Norse Saga should be a trilogy, just like the main Greek lines. The 2nd game should be the equivalent of GoW 2 where Kratos and Atreus at their lowest and ended up with them teaming up with whoever and whatever they could find and round up to bring Ragnarok unto Odin
I'm a huge GoW fan and I loved GoW 2018. I didn't mind the new Kratos and the changes regarding gameplay. But playing Ragnarok I had this weird negative feeling most of the time. You put my feelings into words. Thank you for this review
The breakdown of the attack/parry timing totally resonated. I was trying to figure out the entire time why parrying wasn’t as fun as the previous game, and it’s because the timing windows and indicators were so inconsistent if not straight up misleading. And enemy attacks occasionally defy the laws of time and space to hit you even if you’ve dodged out of the way, making your dodging skills less effective. Messy!
Completely agree, dude! I think that the combat in GOWR was deliberately made to have jankier parry timing, inconsistent hitboxes and other things just to make combat more challenging...but on a superficial level. You were spot on with the misleading yellow indicators. If you block too early, the animation slows both you and the enemy...but you recover far slower and this allows enemies to get one more hit in unfairly. Runic attacks do not stagger enemies and some dodge rolls have unfair hitboxes. Even when you're out of range, you just magically get hit for some reason. It's utter bs.
I think the biggest problem of norse saga is that it's world feels like a theme park instead of real land that existed before players stepped in. Every place feels like it was built specifically for Kratos and his crew. It makes everything seem artificial. That fakeness is furthermore exaggerated by design choices you mention in this video like restrictive exploration, arbitrary progression or repeated content. Additionaly other thing you said that ties with the fakeness is the disappointingly small scale. Ragnarok is lame and I can't bring myself to sugarcoat it in any way, it's just lame. This event was hyped up by the first game like it would be the biggest battle of all time, every REALM taking a part in the fight against Asgard. What we got instead is a 40 minute breach where you can't even see the chaos unfold because you spend that whole time in trenches. Even the final fights with Thor and Odin take place in a lame circle arena in front of a wooden house. We were shown that Thor can beat a giant snake so hard it goes back in time but when Kratos fights him moments later he seems like he lost all of his might. This was suppoused to be Thor at full power. Stories that Mimir told in 2018 made Thor seem as powerful as Kratos at his pantheon rampage prime. You'd think the final showdown of Thor and Kratos would make earth shatter and mountains crumble but they don't even destroy aforementioned Odin's wooden house. That being said it really makes me think that both games were simply put too ambitious. Ragnarok would always dissapoint because of current technological limitations, it's just impossible to make a battle on such a large scale running real-time and telling whole story in only 2 games made it impossible to introduce many of the other Aseir gods that would make Asgard a lot more fleshed out and the breach of it make more impact.
If the only thing you took away from the game is the fights werent good enough and the final battle wasnt showcased correctly I think you missed the narrative point of the whole game.
@@loganmaddocks4703 I never said "this is my full review of the game" in my comment. I said what's my biggest problem with it, not that it's everything I think of the game
I finished the game recently. I felt something incomplete and I was able to reflect back on somethings that were explained by you. I enjoyed viewing this video from begining till end. 🙂
It mainly sucks because of the disappointment. I had such large expectations and hope for this game; and going through a disappointing game with such high praise, makes every Sin that the game does hurt so much more.
I feel like it would have been alot better if they weren't so afraid to make Kratos the bad guy. The man legit flooded Greece, made Poseidon's mistress a doorstopper, and countless other heinous acts. The Norse gods actively helped humanity. Asgard wasn't off raping like Zeus was constantly. Have Kratos murder a few people that was too close to his home, leading to a warning from Thor. Thor has always been a bit touchy about giants harming humans in the Eddas.
I get the feeling of they made a story similar to the structure of Avengers movies. In which multiple stories are being told, but can be easily understood. Ex: In avengers endgame we had 3 separate stories of (Thor getting his axe, Cap America in Wakonda while holding off Thanos's army to get the Unity Stone, and the battle against Thanos to get the Time Stone) I really believe if they'd done something similar to that, focusing (maybe even playing) through All these moments in the story. I think the biggest struggle, making a story like this would be the no cut camera the last game was so unique about achieving.
Well he did “kill” Thor son’s though, that should’ve counted for something. I think they have Odin too much power. So much they had to rewrite Thor’s arc.
The story felt like a mishmash of different plot threads that didnt really come together properly by the end. Once it was revealed that Ragnarok only meant the destruction of Asgard it felt like the tension just vanished from the story. Suddenly the good guys were given a win button (the horn), and the promised apocalypse everyone worried about was simply a battle against a smal village with a big wall. Odin wasnt a threat either, since he was just trying to get a mask that from what we know meant no real harm to anyone. This to me made it feel like the character was just chilling for 80% of the game, and when they got angry at Odin they simply pressed the aformentioned win button and beat the antagonist in 20 minutes.
This is the analysis I've been looking for. Your critiques were in-depth, and questioned decisions while trying to reach a conclusion based on what's there. I greatly enjoyed listening to this.
56:40 I just watched “raising Kratos” and I think the reason this game feels so thrown together is literally because the director wasn’t Cory Barlog this time around. Yes; he was on the team in a different capacity, but I think very few people actually understand that even though a script exists, most of the true story of films (and games) are at the whim of the directors. Everything you mentioned here could have really just come down to a director doing exactly what you said- not taking any risk, making decisions by committee, and trying to make everyone happy. A director’s job is to take a story and hold it together while the people and team around them chip away at the edges that needs to be refined. If the the directors don’t put their foot down the story can suffer. Anyway! Just my opinion! Great video!!!!! You’ve got a sub from me :)
I know Cory may never critique this games flaws (nor Eric Williams). But i hope Cory's son (the main reason Cory gave the director role to Eric) once he's older has the confidence to tell mention these flaws this game has.
You could definitely feel the passion oozing from 2018's narrative because it was genuinely important to Cory as a person. In Ragnarok, like you said, it just felt like they were trying to appeal to as many people as possible and there really wasn't that much visible passion and love for the characters being presented as there was in God of War 2018.
@@eke4146 absolutely perfect comment. I believe that Ragnarok was mainly made to simply improve what people didn't like from 2018. Instead of doing anything different.
I felt like the pacing in this game was just off, too. As a whole it felt too long, the Ironwood section alone is a slooooog of a teenage dating sim. The momentum feels like it's really picking up when you kill Heimdall but then oh wait... the dog smells something. Which leads to 3 whole-ass side areas with bosses and puzzles and mini bosses and upgrades. I agree that section of Vanaheim is the best area in the game, but but it was weird how they plopped it all in your lap right after killing a God. Like the game is saying "Nah don't worry about it, go screw around in Vanaheim, Odin won't mind waiting". And all for fucking Birgir, who's "sacrifice" actually had me laughing at how hard the devs were trying to make me care about this character I couldn't even name. Really insightful video man, hope to see more! *Edit Posted this before I got to the section at the end on pacing :)
Let’s call it what it is. It was a rushed story and they did the Norse Gods no justice. Thor was a walking simulator throwing Mjolnir at walls instead of at Kratos. Helheim was a joke with Hraesvelgr as ruler of Helheim. The Norns besides Thor was the biggest joke in this game. You seek them out just for 2 seconds for them to tell you something you already know. The prophecy from 2018 coming into this game was a completely joke because nothing in this game showed any indication that this was even close to happening with a death of Kratos. I could go on but this game was such a let down I just couldn’t believe it. Not surprised though once I heard this was the last game and your throwing Thor and Odin in it as well as so many other characters that needed to be flushed out wasn’t gonna be a good thing. This was the worse GOW game to me out of all far as story and pacing. Far from a Masterpiece that obviously Sony Shills will always call every game they release out as. 👀
Nah this game is amazing, flaws and all lmao. Even with all the critiques, I can't manage to really hate this game. And I thought that GOW 2018 was slightly better than this game. They made Thor way more of a complex character who can still fuck up Kratos, despite literally going through so much. Odin was such an amazing antagonist along with Heimdall. The way Odin spoke was really interesting and you can see the manipulation unfold right in front of you. Hemidall, despite his short screen time, was a really good antagonist that I wish they used more. The thing that argee with is that this game could've been better and should've been batter. Maybe I went in with my expectations just being a 'great game' rather than the greatest thing ever, but still. I understand why people would be disappointed but compared to really disappointing games over the years. This is just a great game, I get why people call it a masterpiece and why people call it disappointing. Still, I feel like this game is getting alot of undeserved hatred when other games have done far FAR worse.
Thanks, I put a lot of work in to try to make it as high quality as possible! And my friend told me she shared my video on her somewhat bigger channel, so maybe that helps RU-vid get it to you, but honestly I have no idea how it works, haha
I can only agree with all these other comments.. this is a great analysis and a very well made video.. rhe part where u cut in Odin saying “you don’t think, I think, you kill!” Made me laugh out loud
Finally someone understands the feelings. Thank you for telling people this game is not a masterpiece but a disappointment of the hyped expectations we had
We can blame 2018 on this, the game lore and story hyped so much the world and characters in 2018, but in ragnarok feels rushed and they butchered the norse mythology making a lot if things silly. Like fenrir being a random wolf soul in the body of garm, fenrir behave likes a silly scooby doo. AC Valhalla norse mythology is felt way better and more faithful, fenrir there is scary and talks.
This is a fantastic analysis of why this game was a disappointment. I don’t normally get so invested in games or movies like this, but I just completely fell in love with the first Norse God of War. From that game, I discovered the older games, and I loved learning more about Kratos and his story. Naturally, I was eagerly awaiting Ragnarok. I literally had dreams about playing it, I was so hyped. Having said that, I can still feel the tide of let-down I felt after playing it. Thank you for making this video, it feels great knowing I’m not the only one who has problems with this game.
I completely agree with everything you said man. I preordered the game the second it was available and now i just feel so let down. If i had to explain gowR with two words, it would be a cinematic disappointment
Okay, this is the critique and analysis of G.O.W. Ragnarok I've been looking for. Almost every other video essay and critique has pretty much just been the creator whining for most of the video. Thank you for this video and your hard work on it.
Thank you for the kind words! I tried my best to justify all my claims with supporting evidence, or drop the point if I couldn't sufficiently support it, so I'm glad to hear that it didn't come across as whining haha
45:11 thank you! I was actually asking myself that question. In fact I thought going the lengths they did to humanize him, it would end in a way where we realize that you can't always rely on one perspective about what someone or some people tell you about another person. Till you actually understand the person. That there would be some sort of forgiveness econciliation with Odin's story. And yes the Tyr reveal did feel out of nowhere because of how little he did. And also why tf would he break his deceit just to stab Brokk Anyways this is the best critique on the game. I can't believe it's your first attempt Also spot on with the Heimdall fight. I honestly didn't know why our attacks were working
The Tyr reveal was not out of nowhere at all, if you play through the game again with the fact that Odin is Tyr in mind there are numerous moments that showcase him manipulating the party you just don't see it as manipulation because you're viewing it through the lens of "Pacifist Tyr". Honestly the fact that so many people don't get this and say it feels "out of nowhere" showcases how good of a manipulator Odin actually is, he even fooled many of the players!
thats not the iusse. it feels half assed. tell me thid. odin knows for sure that if heimdiall dies and the kratos team get the horn, it's game over and ragnarok will start. Odin's motivations throughout the game are vague but if we keep 2018 game in mind, he basically wants to know more about the afterlife of Gods cause of Ragnarok. He still doesnt have the mask, he KNOWS Kratos is literally going to assasinate Heimdiall, and he JUST LETS IT HAPPEN???! OK cool maybe odin is such a master manipulator he has a backup plan to prevent ragnarok. NOTHING!? ITS JUST THE MASK?! You can add cool tidbits that hint towards the big plot twist, but they were very surface level. Like desinged to be on a cool "top 10 easter eggs" video on youtube, which we appreciate. BUt the fact that Odin was sitting with Kratos for 90% of their journey and he bascially ACHIEVED nothing is laughable lol. The sotry of this game is DIRECTIONLESS. It MEANDERS when it needs to go, and GOES TOO FAST when it needs to let it settle. The reason people are so disappointed is because the first game blew them away. I used to read God of War lore wikis man during the most important exams of my life cause I was just so invested in the 2018 game. This game was just so disapponting from a story point. Not awful, but like the youtuber said, very STERILE@@YetiCoolBrother
Truly a masterful critique. You managed to put into words miscellaneous feelings I personally had about the game. Truly the experience felt as if all the pieces ain't welding together true to quote Brok and I'm sure that applies to many players. An excellent game but not the end of the world as we were promised. All in all I just want to say thank you and congratulations for your amazing work.
"Not the end of the world like we were promised" but the whole game is literally about subverting prophecy, how can you say that the world not ending is a bad thing?
I am SO GLAD you brought up just how inconsistent the combat can be when it comes to auto aiming for you, attacks sliding at you even if you dodge, and how poorly the design is overall when it comes to the colored Perry/shield strikes. Dude, I've seen it on so many occasions that I would take damage because it would be very hard to calculate what would happen in certain situations due to how the game handles them. It's very frustrating. I'd also like to add that this game needs some serious quality of life improvements. Can we get a mini map for exploring realms?? It's very tedious to keep having to open the map back up to see where you're going. The compass is kinda broken too. I've had many times where I'm trying to find a place but end up going in circles because design, compass, and map could've been done better. The crater is good and feels like the breath of fresh air. There's just 2 major things holding this entire realm back. One of which would help other realms too. These 2 things are 1: give us the ability to AT LEAST fast travel to a mystic gateway. And 2: instead of the alters, why couldn't they give us a way to cycle day and night on the fly? I understand they wanted to add the element of slight puzzle if you were some place that required night/day then you had to go back to change it but after it being a requirement to do so on many occasions, it just pissed me off. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.
@@frogglen6350yea, not really. I appreciated that this was one of the few reviews at the time that praised and critiqued it. Too many reviews were either all praise or all hate.
Job well done on this video. There was a ton of work and passion you put behind it. These are how critiques should be done. You got a new sub! These points are well said about the game. This was a highly anticipated game for me (it made me buy a ps5!), but I was left both entertain but more so disappointed. The fighting mechanics I was fine with and accepted. What really bother me was the story for this game. In God of War 2018, they do such a fantastic job building lore behind these characters and their history. It is the first game in a long time where I was truly invested with the world, its characters, its history, its lore etc. How they talk about Odin, Thor made it seemed like they were truly violent conflicted individuals with harsh ambitions. Then we get to Ragnarok everything falls flat. There are so many surrounding conflicts that are suppose to happen before the event and none of it happens. They get a few characters to some how get an army to go against Asgard. With the scale being so high in previous GoW games we are left with smaller battles and conflicts. Basically they could have made this absolutely epic by scaling up from such a grounded (and successful level) GoW 2018. Still a great experience ( I mean holy shit this game is gorgeous) but leaving me wanting more.
Masterful critique! I'd really enjoy seeing a part 2. I love the game, but all of the points you made were valid. I also found myself disappointed that we didn't get anything about the Greek pantheon given Athena's appearance in GoW 2018, but I guess the point was to move on from Kratos's past and shift our focus to the Norse gods... despite seeing hardly anything of them.
For a first video of this type, this is phenomenal work, I agreed with many of the criticisms you brought up, and overall thought this was a very thorough, well spoken, and fair critique
When it comes to Kratos dying, they should have put in two different endings. Perhaps after they talk to the Norns. The player is given 2 dialogue options. One results in Kratos dying and for the endgame, Atreus takes up his father's weapons OR the other results in Kratos living. What the game devs did felt kinda cheap emotional manipulation. I do understand the reasoning by the way. Understanding something doesn't keep it from feeling cheap.
as I see it, I loathe the one camera shot gimmick they did for the norse god of war games, mostly because in gameplay I feel like it's impossible to see what's going on
I agree, based on boss fights alone. It seems like balder is stronger than thor..balder and kratos divided the earth and changed the landscape while all they destroyed in the Thor battle was a statue
I mainly enjoy whenever we see Kratos taking out of the sky, making the impact of the environment much grander, while also making the power of Baldur badass.
The frozen lightning that thor and kratos created will remain in the world of the game forever while all the damage caused by the fight with baldur is gone ,so on boss fights alone thor is much stronger than baldur and really baldur only stood a chance because of the spell because without it he would have been dead from the first fight.
Masterfully explained and voiced my inner thoughts. Still love the game, but 2018 hits harder emotionally for me. I felt apart of the journey... Ragnarok felt more theme park ride. That said, both are great remakes of a franchise I didn't think could interest me again, being then a DMC / Ninja Gaiden series vet. Cheers! 👍🏾
First of all, thank you for this video. Your analysis was fair, you explained the game's shortcomings while also giving praise where it's due. The comparison to the 2018 game was also well done and mirrored many of my own thoughts about this sequel. I am impressed that this is your first video, I liked the way you talked and found the editing very well done, the scenes shown where always relevant to what you're talking about and the inclusion of game dialogue was precise and funny without being overdone. What I'm really grateful for is that your analysis, while critical, isn't hateful. Online discussions that deal with the negative aspects of a video game often tend to be hateful or cynical and seem to be mostly done this way to garner attention. This makes it difficult to find opinions that reasonably criticise a game. I really like your level-headed approach and you seem honest and passionate about this, which is refreshing to see :)
I agree with a lot of what you said even though my first and only time playing it I didn't really feel that way. This was the first game I platinum'd and I really only did it because I did most of the side quests before finishing the game. I was thrilled to be exploring new realms but after finishing the story and doing the last few things I needed to do, I felt like the world got smaller and I knew every route and how most of them were useless after the end of the story missions and tedious to traverse after a while. I loved the game but I did feel like it was shorter than the first one. Good video btw. You should make more.
I said that it was stupid that the armors are called "Vidarr" "Ullr" even they mention Forseti but we see only the family of Thor and Odin you know the Aesir are literally 12 gods like Greek (technically 9-10 without Loki and Vanir)
Man that was absolutely amazing for a first video, easily the best critique of Ragnarok I’ve seen so far. You just earned yourself a sub, can’t wait to see what else you’ll put out!
I just got this game for $20.00 free shipping off of eBay. I LOVED 2018’s God of War IV. I had a strong feeling this God of War would not be nearly as good as the last one but for $20.00 as long as it is fun I am still looking forward to playing it.
Well done. this was a mind-opening video. I can say I felt quite the same about some of the parts you mentioned. Keep going. one suggestion, try to make your videos less than 40 minutes if the whole part is just your narration.
100% agree. This game destroyed GoW for me, I'm so disappointed that I'm taking second thoughts about keeping up with the saga. It all felt so unsatisfactory and forced, just to fit with the "Kratos doesn't kill anymore" narrative
I only just beat the game. I thought the story had a lot of wonderful, heartwarming moments. I just got tired of playing it. I thought something was wrong with me or Elden Ring spoiled me. Both those things might still be true but you've managed to explain why I wasn't feeling this like I was GoW 2018.
Great video - I've been looking for objective critiques of this game and they're not easy to find. I loved 2018 so so much, and while this game is not bad by any means, it leaves so much to be desired. I feel 2018 used a video game to tell a compelling and interesting story. Ragnarok used a story to tell a compelling and interesting video game. I think the difference in soul lies there. Thanks for putting voice to the disappointment and frustrations I had!
It's not surprising that the two games Cory barlog was the creative director for are considered two of the best games in the series I just finished this game last night and honestly it's hard to explain exactly but something about the story feels unfinished. There Are some cliffhangers yet we were told there wouldn't be any DLC. This is a great series and I been a fan since first game but the 2018 game felt more focused on it's story and totality
It's funny too. All the choices Cory made in 2018's Game. He had so many doubts if it would be good. (Then of course it was good) But the one choose Cory was not doubtful about, was finishing this storyline in another game. Same amount of time in the game, the end to not just the storyline, but an entire folklore Mythology. I can understand why he wanted to finish the game franchise quickly: So that he can spend time with his son more. But why wouldn't he just leave Santa Monica to finish the series on their own? They'd done a great job so far. I still wont ever understand why make such a large and important choice for such a iconic game franchise.
I think ragnarok was rushed... really rushed. Like, I can see Jim Ryan breathing down the director's neck bc they didn't deliver on the 2021 announcement date and just brute forcing the game out in 2022. If anything, I'm in awe that SSM managed to be rushed and still deliver a game with this quality, even with everything lacking with it. Also congratulations... you say this is your first video ever made but I'd never have guessed that tbh... it was really well made.
Of course it was. The game has a ton of bugs and the storytelling is really focused on character development instead of actually laying out the details of its more complex plot, at least in relation to the first game.
In my opinion and to put it shortly: - Fun Combat, Bad Gear Progression. Feels like a chore to max out an armor. - Story is mid, feels like a Marvel film than a God of War game. Atreus and Angroboda where annoying in some parts. - The game felt empty and tiny (as he said in the video) - The UI is horrible. It feels like the game was made for people with no arms, like in 2018 you had chaos covering the screen, now its just menus after menus, with kratos being barely visible through the chaos. - SHUT UP BOY AND LET ME THINK AS TO HOW TO FIGURE OUT THE PUZZLE YOU GREMLIN
My main gripes which you touched upon were definetly 1. The open world felt less open this time, and things felt more linear 2. Kratos has no purpose for the first half of the story, the story should have been us going to the realms to gather forces, but instead that is a tacked on plot point at the end which should have been the main focus of Kratos story 3. As you said, not enough consequences. Thors daughter is just cool with us killing her brothers? Ok then. I agree Brok was handled well, but there needed to be more consequences than just that.
This game's characters and dialogue were Marvelized, and it's stuffed to the brim with hokey moments and platitudes. It's a mess, a massive step down from 2018.
I made a comment on another video, I think you covered all my criticism of the story and more. Great video, I hope you keep up this level of analysis on other games and stories. Thank you. This is the comment I made in another video: Some youtubers like Under the mayo and others have videos pointing out some stuff better than I could, I dont agree with everything they say but some of the stuff I think should be discussed. Blind praise has never made anything improve. But just to name a few of my issues with the story, I think this game should have been part 2 of a trilogy, why are they introducing new secondary characters if we have little time to get to know the ones that matter? GoW 2018 set up Tyr, Thor, Odin so much and so well, why not focus on them and if you are going to introduce new character, make them be important, like Heimdal, Surtur and his wife actual gods or character from the Mythology we can learn about. The events and setup from the previous game is treated as if it was the force awakens and this game was the last jedi, Tyr was so hyped and it came to nothing by the end, we got a cool twist at the expense of not knowing the real Tyr in the entire norse arc. We killed both of Thors sons, surely there is going to be hell to pay for that, blood for blood or something, right? No, in what has to be the biggest destruction of my suspension of disbelief in a story ever, no one seems to care enough. Thors daughter even becomes friends with Atreus, Thor just does what he is told and only reacts when Atreus has a convenient way out, Thors wife bitches about it but at the end also is like whatever they don’t really even mourn Thor that we see. Thor achieved little in the story and was killed off just when he would have had some agency, they could have at least let him fight Odin for a while, let him go with a bang. Keeping with the same theme of dropping what the last game set up, Freya reverts back to her previous self, we killed her son but hey she needs us so guess that is it. Imagine if Freya or Thor or anyone killed Atreus for whatever reason, would Kratos just accept it? I dont think so. If Kratos would kill to keep Atreus from harm like he did, he will kill anyone that harms his son. Why cant the other characters have the same resolve? Because we need Freya as a sidekick? The world serpent is never explained it just exists and is such a background character, such an important part of the mythology with his clash with Thor and it is done as a background piece for a minute or something, just disappointing. Odin never seemed a threat to me, he didnt seem powerful or evil for that matter, up until he killed brok he was just an old man obsessed with this green gash that had absolutely nothing to do with the story. A page from the book of JJ Abrams’ mystery box complete with a mask macguffin, it never got explained or resolved. The amount of what was lost against the norse gods is Freyr who we just met and Brok, that is the worst Odin could do. It would have been nice to see him and Thor destroy the giants in the Angerboda part of the game like in a dream sequence or something, maybe then we could have seen the villain, we hear so much about how bad and badass Thor and Odin are, but never witness it. Finally, Ragnarok was just underwhelming, we start the game with a bang with Thor and end it with a wimper fighting both gods in front of a shack and in Odins basement, WTF, what were we playing? Wasn’t it God of War? This franchise had us fight gods in the top of moving titans in the ps3 era. Are you telling me that now in the ps5 era we cannot fight Thor on top of the world serpent? Baldurs final fight was more epic than any of this. A sequel should up the stakes not lower them. I am sorry for the rant and the wall of poorly written text. I love this franchise since it began, platinumed every game including Ragnarok and I am exited for the possibility of an Egyptian gods saga, but I hope they bring their endgame and give spectacle as well as story and actually depict the great moments of the mythological tales with the epic proportions they deserve, as they did in the past.
I think the decision to make the Norse saga 2 games instead of 3 was a very bad blunder on the developers part. Ragnarok physically could not be as big and bombastic as it wanted because it had to set up so many things and could not pay it off like it wanted. Imagine a whole game building relationships with the other realms so they actually have a reason to align with us, a whole game of Atreus being with the asgardians and we see a whole different side of them. What if Odin betrays Atreus in a way that makes us understand that he cannot change. All these things could have been give explanations in another game and then we have ragnarok which could take place over the course of the entire game and through all the realms and not just Asgard. That is the biggest flaw this game has to me
Especially at the first half you pretty nailed it, that was terrifying ;-) What i disagree with? Pacing, first i was glad to had the exploration options before Tyr rescue, getting to know the game and having a game, while the beginning in Midgard is more of playable cutscene. What really really really killed the pacing, and put up such a disapointment is still Ironwood, such a waste of time of never ending boredom..and why? To get a PoC Character in, i´m pretty sure that the reason it was that long, section could easily be cut half or down a third. The whole thing was like the beginning of a game, not a part already few hours in. --> Allowing character switching (Atreus gets to bed, awakens in Ironwood), then Ironwood could be another Vanaheim Crater and maybe Token could be more developed. On the other Hand, just cut the sh..... section (excuse my Brok). Another is Combat, i got the feeling you played the game in a to easy difficulty for your skill level. I´m not that versed in GoW Combat, and Give me Balance was challenging, and for me fitting for a first play through. GMGOD i´m still missing both post-game bosses. Everyone praises the combat, but i often had the feeling, that Kratos is not evading/blocking ignoring the input, and i don´t mean the few locked animation, though which are which is also very unclear. I find the exact parry/Dodge moments also very unclear too, especially on looong attack animation like the grim jumping claw slash. The Blue Ring Interruption also feels pretty unclean, especially when you can´t reach the enemy and sometimes it still evades the damage...and sometimes not. To many assist option active was a point you where spot on. Made evading even more difficulty in combination with the also mentioned sliding of enemies / extending attack ranges. Ironic that many complained about that also in Horizon Forbidden West, and how it´s better in other Games, which GoW got mentioned often too as example. The Samyness of Combat Skills was to much, little more variation would have been better and the usuability of chains for the common player, just learning the tricks to pull them off on harder difficulties. Narrative with, it was top, some weakness, the soul parts was stupid and didn´t make sense, and i agree the Big Snake Stuff wasn´t satisfying. And the Endscene was lacking because of the Sindri Stuff, which i also dislike and is to roughly written for what it should have been...but my comment is already pretty long.... So i disagree with Freya easily forgiving Kratos...it´s more a refocus, which also cost a lot of effort, i found it plausible enough. But i must call you a Liar...you said this is your first video...i don´t believe you...maybe the first on the channel, but not overall. Quality is fine, Cuttting is fine, Script is fine, Speech is fine, which is the most important part, because nothing gets more boring then monotone voice on a very long video. The segementation was also fine :-) So you are very talented or very thorough in preperation. Well Done!
The story really let me down, especially with it’s lackluster portrayal of Odin and Thor. Baldur in the previous game felt like a legitimate threat, and had interesting character motivation and relatable reasons for his rage. Odin…was some short, scrawny old guy. Thor was a recovering drunk. Nothing truly meaningful happened with them, only to the women in their lives, who for overshadowed either character. No, game, I don’t care about Thor’s daughter, no matter how much you writer her like a 21st century character. I also noticed a trend with a group of specific type of character who were a) always in the right b) we’re never the ones making bad choices c) often put other characters in their place at one point or another. The painter girl was particularly frustrating because the game forces you to lose in a race against her TWICE! It doesn’t even give you the option to do it yourself, which would have actually been meaningful. And then there’s the subplot of Kratos’ death being fated. In the end they just…kind of ignored it? Sure the game talked about how Kratos and Atreus decided to…defy fate by working together, I guess, but there was never a point in time where I felt “Ah! THERE is when Kratos should’ve died and Fate was averted.” Overall, the previous game was way better, more focused and had far more emotional impact.
One mechanic that I see NO ONE talking about is chain executions. If you used an execution in 2018 and cause the animation to collide with another enemy it would drastically increase their stagger. Allowing you to accelerate fights to their conclusion. This function is gone and as such the technique with it, making in my opinion executions EXTREMELY BORING, and fights drawn out. Now it's brainless push button to kill the enemy in front of instead of it being set up to kill the next guy. While yes this had a possibility of being massively domino, but in 2018 it was rare that you could pull it off and when you did you felt like a God of War. with this function removed outside of one armor is see zero reason for them keeping executions. Another thing that I never see talked about is the amount of retelling that happens at the beginning of the game that is done to bring new players up tp speed. While making comments on the side in conversations is fine and it does happen naturally in game. The 90% of the rest of these conversations they retread what happened in 2018, and are blatant 4th wall breaking smacks in the face. That even go as far as to bring up none main story information. Honestly think if you are playing Ragnarök without playing 2018 that you are an anomaly, and should be ignored. This issue doesn't fully stop until after Freya breaks her curses, which is 8 hours in. If it takes you 8 hours to bring players that never played 2018 up to speed. Then maybe I don't know just ignore them since it requires playing the first game to understand this one! You touched on it briefing but the berserker fights are all the same. Yes they take the place of the Valkyries but they don't have any of the variability in mechanic and spectacle that the Valkyrie fights do. It's Dash, shield bash, parry, side step, and repeat until the enemy is dead.
31:18 Literally this. I've finished the main story on GMGOW and it felt painful and infuriating to the point where I honestly have no desire to complete the rest of the content. For the most part in the game, I've been dying to literally nothing I could see or react to. Enemies gang up on you from behind and then disappear from your radar. Even once you have fixed your camera in order to face the enemy currently attacking you, other enemies will start attacking you as soon as you're done facing them, as if the game wanted to punish you even more for its fucked up camera. After dying too many times to something hitting me from the back, I became paranoid most of the time so I was really hesitant to commit to my attacks, ending combos after 2-3 hits and then looking around for enemies. The indicators and companions shouting make it even worse, because there's ALWAYS something sitting on your ass, so you can't focus on what's in front of you for more than few seconds without being constantly interrupted. It takes away all the fun from the combat, every fight looks pretty much the same and you're always looking for the same shenanigans that this game throws at you in order to make your playthrough harder in the most not fun way. Also, parry/dogde windows are inconsistent as hell, sometimes the marker will appear just before an enemy attack would land and sometimes it will appear during like a 2 second attack windup, so reacting to it will immediately result in you messing up a parry. Same goes for dogding, because now for some reason enemy attacks auto-track you, so even if you dogde out of the way correctly, there's still a chance that the enemy will fix the direction of his attack mid-way and still hit you, punishing you for correct inputs. Never have I experienced this in the previous game, even with lower frame rate and with the game feeling more clunky at least there was a sense of accomplishment after beating a stronger enemy. Here it's just pure frustration that it took you so long, because game mechanics simply work against you.
In the moment, this game was the best game I’d ever played, I was impressed with the variety in boss fights but, I couldn’t help feeling this nag the whole time. You brought that general nag into specific words. I just felt underwhelmed the entire time, I thought we were gonna be a god killing machine who were still unable to overcome our old ways. I figured Atreus would choose Odin at the end of this game because Odin told him the truth of how Kratos killed his first wife and child and now wears their ash. I know we got that nice moment with Freya but does Atreus know? Idk I know the director can’t be to blame for everything but I just wish Cory Barlog helmed it. Things tend to not feel AS cohesive if they’re directed by different people.
This was a really bad God of War game. Santa Monica dropped the ball hard here. I hope they let the franchise die and not continue bastardizing it and making it even worse.
Wow dude.. I am you and you are me lol :p. So happy that i'm not alone in how I felt. The level of excitement I had during the pre-load was completely washed out with the disappointment I felt upon finishing. Still a solid game, but probably my least favorite of the main entries in the series.
This was a really great, comprehensive look into the game! Personally I found the emptiness of the world that you mentioned one of its biggest issues, as the world really felt more like maps for the player to explore. They were enjoyable, but not really alive. The combat system kept giving me issues as well. I do disagree with Odin, however. Throughout the game it is emphasized how Odin exploits the other realms; the dwarves for their technology and Freya's people for their magic, for example. So to me, he really felt like a proper bad guy. Similarly, I found his insistence to have everything, even assurances of his own future, a great counter point to Atreus, as I pointed out in my own video. But as you said, the prophecies and their mechanics really were not clearly explained, unfortunately. Especially since Kratos found comfort and joy in the inevitably of his own propecy, at the end of the game.
Thank you for your kind words! As for Odin, I see your point, but we're told to hate Odin by his past deeds, not his current actions, which flies in the face of the game telling us "We are not who we were." Mimir was Odin's accomplice for all of those grander schemes, and we spend much of the game helping him atone, so why is it that the characters (and the story) put no effort into trying to help Odin atone and become a better person? It's odd to constantly repeat themes of "We are not who we were." and "We must be better." while putting in no effort to convince or allow Odin to be better. Even as you state, the majority of Odin's blame comes from his past deeds, not anything he's doing currently (Even Brok's death is somewhat moralized by it being a fair trade for Heimdall, which he notes). Why do the themes of redemption and forgiveness apply to Kratos (who has done far worse) and not Odin? I also think to me much of the realm exploitation comes off as too emotionally incomprehensible for the player. Those exploitations of realms are *told* to us, not *shown*, so it comes across less meaningfully. It's also hard to comprehend the dynamics of Odin manipulating the dwarves so they they rely on Asgard for food because we don't really see a Dwarven realm that is believable, so how can we feel upset about it? Not to mention weird moral issues such as Kratos and company destroying Asgard, which was the source of all food for the Dwarves. Has Kratos inadvertently commit genocide against the Dwarves by doing this? It's not touched on because the story doesn't care about it, being a tale focused on personal relationships rather than larger societal issues, but it's really jarring if you do try to think about it. I think this disconnect leads to it being something I mentally brush off which then means what little we get of Odin acting evil is also brushed off.
@@OutOfNickels Great points. I suppose the difference is ultimately that Odin was unwilling to change his ways or repent. I also do agree that in general, too much of the story is told instead of shown. I guess this is to give Odin a chance to manipulate both Atreus and the player, as he's been told to do. But as in other aspects of the world, the "human" connection ends up missing in the process.
@@OutOfNickels Odin is presented as a god who will do anything in his power to get what he wants. Odin did villainous things, he threatened Freya when he met with Kratos at the start of the game. He manipulated everyone by impersonating Tyr. It was Odin himself that said it was a “fair trade” for Heimdall's death but he was just negotiating, his very wording explains it, he says “Tell your brother to throw me the mask and you’ve got a deal” and “if he dies we are square”. He used Atreus for his own personal gain and treats everyone around him as tools. Never once did he seek redemption or peace, the very ending of the game Atreus tells him to stop and Odin replies saying he'll never stop. Yes we are told about Odin's doings, but I'd argue that it only adds to the story, throughout the game we see Odin as a nice guy to Atreus, although we were told by Mimir that he’s not to be trusted by any means, which we then at the end of the game find out he was never trying to be nice and that he was just making use of everyone.
Nailed it with this video, people might call this nitpicking but after the extremely high bar the team set with the first game, this entry should be held to the same regard and I absolutely agree with almost all points here. Although I still love the game there were many moments that left me confused in an unsatisfied way, and overall it left me with the feeling that the game played it too safe. Even though it does many things better, I still am left with the feeling that I would rather replay the first one. Subscribed. Also since we're critiquing, I have to get this off my chest. In no way does it make any sense that Freya forgives Kratos. In the myth, Heimdall sees a vision of Baldur dying and tells Freya, so she goes to all lengths possible to try and save Baldur, but she overlooked the mistletoe. So when in this game Freya says to Kratos, "my anger should be directed at Odin, not at you", it makes absolutely zero sense, it should be solely and exclusively focused at Kratos because Odin had no role to play in Baldur's death whatsoever. She becomes way too casual with Kratos and even acts flirty with him right after which is mind biggling to me. As you perfectly put it, actions have no consequences. Edit: also the edits are very clean, great job, I never would have guessed this is your first video. No bloat, concise, perfect editing with great humor, you're good at this.
Yeah I agree with the disappointment of the final Ragnarok battle, doesn't live up to what it should have been, no where near the scale or spectacle of GOW3, or even the games own concept art. Strange how the build up to Thor vs the world serpent is so unsatisfying in the sequel judging by how much the previous game went on about what a big deal it was supposed to be
I just finished this game, it’s the first first game I played on the PS5 and also the first GoW I’ve ever played. Thank you for saying out loud what I felt playing this, disappointment. I was aware of the awesome scale in prior games, I’ve seen clips but nothing like that was seen here. It was so linear and small, it was wasn’t a war it was hardly a battle, a good example of a feeling of war see Shadow of Moridor. These weren’t realms, they were small maps. Outside of the visuals and voices, everything gameplay wise seems so mundane.
Do you think you'd ever play the last game('s)? I can understand if you don't want to risk paying for something you may not enjoy. But if not play the game, did you ever watch the story in the last game? I would like to see how you react. Because as a viewing experience Norse God of War did a fantastic job at being a movie, but also a good game.
You, sir, addressed every single aspect that made me feel so disappointed by this game. It’s not horrible, but c’mon, this isn’t what we were expecting. Those last few hours before the ending where laughable, I couldn’t believe how rushed it all seemed. That’s very, very sad for a game with such potential.
Totally agree with a lot of this. Perhaps the pressure and demand to get the product on the shelves/ps store as quickly as possible means sacrificing depth in other areas. I thought the story beats were good, but the last 2-ish hours of the main quest felt slimmed down. I went from being deeply moved during the Kratos Atreus tent "tell me a story" scene, to wondering why I was just running through another series of basic fight/mini boss scenarios. Didn't feel at all like there was an "apocalyptic" war going on around me. Still loved it, but felt like they were so close to making it a true classic. Naughty Dog took their time between TLOU 1 and 2. Maybe there is something in that, not that I am qualified to comment on video game production at all.
Also, Odin simply wanting to "know everything" isn't what made him a bad dude. It was the lengths he was willing to go to get this knowledge that created the problem.
I feel like it should have been a trilogy. I am actually ok with the scale of the games somewhat. I would have liked the second one to end just after saying alright we will go to war let's ally the realms. That way we could have had more time for the preparation in the last installment. I would have had a few more calmer segments like ironwood and then the high stakes moments should be the beginning with Thor, invasion of vanaheim where we fight Heimdall and finally maybe a more fleshed out arc with Freya coming to the same place she did ingame but with more time. Maybe even a somewhat near death battle with her that is caused by Kratos falling into his older self and that could parallel with Heimdall's fate and the choice theme of the story and how Kratos will change his own fate.
I like cliffhanger for the next game but I feel like it didn't answer much from the last game and gave alot more questions. This game just didn't have the meat I wanted it to
