Review: God of War Ragnarok

techcrunch.com:

The 2018 reboot of long-running PlayStation action series God of War as a more contemplative, open-world adventure raised a few eyebrows at first, but the astonishing quality of the finished game put all doubts to rest. The sequel, God of War Ragnarok, is not the revelation the first was, but even “more of the same” is a welcome treat when “the same” is so very, very good.

Spoilers for God of War (2018) and the first couple hours of this game follow. If you haven’t played the first, stop now, take a sick day, and start playing!

The first game finished on an emotional high note and an intriguing cliffhanger as Kratos and son Atreus finally scatter the ashes of wife and mother Faye in Jotunheim, and simultaneously learn that Atreus was known to the now-disappeared Giants as Loki.

Ragnarok picks up a couple years later, and Atreus has grown into his awkward phase (the game itself pokes fun at him) while Kratos remains the gruff and conflicted god-killer he always was. But a pair of unexpected divine visitors put the pair on the run to learn more about the machinations behind the imminent twilight of the gods.

It isn’t long before you’re off to the races, doing all the things you used to do — at some of the same locations, even. While Kratos has lost most of his gear and abilities (to the lament of their makers, the still charming dwarves Brok and Sindri), players will quickly find themselves in familiar combat and environmental puzzle-solving loops.

Ragnarok does not attempt in any way to reinvent the basics that made the original so compelling, though it certainly refines and expands them a bit. Though this combined with the reused (if altered) first areas may make the opening hours a bit monotonous to anyone who played through