The God of War series was always about brutal violence and the psychodrama of petty squabbling between the divine beings. Saying that Greek Gods were not very kind to Kratos would be the understatement of the century: that is why most of them are now dead. While the plot of the prior games was always interesting, players never really had a chance to take their feet off the gas and ponder what it meant to exist as a god. The 2018 game simply titled, God of War, was something of a soft reboot in both tone and play style.  

We now saw an older, more weathered Kratos, reluctant to anger and most importantly of all: in the care of his son Atreus. His attempts to live as a mortal man again are scuppered when one of the local Norse gods decides to pick a fight with Kratos. This sets in motion a chain of events that take him and Atreus across the nine realms, with the ultimate goal of scattering his mother's ashes on the tallest mountain. The summit of this adventure leads to Atreus having more questions about his past, but also his future: setting the table for this next chapter.

Fuck Around, Find Out

So the seemingly unkillable antagonist Baldur does eventually succumb to the strength of Kratos which understandably irks his mother Freya, who was a fleeting ally until the murder-death-kill of her darling son. While on their travels, Atreyus and his pops uncover a prophecy that says Fimbulwinter would predicate the start of Ragnarok. As the end of days is something even the gods might want to avoid, these events get the attention of the gaffer in these parts: Oden himself. Unlike the MCU, these gods are not noble or divine and make politicians seem like decent people. Thor, for example, comes across as almost oaf-like and drunk on his own sickening legacy of death.

Like the prior game, it opens with Kratos reflecting on his thoughts. As he and a visibly older Atreus hunt, they are attacked by Freya. After a brief chase, they enter the safety of their warded sanctuary. Even in the first hour, the amount of big story beats is impressive. There are some wonderfully poignant moments where you can see Kratos quietly grappling with the new abilities his son is discovering (quite literally). Atreus is now more mature, which means he can hold his own when they disagree. After a house call from Odin and Thor ends badly, Kratos ends up going toe to toe with the god of thunder himself.

Winter is Coming

With Fimbulwinter setting in and Odin clearly having machinations regarding Atreus, Kratos reluctantly sets out with his son on an epic quest to find Tyr. Your old friends Brok and Sindrey, as always, seem to have just what the father-and-son duo need. Despite Kratos being predominantly stoic and devastatingly direct, there are a few brilliant flashes of humour throughout the dialogue. In one particular scene, Sindrey is trying to make them feel at home in their hideaway and offers Kratos a snack. ‘I do not need a snack!’ is something you never quite expect the God of War to say.

Thanks to the aforementioned meteorological doings of Fimbulwinter, we start the game with a diminished set of gear. I actually appreciate this as we have a chance to once again enjoy developing our weapons and armour. It is the same basic set-up as the prior game with a few more bells and whistles: craft armour at the forge and then use resources you find to upgrade its stats. Some items also come with some helpful boons imbud into the metal, with other bonuses coming from complete sets. It is worth noting that all the armour and weapons in the game look incredible. 

Punching Down

As you move around the game world you will, of course, come across a whole manner of hostile beings. While Kratos is starting from scratch with his armour, he does bring with him his Chaos Blades. These alongside his icy Leviathan axe and Spartan shield, already make him a formidable adversary. As you upgrade both the axe and blades, these allow you to unlock more new moves in the skill tree. These seem to be similar to what we had in the prior game, with a few new abilities to spice things up. There are also runic gems which when fused into your weapons add special attacks that come with a cool down. Finally, we have relics which work alongside other special moves and usually boost Kratos in combat.

So overall Ragnarok doesn't set out to rewrite the book on combat but allows a modest growth in what Kratos can do. The big change this time around is how much more involved Atreus can be and I love how they work this into some of the quick time events. There are even a few substantial sections of the game where you play as the would-be Loki. This was never going to be as popular as playing his dad, but for me personally I think it added a nice change of pace. It is impressive how fleshed out Atreus's skill tree is, with his attack style being more about speed and agility rather than brute force. 

The moment-to-moment gameplay is a mix of both traversal and conflict. Kratos and his companions can climb, leap over gaps and squeeze through gaps. There are also many elements in the environment that can be used to move forward. Sometimes by moving a crane with a throw from your axe or maybe just freezing a poisonous plant to allow passage. There are, of course, many hidden chests to rip open and if you want to upgrade your gear you need to keep your peepers open for these. Like the last game, we have numerous challenges and collectathons running in the background for gamers who wish to scour the land clean. All of this is held together by a wonderfully presented codex with a map, goals and so on.

Sins of the Father

One of the most memorable elements of the prior game was the relationship between Kratos and Atreus. Having never seen his son before, the writers did an amazing job of building a strong foundation for this character so quickly. While the constant ‘boi’ memes were hilarious, there was also a very emotional metamorphosis within the God of War. Kratos can be very self-absorbed and thanks to this unwanted burden he was initially cold towards his son: many times lamenting that his wife would be better suited to raise him. As the game progressed, a strong bond of trust and respect was forged between the two. 

As a father of a young son myself, I saw many of the emotional quandaries Kratos faced. When to protect your son or when to let them face the danger of trying? Failure is, after all, one of the most effective teachers. With an older Atreus, we now see Kratos starting to trust his child's independence more, shown off brilliantly in the first scene when Atreus had already unloaded their quarry from the sledge: you see a fleeting smile of pride from Kratos.

Is it PC?

So I will immediately cover the elephant in the room: Sony are a bunch of fucking idiots. For years we said if they started to bring their incredible stable of games over to PC, (and they were good ports) PC gamers would receive them very well. For a time, things were good. We had amazing games like Spider-Man, Forbidden West and of course God of War 2018: all looking better than ever and running at blistering framerates. After substantially damaging Helldivers 2 earlier this year, Ragnarok is the first single-player game from Sony to require a PSN account to play on PC. So out of the 195 countries in the world, only 75 can purchase this game and future Sony games ported to PC. It is a crying shame that it landed with a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam, largely because of the PSN requirement. I do hope that this injudicious strategy is a relic from when the village idiot Jim Ryan was in charge and we will soon see this barrier removed. 

After playing Ragnarok on PS5 two years ago, I already knew this game was a looker. While the game is technically well presented, there are some aspects I think could be improved. Like wood in the mines can look a bit like it was made from plasticine or rock textures can look like plastic, but these are very minor observations. For me, the real visual oomph comes from the immense scale of this world and how much kinetic power is on display. The World Serpent, for example, was incredible to encounter in the first game. This time around, without spoiling anything, we see plenty of equally jaw-dropping scenes. 

So how is the port? Overall it is a great effort by Jetpack Interactive, the same group that ported God of War 2018. With a wide range of options and four graphical presets this game runs well on a surprising amount of systems: even the Steam Deck. My rig is an overclocked i9 12900K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and an overclocked 3080ti. Playing at 1440 on the ultra preset I have been getting between 80 to 144 fps: so no complaints here. When I first booted the game up my mouse look wasn’t working and many of the keyboard prompts looked very low resolution: thankfully these issues have been quickly sorted in a hotfix. I love how you can see graphical changes on the fly, which helps you understand how the game will look. Santa Monica and Jetpack Interactive also deserve a lot of praise for the wealth of accessibility options open to the player.

The redoubtable God of War is once again brought to life by the unmistakable voice of Christopher Judge. Alongside him, we have Sunny Suljic who infuses so much youthful energy into each line. However, for me personally Alastair Duncan steals the show as the talking head Mimir. The sound for each part of the game is fantastic, delivering powerful combat to your ear holes as well as the more subtle sounds of nature and the elements. The musical score is by Bear McCreary, who I believe worked on the prior game. As you might expect, each piece evokes a deep sense of awe and mystery. Some of the most dramatic scenes are elevated by this incredible music and it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  

Conclusion

So world structure aside, this game is ostensibly better in every other way. The combat feels more substantial, the characters are bursting with life and it leads to an absolutely heart-pounding conclusion. With the technical issues now being fixed, there is no reason not to play this epic game on PC, that is unless the PSN requirement buggers that up. It is hard to fully convey how angry I am with Sony and I’m sure Santa Monica Studios aren't best pleased either. The sheer amount of work that goes into making games like this is immense and to see it sullied just for a few extra PSN accounts is a crime. 

When I consider Ragnarok, I do not see it as a sequel to the first game: it is a continuation and ultimately a concluding chapter. I do think the first game felt much more like its own contained story with a well-rounded path. Using the central hub, you could move around and mostly take on quests at your own pace. Ragnarok is more linear in its direction and with less flexibility in how you approach each area. With the main story being what it is, however, this sense of urgency actually feels right for the story they are telling.