‘God of War Ragnarök’ Review: Kratos Finds Compassion in Franchi

Kratos and Atreyus are back for one of the most emotional and powerful stories in modern gaming.

“We must be better,” an older, more contemplative Kratos told his son Atreyus several times throughout 2018’s God of War, and it’s a refrain that Santa Monica Studio took to heart with this franchise. God of War began as a hack-and-slash series that confused having adult themes for being an adult game, as Kratos murdered his way through the thousands that got in his way, occasionally stopping for a threesome minigame in his quest for revenge.

Yet with 2018’s God of War, Kratos underwent one of the most incredible transformations for a character in video game history, as Kratos went from a bloodthirsty vengeance machine, to a father just trying to do his best and struggling with the sins of his past. Spilling an ocean’s worth of blood might have been fun at the time, but the weight of these decisions still hangs heavy over our once rage-filled Kratos. Much like how Kratos wanted Atreyus to reach his full potential, Santa Monica Studio took their iconic character and made him even better by embracing the possibilities of telling a deeper, more intricate story.

Four years after this stunning transformation, Kratos and Atreyus return for God of War Ragnarök, and Kratos’s evolution remains remarkable. With the original God of War in 2005, we first met Kratos surrounded by flame, covered in blood, and with seething eyes that stared directly through the player. But even before pressing play on Ragnarök, we see a bearded Kratos sitting in a cave, with a face full of uncertainty, pain, and—maybe for the first time—fear. Through the original series, we saw what happens when Kratos lost his wife and child and the absolute destruction he could lay down after having what matters most ripped away from him, but after the events of 2018’s God of War, Kratos now sees just how easy it would be for him to lose the only family he has left in Atreyus.

Ragnarök sees Kratos and Atreyus three years deep into a Fimbulwinter, which consistent with prophecy, comes proper before the cataclysmic struggle called Ragnarök. Since we’ve last visible those two, Atreyus has been travelling the nation-states to try and determine out why he was called Loki in a prophecy, at the same time as Kratos has been getting ready his son for the imminent battle. But after their closing adventure, Kratos and Atreyus have made new enemies, including their former accomplice Freya, and now, both Thor and Odin come knocking round, threatening the father and son. As Kratos aids Atreyus in his try to learn about who he’s, Kratos over again has to reckon with the alternatives of the past, and make certain his son learns all he can so that you can avoid making the same errors Kratos once made.

God of War Ragnarök understandably isn’t the identical big jump ahead we noticed with 2018’s God of War. Combat, gameplay, and the upgrade system all continue to be especially much like the remaining sport, albeit with moderate tweaks. Even even though Ragnarök feels a great deal bigger than the 2018 God of War, Ragnarök additionally appears plenty greater linear, as Kratos and Atreyus discover the diverse realms one-with the aid of-one. The participant can discover these worlds at their personal leisure, but in contrast to the preceding recreation, Ragnarök doesn’t rely quite as tons on its open-global components. There’s a completely direct story to be told here, and while you’re loose to discover on your heart’s content material, the actual meat of the tale is available in that narrative.

But this extra linear technique is a benefit to this story and to those fascinating worlds. Every realm that is opened needs to be explored more than one times to find out all of the secrets, with each new vicinity starting up even more, depending on what weaponry and gear one has gathered. Whereas God of War has plenty of extra side missions scattered in the course of its overworld, these greater missions are extra delicate and tie into the general tale in a much more natural way, as those worlds display themselves in new approaches and let the player spend time with this expansive forged of helping characters. Ragnarök may not have Kratos and Atreyus boating via an open world as a lot (maximum of the water is frozen way to Fimbulwinter anyhow), but nevertheless, the extra dependent method to Ragnarök makes this feel even extra grandiose and expansive in its possibilities than previous games.

Especially for those who have been looking ahead to Ragnarök those closing 4 years, one of the largest disappointments here might be that Ragnarök nevertheless appears like a PlayStation 4 sport. Since the game changed into advanced for both the PlayStation four and PlayStation 5, each consoles ought to have the ability to pull off this tale effectively, and that’s sort of a disgrace for folks that need to see Kratos’ highly-predicted story advised via next-gen era. Even back at the PlayStation 2, God of War felt large in its objectives and scale, and at the same time as Ragnarök really still feels big for the duration of, it’s slightly disappointing that we don’t get to look just how some distance Santa Monica Studio may want to push this generation. Ragnarök nonetheless has some pleasant delivered touches while performed at the PlayStation five, like greater strain introduced to the shoulder buttons at some stage in especially demanding moments, but it might be high-quality to look what this studio ought to do in the event that they harnessed the whole power of this new console.

But irrespective of what Ragnarök changes or keeps the same from a gameplay attitude is largely inappropriate, for the reason that actual energy of this recreation comes in this exceptional story. As Kratos and Atreyus look for solutions, they’re each asked to question what electricity future and destiny have in their lives, if it’s something that defines who they are, or if it’s all nonsense. For Atreyus, he’s the son of a revered warrior looking for his very own route, yet trying to make his father proud. Meanwhile, Kratos is reckoning with the concept of his own mortality. Early on in the game, there are numerous reminders that there’s still so much to do and so little time to do it, and we will see Kratos seeking to make the maximum of anything time he would possibly have left.

The absolute brilliance of God of War in these state-of-the-art games is how no matter Kratos being on the whole quiet approximately his beyond, we see the scars on his frame, we see the pain that killing now causes him, and his painful beyond by no means leaves him. For those people who have played the earlier video games, we know the pains that Kratos has gone via, and in which the ones scars come from, and we will sympathize with the weight that keeps to maintain him down, however for those unaware of Kratos’ beyond, the small bits of himself that he well-knownshows for the duration of the sport experience like splendid divulgences that get us in the direction of the previous god of battle.

But beyond the world-annihilating stakes, realms that need assistance, and huge battles, Ragnarök is simply a game about a father and son and all that entails. With this story, Santa Monica Studio has made one of the most compelling and emotional narratives in modern gaming, an often staggering and powerful story that thrives in the quieter moments. Kratos is often a silent protagonist, yet through Ragnarök, we can feel this warrior’s every emotion in the way he looks at his son, the way he rests for the night, or when he allows the fear of what could potentially come to wash over him. This is a remarkable performance that says so much while saying so little, as our compassion grows for this man who just wants to make the most of his second chance at life. In the past, Kratos’ adventures found victory in obliterating a towering monster or killing a god, but in these recent games, a hug from his son or a kind word shared between the two is where the true excitement comes from. Here, one of the most powerful moments in this entire franchise comes as Kratos watches his son as he sleeps, a moment just as moving as any I’ve seen in a video game in recent years.

Ragnarök certainly isn’t the enormous leap that 2018’s God of War was, and it might not be the next-generation God of War game that people were hoping for on the PlayStation 5, but when exploring these nine realms and this loving bond between father and son, these minor concerns wash away for one of the best stories in modern gaming. Santa Monica Studio has pushed the story of Kratos in a fascinating direction, and this compassionate, caring, and concerned version makes Kratos far more of a fully fleshed-out character than ever seemed possible. With these last two God of War games, Santa Monica Studio has proven that they can make this character and world even better, a rich character study that makes this the best game in the God of War franchise so far.