The long-awaited moment for many gamers has come! It’s the return of the most badass bearded man to the PlayStation arena, Kratos has been named. opus II God of War: Ragnarok It arrives on November 9, 2022 on PS5 / PS4, just over 4 years after the franchise was rebooted on PS4. After I’ve had a chance to play it for a few weeks, I’m giving you my take on the title and as usual Without any spoilers !
No wonder this sequel, God Of War: Ragnarök takes place chronologically a few years after the events of its predecessor. God of War, who also teased us at the end of the game about Thor’s arrival. So we head back to the center of Scandinavian mythology, to my greatest delight, and obviously find the giant Kratos but also the young Atreus in the midst of a search for identity. And so the latter will lead them to “walk” again through the Nine Kingdoms… But the hour of Ragnarok will soon strike and the hours will be counted for our heroes.
Note: All screenshots below are from my game build on the PS5 version
Before you begin, know that like a Horizon Forbidden West I highly recommend that you have played the first game before embarking on this one. The entire universe and a significant part of the main characters come from it. And despite the quick summary presented on the main screen of God Of War: Ragnarök, this will not, in my opinion, allow you to play in the right conditions in terms of immersion.
Now that said, it’s needless to say again that the team at Santa Monica Studio is still perfecting the story and narrative of the game as usual. This is definitely the game’s greatest strength, along with the art direction that presents us with characters and universes that work down to the last detail. It’s really a pleasure to return to the Nine Kingdoms, even if the latter has changed a lot vemplifter3 years from the preceding winter Ragnarok. You’d better not be cold because you’ll be eating ice…but not just that, don’t worry 🙂
And if the art direction is really hot, the on-screen graphic rendering is just as good, even if I don’t get quite the same smack as Horizon Forbidden West. The first opus was already very high quality on PS4 Pro at the time, so it clearly takes advantage of the power of PS5 (Quality or Performance mode is also offered here for gamers) both in load times as well as on a technical and performance level only part of the display with great lighting effects On specific worlds visited.
In terms of gameplay, there is also a nice surprise, even if this fun is a little late for my taste. I’ll explain! The first hours of gameplay will be very similar in experience to what we could see/do in the previous opus, to a cool but predictable effect. Only after a few hours of gameplay will “wow effects” follow, both in terms of gameplay and scenario. No spoilers as promised, but be patient, the game is full of cool surprises
Then if you deal with one of the major bugs I found in God Of War first from the name, it was that he had redundant monsters. Well believe me, the bar has been raised with a beautiful palette of varied and diverse monsters, creatures, and mythical entities. This second title offers much more epic battles on all levels. Besides that, the gameplay generally remains demanding with a truly linear progression as you progress through the game. For my part, I played it entirely on Normal difficulty and some of the fights made me sweat a little ^^”
Finally, in terms of lifespan, at the time of this writing I haven’t finished the main story yet, but I estimate the time to do it in a straight line at 25-30 hours. And like the previous game, a lot of side quests and other services will be available as side quests, some of them very cool and intense (which I did a lot on my end) offering cool loot and equipment as a bonus :p
| I liked | I at least like |
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God Of War: Ragnarök is a success on many levels. The wait was long, but not in vain. Santa Monica Studio simply gives us a must-have in the PS5 collection, even if playing Episode I remains a practical prerequisite. Still badass Kratos and Atreus who reveals himself too, this duo has already set me apart with their new adventures more epic than ever!