4/5 ★ – TheTheoLogan's review of God of War: Ragnarök.

I did not like God of War Raganarok as much as the rest of the internet appears to have. Following the events of the God of War 2018 reboot’ish, Kratos and Atreus find themselves trapped to a prophecy that points to Ragnarok and Kratos’ death. The stakes appear to be high, especially when you add in the likes of Thor and Freya wanting Kratos’ head due to events of the last game. It’s an interesting set up that… well… really takes a long while for it to find it’s footing. I must commend the performances of all the actors/actresses in this game. The raw emotion of some characters is truly gripping and just very well acted. Despite the performances, the story itself has some very clunky pacing that doesn’t feel as refined as it was when Cory Barlog was at the helm. The writing itself is juxtaposed with an odd fluctuation of emotional and just cringe inducing. Atreus talks to himself during one section that sounds all too familiar to the likes of Forspoken. The story does go some interesting places and has some truly spectacular set pieces. However, it’s not enough to really feel like it earns those payoffs, despite the great acting and character growth of some of the characters. The gameplay remains largely the same as 2018, though with the addition of a new weapon that became my favorite in the combat. But the traversal is a double edged sword. The new environments are a sight to behold but they’re held back by clear PS4 design of shimmying through tight spaces, crawling through tunnels, and a fast travel system that makes even Gotham Knights look amazing. It’s this sort of clunky design that really brings the game’s momentum to a crawl or abrupt halt at times. Speaking of time, this game is entirely too long. I think that if they cut out the portions with Atreus (let’s go collect some fruit y’all and be incredibly boring) and tightened up the script a bit, it could have been a solid 12-15 hour story. As it is, the game just feels like it pads itself out with filler at times. It took me 26 hours to finish the game and see the optional? secret? ending. I found myself just beelining the story because I was so bored of the puzzles and the inconsistent writing. God of War Ragnarok is a fine game. But it is held back by last gen design and fails to reach the same heights it’s predecessor before it did.