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

WOW I have not felt so ambivalent whilst rolling credits on a game in a long long time but God of War Ragnarok brought me to that point. The joy of witnessing that story and the melancholy of knowing it was over threw hands with equal force and honestly there is still no winner. What a momentous masterpiece. It takes everything from God of War 2018 and adds more depth, refinement, precision, and dynamism to it. The combat feels heavier in all the right ways, in line with how it should feel as a god-killing freak of nature; every swing of your axe has more weight, every slash of your blades feels sharper. Much of this is owed to the brilliant audio design and the DualSense features. There are also more ways to mix and match your attacks allowing for a huge variety of playstyles. A gigantic catalogue of armour, weapon handles, shields, and enchantments allows for so much experimentation in how you approach the combat like it truly has something for everyone. You can go all in on your precision and parry attacks, sit back and block while waiting for an opening, or go in with your fists clenched. So many ways to play. Enemies are also more varied than ever. This breadth of enemy variety compels you to play around more with your attacks and strategies, though you can just brute force your way through with your standard habits if you really want to. Bosses and minibosses are so eloquently designed, you always feel that rush and wonder whenever you take one on. And taking them down is more satisfying than ever. In God of War 2018, I didn't really find the exploration that compelling but it is the complete opposite this time around. Here, I was pretty much exploring every nook and cranny I could find. So much so that it took me 45 hours to beat the main story. Every realm feels like its own place, the side quests offer very nice rewards and add very fascinating lore and backstories to the experience. It just adds to the dynamism of the world. In one particular side quest, I felt like I experienced one of the best story moments in the entire game. It is so masterfully done I am still confused why it's not in the main story. Now to discuss my favourite part of the game, the story. There are so many thoughts I have on this simply generational story but I don't want to go into spoiler territory because God of War Ragnarok really isn't a game that deserves to be spoiled. With that said, Ragnarok moves so far beyond the sometimes restrictive father-son confines of the previous game. This is a story about grief, loss, love, the cost of war, and foretold prophecies. It just has an extremely deep and layered father-son relationship to carry it all along. I must say I just love where the writers took this relationship by the end. God of War Ragnarok starts with a 10/10 opening hour and ends with a 10/10 final act. I really didn't want to mention this but there's a certain 2 hour section in the middle of the game that is just boring in unprecedented ways. Beyond that, this game is perfect. Santa Monica's Magnum Opus.