God of War Ragnarök is an action-adventure game that continues Kratos’s story with an older Atreus chafing for answers about his true identity. The game was 100% completed in roughly forty-four hours, including all realms, berserkers, ravens and the Valhalla DLC.
The visuals dominate the entire run, with the fidelity called out as stunning from the opening through the finale. The story drives the campaign with unexpected twists and turns, with Thor’s turn and Freya’s path from enemy to ally landing hard.
The camera and lock-on are fixed for most fights, finally keeping up with fast enemies, though the post-game queen still loses the lock instantly. The combat variety impresses, with the Draupnir spear’s attack-and-dodge mobility the standout addition.
The volume of quality side content is staggering, with collectibles that are fun to find and lore that stays interesting. The realms are distinct, with Vanaheim a huge, unexpected standout and hidden loading screens keeping the world seamless.
The handholding is the single biggest complaint, since puzzles get solved by shouted answers the moment they arrive. The new UI is more confusing, the install size is a massive 176 gigabytes, and the realm shift is visually unclear.
Armour cannot be stored, cluttering the inventory, and the ogres and the Nokken enemies irritate. The 2018 audio-desync bug does not recur, and no crashes or stutters plague the PC version or the Valhalla DLC.
Overall, the visuals, the story and the sheer content make God of War Ragnarök a fantastic game. The handholding, the confusing UI and the massive install size are the caveats.