5/5 ★ – DrippyHippy's review of God of War: Ragnarök.

God of War: Ragnarok is the sequel to its 2018 predecessor God of War which is widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever made. So needless to say, this game had a lot to live up to. And I'm glad to say that not only did it live up to the first game, but it improves on it in every conceivable way. The story this game tells is nothing short of fantastic. It mainly follows the aftermath of the first game and is set around 3 years later when Atreus is going through his teenage years, Kratos is getting much older, and the death of Baldur has led to all of Midgard being completely frozen over the course of those three years in an event known as Fimbulwinter. And right from the start, this game gets into the action in one of the best intros to a video game. A high speed chase with Freya, getting introduced to the main antagonists Thor and Odin, and the fight between Kratos and Thor are just some of the reasons why I love this introduction so much. Throughout the game, the story just keeps getting better and better as it follows Kratos fighting his past self, Atreus's own personal journey of self discovery, and the two trying to control themselves and trust in each other in order to bring down Ragnarok. However, the characters are the main reason why the story is so successful in the first place. Kratos and Atreus are back and better than ever with incredible voice performances from Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic. I love how even though they constantly bicker amongst each other over various issues, they ultimately come to terms and fight towards a common enemy. Freya, a character I didn't expect to return in this game, is also one of the better characters as she has to overcome the hatred she has towards Kratos for killing her son. And somehow, the two most overlooked characters in the first game, Brok and Sindri, actually have some amazing and heartbreaking character arcs near the end of the game. Moving onto the villains, Thor and Odin have got to be the best antagonists in any of the God of War games. They are both voiced to near perfection and each nail their respective characters nature. I could go on and on all day about how much I love each and every single one of these characters but unfortunately, it's time to move on. The gameplay is a huge step up from the first game in pretty much every way. The combat is so fluid in this game and no God of War game has ever felt better in my opinion. The skill trees are double the size giving Kratos even more ways to completely mangle his enemies. Not only that, but Atreus also has his own skill tree and once you upgrade it enough, he becomes a super useful companion. Also, later in the game, Kratos gets a new weapon called the Draupnir Spear and it is an absolute beast. Now something I hear people ramble on about is the Atreus missions. And to be honest, I have no idea why people hate them so much. The combat mechanics for Atreus are absolutely incredible especially since he can slow down time, shoot a multitude of different arrows, and turn into a freaking bear. It almost feels as fluid as Kratos's combat and I'm so shocked Santa Monica was able to pull off the Atreus missions so well. Lastly, I've gotta mention the Rage meter. I already mentioned that Atreus turns into a bear however, Kratos also has around 3 or 4 different rage attacks to choose from, all of which feel super satisfying to unleash upon certain enemies. However, a game's combat is usually dictated best when facing off against a boss fight. And God of War Ragnaroks boss fights are no joke and truly put the players skills to the test. My personal favorite boss was probably Thor in the beginning and also in the end. But don't get it twisted, Heimdall and Odin are also fantastic fights especially with Heimdall's prediction mechanic and Odin's sheer power. I also thoroughly enjoyed the many dragon boss fights and the two Valkyries you fight towards the end of the game. Going through all the 9 realms has never felt better and the main reason why is because of the world building. Each realm has a completely unique and beautiful atmosphere which allows the game to feel super refreshing without ever getting too stale. Not only that, but each realm provides a completely different roster of enemies, forcing players to switch up how they usually defeat enemies which prevents the gameplay loop from getting repetitive. The 9 realms are further improved visually considering this game is one of the most graphically impressive games on the PS5 library, greatly increasing the games overall immersion. And what unfortunately tends to be the case nowadays, beautiful looking games tend to run into frequent glitches. However, throughout my entire 28 hour playthrough, I didn't run into a single glitch, which may not seem like a huge feat, but it gets major points in my book. Overall, God of War Ragnarok not only lives up to the first game, but improves on it in pretty much every single way. This game is a must play for any PS5 owners as it is by far the best game in its library so far. However, I would definitely recommend checking out the first game before playing this one as it's key to understanding the story. If you own a PS5 and somehow haven't play this masterpiece, I really can't recommend it enough.