Review: God of War Ragnarök is one of the best PlayStation games ever
It’s rare to have such uncomplicated feelings about a game. To finish something and think, “that’s one of the best games I’ve ever played.” But with Ragnarok, it felt obvious. Sony Santa Monica‘s sequel is a high watermark for the medium and certainly surpasses all first-party games to date on PS5.
It’s also a very difficult game to talk about, because Ragnarok’s greatest strength, is its ability to shock. There are large parts of this game, and many of the things that make it so incredibly special, that deserve to be experienced without the slightest hint that they’re about to happen.
“Are they really about to do that?” was a constant refrain as the conclusion to the Norse Saga built to its crescendo. Featuring an intense final act that is among the most memorable in modern gaming, it’s an adventure that trades in the epic spectacle in a way that is rarely attempted.
But it’s not just the blockbuster moments that make God of War Ragnarok so special. If anything they’re elevated by the moments of peace between the march towards Ragnarok, the realm-ending war that Kratos and Atreus seem destined to fight in.
Atreus, now older, taller and in full knowledge of his status as the half-giant, half-god Loki is grappling with his destiny, a destiny that Kratos does not want him to fulfill. What that conflict manifests as early is essentially teenage rebellion. That deeply relatable adolescent feeling of thinking you know everything and that your parent just doesn’t understand.
The God of War duology’s strength has always been recasting Gods are relatable characters with emotional depth, and Ragnarok only continues that. Many players will be shedding a tear within ten minutes, such is the generational leap in performance from Sunny
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