God of War Ragnarok: A Flawed Masterpiece (Review)
Does it live up to expectations?
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God of War Ragnarok is the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s God of War, the acclaimed reboot of the legendary series.
It promises to be more ambitious than anything in the series. There’s an expanded scope, new gameplay mechanics and of course the jump to next-gen with the PS5.
Given all the hype, can it live up to the lofty expectations set by its award-winning predecessor?
One thing that immediately stood out to me is the incredible amount of effort that Sony Santa Monica Studios have clearly put into creating this vast and immersive world.
As I outlined in my first impressions article, the level of diversity in this game can be a bit overwhelming at times. But, that’s a good thing. It goes to show that the studio wanted to push the boundaries and create a game bigger than the original.
All The Good Things
I’m going to start by discussing the aspects of the game that I enjoyed without revealing any spoilers.
First up, the story is exceptional, and brims with powerful themes. One of these is the concept of prophecy, and the idea that our fate is in our hands.
Told that their future will unfold in a particular way, Kratos and Atreus learn to shape their destiny by taking the right actions. It’s a powerful idea and the weight of it only grows as the story progresses.
Another theme is the idea of trust and its impact on the relationship between a father and son. When Kratos asks Atreus to explain his actions, he often says ‘you have to trust me’. But Kratos finds this difficult. He perceives Atreus’ secrecy as a form of betrayal and struggles to understand why Atreus won’t open up to him.
