When we take a deep, objective look into what made the God of War soft reboot such a unique gaming experience, we’ll find that most of the things that Santa Monica Studio did right in that game are more or less absent from God of War Ragnarok. There’s a reason why most players have fonder memories of the PlayStation 4 title instead of the latest one – and it has nothing to do with the PlayStation 5’s infamous scarcity.“
For one, God of War 2018 was the much NEEDED refresh/reboot for the series. The first look gamers were given of God of War, Kratos and his son Atreus in that E3 demo had fans going crazy, especially when they saw how the transition from cutscene to gameplay was seamless. Along with that new camera perspective (being closer to Kratos) people even cheered when Kratos started moving lol. When the game released we all witnessed a masterpiece in storytelling, with a different Kratos, familiar to who we remembered from times past, yet now a father, incapable of being the man he so desperately wants to be, trying to detach himself from being known as “The God of War/Ghost of Sparta” and just being an unknown in this new world, realm, as Kratos, father to his son, Atreus. And yet, we see he fails at being the father he wants to be & that Atreus wants him to be throughout their long journey.
On top of that, gameplay was more grounded, brutal/closeup in your face and unique to this refresh new take, that compliments this new God of War story so well. I mean, the ???? is EPIC! Haha.
Almost EVERYTHING 2018’s game offered the player was done so incredibly well that the missteps that were had here, the sequel could fix, improve and polish to a fine sheen.
Ragnarok was a wonderful conclusion that ended. A conclusion that did not overstay its welcome, and told a rich, deep, personal and long story of these loved characters in two games in a way that ended precisely when it needed to. The story dialogue shared between characters in game while exploring on foot, in your boat, as Kratos with Atreus & Mimir adds to certain story moments, new and old. Same with Atreus having some conversation in game when walking around with “said” characters. And after you complete the game, there’s more to see, explore, do, hear in that dialogue between certain characters, no spoilers.
I have said this before in previous posts and commented that Ragnarok was NEVER going to offer a revolution/overhaul of the sort like 2018’s game, it was not needed and it should not have been expected. Why some gamers thought so has me scratching my head… Ragnarok is a sequel that was able to meet expectations of many fans of the first game, but it also was able to exceed fans expectations, which was not an easy feat by any means.
I’m going to totally butcher this, but I think one of Santa Monica Studios dev’s said something like & I think I’m adding stuff on here, so don’t quote me, maybe ya’ll can find the actual quote lol “ In game development you don’t always need to run, sometimes a step is all that’s needed” and that’s true. How much groundwork and improvements actually are made when you have that blueprint for your game and realize a simple step to your game is all you need to do. You don’t need to just go off and run/be ambitious for the sake of it. It can work & does work at times and we’ve seen it done in the industry. But dialing it back, and getting your vision in order can reap more benefits when your aware of just that simple step.
