God of War Ragnarok improves on its predecessor in every way

stuff.co.nz:

REVIEW: God of War Ragnarok by Santa Monica Studio is the best told story in a video game in 2022. When it comes to gameplay, it is an iterative sequel to the 2018 PlayStation 4 smash hit, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In fact, the whole story is full of surprises, with as many whimsical delights as gory fights.

Ragnarok is also one of the rare stories in any medium where the second experience is better than the first, rewarding the audience’s knowledge and attention to details. As soon as the credits roll, you may be immediately tempted to start over, empowered with knowledge on how plot beats unfold and appreciating character and story arcs that pay off big time by the end.

But you also don’t want to restart the game immediately, because Ragnarok is an even rarer type of game that offers more adventure after it ends. Some of its biggest emotional payoffs happen after the credits, featuring more playable adventures and secrets to find. It’s a generous game, offering stories that feel like a sequel to the game you just beat.

Even rarer is the game with side content that could equal the quests found in CD Projekt Red’s seminal 2015 hit, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. So many other big-budget developers have tried to hit that peak, but I can confidently say Santa Monica Studio has surpassed that bar, having written side quests even more rewarding (in gameplay and story) than The Witcher 3.

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While the main story is a triumph, the side quests that lay off the