As a direct sequel to 2018's smash hit reboot of the God of War franchise, God of War: Ragnarök had an extremely high bar to clear. It had to meet the emotional weight of the first game, a touching story of the protagonist Kratos warming up to his son Atreus as a family member and as a god like himself. It had to to iterate on a really satisfying combat system. It had to pay off on the promise set up at the end of God of War 2018 to introduce Thor and Odin into the story, two characters that have seen intense media exposure since the rise of the MCU (more on this later). And in the end, God of War: Ragnarök succeeded in a lot of ways, but in my opinion, fell flat in the most important one.
First things first, God of War: Ragnarök is a really fun game, owing to the strength of its combat. God of War (2018) built the foundation, and this game expanded on it. More weapons, more skills, and even bigger shakeups that I won't spoil in a blog post like this, but suffice to say, the promise of a sequel to the combat felt great to me. God of War (2018)'s puzzles were my least favorite part of that game, and the puzzles in God of War: Ragnarök are my least favorite gameplay aspect of this game. But the area where God of War: Ragnarök really let me down was its move away from the weighty, grounded tone of the first game. God of War (2018) was not a funny game, despite having a few comic relief characters in Mimir, Brok and Sindri, and I really loved that about it. It is a serious story with moments of levity. God of War: Ragnarök tips the scales too far in favor of humor, n my opinion, and loses a lot of the grounded tone that made the first game's story and worldbuilding such a success. Every other character that you meet in God of War: Ragnarök feels pulled straight out of Thor: Ragnarök- characters that quip their way through life to the point where they don't feel at all like real people. It really clashes with the tone that the first game established, to the point where story beats don't land the way they should, and only the larger frame story that was teased at the end of God of War (2018) worked for me.
Joining me to discuss God of War: Ragnarök is Ryan, host of the now-retired List Off! podcast. Brian and Ryan have tipped their hats and ridden off into the sunset, but they have 2 years of video game lists on their show List Off! that I highly recommend! You can find their show by searching in your favorite podcast app or by following this link!
You can listen to episode 64 of Tales from the Backlog (God of War: Ragnarok) in the player below, or you can follow the links to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or search "Tales from the Backlog" in your favorite podcast app!