Overview

In 2018, God of War had already accomplished the hardest part: transforming Kratos without pretending his past had never existed. Four years later, God of War Ragnarök wisely chooses not to stage another revolution. Santa Monica Studio takes that new formula, expands it, makes it denser and, above all, brings it to a conclusion.

Several years have passed since Kratos and Atreus’ journey. Fimbulwinter has settled over Midgard, Ragnarök is approaching, and the consequences of the previous game are beginning to catch up with them. Atreus is trying to understand his identity and the prophecy surrounding him, while Kratos attempts to protect his son without repeating the mistakes that shaped his own life. Behind the Norse gods, monsters and looming end of the world, the same question remains: how does a father learn to let his child become something other than what he had imagined for him?

That continuity gives the game a distinctive position. Where the 2018 entry was largely built around discovery and reconstruction, Ragnarök is more concerned with consequences. The journey now spans all nine realms, the environments become more varied, and combat retains the physical immediacy of its predecessor while expanding its weapons, shields, verticality, abilities and enemy variety.

The increase in scale is considerable, yet Santa Monica Studio continues to let its characters carry the most important moments. Ragnarök may be an apocalypse, but in this game it often begins with a conversation.

Key takeaways

  • A genuine second chapter. Ragnarök depends heavily on God of War (2018), directly continuing its characters, revelations and conflicts rather than beginning a largely independent adventure.
  • An expanded formula rather than a replacement. The foundations introduced in 2018 remain clearly recognisable, but combat offers more possibilities, enemy variety is greater and the nine realms contribute to a substantially broader adventure.
  • Spectacle remains in service of the characters. Beneath the Norse mythology and large-scale confrontations, the game is primarily concerned with parenthood, destiny, grief, revenge, forgiveness and the possibility of change.
  • A production with a strong focus on accessibility. Santa Monica Studio included more than sixty options covering areas such as controls, readability, subtitles, contrast, navigation and various aspects of combat.
  • A major critical and commercial success. The game received six awards at The Game Awards 2022 and had surpassed fifteen million copies sold on PS4 and PS5 by November 2023.

PANACHES review

God of War Ragnarök succeeds above all because it accepts that it is a sequel. That may sound obvious, but many productions try to artificially recreate the shock generated by their predecessor. Ragnarök can no longer reproduce the surprise created by the dramatic change in perspective of the 2018 game, so it works elsewhere: through scale, variety and depth.

Combat is richer, the realms provide greater contrast and the staging regularly reaches an impressive scale. Yet the most interesting moments are not necessarily those in which the screen fills with mythological creatures. They are often the moments when Kratos listens, hesitates, answers awkwardly or comes to understand that protecting someone does not mean deciding everything for them forever. A character who once built almost his entire videogame identity around anger becomes fascinating here precisely because he is trying not to be ruled by it anymore.

That ambition also has a downside. Ragnarök wants to conclude a great many character arcs, visit more places, develop a large cast and continuously raise the stakes. Some sections can feel less focused than others, while the final stretch has a great deal to resolve within a comparatively compressed space. The game gains richness, but occasionally loses some of the almost austere simplicity that defined the journey of 2018.

That does not prevent it from forming a remarkably coherent diptych with its predecessor. God of War had managed to make Kratos interesting for reasons beyond his strength. Ragnarök shows what he can become when that transformation stops being a promise and begins to produce real consequences.

Good to know

  • God of War Ragnarök was released on November 9, 2022 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A PC version, developed with support from Jetpack Interactive, followed on September 19, 2024.
  • Eric Williams directed the game, succeeding Cory Barlog, director of God of War (2018). Barlog remained involved with the project while Williams led the conclusion of this part of the Norse saga.
  • Bear McCreary returned to compose the soundtrack after his work on the 2018 game.
  • At The Game Awards 2022, Ragnarök won six categories: Narrative, Score and Music, Audio Design, Performance for Christopher Judge, Innovation in Accessibility, and Action/Adventure. It received eleven nominations in total.
  • In December 2023, Santa Monica Studio announced that the game had surpassed 15 million copies sold across PS4 and PS5 as of November 19 that year.
  • The free God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla content, released in December 2023, serves as an epilogue set after the events of the main game and introduces a structure inspired by roguelites.
  • The PC port was developed with Jetpack Interactive and includes features such as unlocked frame rates, ultra-wide display support and multiple upscaling technologies.