I love that they even put in extra dialogue even for Ratatosk's seperate... personalities? Emotions? if you sit there and continually hit the chime when he isn't available 🤣
There's a bit right at the start where Mimir says, 'I'm sure we can find a quiet way in.' but a destructible collectible is next to the entrance and if you smash it he says, 'or you could do... that.'
Unfortunately Kojima is confirmed to not be working on the next God of War, and instead is going to be "focused on delivering a sequel to the critically acclaimed Knack 2." Not really the move I would have expected but Knack has been stagnant for a while and breathing some new life into such a massive franchise isn't the worst thing.
I absolutely love when the troll boss makes it’s first appearance in that cutscene and Kratos instantly chops it’s head off. That’s the Santa Monica team basically looking right into the camera and saying “we heard you”
It gets better. There are hidden troll fights and after you beat the first one Mimir says something like "I missed those troll fights". Kratos stays silent.
@@Mr.Ditkovich. Yeah a bit puzzling tbh, I liked the troll fights, they were cool enemies. The ancients however were/are dogshit and terrible fights, yet they kept them instead of the trolls.
@SirJoey The trolls looked cooler but they weren't better. In the first game I liked the first troll boss since it was the first time fighting it and also you didn't have Rage. But I think the Bridge Keeper in Helheim was the best and hardest troll, although I was hoping and expecting it to be a brand-new enemy and instead we got another troll.
I accidentally sent Skoll and Hati twice in a row and Freya went “what are you doing? We need the sunlight to get though. And kratos goes, “I…. Wanted to see the wolves again…”
If you try to go back to the Norns with Atreus later the pathway is gone and Kratos comments on it Mimir asks why would we wanna go back there ajd Kratos says "I thought Atreus would like the horse"
The thing that is the most impressive to me is the sheer amount of fucking dialogue in this game. There’s so many little lines they added to keep you immersed and make the characters seem real. Like whenever mimir is telling a story but you get out of the boat before he finishes, he has a specific line for this specific story about the specific part of the story you left off at. They could’ve easily just had some plain line like “oh what were we talking about again?” But they put so much work into this so that you’re never annoyed by lines repeated until infinity. Except for when Atreus asks if Bifrosted is a word
Do people like that? I found it to be a major downgrade from the first and only detracted from the experience. The characters did not need to talk every 5 seconds and certainly not if all they had to say was just funny haha quipy joke or just exposition that DID NOT feel Natural. Freya's trying to deal with her emotions and grow beyond her hated for Kratos? That sounds like the perfect time for Kratos to turn this isn't a depression contest and exposite all the shit he never wanted to talk about before, gotta prove to the haters that we actually did play the old games. If people really are just that cringe these days and that's really relatable then I hope we go back to unrealistic characters because I cannot stand dialogue this awkward and uncomfortable.
Atreus' hints and status reminders are my biggest peeve with the game. I remember fighting through Ragnarok at the end with super serious, intense dialogue and music, Atreus is yelling, I'm yelling, everyone is, then he pops in with a light "Father, you're bifrosted! Is.. bifrosted a word?"
One of my favorite parts of the game is how much effort they put into the dialogue for when characters are just wandering around and exploring. Mimir telling stories and bantering with Atreus and Kratos makes exploring feel somehow more real than in other games where you are following objectives and quest markers.
Yeah when you explore you don't feel like only traveling, there is some dialogue and story which make your travel time enjoyable, sometimes you just arrive at destination but the story is not finish yet so you stay on the boat/cart to finish hearing the story.
That’s a trash part. The game is 30-40 hours only and how many of that is cutscenes or stupid walking around with character exposition. Is this a freaking game or marvel movie? Atreus ironwood mission is sure wonderful game moment
@@Bungycb GoW is literally an interactive movie. They didn't add the dialog to make traversing more interesting, they added the traversing to hear the dialog. Literally pointless content
As goofy as it is, that interaction with the squirrel guy and the chimes is a great way to handle repeating events in a game. Instead of saying nothing or repeating the same phrase, he adds onto what he said previously. It may seem like a small detail but a lot of games miss out on the small things like that and it's just nice to see the extra thought they put into their game
One of my favorite little interactions in the first game is that if you keep repeating the same combat move over and over when out of combat, Atreus eventually says "Ummm... Are you trying to teach me something?"
God of War:Ragnarok being God of War 2 and 3 is the best way to describe it. Going into it completely blind gave me an absolutely magical experience. One of the best video games I've ever gotten the joy to experience. So thankful to simply be alive for this era of gaming, there's so much beauty being released and discovered as of late.
I would say it has the massive problem of being god of war 2 and 3. I mean as in they tried to crush down the entirety of god of war 3 into god of wars 2 ending which created really bad pacing issues
4:53 - 5:45 Absolutely incredible. When a reviewer's sheer joy over a work of art spills over into his editing, it proves that there was something special there. That emotional payoff of 5 minutes of build-up makes this REIVEW high art. GOTDAMN!
not played it, but i def agree AAA gets thrown around allot at games that are in some cases basically unfinished betas reguardless of the budget spent on them.
I absolutely love the fact that you can have Atreus shoot at the little spiders and other creatures on the wall and actually KILL THEM. I've played so many video games where there are things on a wall and you can't interact with them at all. They added so many little things like that to the game and it's incredible!
Yes. It clearly pays homage to the greatest game of all time, Skyward Sword, in which you can catch bugs with your bug net that are on the walls. It makes sense that developers wanting to be the best would use the best work that has already been done
@@yourmomsboyfriend3337 Skyward Sword is actually copying a unique feature from Resident Evil 5 where you can kill big spiders on the wall for no reason.
@@splatmaster2007 Resident Evil 5 is actually emulating the experience of playing Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! where you're the main character and beat the game.
Yup, the simultaneous execution of two Valkyries from father and son each was super hype. I'm glad Atreus got a lot more moments to show off and be badass in Ragnarok.
Without spoilers, there's a bit where you're told to leave while 2 other characters talk. There's am interact button to eavesdrop and if you keep doing it, it's hilarious because they know youre eavesdropping. At one point they're like "did you know that they'd be so weird?" And "this is getting awkward"
I did the exact same same thing, haha! Unfortunately the prompt button goes away after a certain amount of times, was hoping for some interesting action
You know he likes a game when he has a jazz outro. Can't wait for his pokemon Scarlet and violet reviews just because I know he'll find new bugs somehow
Yet the haters gotta hate, dunkey is my absolute favorite youtuber, i like his videos so much, hes the only youtuber that i keep rewatching his videos till he releases smth new.
Agree, this is one of the few games that make an emotional connection with the player, even though the protagonist IS a character. Sort of the same vein as playing as any of the Snakes in Metal Gear, but way more powerful. sure, it is, in fact, a story. lol but how its delivered in GOW:R is masterful.
The first time he got me to buy a game full price was Elden ring where he delivered his review just like this and he was 100% right, this will be the second time and I have no problem support people who create a masterpiece.
Adam Harrington was my favourite, had to bring a lot of diversity and complexion to his acting in this game, especially compared to the last game where sindri had a lot less characterisation and was more basic as a character
Repeatedly throwing the axe at the chime was one of my favorite things I've done in a video game. Definitely got a respect point and a laugh out of me.
Dunkey really does a better job promoting games than actual game promoters. His excitement when explaining the game he likes really is contagious 6.5/10 "Not enough Knack"
No game has ever blown me away like this. Just the attention to details and the amount of clutter and assets that were made. And how well it performs on last gen. It's mind-blowing
Growing up my dad was always the one who got me Into video games at such a young age. We have a special bond when it comes to this series, the second one came out a day after his birthday which felt so poetic and we just finished it. Something about this game and dunkys review makes me so damn emotional. I know this is one of those games that change my view of life and grew such a connection between me and my dad I will always come back to it. What a magnificent peice of art
@@tks3022 how? Just cause he makes jokes, it doesn't tarnish his say so.. if he was as plain and simple as any other "reviewer" he wouldn't be as big as he is.
The nidhog boss fight is probably the most visually stimulating and brilliantly crafted giant monster type boss fight to ever exist. This game is beautiful, brutal, emotional and just fucking wonderful.
If we're talking about older games then in terms of big bosses, Bayonetta did it way better than the old gow games, but thats just my opinion and is in no way objective. Also imma have to say then that most well designed bosses would have to go to the devil may cry series. Like only in dmc can you fight 3 whole bosses at the same time on dmd and still be like, that was so fun I wanna do it again, until your again becomes like the 200th time lol. Nelo angelo and vergil mission 20 are still some of the fondest memories from gaming that i have. Hideki Kamiya and Hideaki Itsuno are actual legends.
@@BombaJead I have, I mean I’ve played tri and world but that’s about it really. Fatty is an amazing fight. Alatreon, fatty, furious rajang and thunder puppy are my favorites. At this point I think I’ve killed like 500 or so fatalis lmao. But after 1600 hours I got bored. Have yet to be bored of any dmc game that isn’t the demake, 2 or 4. Honestly just wish dmc 4 had more bosses(that weren’t gimmick bullshit).
I didn't even realize it was him until I saw it online after beating the game, but it made so much sense after that. He is really talented, IMO one of the best voice actors out there right now.
I've watched Dunkey's video multiple times. Twice before I got the game, one after I got this game as a gift, another after completing the story. What a masterpiece.
Even the Dunkey cut of Ragnarok got me with the chills. It’s absolutely amazing and it’s one of the few games I wish I can go back to and experience it for the first time again. Honestly the “worst” parts of the games were the slow traversal parts that are intentionally placed to slow you down in between load segments. It’s a PS4 game at heart, and I can’t imagine how much better the flow would have been without those segments.
The constant unrelenting backseating is also a pretty big problem whenever you aproach a puzzle. It's pretty immersion breaking, you jcan just feel the writers treating you like a baby
@@pedrovilar6123finally someone talks about this. It’s so annoying how two seconds into every puzzle every single character instantly tells you what to do and you can feel the game treating you like an absolute idiot. It’s so infuriating.
This is my third game that engrossed me so much that I couldn't help but go for the Platinum trophy. 45 hours later and not a single part of this game disappoints. The ability for the developers to create such an engrossing personal story and weave it into a significantly larger narrative with such satisfying gameplay is still astounding to me. I can't wait to see what Sony Santa Monica does next and I hope this game serves as a benchmark that future developers strive to meet, like The Last of Us was in 2013
Seriously, not many studios are left that won’t “make a game for modern audiences” anymore. It makes me sad that woke Hollywood has even bled into the gaming industry, but atleast there are a handful of studios that will just make what they want without being changed for wokeness.
Not only did they nail the characterization of the gods themselves, but they tied everything into the actual mythos very well. Everything from the subtle details on the walls to the plot points that originally seem to be one-off parts of the story. As someone who has played God of War since the first game, I was blown away by not only the attention to detail and respect for Kratos' past but how they also made this character with nothing but blind rage into an interesting, wise, moral, and realistic human being. Mastapeece. The climbing does really suck, though
God this review with the inclusion of those shots of Kratos hugging with Faye and Atreus separately made me genuinely tear up all over again. No single game will probably make me as emotionally exhausted as this game did. Santa Monica absolutely knocked it out the park and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
@@patrickcampos6743 Couldn’t disagree more. So much more context. Emotional exhaust doesn’t exclusively come from sadness. I get it, you don’t get the story as deeply as others, but your attempted discounting of another’s opinion based on personal bias is laughable. Embarrassing shit lmao
Spoiler: As a someone who played the original games, the last scene where Kratos sees him being worshiped as a god of peace brought a tear to my eye. Dude started off jumping off a cliff because he saw himself as irredeemable to someone people look up to is just beautiful.Another indomitable human spirit moment. Ragnorok is one of my favorite games.
You are right for the majority of this and the ending sequence is one of the best I have witnessed in gaming, but you have to remember, Kratos wasn't jumping from the cliff before Olympus because people didn't worship him, it was because the gods of Olympus did not help Kratos forget the horror of killing not only his own family, but to many others undeserving as well.
@@shinobiofshade He was also cursed to where he was unable to die by his own hand iirc, his severe and brutal attempts in his darkest depressed days were of no use, GOW has always been pretty deep with its story.
It cuts a little deeper when you consider Faye painted it. The giants saw Kratos dying because he couldn't change his nature, just as the Norn did. Faye always believed in him though. She betrayed her people and took a chance on a future she saw where Kratos changed and wanted to stop the bloodshed and god killing.
@@Skellotronix Yes, the best game I'VE ever played. If you're so insightful please tell me a time I played a better game? Since you clearly know my gaming history.
I’ve played many games. But it’s been so long since I’ve felt such emotional weight emanating from the story, the characters, and the music. There are a few life lessons that I will take, being a father now and wanting to be a better man. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Ragnaok has now become one of my top 3 games of all time. I hope more people will play this game and find things they can take away from this journey. God damn!
Man nothing gives me chills like that score, so beautiful, so expansive, it truly conveys the beauty of the god of war universe, and how far Kratos has come as a father
Every one of your reviews manages to introduce and elaborate on each of your ideas so cohesively in such a small amount of time while still having comedy throughout. You've been the best in your field for years never stop.
@@zeepopular he does tend to sound a bit immature due to how casual he is at letting his guard down. but whenever i pick apart his reviews, they manage to make sense and paint exactly the type of perspectives dunkey comes from.
That race segment is incredible. The while Ironwood arc was simply sublime and one of the most charming parts of the game. I love how you can feel his desperation to want to stay there and talk with the last of his race. The flirting was cute. But anyways, the race kind of being the culmination of the entire Ironwood section was beyond fitting because he was trying to learn how to control his powers was fucking awesome.
The final scene between Kratos and Atreus hit me as hard as a real life event, and having never played any of the GoW games in the past, I still felt like I understood Kratos' journey and how far he had come when looking at that last mural. It had me choking up. The acting, score, and direction are simply better than a vast majority of films.
Not gonna lie, you are the audience they cater to and I dislike that. I like Kratos growth but people like you PRETEND to understand what's happened or full on act like he was mindless and all of a sudden now he can think. The man was a Spartan general, a tactian and warrior who was betrayed by not only those he thought to be more powerful, but also his kin. He is the perfect example of a Greek tragedy but once these games came out it was diluted to "screaming guy." He's always had emotion, he's always had drive, now is a point he doesn't need to be on the offense and knows it, he just can't move on until he gets help from Mimir and his NEW child.
@@Kirkenburer74 You need to touch grass my friend. Having empathy for a character portrayed through experiences you have not lived is called being human. I didn't play the games, but I know his story and have a general understanding of why he was who he was. It's so incredibly weird that you make this weird sweeping generalization about a stranger.
Ragnarök is genuinely one of the hardest-to-put-down games I’ve played in a long time. If given the opportunity to play it for the first time again, I would take it instantly.
This is one of the best games ever made, period. Everything is so polished. The combat (the variety of combos you can pull off with weapon swapping is insane), the environments, the environment traversal, the character building, the story, the cutscenes and transitions. The side quests are also top notch and engaging. This game and the Witcher 3 have done side quests a lot of favors and set the bar high. For me, this was the most engaging and enjoyable single player experience I've had in gaming. And I forgot to mention the boss fights. Excellent variety in boss fights. Some really challenging and fun boss fights in there. Loved the pacing in Odin's fight. The final berserker and Thor's fight were super fun too. The game really made you learn how to use each weapon well. And the combo so well into one another, why would you not fight that way anyway? But I digress. This game hit it out of the fucking park! What a ride it's been since the first game. Well played Santa Monica, very well played
When I heard they were finishing up the story of this God of War series with 2 games I was skeptical. The first was so good but I didn't see how they'd tie up all the story threads and still make a satisfactory ending but here we are. They did it with ease.
I platinum'd it with 100% completion at 56 hours 3 days ago.... By far the best, most complete and refined game I have ever played. I physically miss playing it, new game+ cannot come soon enough!
@@gregorthegrey no, but the developers added NG+ to GOW 2018 about 3-4 months after the games release, so it'd be kinda weird if they dont do the same thing here
"Right from its opening shot..." You mean from the beginning of its *only* shot. I love love love how these games are presented in a long take a la Half-Life.
"this game might not be high art, but it is high entertainment" This is well said Mr. Dunko. I think this is a good way to look at what triple A games bring to the table
The squirrel's response to repeatedly beating the chimes is a nice and funny touch. I think all other games i've seen just have the character stand there.
I just finished the game about an hour ago, and i gotta say you encapsulated this game beautifully with all of youre editing without spoiling alot of the core story. God youre edit at the end got me in my feels lol
The traversal, where you are climbing in long areas is actually a trick. The game is unloading and loading assets to avoid loading screens. There are a lot of little tricks it uses to get away from them. They usually use those times to insert dialogue or world building. It is honestly genius and probably a nightmare to design.
The devs have spoken against this line of thinking. It’s funneling the direction of the player. Either way it’s mildly frustrating and worth pointing out
My favorite part of dunkviews (positive ones anyway) is the montages he puts at the end they’re always well edited and capture the way I feel about a game. This and the jazz montage form gow 4 are my favorite.
I never get why people only like positive reviews, I mean I get the echo chamber route wanting to only hear good things about your fav game, but why do people use that as a criticism for the reviewer...? Especially when they're right...?
@@Grimnoireit’s because there’s such a contrast in the way he speaks of a game he enjoys to one he loves and appreciates. Dunkey is so “verbose and erudite” when it comes to talking about games he truly has passion for. It’s demonstrated by his words and especially the way he syncs music up with scenes. It’s not much of an echo chamber but being a dunkey fan and knowing “damn he really likes this game”.
everytime dunkey uploads, he delivers not only in the technical side of things, but also with what he says in the videos. this man makes me laugh too much without even trying
I love how Dunkey can go from trolling the shit out of a AAA game to perfectly articulating what makes a game spectacular. From the editing to the monologues, he is a gem amongst the reviewing community 💛
Apart from the already obvious and many times mentioned things great about this game, the extra dialogues (as you've shown with Ratataskr here) and the attention to detail is what makes it truly a triple A game. You can feel their passion, and that in turns create a fun game. Also, it actually surprised me, seeing a damn huge game without a single game breaking bug. Also, the reason why I wanted for there to be 2 GOTY awards given out this year.
There is unfortunately an audio bug plaguing a lot of people. (Imagine your in an area with rushing water/waterfalls but you hear no water falling. Applies to footsteps and health/ragestones being destroyed) not game breaking totally, but it did make the entire of svartleheim feel dead (i was lucky that the glitch was contained to that one realm for me)
This game had moments that will be remembered and looked back upon for years to come. Incredible stuff from the music, to the beautiful visuals, to the scale. Haven’t felt like a game story was such an epic EVENT in years. Feels like Halo 3 in terms of the bombast and grandeur and grace in its execution
Do you know which song from the OST that part is? I’ve been trying to figure it out because I just want to relieve the swelling music that matches so well with the ending
Usually when I get teary about a fictional story I tend to think "uh, why am I sad? It's just fiction". But gow story was so good I didn't think that once, the kind of game that you go slower because you don't want it to end.
The story was perfect to me and that intro was the best intro I’ve seen in a video game and it was so epic. Everything really felt like a movie for each cutscene for me
The whole monologue after 4:40 with music in the background ending in this fantastic crescendo was so fucking amazing I almost forgot it's still dunkey speaking, instead of some motivational speaker trying to get me to live one more day for the sake of life's beauty.
This is a Public Service Announcement: If you beat this game and stopped playing there, boot the game back up and do the postgame sidequest in Svartalfheim. The ending of this game is honestly masterful. It is so rare to see any story end as perfectly and confidently as Ragnarok's.
The only thing that was missing was appreciation of the gorgeous music that filled the world with life and culture. From the epic crescendo of the main score that gives me chills every time I hear it, to the quick rhythm of combat jigs, every piece of music completes a realm's atmosphere. Bear McCreary really outdid himself this time.
It’s really a masterpiece, I just finished and I can say a story for a game has never truly drawn me in the way this one has, the way they kept the world cannon with the other games was amazing and the improvement on combat and exploration in the second one was incredible
