4.5/5 ★ – ReeseSpokes's review of God of War: Ragnarök.

God of War: Ragnarok is a colossal achievement on every front. The game goes bigger than it's predecessor and may go the biggest story wise the series has ever gone. It is a shining beacon of hope in the current triple A landscape. Ragnarok had me glued to the screen for an entire week, immersed in it's beautifully realised interpretation of Norse Realms. The story grips you and doesn't let up. Every intermission in my gameplay was painful as I wanted nothing more to see how the story would continue and ultimately conclude. The story picks up a few years after the events of the 2018 game, now Atreus grown up and Kratos a slight bit wiser Fimbulwinter approaches and it's up to them and the merry crew from the previous instalment to prevent Ragnarok. This time you still have your recognisable faces like Mimir, Brok, Cindri and Freya, but with new additions to the cast like Odin, Thor and Tyr. These new characters all add so much to the world and story. However at times the screen can become cluttered with nothing but characters. Fitting though for a game of this scale. This story they tell here never hit the same emotional peaks of God of War 2018. The personal journey of Father and Son from the previous game hit me so hard and carried so much weight. As a lover of the Last of Us and Logan, that tried and tested dynamic just works for me. And despite me preferring the lower stakes storyline, that's not too undermine the brilliance of Ragnarok. Santa Monica Studios have coined God of War: Ragnarok as the final chapter in the Norse Saga, however one of my main complaints which stops this being full marks from me is the open plot threads from 2018 like the question of who blew the horn. It's not too major, but due to it being the closing chapter I would have expected it to close the book completely. The story is left surprisingly open, so maybe expect DLC or a Spider-Man: Miles Morales type Spin-Off game. If everything wasn't already to good, I got to say the soundtrack positively slaps your socks off. Bear McCreary just understands the definition of epic and creates the perfect soundscape for Kratos and Atreus laying waste to disposable enemies. However with the game and the soundtrack complimenting it comes restraint. The music is dark, melancholy and sombre when it needs to be. There is so much weight in every note and it's hard not to notice this when playing. The combat in Ragnarok is much expanded on 2018s. New moves added to the roster as well more variety in runic attacks and relics. In the latter half there also comes a large item to spice things up in the combat which was a much welcome addition. God of War: Ragnarok will go down as one of the best game ever no doubt. Simple as that.