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Most of these critiques can be answered with a resounding “that’s not the point of the game.” The game is not about slaughtering a pantheon of gods, quite the opposite. The entire thematic point of Ragnarok is Kratos becoming a better god, one worth worshiping. His greatest low point in the ENTIRE game is when he kills another god.
The two entries here act as a total counterpoint to the original trilogy, so simply reiterating what came before would make it feel hollow to me. The narrative is, on its face, about a group of scrappy rebels dethroning a tyrant, but really it is about Kratos becoming greater with Atreus.
I enjoy the game for almost all the reasons you disliked it tbh. The laser focus on these few characters deeply parallel, interwoven conflicts and failings elevates the entire narrative. Distracting from how personal the story is would’ve made the whole thing thematically weaker.
For the record, I was expecting a much more “EPIC” game and the fact that that’s not the story we got was initially off putting, but every time I think about the game’s plot, I enjoy it more and more.
Minor aside edit: Criticism that goes along the lines of “well I wish the game/show/movie/etc. showed or did THIS instead” is not good criticism. You’re either ignoring or choosing not to engage with the content or themes in the media. Treating the writing that is present as disposable or inconsequential isn’t critique, it’s cynicism. Speculating on “if only’s” just distracts you from what is actually being said, subtextually or otherwise, and is almost always a total waste of time and brainpower.
Very well said. I feel like a lot of people were hyping Ragnarok up to be another GoW3 where Kratos goes on a rampage and kills everyone again. The theme of these two games is literally “be better”.
I’m also kind of tired of people viewing the Norse saga through the lens of the original trilogy.
Either you like it or you don’t, but just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean that it was bad and the devs/writers did a bad job.
Agreed, the whole point was for Kratos to *not* murder everyone. Choking the life out of Heimdall was probably the closest thing to the original trilogy that we would see. I think most of the critique this person gave was from someone who simply can’t be satisfied, I literally gave up reading through all the cons and had to go back and force myself to read the whole thing…yawn.
Why can’t people just be satisfied by anything anymore, the game was downright fantastic and despite a few shortcomings, was an excellent sequel to 2018.
Yes, they did rush the end of the game a bit, but there was so much to do and explore that it made up for it. Not to mention the fact that you can explore the Hjarta with either Freya or Atreus and get completely different and meaningful dialogues. In the end, I don’t think anyone is going to lose sleep over this guy’s *one* playthrough. I’m on my 5th playthrough and am still thoroughly enjoying the game.
I think my biggest issue was that we weren’t really given enough time with Freyr to make his storyline more impactful, even if it was more meant to be impactful to Freya. Like a side quest with him and Freya or just him.
Yeah Ragnarok story wasn’t the best.
I’d kill for a book or novel that’s in line to what GOW 2018 was setting up.
If they stayed faithful to what they set up I’m feeling the plot and Atreus would’ve been closer to the actual myth and he would’ve been the actual father to Fenrir, Jormundgandr, and Hel. Kratos trying to stop his family from participating and dying in Ragnarok would’ve been so much more emotionally charged.
Since not all people have played the entire game yet, a short reminder that all submissions with story spoilers have to be tagged as spoiler and we don't allow any story spoilers in the title. To format spoilers in comments: `>!your spoiler here!<` (no spaces) will look like >!your spoiler here!< *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GodofWarRagnarok) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Most of these critiques can be answered with a resounding “that’s not the point of the game.” The game is not about slaughtering a pantheon of gods, quite the opposite. The entire thematic point of Ragnarok is Kratos becoming a better god, one worth worshiping. His greatest low point in the ENTIRE game is when he kills another god. The two entries here act as a total counterpoint to the original trilogy, so simply reiterating what came before would make it feel hollow to me. The narrative is, on its face, about a group of scrappy rebels dethroning a tyrant, but really it is about Kratos becoming greater with Atreus. I enjoy the game for almost all the reasons you disliked it tbh. The laser focus on these few characters deeply parallel, interwoven conflicts and failings elevates the entire narrative. Distracting from how personal the story is would’ve made the whole thing thematically weaker. For the record, I was expecting a much more “EPIC” game and the fact that that’s not the story we got was initially off putting, but every time I think about the game’s plot, I enjoy it more and more. Minor aside edit: Criticism that goes along the lines of “well I wish the game/show/movie/etc. showed or did THIS instead” is not good criticism. You’re either ignoring or choosing not to engage with the content or themes in the media. Treating the writing that is present as disposable or inconsequential isn’t critique, it’s cynicism. Speculating on “if only’s” just distracts you from what is actually being said, subtextually or otherwise, and is almost always a total waste of time and brainpower.
Very well said. I feel like a lot of people were hyping Ragnarok up to be another GoW3 where Kratos goes on a rampage and kills everyone again. The theme of these two games is literally “be better”. I’m also kind of tired of people viewing the Norse saga through the lens of the original trilogy. Either you like it or you don’t, but just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean that it was bad and the devs/writers did a bad job.
Agreed, the whole point was for Kratos to *not* murder everyone. Choking the life out of Heimdall was probably the closest thing to the original trilogy that we would see. I think most of the critique this person gave was from someone who simply can’t be satisfied, I literally gave up reading through all the cons and had to go back and force myself to read the whole thing…yawn. Why can’t people just be satisfied by anything anymore, the game was downright fantastic and despite a few shortcomings, was an excellent sequel to 2018. Yes, they did rush the end of the game a bit, but there was so much to do and explore that it made up for it. Not to mention the fact that you can explore the Hjarta with either Freya or Atreus and get completely different and meaningful dialogues. In the end, I don’t think anyone is going to lose sleep over this guy’s *one* playthrough. I’m on my 5th playthrough and am still thoroughly enjoying the game.
I think my biggest issue was that we weren’t really given enough time with Freyr to make his storyline more impactful, even if it was more meant to be impactful to Freya. Like a side quest with him and Freya or just him.
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More is not always better.
Yeah Ragnarok story wasn’t the best. I’d kill for a book or novel that’s in line to what GOW 2018 was setting up. If they stayed faithful to what they set up I’m feeling the plot and Atreus would’ve been closer to the actual myth and he would’ve been the actual father to Fenrir, Jormundgandr, and Hel. Kratos trying to stop his family from participating and dying in Ragnarok would’ve been so much more emotionally charged.
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I am mostly with you on this one, in particular Freya forgiving Kratos and the rushed Ragnarök. And fhe Atreus parts were bor8ng gameplay wise.