Where do I even start. I dont think I've ever felt this way with a game before, and I can only assume its due to the hype from 2018, but I genuinely hated nearly every moment I spent playing this game. This game was an incredible disappointment after all the hype. Some could argue nothing would ever live up, but somehow I think if Corey Barlog was still in charge we would've gotten a very different experience.
The ending was rushed, Atreus sections were shoved in endlessly, the puzzle feature is made for a toddler to play, the combat and UI is so similar it seems like its the same as the last game and the only changes they made makes it worse to play. The new weapon is only given over 2/3rds of the way through the game so you basically spend the entire game playing with the tools you had last time. But the biggest issue by far is the story.
The story is a confused, rushed, and bloated mess that meanders all over the place rather than being genuinely interesting and compelling. Its an incredible step down from the quality of the 2018 game and I am genuinely amazed so many people consider it to be so good. If 2018 was a breath of fresh air, Ragnarok feels like a punishment.
Kratos is basically the same character he in 2018, and Atreus is still an annoying kid, only this time you're forced to keep playing the game as him instead of Kratos. THIS will go down in my opinion as one of the worst decisions in gaming sequel history, you put time into developing a playable Atreus rather than a usable Mjolnir.... I just dont know what to say anymore, the phrase common sense feels like its lost all meaning when talking about this game.
I had a list of some smaller things I was most excited for after getting into Norse mythology in 2018, and I have now updated the list with what my reaction was when it was showed/not showed here.
1: Getting to use Thors Hammer - didnt get to use it. This is God of War and you dont let us use Thors hammer in the Norse saga?.... I will never understand this. Feels like a decision made by people who have never played a God of War game in their lives and it baffles me that this wasnt added to this game.
2: Fighting Thor - kind of early so a bit of a letdown how easy it was (didnt feel that way about Balder at all), then half assed at the end before unceremoniously killed by Odin. Just the end to a disappointing portrayal that seems very disconnected from what we heard about him previously. They wanted to make him sympathetic so they sacrificed the cool aspect of him to make him 'deep'. And it really doesnt work for me.
3: Seeing Asgard - just looks like a farming town despite the previous game teasing Asgard with rooms lined with Gold. In GoW 2018 Mimir literally says in a golden walled room "I'd recognise Odins lavish tastes anywhere". So now that we know he lives in a crappy wooden hut that seems just a little bit silly.
4: Meeting Odin - How is this the Odin we've teased up until now? He genuinely feels like he was written by someone who didnt play the first game. We were told in the last game that Odin lost his eye when Mimir tricked him with the Well of Knowledge, and yet now its just that he looked into a crack. Why? Because he had to be a nice guy? He just comes across like a New York mob boss, im surprised you didnt make him say "Capisce", it was so out of place.
5: Fighting Surtr - didnt happen, Surtr turned into the Dude from The Big Lebowski because haha.
6: Meeting Fenrir - became pointless, just used as a teleport plot device. Felt like a Marvel or Star Wars movie at this point adding in things you recognise despite them making no sense. As a Norse mythology fan (partly due to the previous game) I can safely say you did a terrible job adapting it.
7: Meeting Skoll and Hati - showed the trailer scene and then did nothing with them... Seemed like trailer hype for nothing. Yet another 'hey guys, you recognise this?' moment.
8: Getting some OG God of War epic scale action set pieces/moments - none. Was this even a God of War game? 2018 did it with Jormungandr and undead Thamur, or even moments like Kratos flipping the realm travel room. But here? It feels so uninspired it's painful to watch.
9: Seeing where the story goes - apparently nowhere so I guess thats awesome.
All in all it was probably the most disappointed gaming experience I've ever had. I cant pretend the game is terrible by any means, because it isnt. But to act like its some masterpiece or in any way close to the incredible game they made in 2018 is just insanity. I have no idea how so many came away from this game with a positive perception of it. This game couldve been so much more and after the years of excitement I feel so deflated its insane. I wish I never got excited for it in the first place and I definitely wont get another one.
The ending was rushed, Atreus sections were shoved in endlessly, the puzzle feature is made for a toddler to play, the combat and UI is so similar it seems like its the same as the last game and the only changes they made makes it worse to play. The new weapon is only given over 2/3rds of the way through the game so you basically spend the entire game playing with the tools you had last time. But the biggest issue by far is the story.
The story is a confused, rushed, and bloated mess that meanders all over the place rather than being genuinely interesting and compelling. Its an incredible step down from the quality of the 2018 game and I am genuinely amazed so many people consider it to be so good. If 2018 was a breath of fresh air, Ragnarok feels like a punishment.
Kratos is basically the same character he in 2018, and Atreus is still an annoying kid, only this time you're forced to keep playing the game as him instead of Kratos. THIS will go down in my opinion as one of the worst decisions in gaming sequel history, you put time into developing a playable Atreus rather than a usable Mjolnir.... I just dont know what to say anymore, the phrase common sense feels like its lost all meaning when talking about this game.
I had a list of some smaller things I was most excited for after getting into Norse mythology in 2018, and I have now updated the list with what my reaction was when it was showed/not showed here.
1: Getting to use Thors Hammer - didnt get to use it. This is God of War and you dont let us use Thors hammer in the Norse saga?.... I will never understand this. Feels like a decision made by people who have never played a God of War game in their lives and it baffles me that this wasnt added to this game.
2: Fighting Thor - kind of early so a bit of a letdown how easy it was (didnt feel that way about Balder at all), then half assed at the end before unceremoniously killed by Odin. Just the end to a disappointing portrayal that seems very disconnected from what we heard about him previously. They wanted to make him sympathetic so they sacrificed the cool aspect of him to make him 'deep'. And it really doesnt work for me.
3: Seeing Asgard - just looks like a farming town despite the previous game teasing Asgard with rooms lined with Gold. In GoW 2018 Mimir literally says in a golden walled room "I'd recognise Odins lavish tastes anywhere". So now that we know he lives in a crappy wooden hut that seems just a little bit silly.
4: Meeting Odin - How is this the Odin we've teased up until now? He genuinely feels like he was written by someone who didnt play the first game. We were told in the last game that Odin lost his eye when Mimir tricked him with the Well of Knowledge, and yet now its just that he looked into a crack. Why? Because he had to be a nice guy? He just comes across like a New York mob boss, im surprised you didnt make him say "Capisce", it was so out of place.
5: Fighting Surtr - didnt happen, Surtr turned into the Dude from The Big Lebowski because haha.
6: Meeting Fenrir - became pointless, just used as a teleport plot device. Felt like a Marvel or Star Wars movie at this point adding in things you recognise despite them making no sense. As a Norse mythology fan (partly due to the previous game) I can safely say you did a terrible job adapting it.
7: Meeting Skoll and Hati - showed the trailer scene and then did nothing with them... Seemed like trailer hype for nothing. Yet another 'hey guys, you recognise this?' moment.
8: Getting some OG God of War epic scale action set pieces/moments - none. Was this even a God of War game? 2018 did it with Jormungandr and undead Thamur, or even moments like Kratos flipping the realm travel room. But here? It feels so uninspired it's painful to watch.
9: Seeing where the story goes - apparently nowhere so I guess thats awesome.
All in all it was probably the most disappointed gaming experience I've ever had. I cant pretend the game is terrible by any means, because it isnt. But to act like its some masterpiece or in any way close to the incredible game they made in 2018 is just insanity. I have no idea how so many came away from this game with a positive perception of it. This game couldve been so much more and after the years of excitement I feel so deflated its insane. I wish I never got excited for it in the first place and I definitely wont get another one.