, but it didn’t connect. God of War Ragnarok is everything I’d hear others talk about when it came to character connection. Kratos is slightly softer here, which helps as he isn’t the one leading the game; instead, it’s his choice to listen to Atreus’s advice and attempt to guide him. He does offer some stern advice at times, but he mostly will offer up hypotheticals or questions when Atreus begs him to partake in his plans. He wants his son to be well-equipped to be a man and stand independently, but Kratos was brought up differently. Ripped from his home as a spartan child and whipped into becoming a blood-hungry warrior — this isn’t what he wants for Atreus.

Some of my favourite moments in God of War Ragnarok come from more minor interactions and animations between the characters. Early in the game, Kratos and Atreus run into Sindri and Brock, who are more than happy to help upgrade your weapons and gear, much like in the first game. While Sindri attaches a new string to Atreus’ bow, Kratos stands stern in the background, watching his child interact and test the weapon. But unlike the first game, it isn’t a hover; his shadow isn’t cast as a protective spell over Atreus; he’s almost leaning back in admiration for his son. This often happens, as Kratos’ stare that once was as cold as ice and as stiff as rock seems to be slightly cracked; there is love from within, and he’s letting his son fly free and make his own choices so he can learn from them and grow.

Every character in God of War Ragnarok is so fulfilling and nuanced. I can’t wait to dig into details in spoiler discussions in the coming months. Ryan Hurst’s Thor is more than I could have dreamed of, as is Richard Schiff‘s Odin. Two characters I came into the game expecting one-note of violence from, but received so much more. Both join a cast already filled with fantastic performances, with Christopher Judge (Kratos), Sunny Suljic (Atreus), Danielle Bisutti (Freya), Alistair Duncan (Mimir) and more surprises all giving A+ performances as their respective characters.

I’m making it sound like Kratos has turned his back on violence which is far from the case. If the gory combat kills of God of War were your favourite part of the game, fear not — there is plenty of blood here.

Combat in God of War Ragnarok comes with two improvements. The first is that Kratos has access to the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos from the start of the game, allowing developer Sony Santa Monica to design enemies around these weapons. From the outset, you’ll meet frosted enemies, which you have to break through with the elemental passive of the Blades of Chaos and burning enemies, which the ice of the axe can deal with quickly. The need to interchange weapons makes the methodical combat from the first game just that little bit faster, as you must switch weapons on the fly and plan when you’ll use one of your special attacks. But the most significant change to combat is the environments you’ll be fighting in this time. Unlike God of War, enemies no longer appear in arena-like areas. There’s verticality to the fights that speed up the intensity of combat while making the environments you’ll be doing battle in feel more like natural areas and not gamified circular zones where enemies would await you. Kratos can use the Blades of Chaos to zip up the side of ledges, quickly chasing after retreating enemies or pesky archers. There’s a brisk and deadly sensation when you maneuver from ground to sky to tear an enemy in half, to jump back to the ground with a thunderous landing, damaging enemies below. I never stopped moving for most of the combat scenarios in God of War Ragnarok. In that regard, I felt like I was playing a DOOM game, jumping from one location to another, looking for an opportunity to strike when surrounded.

Knowing your abilities and which ones would be on cooldown becomes vital as some can be lifesavers, as is having an understanding of what skills you’ve unlocked and what armour set you’re wearing. You can skip past the returning RPG-like armour and weapon upgrade stuff by clicking one button to allow the game to auto-select gear, but you’ll rob yourself of the ability to change Kratos’ armour to perform better in a fight as some debuff elemental damage and others provide more health.

God of War Ragnarok is visually much more interesting than the previous game, showcasing a much broader scope of realms and environments. It’s a beautiful game, as was the first, but things are just that tiny bit better. Animations were stellar in the first game — again, they’re fantastic here — but with some small additions like finishing kills for all the weapons in the game and what felt like a much larger variety of finishers overall. The seamless one-shot Sony Santa Monica used in God of War returns and is a technical marvel once again. How the game can move from combat to cinematic cut scenes and between worlds at times so effortlessly is on another level. Just because Sony Santa Monica did it once before doesn’t make it any less impressive. As such, neither is the epic score by Bear McCreary, which I must have on vinyl to join the first game in my collection.

I took 60 screenshots without the game having a photo mode yet — that’s coming in a post-release patch — which should say something about the visual attractiveness of any given moment on-screen with God of War Ragnarok. I don’t think there’s a bad way to play this game, either, with the mix of performance and visual modes. If you want to play on story mode difficulty and play at 4K 30FPS, go for it. Want to play on the hardest difficulty? Then probably play at the 120fps mode if you have an HDMI 2.1-enabled TV. Whatever works for you and will give you your best experience with God of War Ragnarok.

It took me shy of thirty hours to see credits roll in God of War Ragnarok, but there’s so much left for me to do in Midgard and the other realms. The side quests feel much more fulfilling this time than God of War, and taking your time to do them doesn’t feel antithetical to the game’s core narrative. I did a lot on my way through the core campaign, but with many only opening up in the last few hours, I was deadset at that point on seeing the game through to its astounding conclusion.

I’ll say it even if it is a redundant statement for a God of War game, but there were so many epic moments in God of War Ragnarok. I can close my eyes and picture the music swelling, the characters in their places and the emotional turn of events that follow. The final couple of hours of God of War Ragnarok is some of the most intense and rewarding I’ve ever played. I never shed a tear in God of War, but here — several. And as my heartache grew in the game’s final moments, and as the last tear rolled down my cheek, I joined the many who welcomed Kratos and Atreus into their family with open arms in 2018. God of War Ragnarok is one of the most incredible action-adventure games of all time. It also surpasses the previous game in every possible way by telling a heartfelt, human story surrounded by some of the most breathtaking action and battles in any video game I’ve played.

(God of War Ragnarok code provided for review)