God of War: Ragnarok - A Critical Analysis

[@PR1ME98]

I truly wanted the norse saga to have a trilogy. I was expecting it when 2018 was announced.

[@ShatteredGlass916]

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

[@arashnasiri629]

I'm so sad for what happened to all that potential 2018 had. I wished this game would have come out 2025 but with better story and game design.

[@slei4676]

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.

[@happypuppy-i4k]

Remember, that wood house was built by Odin.

[@losthedon22]

Gotta remember that the GOW franchise is a platformer at heart. Just added some things in the reboot.

[@alifahmed9309]

Cannot agree more. Even the fight of Thor with Feya in the crater was much more devastating (killed everyone in the valley).

[@loganmaddocks4703]

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.

[@slei4676]

​@@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

[@balrogsareop4773]

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.

[@BrazenShield]

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 :)

[@doctormahrio5226]

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.

[@eke4146]

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.

[@doctormahrio5226]

@@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.

[@shamarbrown4014]

@@doctormahrio5226 right on the money

[@mcsad2785]

After seeing these news I immediately knew that it would negatively impact the game

[@ap4702]

This game felt like a checklist and doing the absolute minimum to complete it.

[@emir6110]

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

[@doctormahrio5226]

It feels so safe, when you have an opinion that otherwise Everyone Else attacks you for having.

[@naturaljoe7397]

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.

[@its_nebulose]

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!

[@sushigimme]

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.

[@kenshin391]

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. 👀

[@theretroshogun2961]

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.

[@gingeranagram2467]

You really didn't pay attention to anything in the story, huh?

[@dougdynamo9398]

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.

[@vaderdown788]

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.

[@doctormahrio5226]

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.

[@Ishbikes]

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.

[@Technovex]

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

[@loopyloo8169]

they did faye dirty. She was basically kratos if he wasnt an anti hero. She did all of this cool stuff and we dont get to see none of it

[@gonza2477]

A Laufey prequel/spin-off? I'm down.

[@zainali-lm4zr]

You mean got impregnated by Thor? 😂😂

[@loopyloo8169]

@@zainali-lm4zr Dear god....

[@Dravianpn02]

They wanted a girl to be stronger than Kratos without making it obvious. Marvel ideology bleeding through.

[@peteybakedziti8908]

They somehow made Faye a total Mary Sue by not even showing her do anything on screen. She has no flaws, everyone loves her, she's strong enough to contend with Kratos and Thor, and she gave Kratos his new iconic weapon, and she was the most notable of all the giants. Even when she caused the crater she was forgiven for it and Thor was dragged for it (rightfully so but still) she can do absolutely no wrong and even had the one big true prophecy in the end. She's written like a 12 year olds OC

[@izanazir7088]

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

[@gabszz]

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.

[@Puzzles-Pins]

Yeah, I loved this game and the last one. This one definitely has improvements. But I found I walked away with the same sense of disappointment. If they'd stuck with the trilogy, could have had more consistent pacing, more interesting level design, and above all better set up and therefore more satisfying payoff to all the characters arcs. Would love more time with Loki exploring Asgard for instance. I imagined in the climactic battle, something like fighting Thor on the enormous Jormungandr's back, until he's knocked back in time and we tumble, fighting through the air as we plummet, caught by Fenrir to charge back into the fray. Cinematic gratuitous glorious world ending combat. Instead we get a trench fight against more of the same soldiers and then a static arena fight.

[@fartbutt7831]

Bro yes! I also wouldve loved a fight on the rainbow bridge, it was really the only thing i asked of for this game and unfortunately we didnt get it

[@Quincy_000]

yeah true the last mission made me a little bit sceptic why isn't there more going on comparision to GoW 3 it had a lot more but i don't really blame the last mission since it did had a lot of graphics and made it up for me but still would've loved if there would be more going on in the last misson of the game. And still this game made me cry because it was good i still would count this as a masterpiece of a game but i think it had it's flaws .

[@doctormahrio5226]

I personally just think the game was designed this way. Was mainly due to the many complaints people had for 2018's God of War. Taking all these complain the dev's decided to completely fix all these mistakes, instead of adding anything drastically unique. Which is probably why the story does the opposite of how the last games story was structured. "Simple story, complex characters" ...and you could say Ragnarok has complex characters in certain moments. But when it comes to how they make large decisions, they do them way too quickly. Which makes each character feel more like an actor doing a certain task then a fictional character.

[@redcenturion88]

What irks me is that they were trying to fit 2 stories into 1 yet did everything possible to stretch useless segments where other plot lines couldve easily taken their place. All the forced walking and talking and unnecessary bullshit adds up to hours wasted that could've been used to actually make the 2-story cram somewhat coherent. But instead we had to play as an impotent snot nosed beta male 5 fuckin times while the main event evaporated in under an hour.

[@kumarank3110]

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. 🙂

[@doctormahrio5226]

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.

[@AJ-Channel]

This is your first video? Holy shit. This was phenomenal! Keep at it bro! You got a sub!

[@alexaldridge1209]

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 :)

[@maulcs]

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.

[@kerushun]

The story in this game made no sense. Why did no one care about Thor or his death. Atreus went from being the best written/acted child in gaming to being a bit annoying. His parts were too zany and wacky and lacked stakes. It never felt as if kratos and Atreus were facing enemies that could beat them. The raganrok part felt rushed. And Tyr being Odin was just bizarre. And when you play the game again, there are no signs that Tyr was Odin, so that twist wasn't played out well.

[@shamarbrown4014]

This

[@Nephilim1717]

I imagine in another timeline we see Ragnarock went poorly for our heroes and Atreus sees how devastating war can be, just as his father warned him about. It’d be called something like God of War: Aftermath or God of War:Consequences.

[@singleplayer4375]

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

[@Asurendra334]

WOW,excellent,work, keep it up, including the honesty,its greatly appreciated!

[@JordanGrant92]

I’ll just be echoing what others have said, but. Wow. For a first video this is PHENOMENAL. Subscribed around 5 minutes in.

[@michaelfox8802]

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.

[@bizushipichon650]

Can't believe this is your first video! I feel blessed by KZbin's murky and mysterious algorithm 🙏

[@OutOfNickels]

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 KZbin get it to you, but honestly I have no idea how it works, haha

[@PeachesandCream225]

Totally agree about the Heimdall fight! I have no idea why he was hit by anything

[@nelsonstewart5999]

It also should have been Loki to fight him. Loki gets his ass kicked by Heimdall earlier in the game. And like Kratos says "All Spartan boys are trained in Spear." So why didn't he train Loki to use a Spear? Would have been awesome. Kratos doesn't even know who Heimdall is.

[@oosmanbeekawoo]

@@nelsonstewart5999 I think it would have been childish to have Atreus kill him. “That's what you get for messing with us gods!” 🤨 “You hit me? Now _I'll_ hit you back!” This way of thinking looks philosophically primitive.

[@nelsonstewart5999]

@@oosmanbeekawoo Atreus is a child... Kratos is a man. Why is it bad for a child to be childish, but fine for a man to be childish?

[@oosmanbeekawoo]

@@nelsonstewart5999 Haha. I mean it would have been bad writing-just like having had Naruto kill Pein. Instead it shows a character development instead of the carnal and animalistic “tit for tat”.

[@nelsonstewart5999]

@@oosmanbeekawoo The fact you're talking about Naruto shows that you wanted GOW to be a kid's show and not the amazing well-written saga it once was. No wonder we got the "Everyone holds hands" ending for GOW: Ragnarok when people come out of the woodwork saying "I loved GOW:Ragnarok and also Naruto."

[@apolloxflame8251]

This video was impressive, especially for a yet unknown youtuber, this is some high tier youtube stuff, keep it up! 👍

[@coronacruiser1279]

Dude you are seriously going to be huge one day if this is your first video I can’t imagine what they’ll be like later on. Keep em up

[@tiggersrevenge]

What makes this extra hurtful is that there are no second chances. They made the decision to make this the finale of this series and it felt very rushed. They blew the opportunity to create one of if not the best narrative game of all time. Knowing that there is no chance at redemption with this misstep of a game and that they sullied the absolute perfect foundations they built in 2018 with Ragnarok really hurts my heart.

[@nuhashtarafdar1592]

An absoloutely wonderful analysis. I really hope more people see this

[@OutOfNickels]

Hey, thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it

[@rickyrackey7930]

@@OutOfNickels Cory Barlog is a very chill guy, he enjoys watching videos like this. So keep up the good work.

[@bobbobby1666]

Damn bro. Amazing review. Incredibly well written, insightful and well edited. Love how you interspersed clips from the game. Great job!

[@gilbert60453]

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

[@doctormahrio5226]

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.

[@حسنحيدرحازم]

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.

[@spendoro525]

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

[@SayMy_User_Name]

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

[@nelsonstewart5999]

God of War: Ragnarok. A title for a game where being a fan of God of War 1-3 or knowing anything about Norse Ragnarok were detrimental to your enjoyment. If you knew how hype 1-3 were, you were set up for disappointment. Likewise, if you knew the scope of the battles that took place in the Norse mythos of Ragnarok, you would be waiting to fight on the back of Jormungandr with bated breath, you would be hyped up to face Odin on his magnificent eight-legged flying horse Sleipnir, and overjoyed at the prospect of Trickster God Loki facing Heimdall on the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard. If the game was called "God of Peace: A Norse Adventure," then it would have been amazing. But those who are new to the series who are lauding the game as a timeless masterpiece are too quick to tell you "You shouldn't have had such high expectations as you're setting yourself up for disappointment," not realising the irony of playing down the excitement one should have about a game whose title, "God of War: Ragnarok," contains a character who has ended the world once, and a world ending event. To have the entire game build up to a final battle that takes place in and below an old wooden shack, with nary a set piece in sight, was an absolutely abysmal decision. As always, I am glad that people enjoyed it, but it is absolutely not at all worthy of the series or the title that it has. So many missed opportunities. Why is Atreus called Loki when Atreus never does anything of note remotely like Loki would have. Loki is a trickster god. When we're introduced to Atreus, he's carrying a deer whose antlers look like they are forming Loki's horned crown above Atreus' head. Foreboding, yet it never comes to anything of note.... Why didn't Loki kill Heimdall? Why did Kratos, who has no idea who Heimdall is, kill Heimdall? Loki has so much more to achieve narratively by facing Heimdall. Repeat arenas. Constantly riding bison/horses/boats/etc. Poor pacing in the centre. It's a PS5 game. Where was the Haptic Feedback making us feel like we are Kratos ourselves? There should have been at least one death where we have to rip someone apart and feel it in the haptic feedback and feel guilty and disgusting about it.

[@happypuppy-i4k]

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.

[@Khost__]

Like man's been doing this kind of video for years, stellar work and I look forward to future videos from you.

[@Deckbark]

Heimdall is the only God Kratos kills in this game, only Heimdall, Thor and Odin look like a real God fight and none of them compare to the Poseidon fight at the beginning of Gow 3

[@noksi2001]

I just reached the end of this video and honestly I didn't find a big difference between your first time video and a video from a well established youtuber

[@aku_aku4285]

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 :)

[@shahinfarhady401]

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.

[@thecriticalspan]

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!

[@jgn]

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

[@looneywsg]

Hearing him say this is his 1st time making a video was a bigger plot twist then Odin being tyr 😂 great critic great editing keep it up 👍

[@Finn_DeGreef]

Nah bro 😂😂😂 that’s act facts

[@MrDyslexickid]

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.

[@aryan7767]

"snow"- nothing in this game touches that

[@MyLeonel90]

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

[@shamarbrown4014]

Same

[@Jay_Walker92]

While I love Ragnarok from beginning to end I did like 2018 more because it just had so much mystery around the world.

[@aryan7767]

yeah bascially this game didnt live up to the mystery. Felt bafflingly weirdly paced.

[@nina_beana_bana2177]

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.

[@Ms101910]

46:45 reference is a punch in stomach XD Great vídeo!

[@andrewogunmokun9309]

Great job. I’m excited to see what you make next!

[@Shadowx011]

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.

[@jmacc4473]

Impressive first video!! Can’t wait to see your future content

[@LeoLeeGaming]

Earned a sub. Always refreshing to see thoughtful, unbiased critiques.

[@LeoLeeGaming]

​@@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.

[@FeviviViper]

Hands down the BEST Ragnarok critique right now! Thanks so much for this. You perfectly incapsulated my thoughts and feelings on this. Very nuanced video.

[@carlisle6831]

Enjoyed listening to this. Hopefully you do more in depth video game critique/essays in future ✌️

[@Rayman_Budgie84]

Great critique! Cannot wait for you to gets some more out

[@Phoenix1024]

The use of cutscenes in this video are amazing lol

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

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

[@YetiCoolBrother]

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!

[@aryan7767]

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

[@ycarusgamer5187]

Gods who should have appeared to the sons of Odin: Bragi,Meili,Iduna,Uller,Hoenir,Hermod,Vali,Hoder and Vidar + Ran,Nanna and Forseti,Beowulf and Siegfried The midgard warriors who are the version of Samson and Hercules in Norse Mythology is a pity that they do not appear as well as the mysterious wolf Horofiltner + Odin's Horse and Thor's goats and Hela daughter of loki,Lorride the Thor's Daughter Along with the wives of Surtur and Loki Sigyn and Simara And others Vanir Gods Freya's brothers including their priestesses are: Vjofn,Sjofn,Lofn,Syn and Snotra + Freya/Frigg's brothers: Mundilfari,Aegir,Njord,Vanlandi,Skirnir,Kvasir,Lytir,Bil,Saga,Fulla,Gefjunn,Hlin,Oder and Mani And the return of Baldur,Magni,Modi,Freyr and Thor And I would love to explore Asgard until it was rebuilt and also Valhalla and Sessrumnir the palaces of Odin and Freya with the Valkyries A pity that all of them didn't appear,I hope that in the next game have all of them 🥺😔🙏 like and Bye!

[@GRUSTLER]

The players can't even go back to the shop at the temple in Alfheim

[@MiyazakiSama19]

Dude this is a hidden Gem you just destroyed God of war Ragnarok with arguments

[@shanxmonappa870]

Destroyed with FACTS, not feelings.

[@7Zealot]

Excellent work for a first video! I would've never guessed this was your first one. Looking forward to seeing what you do in the future!

[@Morfe02]

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)

[@TheOneAboveACoupleOfPeople]

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.

[@OutOfNickels]

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

[@Auvisome]

Mayo owns

[@mylaluna]

Finally someone can say these things out. The game is so boring but so many game media thinks it worth a 10/10.

[@coanjejeg4163]

@@mylaluna how so?

[@alifahmed9309]

@@mylaluna I totally agree with you. Only if they focused on gathering the army for ragnarok rather than focusing on family issues.

[@kjk607]

When the game first came out, saying any of these critiques out loud gained me a death sentence.

[@edgywedgie811]

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.

[@loganmaddocks4703]

"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?

[@hamzasaleh3741]

Amazing video. I was extremely shocked when i saw the number of views and subscribers you have.

[@gabrielximenes911]

Dude, i cant believe this is your first video!!! One of the best critical analysis video of god ragnarok in yt!

[@siyacer]

It was a nice experience, but was definitely rushed and doesn't really meet expectations

[@MusicaX79]

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.

[@iamlegend8571]

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! 👍🏾

[@nathanwall37]

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!

[@coreygunz645]

Awesome job I on this video dude. You earned a subscription from me. So informative and nice and long lol just the way I like it. keep up the great work man

[@adamsin9260]

Very underrated video. You explained it very well

[@genichiroashina1]

These are exactly my thoughts comprised perfectly. Thank you for not thinking about Sony will blacklist you and making this video!

[@jacobishere5189]

I like this critique. I disagree with the opinions shared and I had different feelings while playing the game but you made a lot of good points.

[@danteakechi7330]

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

[@Klutch29]

Fantastic video. I can see myself waiting for your analysis after high profile releases.

[@Pokerface303]

Was anyone else kinda disappointed after you scalded the wall in asgard and saw the city. After seeing that giant wall and knowing it's it's where all the gods live, I was expecting some super grand city but it just looked like some village I would find in midgard somewhere.

[@robotninja9782]

Yeah me too

[@ehhdood]

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.

[@rypcium.pypcium]

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.

[@sarahjessicafarter7383]

I've played God of War 2018 to death and still play it fairly regularly. I'm not going to get Ragnarok, though. The balance looks to have tipped slightly too far towards story and away from gameplay.

[@nothingnothingnkthing]

i’m starting a eric williams hate club anyone wanna join lmk lol

[@lordkene]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@xPr0Gamerxx]

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.

[@GRUSTLER]

The fact that they didn't let Kratos go to Asgard and explore other prior to Ragnarok was a bad decision. They rush the game.

[@itamarleshman1474]

Great job man! Couldn’t tell this was your first time editing/writing at ALL. Really good; and yes, it’s nice to finally see someone else sharing my thoughts and feelings about ragnorak… It’s not a bad game, but a let down for sure after the 2018 game, especially story wise

[@MangyB4033]

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.

[@cookingwithkratos]

EXACTLY how i felt man. I jus get bored everytime i play it. I play for 15mins and then im like fk it

[@dilwalecricket]

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

[@doctormahrio5226]

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.

[@electriclott]

This sums up exactly how I felt about Ragnarok. The biggest disappointment for me was the final level. Where is the spectacle? It felt like it was just another small fight. Masterpiece my ass. It's not a bad game...it's just...disappointing.

[@Morden97]

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.

[@sonicadv27]

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.

[@yokotubene]

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.

[@shamarbrown4014]

Exactly

[@Riffs88]

I could not agree more! I replayed 2018 after Ragnarok. It is better in scale and story. Better pacing and combat were much more fluid IMO. I am sure I am missing more OH WE HAD BROK!!

[@nslater1388]

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.

[@Gungrave123]

29:10 that "mystery player" is known to the world as DSP (DarkSydePhil).

[@abraarhussaini7256]

Agreed with every single word in fact there are many more flaws huge flaws

[@ChocolateZteak]

Great video, especially since it your first