God of War Ragnarök Launch Edition – PlayStation 5

First, the game plays mostly the same as the previous game. The battles seem a little more difficult as several of the abilities from the last game are either gone or slightly different. They made the armor and enchantments and other things a little more convoluted than it needed to be. But the overall gameplay is nearly identical, which is OK.

The game started out with a lot of potential. I was interested in the story the entire time, but I’ll admit that the outcome was a little bit of a letdown. The boss fights didn’t feel as epic as the previous game. While the game made a point to show how powerful Thor could be, we never really got that from Odin until one quick scene toward the end. The ending was just sort of flat. There were some incredibly irritating characters as well. I can’t say much more without spoiling things.

The game is also guilty of doing what The Last of Us 2 did to a smaller extent. You don’t play as Kratos all the time. He’s still 60-70% of the game as the playable character, but it was a little annoying having to play as someone else for extended times. That was the only option they had based on how the story was written, though. This was also a story that was weirdly complicated and I didn’t fully understand at the end.

What else? The optional super bosses seem much harder than the last game. Mostly due to some of those battle abilities from the last game being nerfed. Also because the bosses seem to just be damage sponges, which I don’t remember from the last game. For example, the damage to take off half the life bar is essentially halved for the next few bars and then halved again for the last two life bars. I couldn’t ever beat the last two super bosses, but maybe I’m just losing reaction time/skill as I get older. It’s annoying to not be able to get those true endings for some characters.

Overall, it was good. It wasn’t a masterpiece like a strange number of reviews claim. It was a lot weaker than the previous game in almost every way. Still a 7 or 8 out of 10, which is pretty solid.

This game (this series) is too good. Nothing bad to say about this game. The story telling, the graphics, the gameplay. All of it is top notch.

If you’re a fan of great story and intense gameplay, this game delivers on both. It picks up seamlessly from the last installment, and explains the passage of time really well. The segue proves to be extremely satisfying, while also giving you a short, effective tutorial on the controls. If you’re a fan of the franchise, go ahead and believe the hype – this game is worth it. I’ll write the rest of this review for anyone who’s new to GoW.

So if you’re new to GoW, you may want to know that the story is completely linear (with allowances for plenty of side quests), and your decisions don’t exist. Don’t expect conversation options or Fallout IV decision-making or even the slightest story impact. Even the maps are closed and limited (although there are plenty of secrets and hidden bits). You basically have one story path that nonetheless leads to a very satisfying conclusion (IMO). Don’t let the closed-option gameplay deter you, though. I’m a big fan of open-world RPGs, but this one not only held my attention, I actually bothered to do every. little. sidequest. because I didn’t want it to be over.

Other things you may find useful to decide if you’d enjoy this:

1. The controls are intuitive and reasonably easy for casual gamers. I never did get all the R1+R1+R2 blah blah blah combos down, but they’re there if you’re into that. The moves are actually pretty great, and very versatile. Even in the endgame, I was trying out new combos and styles.

2. Weapon choices are different enough to really matter, and switching mid-battle is very easy. Some battles are much easier if you go from ice to fire to exploding spears, for example, or axe throws to thrusting spears, or some other combination. You’re encouraged to play with moves and weapons to find your own playstyle, and the controls make it pretty straightforward to mix things up on the fly.

3. Crafting is really limited. Those who hate crafting, rejoice! You basically upgrade gear or techniques with money/resources or skillpoints, done. Every piece or set has its own bonuses, though, so you really do get to customize your outfit and weapons to how you like to play. If you do all the sidequests, you’ll probably end up with more than enough to fully upgrade at least three sets of armor and all your weapons, plus some various weapon add-ons (hilts, for example). And the entire skill tree, all your runic attacks, etc. So there’s no need to hold back.

4. It’s a melee/ranged game, with emphasis on melee. If you’re a stealth person, you’re going to have to learn to love melee, or hate this game. That said, it’s extremely fun to go in swinging for all you’re worth, and watch the baddies explode around you.

5. Puzzles range from ridiculously easy to “ask the interwebs” hard. I do find it incredibly annoying when your companion offers advice before you’ve even had a chance to *look* at some of the puzzles, but that seems to be mostly limited to story puzzles that would block your progress until you figure them out.

6. The collectibles mostly have value of some kind, rather than just being meaningless junk you pick up as you run around (I’m looking at you, Ghost of Tsushima). You don’t *have* to bother with them, but there are decent rewards in most cases, if you do.

7. The voice acting, script, and character animations blew me away. This game has better dialogue, facial expressions, body language, jokes, and overall emotional impact than almost any other game I’ve played. I still find the kid really annoying for 60% of the game, but I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to. The dynamic between father/son is brilliantly executed, far better than a lot of movies and TV shows. And shout-out to whoever designed Odin and Thor, too, since those two steal every scene they’re in. Actually, Sindri was even better, now I think of it. Okay, they’re almost all that good, even if the female characters are pretty mediocre.

That’s not to say this game is flawless. A few of the characters are pretty weak as mentioned; I found the Jotunheim storyline tedious in the extreme; and I really wanted a bigger overall world. But that didn’t keep this “casual gamer” from obsessing for 3 weeks until I’d finished every quest, sidequest, and collectible. So just apologize to anyone who’d like to interact with you for the next month, and add this to your calendar.

Bought this game for.my son and we have found out the code does not work in the uk only in the USA