- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment , PlayStation Studios
- Release Date: Nov 9, 2022
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 4
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Nov 4, 2022God of War Ragnarok isn’t just an amazing game and one of the best action adventures games in recent years, this game is also the legitimization of Sony’s way of making AAA games. [Recommended]
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Nov 3, 2022If you come to God of War Ragnarök hoping for a story that's as tightly focused and emotional as its predecessor, you're likely to come away disappointed. But if you go in looking for a well-written and well-acted romp with the same kind of high-impact, tactical action combat as the 2018 game, you'll come away with a smile on your face.
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Nov 3, 2022In the end, the growth of Kratos and Atreus as parent and child, protege and apprentice, is mirrored in the game’s making. And the game is all the better for it. When God of War reboot genius and maestro Cory Barlog announced he would not be directing Ragnarök, there was fear and worry from players. Would the sequel surpass the first? Could anyone else fill Barlog’s shoes? The proof is here. There is a moment in Ragnarök where Kratos realises he needs not to show Atreus to survive, but how to live. The result is the PS5’s crowning glory to date. By relinquishing control, trusting in Ragnarök’s director Eric Williams and the rest of the team – by giving them stewardship but not domineering their destination – the growth of Sony Santa Monica is right there on the screen.
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Nov 7, 2022That air of familiarity permeates the whole game and never really dissipates. It's a welcome familiarity because Ragnarok builds off such a strong foundation. Revisiting the Nordic realms in God of War: Ragnarok is sensational -- even if it's not as memorable as the first trip.
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Nov 3, 2022Much like its heroes, God of War: Ragnarök learns to love itself for what it truly is: gargantuan, excessive, and wonderfully absurd. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Nov 3, 2022Yes, the axe is cool. Sure, the fights are tons of fun. And I definitely enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny of the large worlds you get to visit. But what kept me glued to my PS5 for nearly 40 hours was the story of a son becoming a man and a father trying to figure out how he feels about that. I probably could have enjoyed this story a tad more with about half as many puzzles and skill menus, but even so, I found myself smiling, feeling satisfied, as the credits rolled. As I said at the start, God of War Ragnarök is very good.
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Nov 3, 2022There is nothing life-changing about the way Ragnarök wraps up, but it delivers the same pleasant satisfaction that I get from finishing a Marvel movie that lets me run on autopilot. Even where the game can be frustrating, rote, and uneven, it’s also safe and comforting, like a rerun of Cheers where everyone knows your name and you know that you’ll never get thrown out of the bar. God of War Ragnarök, as the sum of its many disparate and often conflicting parts and influences, isn’t here to reinvent the wheel. But its single-minded desire to emulate all the hallmarks of an epic Hollywood narrative will remain both its biggest weakness and its enduring source of success. And like many, many Hollywood success stories, it shouldn’t feel this weird to say that something of this scope and scale is just OK.
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Nov 3, 2022The fact is that God Of War Ragnarök is a brilliant, beautiful game, blending compelling play with impressive production values and emotionally intelligent storytelling, all in ways this medium often struggles to do. If you were put off by the first game’s associations with the franchise’s tawdry past, or its past embrace of twitch-gaming difficulty, now might be a good time to re-evaluate that position. God Of War 2018 already had plenty to recommend it—we can now add “prelude to one of the best games of 2022" to its list of accolades.
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Nov 3, 2022When I look at this game and compare it to its predecessor, God of War, Ragnarök feels like what God of War was supposed to be. This narrative of a terrible man trying to ensure his son does not repeat his mistakes while on this epic journey is better reflected in Ragnarök than in the first game. There were so many great moments, large and small, that left me breathless, like I had experienced the very best of what video games can be in both narrative and gameplay. When non-gaming people find out what I do for a living, they usually ask me for recommendations if someone wanted to understand the appeal of video games. I don’t keep a list; that’s too hard a question to answer because video games encompass so much, and what Sonic or Mario or Joel may do for one person will almost certainly not work for another. But despite its design frustrations and perfectly fine, if ho-hum, combat, God of War Ragnarök is now on that list.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6,820 out of 8959
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Mixed: 600 out of 8959
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Negative: 1,539 out of 8959
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Nov 10, 2022An OG GOW fan since day 1 and I’m thankful for the work out into this masterpiece of a game!! Enjoyed every minute of it.
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Nov 10, 2022
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Nov 11, 2022