How to Top a Masterpiece | God of War Ragnarok 

The Kratos Atreus relationship is what makes this game work so well. Kudos to both the actors!

The opening fight with Thor when he brings Kratos back to life was crazy! So hype! Most badass moment ever

With Heimdall, his old violence came back but with a father's anger. It's a new anger for him.

Kratos, one of the most famous PlayStation characters of all time.

Dude even the ravens got their backstory in this game

11:05 THANK YOU! I feel like the most amount of criticism for this game comes from the fact that people wanted gow 3 all over again. Okay, understandable, i also wanted to see certain scenes having kratos as the rage filled monster he was before. The moment he knocked Thor's teeth out had me jumping out of excitement. But this is not just a mindless god killing simulator. they've established so much in gow 2018, just for them to throw it all away

This game completed a picture for me of Odin's triumvirate of top underlings in the GOW lore: Baldur the scout, Thor the enforcer, and Heimdall the guard. We see in this game that Heimdall and Thor don't get along, but it's fair to speculate that each of those two also had friction with Baldur, who had lost his sanity due to Freya's enchantment robbing him of all sensation. It all makes for an interesting dynamic where they're all at each other's throats but since Thor can't be overpowered, Heimdall can't be hit, and Baldur can't be killed, they're all forced into a three-way stalemate, and therein lies their stability as Odin's muscle.

The music that plays when Brok dies and at his funeral….. utterly gut wrenching. Bear McCreary really fucking killed it with the soundtrack. Definitely one of the best video game soundtracks to have ever been created.

Personally my favorite aspect of Ragnarok is that it feels like a continuation more than a sequel, like how in old Resident evil games the game comes with two disks that you play separately because the games too big to put on a single disk. Ragnarok just kind of hits that same sort of vibe of just enjoying a game and then theres a part 2 that keeps the fun going smoothly from where you left off, even with the time jump.

Getting a good sequel is literally impossible nowadays and yet Santa Monica managed to make a sequel better than the original game. You can clearly see that they listened to the player feedbacks. It's definitely GOTY for me. I just wished the end (story-wise) was a little bit longer. Also great editing 👍

The title sums up every god of war game. The second one upped the first, the third managed to keep it up, the fourth surpluses everyone, and the fifth capped it off with a great ending. All the while, the spin offs added depth making every single one of them even better

I totally agree with you on the voice casting. Hell I think EVERY character in GOWR (I mean the important ones) should be nominated in the best performance for the game awards

Finally someone who understood the breaking of the prophecy.

I love how they reworked the gear system. It reminds me of ghost of Tsushima and it’s easy to figure out

What I really loved was how much the relationship between Mimir, Kratos and Atreus' has grown. They talk like friends who have been together for 3 winters in a small cabin, sharing every moment.

I cried during this game but I think I genuinely felt so much joy seeing Cory Barlog break down. Kratos' arc in that first game is as much Cory Barlog's trying to show the world he is more than just an arcade designer, he is a master storyteller. I am in vicarious pride of seeing an artist finally be recognized for thier work when so much goes unnoticed. Ragnarok is not about proving anything but just showing off. Cory was able to not just do it once, but twice. He is a master and this game was just showing off his brillance.

Sindri not forgiving Atreus is good for later stories. Deep down it’s just as much as his fault too. He’s responsible for his brother not having an afterlife and hiding the truth. Sindri anger is not just focused at Atreus because of his actions but his inability to let go. He still fails to listen. Great writing

This was the first game I ever wanted to platinum. That’s how good it was. I spent my entire Christmas break playing this game. I ended the game with Brok’s funeral and it made me sob. I was able to hold back my tears the whole time up until the funeral. This game truly is a masterpiece and I think it’ll always be my favorite

I've never had an experience with a video game as world stopping as this one. Having played the original games, having spent the week prior to Ragnarok's release playing 2018, I could not be more satisfied with how it ended.

Best video ive seen on GOWR yet and ive watched a ton of em. You get this game in a way i think a lot of other reviewers have missed. This is truly a work of art and something to be appreciated for how beautiful it is. Great video, keep it up and best of luck to you!

This and Rdr2 are my favorite games of all time. This will piss a lot of people off but I didn't love God of War 2018 mainly due to the poor boss fights. However, this game absolutely exceeded my expectations and tells one of the best and most nuanced narratives in the medium. Not to mention the exploration, graphics, and combat are incredible and it made me cry multiple times. Kratos is right up there with Arthur Morgan now for my favorite fictional characters ever.

As someone who knows a fair bit about Norths Mythology I loved how they addressed the mythos specially the Garm/Fenrir one , there is already a possibility that they were the same wolf in the myth so the way they did it was just perfect imo, it really shows the level of care and love that was put in this game and it still is my favourite game even though I agreed with giving the game of the year to Elden Ring.

I'm glad you're giving this game it's flowers it's not perfect but nothing is and it just annoys me seeing a lot of the channels that want to pick apart anything they can instead of praising it for what is good about it

Last night I finished the main story and still got no words to describe my emotions, my feelings about the end or the whole story throughout the path along Kratos and Atreus. I just feel like every second was worthy.

GOWR, probably my new favourite game ever, was released on my birthday, needless to say, had a pretty good birthday

I've seen a lot of folks complain about the AI holding their hands, but there IS a setting for that in the options. I had it set lower to give me time to play around. Hopefully next time they'll make that setting a little bit more obvious so folks can adjust it or turn it off entirely.

Master, WHAT A VID. I think this was seriously the most perfect game I ever played, I really wanted it to win GOTY but, knowing it deserved all of it is enough for me. I've been watching since last year and It's incredible how far you've come, keep at it! And know that you have a fan for life right here.

I'm finishing up my God of War 1 thru 5 binge and it's such an incredible story arc. I loved Ragnarok but part of me wishes it was split into 2 games. The final battle while fun to look at felt a little bit...small? Like the environment was huge but what you do to interact with it felt really small. I'm so excited to see where this franchise goes! I'm all for a God of War that shows Kratos more apt to not just killing everyone. Great review, thanks for this!

Coolest adaptation from the myths SMS made, was using Loki's father and actually insert Kratos in a flawless way. Ragnarok simply confirmed what everyone knew, Kratos is Farbauti/"Cruel Striker".

This is GOTY. I've played and best both GOWR and Elden Ring. The story is what separates it. Both 10's in my opinion.

The best critique of a game i have ever seen. Congragulations for the work you have put on 🔥

After God of War 2018 I was afraid they could not make Ragnarök as good or even better.. but I was wrong. This game blew my mind. And I didn't want it to end.

So glad to see a positive review. So many people hating on this game is really depressing.

My friend...Your criticisms are so well written and passionate. I have done nothing but watching your videos all day about the GoW Saga and Assassin's Creed. The work you put into your videos really shows. And I I hope you are rewarded for it! ❤

I played god of war (2018) in middleschool and i didnt know how to feel, then i recently played Ragnarök and…. It made me cry at points and as you said that music it made me feel. God i love this game

What Bear Mccreary did with the soundtrack to enhance the game, is icing on the cake

I remember when I got God of War 2018. Before then I had never heard of the series. Didn’t know it existed. One day in the store, my dad saw the game and thought it would be cool. He bought it for me and surprised me with it. I was excited for it cause it was a new game. But I didn’t play it. About a year or two later when I decided to finally play it, I spent hours and hours using almost the entire day to play it. After I finished it I was speechless. It absolutely blew me away. I recommend these games to everyone

I cried so many times playing GOWragnarök, it's unreal. It's just So satisfying how all the characters had grown mentally and emotionally just hits me on a deeper and more genuine level. I find it honestly hard to put it words how all of it makes me feel. I remember the complicated feeling I felt when by the time kratos and Atreus were in vanaheim and it seemed that all moves how the profecy said and I just could not do anything... Aaaahhh, in my opinion Ragnarok in the context of other GOW games and the changes that have happened in the story and overall mentality of kratos just hits so hard it's unreal. Truly a masterpiece and I dare to say the best gaming experience of my life. ❤️

The music is indeed a highlight. I have a 5.1 home theater setup, and the music in the scene where Kratos and everyone else decide to blow the horn and go to Asgard just blew me away.

My favorite moment in the game was the garm moment. It was so wholesome and beautifully done!

Ragnork is my favourite game of all time. I completed then went straight back into playing another. Love it!

Trust me I wasn't a fan of GOW until I did a school project on it. Long story short I did a PowerPoint, a poster and a film review on the Doco that released a month or 2 after GOW 2018, raising Kratos I think it's called. Watched it about 7 times, btw it goes for near 2hrs. Now I'm a fan, hell I absolutely love the soundtrack

A very informative and important video many who criticize the game for lack of action and god-killing should see this. Love the game and your channel.

How cool is it that they spelled Tyrs name a little bit off in the subtitles when he talks disguised as Oden, but when the other caracters say his name its spelled right:)

This game is such a masterpiece its hard to even describe, kratos has become my favorite ever character

man i want to play this game so much but i can't tho still i am really excited to play it someday because god of war is my favourite franchise

I don't know if you'll read this but: Lovely, lovely video man! I just finished the game (still doing some endgame stuff, gotta find those ravens!). There is no such thing as perfection (while still good, the pacing is a little up and down near the end of the game) in video games but this came as close as you can get for me. While I liked the original GOW, I loved the 2018 GOW. It's story and character development resonated more with me. GOWR improved on a lot of things from its predecessor. As you mentioned, the added enemy variety is very nice. The new Draupnir Spear is lovely addition and the finishing animations make the combat a better experience imo. I didn't expect it but having Freya as a companion was amazing! And oh my god, the voice acting is stellar. As is the writing. I get the people saying that it has shades of MCU speak but honestly it didn't bother me at all. Also, the music is just 'chef's kiss' good! The conclusion to this wonderful story had me in tears, which doesn't happen often. Loki will go, but Atreus remains :) A truly fitting ending to what I would call a masterpiece.

Totally agree that graphically, 2018 and ragnarok aren't like generational leaps. But all things considered if you look at just Kratos alone side by side from 2018 to ragnarok there is fairly substantial increase in fine details, blemishes and textures that was very flat in 2018. Again not a generational mind blowing leap but even in the 4 year span the game is incredibly more detailed. A lot of what makes next gen, next gen isn't just clarity or colors or hair but a lot is simply just imperfections like scratches on metal, chucks and broken bits on rock and all that and this game really made a huge leap in that aspect. Kratos face does look similar but you can really see the change when you look at his beard and the scars and surface imperfections. I could gush about this game forever so glad you made this so I don't have to lol I don't usually play games multiple times. Especially when it's heavily story balanced but as soon as I finished this, I went back and played GOW 3 again which was fascinating to see the difference of who Kratos has been become since GOW 3 and I've already restarted ragnarok only on a harder difficulty. So excited to look for all the little details from Odin disguised as Tyr. Which another I just realized is great because Tyr repeatedly keeps calling Freya Frigg which I'm pretty sure Is only or rarely used by anyone other than Odin. Lol so good.

I bought the 2018 PC version and even though I know the whole story I really enjoyed it, and I think it deserved goty.

Barlog’s reaction to GOW 2018 reviews will always be beautiful.

Few games I like enough to platinum the game. This was one of them.

Some people criticize the game cause Kratos didn't kill either Odin or Thor and I think they completely misses the whole point of Kratos's character arc. Throughout the trilogy (yes including the older ones in PS2 and PSP. Kratos has been killing left and right, from his fellow mortals to titans and gods and we all see the consequences of that. We see that in 2018 too but the cycle still continues. His whole character arc is him being a better version of himself and it makes sense that he would start that by ACTUALLY SPARING HIS ENEMIES other wise his whole character development would be all for nothing. He finally regain his humanity after losing it for decades and now even found himself moving on, not allowing his past to define who is now and if that's not good character writing I don't know what is.

This game is so well made, wether it gets GOTY award or not, we all know that GOW is the true winner. A game that not only entertains but also teaches people a valuable lesson. The path for redemption is an arduous, dangerous and sometimes almost impossible to achieve. Only those who are sincere in this quest and are willing to become better, to work hard to correct past mistakes and to rebuild relationships or establish new ones through honesty, truth and good will, in the end, would finally free themselves from doubt and guilt and completely realize their true destiny. This is how every man should walk the path of life.

I dont care if the Heimdall fight is easy, it was satisfying!

I am just pushing play on this... But for me, my expectations were through the roof, and this game exceeded all of them. Visuals Gameplay Story Emotion That final scene, Atreus and Kratos, him finding his path... I was a mess.

I can’t believe that this game manages to make God of War 4 feel like an extended intro…considering that God of War 4 is one of the best video games ever made. It’s such an impressive duology that I’m actually grateful we didn’t get a third entry because they managed to tell…not just a cohesive, but one of the best video game stories in its completeness with these games

seeing Kratos sad hit me in a way i never thought possible

After the sting of it not winning goty (which I was honestly expecting when put against elden ring), it's nice hearing 42 minutes of praise for this incredible game.

Another cool hint of the Tyr twist is the Y in his name didn’t have the accent on top of it, it was spelled “Tyr” instead “Tÿr”

I'll have to come back to this when I finish Ragnarok

I just finished the main story a couple days ago and man it left me in the feels. Very rarely does a video game like emotionally stick with me. The only ones to have done this was RDR2, The Last of Us 1 & 2, and now GOWR. The developers, writers, and actors did such a great job. The acting was so good at times it just made me cry. And the ending just…chefs kiss. My only complaint is that I wish there was like an after game part with Atreus trying to search for the giants. I don’t need a whole other game, maybe just like a little side thing. But I can live without it.

Achieving platinum in this game and completing beyond Ragnarok with 100 percenting all the realms on give me god of war difficulty was one of the greatest experiences I ever had

I still cant believe how good ragnarok was. I didnt want it to end. Thor is my favorite character though. On my second playthrough, that first scene with thor is so much better. When he just smells the wine and has a longing look. Odin saying hes no fun anymore makes is so abusive. 10/10 game

36:12 I 100% agree. When I got to the Crater I had to force myself to play through that section, cuz all I wanted to do was continue the main story. With that said, what an absolute masterpiece in gameplay and storytelling.

I'm very close to finishing this game & can already that I agree with the title.. It's far exceeded my incredibly high expectations.

When Brok died it was one of the only times I've ever yelled out loud at a game (when i wasn't raging about dying that is)

Combat wise its better than 2018, not in story though. I still enjoyed the Norse mythology. I hope the series continues past the third game but if not, ill follow the studio.

To be fair, the emotional beats and the growth of kratos are not felt as well if you didn't play the Greek saga. To understand who kratos has become you have to see who he was.

in my opinion the new god of war games prove that video games are not just bunch of meat grinders they are a work of art a sword that need love and care and time to achieve perfection. Seeing a franchise a character go from monsters mutilate that and this shove dongs in that or that to become a this great masterpiece proves that video games are not just a video game.

They used a trope of an tired warrior who wants peace to fool us all with the Odin twist 🤯 genius

I have 84,5 hours on god of war 2018. This month and the next year I will be playing god of war almost everyday. and Yes mimir is one of my favorite characters in god of war 2018 - 2022

I guess I’m one of the few individuals who wanted the final battle to be bigger and more epic, huh? Don’t get me wrong, I loved the game. I just set my expectations too high since I used to epic sequences.

When they go to the norms that seen always gives me goosebumps the music the acting everything is perfect

Fun fact: the sentient sword ingrid is actually a weapon from Norse mythology. At the end of the game, it shows how the blade returns to Frey, which makes me believe that ingrid is Sumarbrandr (sword of summer for you Magnus chase readers), Frey’s weapon from Norse myth.

Absolute masterpiece and it's gone into my top 5.And the Berserkers are kicking my are and there are 12 to get through

The best game I’ve ever played. 2018 is now number two. LOU1+2 3rd n 4th. SM 5th.

The story bosses had green health bars so you were definitely overleveled

Another fun hint that Odin was Týr is when you have the subtitles on; Odin's imitation shows his name as Tyr, but when you see everyone else talk about him or when you meet the real one, his name shows as Týr.

Game of the Year for Sure it's One of my Top Favorite Franchise.

This and ghost of tsushima are my all time favorite games ever. This probably beats ghost of tsushima to be honest.

I LOVE GOD OF WAR SOOOOOO MUCH

As a person who played both Elden Ring (and played it since it came out until late July or early August), Gos of War is the definitive winner. I could go on about why, but I know ER fanboys will disagree with any argument made, and GoW fanboys will blindly agree. Besides Sigrum is still the hardest boss I ever fought. Hrolf and Gna were hard af, but not by much. And Malenia was also hard but... not to the elvel of Sigrun. She is still that bad beech lmao

I think the writing for gow 2018 was better and more focused i think that the larger group of writers makes the game feel like multiple different games. The pacing is definetly not great however the st, art direction, character design and also combat have been improved in ragnarok whereas the writing as a whole was weaker and less subtle

This is MY Game of the Year. Elden Ring was amazing, but Sigrun helped me get into the Fromsoft games. And Ragnarok released on my birthday, so yeah.

The only thing I can complain about in God Of War is the fact that is snatched the game of the year award from rdr2, that game was a true masterpiece, too bad it had to launch in the same year as an even bigger masterpiece

The biggest sign that something was off with Tyr was when he sees the hidden prophecy stating that it is Asgard that falls while the other realms live on. His knee jerk reaction is ‘she lied’. Not ‘so she was wrong?’. It felt personal. Like someone who had invested stakes in this false prophecy and felt wronged that it wasn’t accurate.

Niflheim has more to do after the chest and when you beat the main story you can find the real Tyr in a prison there

This game is amazing and I am barely half way through

In post game, there is a prison from asgard in nifiñheim (sorry that i spell it wrong)

Incredible video! I agree with most of your takes

Don't get the hate from certain RU-vidrs. The story is intriguing even if there are pacing issues and unanswered but it's is engaging and interesting throughout unless people are not paying attention or are not playing for the story at all in the first place. 2018's story was more straightforward and basic and.itnwas mainly Kratos backstory and son arc that was intriguing. Here plot has alot of things going on with far more characters and has as additional PLayable character with a different combat style which creates some pacing issues. But it is not bad at all other than Ironwood mission. Combat is slightly better than the last installement with several tweaks made to it to make it more fun and better enemy variety and many optional and side bosses make the combat even more fun. Game looks great not a leap over 2018 but looks great. Soundtrack delivers with some great themes, Thor fight and Odin fight theme being my personal favorites. Voice Acting and Performances are top notch, even the side characters nail it. Last game, I was forcing myself to go through side quests, here I found them more diverse and engaging. I did not like the Ironwood mission mainly the Cow riding and cave sections, game would be much better without them included at all imo. Atreus climbing the mountain took too long and lastly Ragnarok was just really good mission but underdelivered as the ultimate end of the Norse saga it could have been so much better. Thor and World Serpent fight was cool in the background but too short, Fenrir shows up to kill one dragon and then save everyone at the end, Valkyries and Elves do not show much involvement in Ragnarok either. Odin and Thor boss fights were both very good imo but not as good as Baldur final boss in 2018 unfortunately. But Gna and Beserker king were satisfying. I understand why people.may not like what GOW has become after the original trilogy and they may not like games with this cinematic style and many cutscenes. The game may not be for you but calling it a terrible game or bad game is just absurd.

This story and game in general get much much better if you do the side stuff while you're given the option instead of waiting until the end game

What do you all say to the criticism? I loved this game at first but then the more I played it the more I disliked it and disagree with some points of this video. I feel this video looks at this game with rose colored glasses which makes sense since there’s barely any gore/blood for a game that’s known for it. Also one of my criticisms for the gow 2018

man blood upon the snow ost really got me

The draupnir spear was my main weapon when fighting odin and said out loud “FOR BROK” before kicking odin’s ass. I didnt really like the spear the first time i used it but when brok died, i had to kill odin with it.

Absolutely beautiful video. The game is immaculate. Breathtaking scenery, Great combat, and amazing story. I agree the side quests can become tedious. Sometimes you’d be in an area for hours and it seemed like you didn’t do much or were just going around in circles. Side characters were great but when they weren’t in a cutscene, they really looked like NPCs. Boss fights were fun. Mini bosses were a little better. The Draupnir Spear is so awesome and fun to use. Wide variety of enemies to keep it interesting; especially the plants in Vanaheim! These games have been my favorite since I was 10 in 2005 with the original. Kratos is probably the best video game character of all time in my opinion. From his backstory to the original game, killing all the Greek gods and then traveling the world to end up in Scandanavia. Incredible story telling and all around and epic adventure.

As far as I'm aware, Rick Riordan's books serve as a decent introduction to most of the mythologies in them, so if you want something to help understand Norse mythology a bit more, the Magnus Chase series works well

GOW is a True masterpiece👍

Only thing I didn’t love was the end. Ragnarok itself felt rushed and easy and the fight with Odin was very easy. Still an absolutely great game tho.

This will be a game for generations to remember it’s the characters were fantastic i was so worried how they will do with Thor but the voices are just amazing the story is the best game I played ever and yes I cry a lot of times once I played it I couldn’t put it down I beat the game as soon as I got it the gameplay is really good the blades are the only weapon you should play and the bosses are so different from 2018 2018 was good but they did the same format of bosses again and again but ragnarok did something didn’t use the same bosses over and over they used different bosses garm is my favorite the ending after all they been through hunting dear helping kratos like each over then arguing all the time kratos don’t know about touching his shoulder all in all a beautiful emotional amazing a masterpiece pure gaming experience you will ever play Thor was my favorite a villain sure but he has these moments we’re your understanding what he’s doing best game of the year for sure even know it didn’t win go and please go and play ragnarok it’s a beautiful experience