God of War Ragnarök

Gameplay

God of War Ragnarök is a third-person action-adventure game. It features an over-the-shoulder player-controlled camera, and the game is presented with no camera cuts or loading screens. The gameplay is similar to the previous installment, God of War (2018), including being single-player-only. Throughout the game, players battle Norse mythological foes, with more enemy types than in the prior entry, including newer enemies, such as einherjar, wyverns, stalkers (centaur-like creatures with antlers), phantoms, human raiders, and nøkkens, among many others. The developers also added more mini-bosses to give the game more variety.

The player primarily controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat and puzzle game elements. Kratos's main weapons are a magical battle axe called the Leviathan Axe, and his signature double-chained blades, the Blades of Chaos. He also dons his original Guardian Shield, and utilizes hand-to-hand combat. The Leviathan Axe is infused with ice elemental magic. It can be thrown at enemies and magically summoned back to his hand, similar to Thor's hammer Mjölnir. The weapon can be thrown at environmental objects to trigger a damaging explosion, and freeze objects and some enemies in place for puzzle-solving until resummoned. The Blades of Chaos, infused with fire elemental magic, are a pair of blades attached to chains that can be swung around in various maneuvers. A new mechanic for Ragnarök is that the blades can be used like a grappling hook to traverse over chasms, and pick up objects to hurl at enemies. Kratos also obtains a new weapon called the Draupnir Spear, a close- and long-range attack spear that is infused with wind elemental magic and can make copies of itself; Kratos can throw multiple spears at an enemy then have them all explode in rapid succession. The spear is also used to traverse or unblock certain pathways. Each weapon has standard light and heavy attacks. They can be upgraded with runes to allow for magical runic attacks, with slots for a light and heavy magical attack, providing a variety of play style options. Additionally, a "Weapon Signature Move" ability was added, which unleashes a powerful magical attack for the equipped weapon. Another added mechanic is that if on a higher ledge, the player can leap down to perform a powerful weapon attack on enemies below.

The developers also revamped the shield for versatility beyond a minor parry; different shields can be obtained and used offensively or defensively depending on which is equipped. Smaller shields are more for parrying and can stun enemies while larger ones are more defensive and can create a large wave of energy to knock enemies back. Kratos's Spartan Rage ability was also updated to three variants: Fury, Valor, and Wrath. Fury is the standard mode for Spartan Rage and is identical to the previous game in which Kratos uses bare handed attacks to greatly damage enemies. Valor consumes rage energy to restore health and can also be used as a parry if activated precisely, while Wrath unleashes a powerful weapon attack for the equipped weapon.

Synopsis

Setting

Ragnarök is set in the world of Norse mythology, taking place three years after the previous game. Unlike that prior entry, all nine realms of Norse mythology are visited as part of the story. Midgard is the primary realm which has become a frigid wasteland, dramatically changed by Fimbulwinter, a three-year long winter that began upon the conclusion of the previous game. The Lake of the Nine, previously navigable by means of a boat, is now frozen over, with Kratos making use of a sleigh and two pet wolves to navigate around the area. The other returning realms include Alfheim, the mystical home of the dark and light Elves; Helheim, the icy land of the dead; Jötunheim, the land of the Giants; the fiery realm Muspelheim, and the fog realm Niflheim, now covered with ice and snow—the latter two were previously optional to explore. The three new realms for Ragnarök include Svartalfheim, the industrial abode of the Dwarves; Vanaheim, the lush home of the Vanir gods as well as the giant wolves Sköll and Hati; and Asgard, the humble home of the Aesir gods that is only visited as part of the story and cannot be accessed after its conclusion. The DLC pack Valhalla adds Valhalla, a remaining area within Asgard where warriors go after death. Within Valhalla are small recreations of the previous realms based on Kratos's memories, as well as areas from his homeland of Greece.

Characters

The main protagonists are Kratos (played by Christopher Judge) and his teenage son, Atreus (Sunny Suljic). Kratos is the former Greek God of War, while Atreus is half Giant, one-quarter god, and one-quarter mortal and is also referred to by his Giant name, Loki. Since the conclusion of the previous game, Kratos and Atreus have been in hiding at their home in the realm of Midgard, training for the inevitable battle ahead of them. They are often accompanied by the head of Mímir (Alastair Duncan), who claims to be the smartest man alive and is a loyal companion who provides knowledge and counsel. Other major returning characters include Freya (Danielle Bisutti), a Vanir goddess, former Queen of the Valkyries, and Odin's ex-wife, who seeks revenge against Kratos and Atreus for the death of her son, Baldur; and the Huldra Brothers, Brok (Robert Craighead) and Sindri (Adam Harrington), a pair of dwarven blacksmiths who assist Kratos and Atreus by forging new gear and also found a way to travel to other realms without using the realm travel table in Týr's Temple. A new character is Angrboda (Laya DeLeon Hayes), one of the last remaining Giants hiding in Jötunheim in a secluded forest called the Ironwood, protecting its animals. Other allies include Ratatoskr (SungWon Cho), the squirrel guardian of the World Tree; Lúnda (Milana Vayntrub), a dwarven blacksmith who is part of Freyr's resistance army; and Skjöldr (A.J. LoCascio), a Midgardian refugee who has settled in Asgard.

The game's primary antagonist is the Aesir god Odin (Richard Schiff), the king of Asgard and Allfather of the Nine Realms. An unseen character in the previous game, he is a pathological liar and manipulator obsessed with preventing his death at Ragnarök and will take any means to stop it. He lost an eye while looking into a rift between worlds in hopes of finding answers to prevent the catastrophic event. His ravens, including Huginn and Muninn, allow him and the Aesir to travel freely to any realm, and they are his watchful eyes over them. Thor (Ryan Hurst), the Aesir God of Thunder and eldest son of Odin, serves as a secondary antagonist; he is the half-brother of Baldur and father of Modi and Magni, all of whom Kratos and Atreus killed in the previous game. He wields the hammer Mjölnir with which he slays Giants, despite being part-Giant himself, and does the bidding of his father although constantly belittled by him. Another antagonist is the Aesir god Heimdall (Scott Porter), another son of Odin and half-brother to Thor who has a superiority complex and believes himself untouchable due to his foresight ability. Known as the "Herald of Ragnarök", he watches over Asgard for threats, rides atop a graðungr, a large, horned, lion like beast named Gulltoppr, and possesses the magical horn Gjallarhorn that signals the start of Ragnarök and opens simultaneous realm travel to Asgard.

Plot

Near the end of Fimbulwinter, Kratos and Atreus return home—fending off an ambush from a vengeful Freya—to find their wolf Fenrir as he dies. Atreus's grief transforms him into a bear and he battles Kratos before returning to his senses. Thor arrives with Odin, who proposes leaving them alone and keeping Freya away if Atreus abandons searching for Týr. Kratos refuses, dueling Thor to a stalemate. Odin tells Atreus he will leave Kratos alone if the former comes to Asgard. Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir take refuge at Sindri's home on a branch of Yggdrasil and rescue a pacifistic Týr in Svartalfheim. In Alfheim, they learn only Asgard is fated for destruction while other realms survive under a new champion, implied to be Atreus as Loki. Kratos and Atreus argue over the latter's supposed destiny.

Atreus is transported to Jötunheim. He meets Angrboda, who shows him a mural seemingly foretelling Kratos's death in Ragnarök and Atreus serving Odin. Sworn to secrecy, Atreus is entrusted with spiritual stones containing Giants' souls, putting one into a snake's body, before returning to Midgard. Freya attacks but relents, agreeing to spare Kratos if he breaks the curse binding her to Midgard, which she temporarily circumvents by transforming into a falcon. In Vanaheim, Kratos opens up to Freya about his family's deaths in Greece, his vengeance against Olympus, and the emptiness of revenge. After breaking the curse, Freya and Kratos make amends.

Kratos argues with Atreus about his deceitful behavior. Atreus flees to Asgard to attempt to prevent Kratos's death. He works with Thor and Thrúd to prevent Ragnarök by reassembling an ancient mask for Odin that supposedly grants infinite knowledge. The Norns tell Kratos, Freya, and Mímir that Heimdall is destined to kill Atreus. Kratos and Brok travel to Svartalfheim to forge the Draupnir ring into a spear capable of harming Heimdall. After forging the spear, Brok learns he was once revived by Sindri without a piece of his soul; when he dies again, he can never reach an afterlife. Before departing the realm, Kratos encounters Odin, who mocks Kratos' godly status as no one ever worshipped or prayed to him. In Helheim, Atreus releases the soulless giant wolf Garm, who tears holes between realms. Reunited with Kratos, Atreus resurrects Fenrir by transferring his soul into Garm, and Kratos and Atreus reconcile. In Vanaheim, Kratos brutally kills Heimdall when the latter threatens to kill Atreus. Kratos claims Gjallarhorn, setting Ragnarök in motion.

Atreus returns to Asgard and assembles the mask before escaping with it. Týr, agreeing to fight, asks for the mask; suspicious of Týr's change of heart, Brok realizes he is calling Atreus "Loki", like Asgardians. Týr fatally stabs Brok, revealing himself as Odin in disguise, before being driven away. A grief-stricken Sindri, blaming Atreus for Brok's death, abandons the group. Atreus and Kratos commit to Ragnarök, entering Muspelheim to help Surtr achieve a destined primordial form to destroy Asgard.

Development

During the development of God of War (2018), that game's director Cory Barlog confirmed that the 2018 installment would not be Kratos's last game, and that future games would continue to be set in the Norse environment and include Atreus. A sequel was then teased at the end of that game; it ended with Ragnarök looming, as well as a secret ending that showed a vision of Thor confronting Kratos and Atreus at the end of Fimbulwinter. Following this saw various pre-release marketing materials that included the hidden phrase "Ragnarök is coming".

During the PlayStation 5 (PS5) Showcase event on September 16, 2020, a new God of War was officially announced for a 2021 release on the newer console. After Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed their plans to support their previous console until at least 2022, it was later confirmed that the game would also release on the PlayStation 4 (PS4), in turn marking the first cross-gen release in the series. The game's title was confirmed to be God of War Ragnarök during the following year's showcase event, although earlier that year, the title had accidentally been leaked.

Development of the game was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, confirmed that the game had been delayed, partly due to the pandemic, as he stated that there were issues getting access to performance capture and talent. Santa Monica Studio issued a statement regarding the delay, which said that while they were focused on delivering a top-quality game, they also wanted to maintain the safety of those involved with the development.

The delay brought a unique issue with Atreus actor Sunny Suljic, who was going through puberty during the time of production. Due to the change in his voice, supervising dialogue designer Jodie Kupsco said "We had to go in and even out that performance so [that in the game] it sounds like it took place over a short period of time". Senior producer Ariel Angelotti noted there were no changes to cinematics as a result of the delay, but they had to get creative in how they made the content. In following pandemic guidelines, they had actors "stand in" for background characters in some scenes "to avoid a situation where too many people were on-set". In a series of tweets posted by Kratos actor Christopher Judge in late September 2021, he said that he was the reason that the game was delayed due to surgery he needed in August 2019, and that Santa Monica allowed him time to recover and rehabilitate before continuing production.

Casting

During the 2021 PlayStation Showcase event, game director Eric Williams revealed that Richard Schiff would portray Odin. Other casting announcements included Ryan Hurst as Thor, Ben Prendergast as Týr, Laya DeLeon Hayes as Angrboda, and Usman Ally as a dwarf named Durlin. In addition to Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic returning as Kratos and Atreus, respectively, it was confirmed that Danielle Bisutti and Alastair Duncan would be reprising their respective roles as Freya and Mímir, and that Robert Craighead and Adam J. Harrington would reprise their respective roles as the Huldra Brothers, Brok and Sindri. After Judge found out that Williams would be directing the game, he briefly quit as he was uncertain about Williams; however, Barlog was able to convince Judge that Williams was fully capable of directing the sequel, which Judge affirmed after working with him.

SungWon Cho also announced that he would be providing the voice and motion capture for the squirrel Ratatoskr, and worked directly with the writers to write his scenes. A day before release, Scott Porter revealed that he played Heimdall, and the game's music composer, Bear McCreary, was also confirmed to play a Dwarf musician named Ræb.

Unlike the popular portrayal of Thor by Chris Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the Thor in Ragnarök looks closer to his depiction in Norse mythological literature, having a hefty build with long red hair and beard. This type of portrayal was similarly done for the other Norse gods such as Odin himself, shown as a softly spoken and somewhat friendly middle aged man, as in the literature, the Norse gods were not as extravagant as the Greek gods were. In portraying Thor, Hurst took inspiration from another Marvel Comics character, Hulk, citing his rage and power. He also took inspiration from Tommy Lee Jones' character in No Country for Old Men (2007), Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, noting how he was a powerful character that harbored regret.

Pre-release fan backlash

Following the announcement that Ragnarök had been delayed to 2022, Santa Monica's developers received harassment from some fans, including threatening messages. The delay was announced shortly after Alanah Pearce revealed her involvement on Ragnarök. Fans blamed Pearce for the delay and she received threatening messages of sexual harassment. Barlog came to her defense—and all of Santa Monica's developers—stating that he made the call to delay the game and that it had nothing to do with lower-level staff. Furthermore, after a rumor circulated that Santa Monica would reveal the release date towards the end of June 2022, and that date passed, some developers received explicit images from angry fans in an attempt to get them to reveal the release date.

Additionally, the reveal that Angrboda would be black was met with backlash from some fans. They claimed that since the game is based on mythology originating from North Germanic peoples, she should have been white. Furthermore, the fans accused the developers of cultural appropriation and claimed they used race-swap to score political points. The developers, however, defended the decision due to the diversity of the Dwarves in the game, among other changes such as Mímir having a Scottish accent, and the fact that Angrboda is of a mythological race with a power of transformation. There was also some backlash to the reveal that Ragnarök would be released on both the PS4 and PS5 due to concerns that the PS4 version would hold back the PS5 version. Barlog compared the situation to 2007's God of War II, which released exclusively on the PlayStation 2 despite the PlayStation 3's launch some months earlier, noting that it still worked out well for that game.

Soundtrack

God of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack) was released on November 9, 2022, by Sony Classical Records and was also included in the game's special editions. It was composed by Bear McCreary, returning from the previous game. The soundtrack features Faroese singer Eivør on the tracks "God of War Ragnarök", "Holding On", "Svartalfheim", "Pull of the Light", and "Remembering Faye". McCreary had previously featured Eivør on the 2018 installment's soundtrack.

Irish folk artist Hozier is featured on the track "Blood Upon the Snow", which was Hozier's first contribution to a video game soundtrack. Hozier was particularly interested in working on the song as he was a fan of the series and also interested in the maturing medium of digital arts. He was also familiar with McCreary's other works. Due to Hozier being signed with Sony's Columbia Records in the United States, he was approached by Sony to contribute to Ragnarök. To help in composing the song, the game's director Eric Williams talked Hozier through the character arcs of Kratos and Atreus. Hozier was also inspired by nature and the natural world. In working with McCreary, Hozier said they were able to find a balance so that the song was "not too elegiac, not too much of an elegy, not too sweet, not too lullaby-esque, not too outrageously doom and gloom, and not too absolutely metal". Paolo Ragusa of Consequence described the song as "a daring, cinematic number that hits at all the thematic notes of God of War: Ragnarök, and finds Hozier using his signature velvety tone to evoke both tenderness and awe". Hozier and McCreary performed the song live at the Game Awards on December 8, 2022.

For the Valhalla DLC, McCreary composed five new tracks, which included contributions from Sam Ewing and Omer Ben-Zvi from McCreary's record label, Sparks & Shadows. Two of the tracks, "Master Thyself " and "The Path", make use of themes from the Greek era of the franchise that were originally composed by Gerard Marino.

Release

God of War Ragnarök was released worldwide on November 9, 2022, for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Players who purchase the PS4 version can upgrade to the PS5 version for US$10. In addition to the standard base game (physical and digital), there were three special editions: the Jötnar Edition, the Collector's Edition, and the Digital Deluxe Edition. Early copies of the base game were also marketed as a Launch Edition and included the Risen Snow Armor and Tunic skins for Kratos and Atreus, respectively, which were also included with the three special editions. Pre-orders for all versions opened on July 15, 2022.

The items in both the Jötnar Edition and the Collector's Edition were housed within a box called the Knowledge Keeper's Shrine (a shrine featured in the game). Both editions included a SteelBook game case; however, they did not include a physical copy of the game, only digital versions for both platforms. The centerpiece of both editions was a 16-inch replica of Thor's hammer Mjölnir, and both also included 2-inch carvings of the Vanir twins (Freya and Freyr). Physical items exclusive to the Jötnar Edition included a 7-inch vinyl record of music by Bear McCreary, a pin set of a Falcon, Bear, and Wolf (representing Faye, Kratos, and Atreus, respectively), a replica Draupnir ring, Brok's dice set, and a Yggdrasil cloth map which showed each of the nine realms. Instead of Brok's dice set, the Collector's Edition had a Dwarven dice set. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the Darkdale armor and weapon skins for Kratos and Atreus, the official God of War Ragnarök soundtrack, a mini art book by Dark Horse Comics, a PlayStation Network avatar set, and a PS4 background theme; all of this DLC was also included with both physical special editions.

Available separately was a limited edition Ragnarök themed DualSense controller for the PS5. Additionally, two PS5 bundles were available the same day as the game's release. One bundle was for the disc version of the console while the other was for the digital version, with both including a regular DualSense controller and a voucher code to download the standard version of the game. Furthermore, an official art book from Dark Horse Comics titled The Art of God of War Ragnarök, in both a standard and deluxe edition, was released on November 29, 2022.

Since launch, Santa Monica has supported the game with patch updates to address software bugs. As well, the developers have added new features along with these free updates. A photo mode, which was revealed prior to launch, was added as part of update patch 3.00 on December 5, 2022. It allows players to take customized in-game screenshots adjusting, among other things, the field of view, depth of view, filters, and the visibility and facial expressions of most major characters. A New Game Plus (NG+) mode was added in update patch 4.00 on April 5, 2023. Players must have completed the game on any difficulty before they can access the mode. Experience levels and previously acquired gear carry over into NG+ (with a couple of game-progression related exceptions), which increases the level cap and adds new gear and resources to be acquired, as well as enemy adjustments to make them more challenging. The option to skip cutscenes was also added. Update patch 6.00 released on November 7, 2024, and added a setting for the PS4 and PS5 versions to reduce hints during puzzles. Also as part of the update, the PS5 version received an enhancement patch for the PlayStation 5 Pro, an updated version of the PS5 that released the same day. The patch adds a favor quality setting that targets 60fps, a High Frame Rate mode that unlocks the game's framerate up to 120fps when running on variable refresh rate-capable displays, and players can also opt between PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and the prior Temporal Anti-Aliasing technique for resolution upscaling.

Reception

God of War Ragnarök on PS5 received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, garnering a score of 94/100. This ties it with both the original 2005 installment and the 2018 installment for the highest Metacritic score in the series.

Writing for IGN, Simon Cardy said that Ragnarök provided fresh interpretations of well-known Norse mythological characters, and the actors gave them a unique take that was different from their popular MCU counterparts. Tamoor Hussain of GameSpot opined that out of all the many different takes on Norse mythology, Ragnarök's is "easily one of the most memorable", as it takes the mythology, deconstructs it, and rebuilds it as an epic story about families. Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell, however, felt that because Ragnarök tried to include as much of the series history as possible, the game can feel "both bloated and crowded", but positively noted that due to its length, it meant that there was more of the game to play. Kyle Hilliard at Game Informer wrote that although Ragnarök did not have the same unique impact that the 2018 installment had, everything that worked well in that prior game is present.

In terms of gameplay, reviewers felt Ragnarök does not make any drastic changes over the 2018 installment, but noted some new additions to the existing mechanics. Hussain said that while the core gameplay is fundamentally the same, this is in Ragnarök's favor, as it made it easy to begin playing. Tapsell, however, was somewhat critical of the combat, stating that he would have liked a more systematic approach, and although there is synergy across the weapons' skills, there is practically no room for expression. Cardy was positive on the combat, saying that being able to perform a weapon attack when leaping off a ledge added another layer to battles. He also said the combat harkens back to the series roots, noting that the Blades of Chaos have a more similar feel to how they performed in the Greek games, but still also felt modern. The update to the shield was also praised, with Hussain stating that it "enhances the offensive feel of combat". Cardy similarly felt the shield was more of an offensive tool, and that parrying is a skill players would want to perfect. The variety of enemies and bosses were also praised among the reviewers.

Hilliard opined that the only negative thing about the gameplay was that it was not much different from the previous game. Hussain did have criticism over some gameplay mechanics, stating that in more challenging scenarios, "the mechanics can struggle under the pressure of the increased speed and aggression". Tapsell had similar comments and stated this can be a hindrance in battle. One common criticism among reviewers was the excessive hints in solving puzzles, as the accompanying character offers these hints too soon and too frequently, barely giving the player any time to think about a solution.

Sales

Ragnarök became the fastest-selling first-party game in PlayStation history, selling 5.1 million units in its first week. By February 2023, the game had sold 11 million units worldwide, which increased to over 15 million units by November 19, 2023.

In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version of God of War Ragnarök sold 29,377 physical units, making it the third best-selling retail game during its first week of release in the country. The PlayStation 4 version sold 11,260 physical units, making it the sixth best-selling retail game in the country throughout the same week. In the United Kingdom, although the exact sales numbers were not revealed, it was reported that Ragnarök sold more physical units on its first day than any previous God of War title did in their first week, with 82% of the total sold on PS5 and 18% on PS4. Of the PS5 sales, 12% came from the PS5 bundles. Additionally, it sold 51% more in its first week than the 2018 installment did. This made Ragnarök the biggest launch in the series in the UK, which was largely due to it being the first cross-gen release in the series. In terms of physical units, it was the country's second biggest launch of the year, behind FIFA 23, and it had a bigger launch than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Elden Ring, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. By the end of 2022, 670,617 units of the game had been sold in the UK, making it the sixth best-selling game of the year in the country. In Germany, the game had sold over 200,000 units by the end of December 2022. It was also the fourth-best-selling game of 2022 in the US.

Awards

At the 2020 Golden Joystick Awards, the game received the award for Most Wanted Game. That same year, it also received the award for PlayStation.Blog's Most Anticipated Game. It was also a nominee for Most Anticipated Game at the Game Awards in both 2020 and 2021. Various media outlets also included the sequel on their respective lists for most anticipated games of 2021, prior to the game's delay to the following year. It was a nominee for Ultimate Game of the Year at the 2022 Golden Joystick Awards, and was named as Time magazine's #1 game of the year. At the Game Awards 2022, Ragnarök won six of its 11 nominations, which was both the most nominations and most awards won at the event.

It was nominated for Game of the Year and won Best Narrative and Innovation in Accessibility. Christopher Judge also won Best Performance with Sunny Suljic a nominee for the same award. The game won Game of the Year at the 2022 Titanium Awards. It won all 14 of its nominations at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards, representing more than half of the overall winners. It also received a leading 15 nominations at the 19th British Academy Games Awards, the most nominations for any game in the history of the ceremony, which is hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It won six of its 15 nominations, which was the most awards won at the event, including the EE Game of the Year Award. During the AIAS' 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, Ragnarök received the most nominations (12), as well as the most awards (7), of the ceremony.

Future

Prior to the release of the 2018 installment, Cory Barlog said that after the Norse era of God of War, future games could see the series tackling either Egyptian or Maya mythology. He said that the game alluded to other mythologies co-existing in the world, including Celtic, Japanese, and Irish mythology. Ragnarök would subsequently also have similar references.

The next installment, however, would return the series to Greece with God of War Sons of Sparta, a two-dimensional side-scroller that was released worldwide on February 12, 2026, for the PlayStation 5. Predating Ascension, it is a prequel to the entire series as the game follows Kratos in his youth as he trains at the Agoge with his brother Deimos.

In June 2026, a new entry in the series titled God of War Laufey was announced. It features Kratos' late wife Laufey as the protagonist and focuses on her journey in the afterlife of the gods called Everywhen.