this is what happens when you don't let ONE PERSON (Cory Barlog) tell one COHESIVE story. I've never been a fan of letting multiple directors or writers work on different part of a project. you can always sense the gaps
@@ValentinoMarino11 I think I read somewhere that he was a bit burned out after GoW 2018 and all the work he put into that one. Take it with a grain of salt though.
This game was extraordinarily bad. I would need to write an entire essay if i want to cover all of it. Holy f it’s been one year i am still trying to understand wtf went on in that studio
seeing kratos being like "wait a second we dont need to have a war to kill one guy" and just calling everyone off was actually the most hilarious thing in the game.
Corey Barlog not making this game was the problem. The first two hours of the game feel entirely different than the rest. When you meet Odin, and fight Thor and the whole atmosphere is grim and dark. It feels the start of the game was actually made by Corey Barlog then he quit and the other director took over. Kratos destined to die was literally the biggest plot that was built up since GOW 2018 and we never actually found out how he managed to avoid his fate. Well, apparently the writer responded on twitter/X and said, “When Kratos decided to spare the farmers at Ragnarok was the moment he changed his fate!” After I found out about that I was in disbelief. That moment was never emphasized in the game as such and if that’s the case it’s incredibly disappointing. Not to mentioned how they ruined Thor. Remember when I said the start of the game was made by Corey Barlog, Thor was the first hint for me. The beginning Thor was everything we heard so much about in 2018, this ruthless God who lives for destruction and love of the fight. Then later on in the game they turned him into a cry baby who resembled nothing of what we heard so much about from Mimir in 2018.
Totally agree with everything you said. I left the game feeling empty, like “where are all these cool moments I imagined living through 4 years ago?” Battling Thor on top of the world serpent, Loki tearing through Asgard on top of Fenrir, the united armies of the Realms marching behind the Giants revived thanks to Faye’s ashes… and so on and so forth. This game plays safe and its messages are simplistic.
Again, expectations and theories for people that wanted more. the Game was what I wanted, maybe a few things added, but all in all, i wanted more variety in enemies and boss fights, we got that and more, go back to 2018, you can see how much was lacking with variety. We also got all 9 realms, so I was more than satisfied.
@@Hunterese123 okay you got what you wanted, so what? What’s your point here? Why do you care so much id someone was disappointed with what the game gave? Just because it lived up to your expectations doesn’t mean it lived up to others.
I kinda agree with you. I thought that sending snake back in time would be a really big deal and when i actually saw that happen i was like "what was that? Is that it?"
@Flash Columbus5023 Why’s that a problem? Yeah, my expectations were too high. They were talking about Ragnarök for these 2 entire games and it culminated in 50 minutes of me running and fighting Einherjar mobs in a grassy field (plus two lame boss fights). The bar fight with Atreus, Thrúd and Thor was more engaging. “Too high”. This is a million dollar AAA entry and it plays out like Im watching a stageplay. Completely anticlimactic and a weak ending to a game that was strong, despite its faults.
@@jeffreyali1456the directors themselves were hyping up the game making points about time travel and plot twists and shite but it all didn't matter in the game
I agree. The plot twist about atreus being loki went absolutely nowhere, it’s just his new name now and that’s it. He has absolutely nothing to do with the norse gods he’s just a goody two shoes the entire time, a very boring development for him. Instead of working more on making an interesting story and evolving the story that was already in motion from 2018, we focus on picking fruit with angrboda (the most pointless character in the game) and capturing a giant wolf to transform him into a cute dog. For the game that was supposed to wrap up the entire norse storyline it had way too much filler.
Turning Fenrir, the legendary giant wolf that ultimately kills Odin, into a cute puppy dog that opens up convenient portals Doctor Strange style was definitely one of the decisions of all time by Santa Monica. He honestly just looks so out of place in the universe that was set up in 2018, same with characters like Angrboda, Freyr, Ratatoskr (he has some funny lines though) and Lùnda. I also expected Atreus to have hardened up a little since the last game, considering who his father is and how he grew up, but oh well.
I hated Loki because all they have him do is lie all the time to Kratos, then bitch on why Kratos doesn’t trust him. Then lied to him again after he knows about everything to only complain about it again. This game is really great about getting straight to the point. But it really is wasted potential and doesn’t make sense at all.
@@BatterySonic Don't get me started on the backtrack on that jungle map. Having to run/climb/grapple 10mins nonstop just to get to a couple loot items that are now unlocked due to a spear etc..
Hey yo! The writing in this game summed up in one scene. Devs :"Then the orchestra comes in. We see the devastation on Kratos face. He cant believe it. We hold for a few minutes. As Birger bravely sacrifices himself by jumping overboard. The whole crew are in pieces. Devastated, but thankful for his final noble deed" Us : "who's Birger?"
@@addy1294 no one even tries to find him, it becomes a sidequest for kratos. not even in a find the body to have an honorable funeral type of way. if you dont do the sidequest, birgir just jumps and no one cares
Yeah, agreed. Honestly, the unforgivable factor was Ragnarok, Kratos not facing death according to prophecy , and the Mask not revealing why Odin was so bent on destroying not only anyone that stood in the way but even his own family. Like all we were given is the typical moral of the story that despite what is written, you can defy fate by being slightly better than before. Nothing was truly answered. Honestly, it hurts.
@@frogglen6350Don’t you know how HUGE the Raganrok event is? Yeah they could’ve made it it’s own, and not just a 40 minute mini-war. Hell not even a war, just a street fight.
@@Blue-Apple-fc9eo I was hoping for a bad ass heimdell fight a spectacular Thor fight glorious odin fight and an epic ragnarok battle but director laziness or lack of creativity decided to make simple and boring fights the boss battle designs are horrible and not memorable at all Eric Williams gave us a huge disrespectful middle finger to us fans. This game had the potential to be the best in the series why Cory Barlog why you left us 😭
@@olivier4916 Well can you explain or show examples on the lack of creativity and the boring writing? because so far all you just said is “This is bad because is bad” without explaining it.
They could have made Asgard look far more impressive than a stereotypical video game interpretation of a viking village. I thought Asgard would be *grand* just like Mt. Olympus.
Asgard as a whole was disappointing, the city of the gods that rules over the nine realms is just one little village ruled by a skinny little one eyed mobster, they didn’t even give Odin his iconic horse. Weak Odin should have at least been a fake while his real form was in the Odin Sleep or something. The final boss battle was disappointing too, if only we could have been traveling through the nine realms in an epic final battle.
@@MarcusSanchez2525 Yall expectations were in the wrong place, the theories people had and people were gonna feel disappointment no matter what they did.
@@Hunterese123 Fair point, but I never really minded the trolls. Better than those roly poly green alligator things bouncing around everywhere. Not to mention the preachiness. My God. Sitting through lecture after lecture.
@@hendriekasjuarez6367 Dreki are way more fun to fight than the trolls, stop this lol. Also the first game was preachy in the sense of Kratos wanting Atreus to be better than he was, that theme carries on, I never saw it as preachy, more as maturing and moving on
@@Hunterese123 My good man, Hunterese, I'm afraid this can only be settled one way. Each of us must produce a long form video essay making our case for GOW 2022, much like our friend Honestly Brutal did. We post em on this thread within one week's time and may the best man win. What say you?
@@TheRealTact I feel like his intelligence was inconsistent in this game. It made sense in God Of War 2018 because he was jinxed to not remember about Baulder weakness.
"Old Kratos is just sad and lame." Thank you! Everyone talks about him being a deeper character, and Greece Era Kratos being "goofy." While some of the most human moments in Kratos's history is when he is hugging his family to protect them in the first game. Pushing away his daughter so he can stop the end of the world, and letting his brother beat the shit out of him because he regrets failing to save his brother when the brother was kidnapped. All that's changed is Kratos is sad now, and now has a family that isn't dead. Don't get me wrong, I too enjoy GoW 2018, and Ragnarok but they fell short for making Kratos do anything interesting. He was his most active in the new games when he insisted in taking Faye's ashes to Jotunheim.
Greek Kratos had plenty of depth and before the 2018 game was announced everyone admitted that and then retroactively gaslit themselves into bashing the old games.
Whilst its true that Greek era Kratos did have deep moments, they often sidelined in favor of making him the revenge crazed lunatic he was the first time meaning all those human moments were shoved away several times. Norse Era Kratos to me atleas’t is more interesting, just because he isn’t more active dosen’t make him any less of a complex character. Kratos resembles a man struggling with the Sins of his past and thereby would not desire more bloodshed on top of that Kratos has a dominating aura and nothing in the New games happen without his approval.
@Norse Double Eagle I would argue if anything he was callous, and cold hearted except in moments with his family. He certainly didn't value the lives of anyone except those close to him. He wasn't a revenge crazed lunatic until arguably the third game, and even then the gods fucked around and found out. As for things that happen without Kratos approval, his son had a number of side adventures without him prior to and during Ragnarok.
@@HeavyMetalJesus02Why? Hes had decades to recover! Most of those he killed were trying to kill him including Zeus... Its just moral posturing by the devd... Might as well be a Lifetime movie.. "hes good now" jeez its so BORING!
This is honestly the best and most honest view I’ve seen about this game, such a shame that they dropped the ball so hard with this one I loved 2018 but this one was not it. So disappointing.
I waited for this game for years, love god of war and have for more than half my life, Ragnarok was built up so much that we all expected it to be this epic finale which it shouldve been. Even the ending to 2018 fighting on Jormangandr was more epic than RAGNAROK the supposed end of the world. And I enjoyed the hell out of this game when I played it, any scene with Kratos in it, I enjoyed because he's my favourite character of all time. And I maintained this enjoyment until the ending where I felt there was no climax, it happened so quick and by the time Atreus gets flashbanged my thoughts are "Is that it?" There was so much potential for this game it's a shame it fell short. Even the first hour and a bit I'd rate 10/10, the freya chase, the bear, the first thor fight, top tier. But that was the peak. They could've really fleshed this out in 3 games, but they could've still done it well in 2, they just didn't. Surtr should've been amongst the battlefield, made the sky red with his sword and set everything on fire while thor and jormangandr fight and maybe kratos is amongst that on the snake too like in 2018 and when thor hits the snake back in time, maybe kratos gets hit back too and he's the one who blew the horn in the first game and he's gotta make his way back or whatever. I wanted more with Fenrir, Surtr, Odin, THOR, there should've been high stakes. Kratos could've been killed or almost killed or a scare that he was killed, I wanted to see Atreus full on Spartan Rage at that moment aside from changing into a bear which was still cool but no where near as impactful after the first time. They could've really thought this out and executed it well. maybe if it was a ps5 exclusive. but it is what it is. The music is 10/10 in this game and there were some great moments like the beginning, the garm fight, even the tyr twist shocked me, they couldve kept that in but done it way earlier in the story to really establish odin as the villain and then we go and get the real tyr when we assemble the armies for ragnarok since we spring out the real tyr at the end of the game but that is pointless now since it's the final norse game. My 2 cents.
No wonder when they let the ppl play the 1st hour and come back to report about it, the 1st hour was so intense. Then, we’re all “yea, we’re definitely getting the game. Regardless, I agree..I also wanted more THOR. Baldur fights shouldn’t have been better than Odins AND Thor’s. They hyped it up and we didn’t fight on through realms? Flames burning red? You can literally beat the end in 30 minutes. We spent more time with Atreus riding that damn Bull. I honestly think simply ran out of budget and didn’t want to cut it out the game.
And the humor in it was a big disappointment in it to. No one took Ragnarok serious in this game, no one. I swear It became a marvel esc type of game. Sucks.
@@marcoplaystation2314 yeaaa what a good way to describe it, it doesn’t feel as serious or taken seriously. It’s a magical fairy tail instead of god of war
This game just doesn't feel like a true sequel to 2018. GOW 4 felt like slowly uncovering the mysteries Týr and the Giants left behind. Ragnarok tells you everything from the let go and it feels underwhelming.
It feels underwhelming because the writers are actively trying to subvert your expectations for the actual Ragnarok event. All that cool stuff in the prophecy? You'll get, maybe, half of that and it'll look really boring.
Yeah should have been 4 games 2018 was the introduction, 2 would be fimbulwinter where Thor kill Kratos and kidnap atreus, Kratos would have to escape hell and get back atreus, 3 would be the preperation for ragnarok where they introduce to all the big characters and 4 will be ragnarok
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that the whole dark elf vs light elf conflict being immediately solved by Freyr being “a likable guy” was a little weird. What an excellent analysis!
One thing that really annoyed me with this game is that Fenrir had literally nothing to do with Odin’s death. Odin who is arguably the most important character in Norse mythology gets killed by Fenrir in the mythos. And this game literally did nothing with this.
Fenrir is not even in the game, they just put a random wolf soul in the body of garm the hell hound and became a scooby doo puppy, but the real fenrir brother of the snake doesn't exist, funny because he was mentioned in 2018 by mimir, he was called Hróovitnir and mimir said he is the father of skol and hati, but here in ragnarok they retconned their own lore made in GOW 2018.
*if this was a trilogy i think this second game could've focused more on the effects of fimbulwinter* *And Heimdall could've served somewhat as the main antagonist (kinda like bualder)* *Have more time focused on kratos and freya repairing their relationship* *Introduce these new characters like Freyr and durlin but with more time to develop* *Maybe have them be temporary companions while playing through the story* *With theirs own special abilities* *And you see these new realms from new perspectives* *Throughout the game you're helping These characters build their rebellions* *Maybe we actually see the conflict between the light and dark elves begin to heal instead of glossing over it in a sentence by Freyr* *To me that's what Kratos and Atreues should've been doing in this second game* *All leading up to a third game where we finally face Ragnarök* *With characters we gotten to known better and an army we've grown more familiar with*
The legacy of this game has been that its completely forgettable, remember when everyone and their mother mentioned God Of War for months and years after its release... Well no one is doing it about Ragnarok
Atreus was completely wasted. Odin was a boring villain. Kratos wasn't Kratos and was completely hollow. Ragnarok was way too short and marvel movie-like. The rule "show don't tell" is almost not followed. And what's wrong with Odin's plan? He is not doing anything wrong... We are only TOLD why we should hate him. The norse GOW games should have been a trilogy because DAMN was this game was weak.
I still think the existential question of the mask is more interesting than the boring story we got. Where do Gods go when they are gone what is their purpose etc.
Kratos will talk about how “nature will take its course” and how “it’s in his nature” to protect Atreus. To me, this was weird when he also says he opposes prophecy 😅
@@Ishbikes it's not about him being worshipped, it's about how faye drew over his prophecy of death with a image of him being a provider and builder. He tears up bc he knows faye loved him so much that she saw him that way. Instead of seeing him as a destroyer and a monster. I agree the games story is kinda meh but this part is actually a nice one.
2018 story was better and more suspenseful. I thought in Ragnarok they would explore how Kratos got to Midgard, when he first met Faye and they fought, who blew the horn, could of had Modi survive and show Buldur in Hell.
I swear to god wouldn't it had made more sense if Thor came to kratos home and killed him then his son spends the first half of the game trying to find a way to bring him back to life and maybe the sacrifice he had to make was his humanity or something turning him into the real Loki something like that
It’s just so sad because of the potential that the sequels could have had, how deep the lore could have gone and an actual development of Atreus as Loki, because it literally doesn’t even really matter in Ragnarok. Like Atreus big god power is to turn into a fucking wolf, he was more badass in the first game. It’s just such a disappointed looking back.
I don’t mind Old Kratos not wanting to embrace his dark side, but you were right on the money. Kratos knows what he does NOT want, but rarely spends time on what he does want and WHY
I completely agree with ur point. I understand the entire point of the game is to show how Kratos is maturing and trying to lead a peaceful life. See I'd understand that... If the majority of the game wasn't just a hype machine with an underwhelming ending. For so long through the game U can see Kratos becoming more and more angry with his situation, and I rlly hoped he would go back to his god killer self. Ik that isn't him anymore but it would be an interesting tragic story! Of how no matter how far he runs, he'll always to be a god-killer. Plus I'm rlly upset we don't get to use Mjolnir, that was like 50% why I wanted to complete the story 😭
It wasn't the death of Brok that got me but instead what it did to Sindri, the foreshadowing of having a future villain who we do have a deep personal connection with at the funeral broke me into tears which surprised me but gave me hope for the franchise
The part about wanting spectacle is so true. I was willing to forgive the god awful writing and dialogue where they spell out everything in every scene if they just gave me the moments I've been imagining, just imagine what fighting around thor and jormungandr in the sea could have looked like. Also, how the fuck did we not get to use mjöllnir? I was convinced that the throwing axe that returns to you was a guaranteed setup for gaining mjöllnir as a way to defeat Odin or something. I thought I knew the devs, but turns out I didn't, or Corey's vision was something completely different to the sequel we got.
I am so happy that someone speaks about the actual issues of this game and not just the typical "overhyped" or nitpicky points. I like the game. It's a good game. But it is worse than the previous. And that shouldn't have happened. The first game was build from scratch, the ideas, models and mechanics. *Insert a "they build it in a cave with a box of scraps" meme here* For Zeus` sake, Atreus has only one kind of arrow and a second one that gets copy-pasted from a different companion - both gained not from narrative developement, but because Sindri said so. Every new ability mattered in the first game. In the first game, in every area you can explore and if you do some extra work, you get a chest. Now the game wants you to go along with the story: You get a segment done, you get a chest. Like a rat in a maze where the way is lined with nuts. And that can work in games, if the story is strong, but just when you think, the "new kid at magical school"-plot with Atreus in Asgard kicks in and he might form deeper connections with the people there, he leaves and only comes back one more time that is cut short but the game acts like it mattered much more than it did. Yes sure, Atreus definetly won over multiple ancient dietys during the entire two conversations they had each. On an unrelated note, I don't know how I feel about the kinda on the nose choice of having the character with the almost lost culture be a nature loving black girl with native american vibes while her grandmother is a mad witch in the woods practicing vodoo and black magic. Atreus being the insensitive dick, throwing obviously significant cultural objects in the bag. Although it is almost funny that Angrboda seems aware of and annoyed by the trope that a white boy comes in to save a peoples culture that he is incredibly ignorant off. And as soon as she fulfills her role in the prophecy she starts acting cold and so done with him for a while. The biggest mistake of the game was making me and surely a lot of other people feel like everything could have been solved by going to Asgard and kratosing Odin, just as we did in the end. The whole Ragnarok thing could have been avoided if Dad of War just killed the one guy and anyone who came between them (aka Thor and Heimdal), instead we get 20 minutes of an apocalypse we cant enjoy or focus on and two boss fights that could have been done anywhere. Ragnarok itself, the games names-sake, doesn't matter in the grand finale of the nordic saga. But I did get a semi from how awesome the spear was. Best new toy. PS: Atreus didn't attend spoiles funeral! What a little dick, Mr. "I gotta go my own way and find things that definetly can wait until I help my family and freinds rebuild the societies of the people who were displaced from three different worlds". No wonder, he gets impregnated by a horse. Thrud is best girl, Spear is best toy. Good video. Rant over.
I remember there was this interview where Eric Williams was talking about his reasons for killing Brok and he said something in the lines of "He needed to die because he's like the family dog" Now, i really liked Brok, but Jesus Christ, if your whole reasoning to kill off a character was because "Well, people liked him, it's like killing the family dog, you see? Nobody messes with the family dogecoin" just makes it sound like you didn't know how to advance your story in any meaningful way and you're just scratching the bottom of the barrel, that and the fact that for you Brok was nothing more but a "dog" just makes it sound weird as heck lol
Bro the fact that we do NOT see something as important as VALHALLA bothers me soooo much. Also speaking about stuff that we do not get to see, were the hell are Geri, Freki, and SLEIPNIR? Or Vidar? Shit they are even mentioned if not outright SHOWN in some secondary stuff in the game! (Geri and Freki being shown in an asgardian painting in Odin's room, and Sleipnir being depicted as Odin's horse IN THE FUCKING ALTARS ). Then again, where is Ydalir, Ullr's house, which is mentioned in something as important as the resources to power up Atreus' bow?? My god Ullr could have been PERFECT for Atreus to meet. This game deals with norse mythology yet is so profoundly lacking in what it shows, its insane.
I honestly believe Kratos taking the deal with Odin would have probably made this game more than just interesting because then Atreus, seeing his father take a deal with Odin who he believes to be untrustworthy from what Mimir says, can then have a solid reason to distrust his father which gives more meaning to their conflict. And after that point for almost half of the game we could get to play as Atreus sneaking off to gather allies, fight bosses while occasionally shifting back to Kratos to sort of investigate where Atreus is sneaking off to because this game puts a lot of emphasis on Atreus coming into his own but it doesn''t feel like it. And then finally when Atreus begins the war near the midway point of the game he gets captured in the first fight and is imprisioned in Asgard because well, he's a boy, and finally when Kratos discovers this Kratos has more of a reason to start Ragnarok to get Atreus out and go on god killing spree.
I thought they were going to do a scene of Atreus and Kratos in Helheim watching an illusion of how Kratos kills his family. It's a shame I don't understand how they could do 27 hours without anything epic.
100% him taking the deal would make Atreus have legit reasons for wanting to deceive him. Perhaps by faking his own death to make His dad believe Odin reneged only to learn the truth after Ragnarok
13:36 Listen, I love Brok. His death was top 10 saddest death in stories personally. I listened to the funeral song on a regular basis to feel that moment again. But his death doesn't immediately makes me want to kill Odin cause I know Kratos doesn't want Ragnarok. It's lunacy to start Ragnarok just because of Brok. So you're still good in my book.
I agree. The way he talks is so forced and ridiculous. They try too hard to make everything "emotional," but they fail miserably because the 2018 game did this much better and naturally without breaking a sweat when compared to this abysmal sequel.
Wow! That’s exactly how I feel about the game as well! Nice to know that I am not alone! Wasted potential are the key words. They really should split it to 3 games. All the build up from the first game went flat with the ragnarok story.
We just wanted some of old kratos killing through gods till the end like that’s what we signed up for. I 100% agree with you. I hope they fix everything in the next game
I was confused too about kratos saying no to Odin offer of peace I was like “wait isn’t that exactly what you want” and it doesn’t help that we don’t see an explanation of why it’s a good thing he declined, also him constantly talking about how he doesn’t want war even tho he declined peace when it was offered is weird
The first Thor boss fight was fucking awesome -- flying all over midgard, wrecking Tyr's temple, the frozen lightning bolt and the giant crater in the iced-over lake -- that was cool as shit. The entirety of the second Thor boss fight AND the Odin boss fight take place in Odin's front yard. And that's it. Very underwhelming indeed.
I can agree that there's elements that def fell flat. There's a lot of wasted potential with Odin or Thor, or even Angrboda. I thought she and the ironwood would have had a larger part to play, or that you could go back beyond just the end of the game. Like I legit thought that you'd go back and visit again in a dream or something, or explore Asgard a bit more, but you were contained to that log house that Odin built. I still stand by you should've gotten more than 5 seconds (I saw one person time it, it was literally barely over a second at one point) to look at a puzzle. I agree that if you're playing God of War, you're not going in for puzzles, but also like... I want time to at least LOOK at the puzzle for 10 seconds before my companions are yelling out the answer. I've also seen people argue about the fact that the companions are a bit OVERLY chatty at times, and I can agree with that to a point. I like a bit of chatter, but it can feel a bit much at times. I can turn my brain off a lot and just mindlessly play a thing, so my complaints are a bit smaller because I just go no thoughts, head empty to enjoy a thing when I want to, so I really enjoyed it. I didn't know the bit about it being discussed about this section of God of War being 2 games or 3, though. I think it could've def used being 3 games so that there was better pacing aspects. I'll stop here because I'm getting a bit rambly, though.
They definitely should have turned the Norse saga into a Trilogy. Cory Barlog said in interviews, he had so many ideas for the Norse saga that he realized he was writing the fifth installment in the series and had to cut back. And that’s what we got in GoW 2018. So it is weird why they decided to stuff everything into GoW Ragnarok and rush the ending of the Norse saga
Fenrir, like are you kidding me? I have a gigantic pet wolf that tears through the fabric of space and time? Hell yeah! … Hours later… …. …. Any day now… Game over.
The best video review of the story on TH-cam imo. Also I don't like Thor who is a dumb drunkard with no brain. He listens to his wife one moment another moment he listens to his father. Then you have Odin who knows about the prophecies and the God Killer he still doesn't do nothing! Even in the end when Kratos goes towards Surtr he even tell Atreus this is too easy. Odin knows this is our only way and it stays easy cause Odin never actually intervenes or isn't scared of getting killed hence why he never brings a big monster out
Here's why you don't like Thor, because he didn't kill Kratos like the 2018 game seemed to insinuate, like how are we supposed to thing he's a badass and a brute wen he doesn't even kill the guy who murdered his 2 sons and his brother, like wtf, we are supposed to believe that he's some kind of mass extinction, all intimidating butcher lol. Also why Odin didn't want to kill Kratos is beyond between him Thor and the full might of Asgard you would thing he'd be pretty hyped, instead he offered Kratos peace, these guys aren't bad guys they are nice guys
Dont know why they didn't make GOW winter. Whole game could have been stop the wolves eating the sun and moon. A simple A to B plot. Like every god of war 1 kill ares 2. Get to the sister of fate 3. Kill zeus 4. Get to the top of the mountain.
I disagree with your first point completely. The first Norse God of War was about creating a healthy father and son bond by Kratos, through the adventure, revealing and being honest about who he was to his son. Because of his past it was Kratos who was the guarded one and his fear of allowing Godhood to corrupt his son. He was harsh and cold with him at first . The story ended with them bonding, Kratos able to open up and show affection for his son and him letting go of the fear of what being God would do to Atreus . God of a War Ragnorock is now Kratos growing his relationship with Atreus. Now that he is more emotionally bonded, he is understandably, the overly protective father. But Atreus is older now, and he wants to form his own path. Now Kratos must learn to trust him and let him without his protection. This is why he had to actually run away in order to do that, and Kratos needed to understand that his son will no longer need him. That’s the purpose and progression of their relationship in Ragnarok. In God of War one Atreus is still like nine years old so even though he loves him and he’s more bonded with him, never in the story he ever let him go off and do whatever he wanted. He was always with Atreus. This development made perfect sense and shows progression. This is why the closing scenes Atreus walks off by himself on his mission as Kratos looks on.
I didn't like the final fight with Odin. God of war 2018 finale was way better than Ragnarok. It took you in difference environments, places, stages, rounds but with Odin it's only two floors beneath. What a Complete disaster and pathetic. And that's how you know this game was rushed.
I think they missed the boat on having a little role play story choices applied to the game. Imagine depending what weapon you used most decided how Kratos story would end. The axe is leading to redemption and the blades are leading to destruction.
I'm glad you said this because I was really struggling with this game's story for real! I was just disappointed like it's called God of War and there was barely any Gods War or Ragnarok itself like wtf
I agree that the Ending feels rushed and Kratos is annoying. But I would argue that Kratos wasn't supposed to change, Atreus was. Also the fact that everyone dislikes Odin in the last game heavily effected that "No" in the beginning and there aren't any giant bad guys in norse mythology like in greek they could use given the first game.
.."Not any bad guys like in Greek Mythology" "Hahahahaha! Are you serious?!" (J.J. Jameson). Surtr - giant fire demon on par with Odin (Satan on steroids). Easily could be used as a secret final boss, manipulating behind the scenes Kratos so he weakens Asgard, and whoevers wins, is easy target for Surtr. Also in Norse mythology Ymir (ice giant king) and Hella (ruler of underworld) are not very nice. To lesser degree backstabbing Loki. Surtr corrupted Loki would have been interesting concept after 1st game.
I think the "No" was most of all to Odins offer to kill Freya. Kratos didn't want that and took a stance against Odin, except that it would be the "calm and rational persons" move to say what he actualy wants and nagotiate: "Leave Freya alone, better yet, set her free. I do not wish to fight Gods, so don't send any after me or my son, for non will return. That is the deal." Say nothing about Tyr, then talk to Atreus about it.
@@copiumkiller Sure the could have made surtr a bad guy but (at least to me.) in the myth and game he is just enacting the prophecy. He doesn't even seem to care. Ymir is already long gone in the game, and hella (to my knowledge) doesn't exist. I also agree Surtr corrupted Loki would have been interesting.
@@ryandunagan1903 He is not "just enacting prophecy". He is convinced that destiny is in his side in destroying Asgard, because he is (similar to Odin) aware of the cyclical nature. And reminding others about the prophecy, IMO, is his "4D joke" (you are a fool for trying to think that you can avoid destiny, because future has already happened, now you are just experiencing it).
Even if there weren’t any “bad guys” it’s not like they’re above changing them (which I’d encourage). Loki isn’t mischievous in GoW, Heimdal, I’m fairly sure, isn’t a prick in Norse mythology. Plus the fact that Kratos exists in this world now understandably would change how a lot of gods behave. You can MAKE antagonists, it feels like they just played things too safe.
They basically did to Kratos what they did to Luke in the disney star wars movies. Made him old, broken, sad, tired, cowardly and defeated. Regretting his life, seeing himself as a failure and running away. After Odin kills Brok his first reaction is to run away. Freya of course is way more badass then he is just like rey was to Luke. It's all cringe.
Even Kratos says it at one moment: "this feels too easy". It felt way less epic that 2018; if 2018 was LOTR, this one feels like the last 3 seasons of GoT.
I'm surprised that I haven't seen people talking about Freya and her wasted storyline The ending of the last game was hyping up her going ballistic on Kratos, throwing everything she had at him... then she just attacks him once or twice, goes on a mission with him and they're friends again feels cheap, like they shouldn't have set it up if they weren't gonna follow through same thing with Loki's dog, nobody wants to see a dog die, so don't do it at all if you're just gonna go back on it later
Agree with you on most accounts. Ragnarok itself is so underwritten and underdeveloped it retroactively lessens the 80% leading up to it. They didn't need to make it three games, just make most of the game be the actual stuff you discuss above (really, no brainer stuff with this storyline)--this ultimately feels muddled and confused with what it wants to communicate.
I’m almost certain that when Eric Williams took over this project, it was his intention to improve on primarily 3 MAIN things that the last game needed major improvement/expansion on: enemy variety, environment design (the whole 9 realms), and a flourish on combat and side content. Artistically, mechanically, and gameplay-wise, the game exceeds at these 3 things. You wont really see anyone complain about them, they’ll be the highlight for most in fact. However, because of SUCH a short time frame of development spanning little of 2-4 years, a lot of stuff HAD to be skimmed in order to near its completion. This meant an immediate call to the drawing board for overall storyboarding and mapping, necessary for building the maps and framework of the game in the first place. Because of this, it seems that a lot of its story elements and potential seem to be squandered for the sake of finishing off this installment in order to make it for the time frame of this title’s eventual release date. I remember Cory Barlog once mentioned that a reason he didn’t want to have a trilogy was because he did not like the stretched-out nature of making series so dragged out. Also, I do believe that Cory did not go in as overall creative director because he was probably so burnt out on working his ass off on the first game that he couldn’t spare to do the second, which I’m sure they started development on very soon after 2018’s initial release due to the high acclaim it received. Although the game does not reach the spectacle it nearly preached in 2018’s play through, it still holds a massive amount of heart and dedication and talent that I can still really respect and enjoy, despite its shortcomings on the narrative aspect. However, I’d like to theorize that they’ve kept a good amount of things inconclusive in Ragnarok’s end as to start a completely new THIRD installment that involves Atreus and of course Kratos, but one that spans the different pantheons of mythology. But thats just me having my hopes up.
I was convinced that Angrboda was Tyr's daughter with an Egyptian goddess. Especially because of the hieroglyphs tattooed on his arm. I was convinced that it was the beginning of the Egyptian saga. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the race change was gratuitous.
Exactly! They didn’t even try to pretend that this was for any other reason besides pandering. With a few tweaks, they could have easily made it work but no. Creativity doesn’t exist with “the message.”
I often said that they do not feel like gods , they tried too hard to humanize them that they no longer feel like gods , even Odin looks are not intimidating , I was already let down with his look! Fights did not feel as epic as they should , it was a great game , but should have been so much greater ! The only thing I was happy about was at least they made it longer this time , but I wanted epic fights with gods and we just don’t get that ! They need to make the gods feel like gods again ! And give us the spectacle back from the old trilogy !
Everything feels off the rule of cool has been tied up and thrown in a pit somewhere none of the gods but Thor look particularly otherworldly or godlike and why does everyone sound American!, Also Ragnarok was a 20 minute fight in the background while you fight waves of normal enemies. We should have been riding that giant snake and fighting Thor in the middle of a hurricane on floating rubble. Where is the damn cool factor nothing is epic!
13:23 thank you so much.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. Like Odin isn't really all that bad and that it's been skewed by what Mimir and others have said. Also a redemption \understanding of Odin would match the themes of the story. That there would be some sort of forgiveness econciliation with Odin's story. And yes the Tyr reveal did feel out of nowhere and lackluster because of how little he did which was just to he break his deceit just to stab Brokk.
That was the point. He was locked away in Asgard, so we were never gonna find him unless Asgard was destroyed, so it made sense it was after all the fighting
Everybody is praising this game like it's some sort of masterpiece. The fact of the matter is that the writers dropped the ball on this game. Truly wasted potential.
I think Kratos said no to Odin's offer because he Mimir and all the other main characters apart from Atreus know he's a manipulator and a liar so even if Kratos was to follow through Odin would keep pushing and pushing for more ridiculous demands like we see in the realm of the dwarves to the point where he would have to refuse something he asks and go to war with Asgard anyway and as for the he always says don't go to war but doesn't provide any alternative I think this shows how protective he is because in the beginning he doesn't hear out Atreus a lot he doesn't trust him because of him putting himself and everyone in danger with Thor and Odin he just sees the negatives of war (because he's lead armies he knows the horrors it brings) and he's so focused on not bringing Atreus into that he doesn't think of an alternative that could be just me I also want to clarify I only watched playthroughs of this game not played it (I don't play them because of the puzzles) so maybe I don't have a good perspective on it and if anyone can shed a different perspective let me know just be respectful
I personally adore Odin and his nonchalant evil nature, and I like how the bosses were kinda a personal reflection of the scenario of what the characters are doing. And finally, in defense of sif, she never really randomly turned. She didn't like BOY because she thought he was just another puppet of Odin, she doesn't care about asgard, she cares about her family.
I loved Odin too in terms of him being an entertaining character. He was genuinely hilarious and I loved hearing him be a sassy old new york man. In terms of like a villain I was excited to defeat, not so much.
@@honestlybrutal5927 Is it just me or does kratos seem kinda dumb in the game? Especially in my opinion in the seige of asgard, I mean the guy has lead in countless wars I thought we would get to see General Kratos in action barking out orders for the soldiers to follow. But to be fair the seige was underwhelming af
Sigh… I hate to say it but everything u said is true especially comparing it to gow3. The fights the environment was truly a god fighting a god. Not a regular side quest boss that so happens to b another god. Like the oden fight zzz 💤 like really bra this is oden??? Thor 💀. Like damn
I honestly felt like I was playing tekken lol story was decent but the wasted things we could have had was like damn. And when he was smacking o boy face in the ground I got so hypeeeeeeeee but we just choke him out 💤 💤 💤 😢 to anyone reading this go play gow3 and I guarantee you will understand
Happy to know I'm not the only one who doesn't like the direction the game is heading. Its nice to see Kratos grow and develop his character, finding happiness and not repeating the mistakes of the past, but i buy a God Of War game because i want to experience exciting combat and violence regarding killing gods. Adding feelings of drama in the game does indeed make the game Legendary, but first you make the gow game a gow game, and then you add the drama on it. The childhood problems of the studio's staff should not be placed into a God Of War title.
he said no to odin at the beginning of the game because he knew odin was trying to manipulate him, he knew odin is not and would never keep that deal. "What are your promises ever worth?" - Mimir (20 seconds after that question by the way)
I disagree with some thing but I can see where your coming from and understand your agruments. And it was actually nice to see someone talk about the ending and how it all felt a bit off and rushed a lil. Really great vid and don't let people put you down in these comments. I'd hate to see a few bad apples ruin a great content creator like you. Love the videos
Such a great take in all honesty. Ragnarok was one of those games I loved playing because the gameplay is so tight overall but still felt underwhelmed and could never quite put my finger on the why. You have summed it up perfectly though. Easily the game with the most wasted potential of the decade. For so much riding in on it especially after GoW 18 it fell tremendously short. You didn't even talk about the absolute very end of it which I feel is the biggest letdown. Nothing really feels resolved. We have the Valhalla DLC for Kratos but what about Atreus. Just a shame overall. Fun to play but that's not unique to God of War. This could have been any game.
so glad i found this video. for me the game's story and dialogue execution was sooo bad that i couldn't believe same people from 2018 approved it. like fr ??? the combat was only reason i enjoyed it
The end would be better if Odin Win At the end to adopt Atreus/Loki and Atreus become the Loki we know Traitor,liar,handler Who underestimates and belittles his enemies and is arrogant And it would be awesome if kratos dies or stays alive and goes after Atreus giving Doubts and questions to the sequence With more creatures,Giants and others children of Odin/Freya like: Vidar,Hermod,Uller,Bragi,Hoder,Forseti and Nanna Baldur's son and wife,Meili and Vali and others Vanir gods Freya's brothers they are: Ran,Hoenir,Aegir,Njord,Skirnir,Kvasir,Vanlandi,Mani,Lytir,Oder,mundilfari,Fulla,Hlin,Saga,Bil,Gefjunn and Loki's and Surtur Wifes Simara and Sigyn appearing + others children of Thor and Loki Including the appearance of Hela,Lorride,Siegfried and Beowulf the Midgard demigod warriors and more Valkyries and Odin's horse,Horofiltner the mysterious giant Wolf and Thor's goats even Thor wearing gloves and the belt that makes him more stronger.. And show Valhalla,Sessrumnir and a new rebuilt Asgard + What happened to Laufey/Atreus' mother and Return of Baldur,Thor,Freyr,Magni and Modi And to close Show more of Tyr the true God of War with his death by the Garm. + we have The final battle the kratos vs Loki fight For a Nordic and trilogy saga finale and maybe Loki betray Odin and Fenrir kill Odin just like in the original Norse Mythology It's the least we expected But a pity it didn't happen 😢😔 like and Bye!
It would have been such an awesome last move after Heimdall got his arm cut off if he blew the horn to start Ragnarok...and then the screen cuts to black as we wait for the next and last Norse God of War game
Yh god of war Ragnarok's motto is: "if we can make em cry then it's a good game. Forget spectacle and power feats, that's gonna take time and effort let's just rely on the mocap and acting as an excuse for a more personal story". And I've seen better designs for Odin it wouldn't really matter if his boss fight wasn't mondane.
Yeah it was disappointing, the ending was so damn underwhelming. I can’t believe people defend this story and regard it as a “masterpiece” with so many incoherent plot wholes and weird choices.
It felt so rushed one hand and empty-handed on one hand. I think Ragnarök should have been longer and should have been more fleshed out from God Of War 2018 with a different focus.
If this series was a trilogy like the original set of games were, I could see Fimble Winter being the second game of the series. Instead of Atreus trying to calm down Freya, he'd be in Asgard, Kratos would be in Midgard looking for him. All the while Freya stalks you like prey. It would be Kratos alone, with raiders, Freya on his tail, and his Cabin being the main gameplay loops while he also tries to avoid hellwalkers too. It could be some seriously cool horror in the Norse setting.
you said almost every thought I had, the only thing missing is the unfulfilled mysteries left in the last game such as who called the world serpent, that was supposed to be important and some other holes were filled in very unimpactful ways such as how the serpent was created and sent back, it was just brushed over
Imagine if Thor taught atreus to kill more brutally, like during the beginning sections atreus' kills would be family friendly but due to thor's negative influence by the end atreus' kills would be just as brutal as kratos'
Damn nobody knows what opinions are anymore, acting like criticizing these newer God of War games are a crime. I literally had someone tell me to off myself because I dared say I liked the Greek games better. Just wait till they hear that I still prefer Greek Kratos over Norse Kratos..
this is what happens when you don't let ONE PERSON (Cory Barlog) tell one COHESIVE story. I've never been a fan of letting multiple directors or writers work on different part of a project. you can always sense the gaps
I wonder why he wasn’t in the lead, his vision was fantastic
Yup that was the biggest flaw
@@ValentinoMarino11 I think I read somewhere that he was a bit burned out after GoW 2018 and all the work he put into that one. Take it with a grain of salt though.
You can blame Sweet Baby Inc for the terrible writing, they ruin everything they touch
This game was extraordinarily bad. I would need to write an entire essay if i want to cover all of it. Holy f it’s been one year i am still trying to understand wtf went on in that studio
seeing kratos being like "wait a second we dont need to have a war to kill one guy" and just calling everyone off was actually the most hilarious thing in the game.
Corey Barlog not making this game was the problem. The first two hours of the game feel entirely different than the rest. When you meet Odin, and fight Thor and the whole atmosphere is grim and dark. It feels the start of the game was actually made by Corey Barlog then he quit and the other director took over.
Kratos destined to die was literally the biggest plot that was built up since GOW 2018 and we never actually found out how he managed to avoid his fate. Well, apparently the writer responded on twitter/X and said, “When Kratos decided to spare the farmers at Ragnarok was the moment he changed his fate!” After I found out about that I was in disbelief. That moment was never emphasized in the game as such and if that’s the case it’s incredibly disappointing. Not to mentioned how they ruined Thor. Remember when I said the start of the game was made by Corey Barlog, Thor was the first hint for me. The beginning Thor was everything we heard so much about in 2018, this ruthless God who lives for destruction and love of the fight. Then later on in the game they turned him into a cry baby who resembled nothing of what we heard so much about from Mimir in 2018.
Totally agree with everything you said. I left the game feeling empty, like “where are all these cool moments I imagined living through 4 years ago?” Battling Thor on top of the world serpent, Loki tearing through Asgard on top of Fenrir, the united armies of the Realms marching behind the Giants revived thanks to Faye’s ashes… and so on and so forth. This game plays safe and its messages are simplistic.
Again, expectations and theories for people that wanted more. the Game was what I wanted, maybe a few things added, but all in all, i wanted more variety in enemies and boss fights, we got that and more, go back to 2018, you can see how much was lacking with variety. We also got all 9 realms, so I was more than satisfied.
@@Hunterese123 okay you got what you wanted, so what? What’s your point here? Why do you care so much id someone was disappointed with what the game gave? Just because it lived up to your expectations doesn’t mean it lived up to others.
@@kevinnigins9488 Okay, then we can keep it moving
Literally none of that was promised to you wtf are you talking about
@@Hunterese123 Jesus you have bitterly low expectations
I kinda agree with you. I thought that sending snake back in time would be a really big deal and when i actually saw that happen i was like "what was that? Is that it?"
When it happened I honestly thought the game had a bug or something.
@Flash Columbus5023 No they weren't. They just dropped the ball on spectacle
@@SceneSurgeSnippets yes they were
@Flash Columbus5023 Why’s that a problem? Yeah, my expectations were too high. They were talking about Ragnarök for these 2 entire games and it culminated in 50 minutes of me running and fighting Einherjar mobs in a grassy field (plus two lame boss fights).
The bar fight with Atreus, Thrúd and Thor was more engaging. “Too high”. This is a million dollar AAA entry and it plays out like Im watching a stageplay. Completely anticlimactic and a weak ending to a game that was strong, despite its faults.
@@jeffreyali1456the directors themselves were hyping up the game making points about time travel and plot twists and shite but it all didn't matter in the game
I agree. The plot twist about atreus being loki went absolutely nowhere, it’s just his new name now and that’s it. He has absolutely nothing to do with the norse gods he’s just a goody two shoes the entire time, a very boring development for him. Instead of working more on making an interesting story and evolving the story that was already in motion from 2018, we focus on picking fruit with angrboda (the most pointless character in the game) and capturing a giant wolf to transform him into a cute dog. For the game that was supposed to wrap up the entire norse storyline it had way too much filler.
Turning Fenrir, the legendary giant wolf that ultimately kills Odin, into a cute puppy dog that opens up convenient portals Doctor Strange style was definitely one of the decisions of all time by Santa Monica. He honestly just looks so out of place in the universe that was set up in 2018, same with characters like Angrboda, Freyr, Ratatoskr (he has some funny lines though) and Lùnda.
I also expected Atreus to have hardened up a little since the last game, considering who his father is and how he grew up, but oh well.
@@SdMVin Ratatoskr played by prozd was awesome.
@@christopher2284 And the painful amount of backtracking for treasure chests.
I hated Loki because all they have him do is lie all the time to Kratos, then bitch on why Kratos doesn’t trust him. Then lied to him again after he knows about everything to only complain about it again. This game is really great about getting straight to the point. But it really is wasted potential and doesn’t make sense at all.
@@BatterySonic Don't get me started on the backtrack on that jungle map. Having to run/climb/grapple 10mins nonstop just to get to a couple loot items that are now unlocked due to a spear etc..
You're absolutely right. Besides، Odin and Asgard were quite desperate. Odin was more like the village chief than the king of Asgar.
Hey yo! The writing in this game summed up in one scene.
Devs :"Then the orchestra comes in. We see the devastation on Kratos face. He cant believe it. We hold for a few minutes. As Birger bravely sacrifices himself by jumping overboard. The whole crew are in pieces. Devastated, but thankful for his final noble deed"
Us : "who's Birger?"
hahaha, nice one!
AND HE DIDNT EVEN DIE AND THEY NEVER EXPLAIN HOW HE SURVIVED THE FALL
@@addy1294 no one even tries to find him, it becomes a sidequest for kratos. not even in a find the body to have an honorable funeral type of way. if you dont do the sidequest, birgir just jumps and no one cares
Literally was mr when brock died, why should I care he was a minor character in first game?
@@addy1294bro he rolled
Thank you someone said it, BULDURS FIGHTS WERE WAY MORE EPIC
Most definitely, this was the first god Kratos couldn’t just kill he kept coming back for more
The first fight between Thor and Kratos was god-tier but the second one was complete bs, Thor is stronger than Baldur yet he goes down easier?
@@Ilovekaiju even the first one was kinda meh
Oh yea, those were some flashy cutscenes!
Yeah, agreed. Honestly, the unforgivable factor was Ragnarok, Kratos not facing death according to prophecy , and the Mask not revealing why Odin was so bent on destroying not only anyone that stood in the way but even his own family. Like all we were given is the typical moral of the story that despite what is written, you can defy fate by being slightly better than before. Nothing was truly answered. Honestly, it hurts.
I was so disappointed that the actual ragnarok was a passive experience. It should have been an entire game.
An entire game of what? Killing the same enemies?
@@frogglen6350hell yeah
@@frogglen6350at least it would justify the title of the damn game. The ragnarök part was so rushed
@@frogglen6350Don’t you know how HUGE the Raganrok event is? Yeah they could’ve made it it’s own, and not just a 40 minute mini-war. Hell not even a war, just a street fight.
Have you played god of war 3? The whole game is set in the war of Olympus vs Titans. That's what was expected from Ragnarok. @@frogglen6350
I felt so empty after beating this game. I’m glad I’m not the only one disappointed.
I felt empty and then just sad. Like was that it?
@@wingsoffreedom3589 Like I just the gameplay but the story just leads me scratching my head
i bothers me way more then it should
@@Blue-Apple-fc9eo I was hoping for a bad ass heimdell fight a spectacular Thor fight glorious odin fight and an epic ragnarok battle but director laziness or lack of creativity decided to make simple and boring fights the boss battle designs are horrible and not memorable at all Eric Williams gave us a huge disrespectful middle finger to us fans.
This game had the potential to be the best in the series why Cory Barlog why you left us 😭
@@olivier4916 Well can you explain or show examples on the lack of creativity and the boring writing? because so far all you just said is “This is bad because is bad” without explaining it.
I agree, the ending was so underwhelming!!! The visuals were cool, but I felt like we hardly had time to bask in it! Not enough Asgard!
How could they give us mor Asgard though Lokis only purpose being there was the mask and Kratos being there just means that Ragnarök has started
They could have made Asgard look far more impressive than a stereotypical video game interpretation of a viking village. I thought Asgard would be *grand* just like Mt. Olympus.
@@jacobj3933 They wanted to do a trope subversion and it fell flat.
Asgard as a whole was disappointing, the city of the gods that rules over the nine realms is just one little village ruled by a skinny little one eyed mobster, they didn’t even give Odin his iconic horse. Weak Odin should have at least been a fake while his real form was in the Odin Sleep or something.
The final boss battle was disappointing too, if only we could have been traveling through the nine realms in an epic final battle.
@@MarcusSanchez2525 Yall expectations were in the wrong place, the theories people had and people were gonna feel disappointment no matter what they did.
Dude thank you so much for making this video. I felt like I was losing my mind as the only person that didn’t like this. You nailed it.
So you rather fight a billion Trolls in 2018 than play this?
@@Hunterese123 Fair point, but I never really minded the trolls. Better than those roly poly green alligator things bouncing around everywhere.
Not to mention the preachiness. My God. Sitting through lecture after lecture.
@@hendriekasjuarez6367 Dreki are way more fun to fight than the trolls, stop this lol. Also the first game was preachy in the sense of Kratos wanting Atreus to be better than he was, that theme carries on, I never saw it as preachy, more as maturing and moving on
@@Hunterese123 My good man, Hunterese, I'm afraid this can only be settled one way. Each of us must produce a long form video essay making our case for GOW 2022, much like our friend Honestly Brutal did.
We post em on this thread within one week's time and may the best man win. What say you?
@@Hunterese123you again,Ragnarok was a dissapointment,get over it
Brok was the needless death, should've been Kratos who sniffed out Odin's facade. I absolutely agree with your review.
I mean seriously how was brok the one to find out odins bs? It would’ve made way more sense if it was mimir.
@@TheRealTact I feel like his intelligence was inconsistent in this game. It made sense in God Of War 2018 because he was jinxed to not remember about Baulder weakness.
Surtr and Freyrs death were also needless
@@OneMegaPiece Freyr’s death was not needless at all as his sacrifice saved them all
@@TheRealTact the clues in the game spell it out for you
"Old Kratos is just sad and lame."
Thank you! Everyone talks about him being a deeper character, and Greece Era Kratos being "goofy." While some of the most human moments in Kratos's history is when he is hugging his family to protect them in the first game. Pushing away his daughter so he can stop the end of the world, and letting his brother beat the shit out of him because he regrets failing to save his brother when the brother was kidnapped. All that's changed is Kratos is sad now, and now has a family that isn't dead. Don't get me wrong, I too enjoy GoW 2018, and Ragnarok but they fell short for making Kratos do anything interesting. He was his most active in the new games when he insisted in taking Faye's ashes to Jotunheim.
Greek Kratos had plenty of depth and before the 2018 game was announced everyone admitted that and then retroactively gaslit themselves into bashing the old games.
Whilst its true that Greek era Kratos did have deep moments, they often sidelined in favor of making him the revenge crazed lunatic he was the first time meaning all those human moments were shoved away several times. Norse Era Kratos to me atleas’t is more interesting, just because he isn’t more active dosen’t make him any less of a complex character. Kratos resembles a man struggling with the Sins of his past and thereby would not desire more bloodshed on top of that Kratos has a dominating aura and nothing in the New games happen without his approval.
@Norse Double Eagle I would argue if anything he was callous, and cold hearted except in moments with his family. He certainly didn't value the lives of anyone except those close to him. He wasn't a revenge crazed lunatic until arguably the third game, and even then the gods fucked around and found out. As for things that happen without Kratos approval, his son had a number of side adventures without him prior to and during Ragnarok.
@Norse Double Eagle I certainly agree that he's definitely struggling to come to terms with the life he lead.
@@HeavyMetalJesus02Why? Hes had decades to recover! Most of those he killed were trying to kill him including Zeus... Its just moral posturing by the devd... Might as well be a Lifetime movie.. "hes good now" jeez its so BORING!
This is honestly the best and most honest view I’ve seen about this game, such a shame that they dropped the ball so hard with this one I loved 2018 but this one was not it. So disappointing.
I waited for this game for years, love god of war and have for more than half my life, Ragnarok was built up so much that we all expected it to be this epic finale which it shouldve been. Even the ending to 2018 fighting on Jormangandr was more epic than RAGNAROK the supposed end of the world. And I enjoyed the hell out of this game when I played it, any scene with Kratos in it, I enjoyed because he's my favourite character of all time. And I maintained this enjoyment until the ending where I felt there was no climax, it happened so quick and by the time Atreus gets flashbanged my thoughts are "Is that it?"
There was so much potential for this game it's a shame it fell short. Even the first hour and a bit I'd rate 10/10, the freya chase, the bear, the first thor fight, top tier. But that was the peak. They could've really fleshed this out in 3 games, but they could've still done it well in 2, they just didn't. Surtr should've been amongst the battlefield, made the sky red with his sword and set everything on fire while thor and jormangandr fight and maybe kratos is amongst that on the snake too like in 2018 and when thor hits the snake back in time, maybe kratos gets hit back too and he's the one who blew the horn in the first game and he's gotta make his way back or whatever. I wanted more with Fenrir, Surtr, Odin, THOR, there should've been high stakes. Kratos could've been killed or almost killed or a scare that he was killed, I wanted to see Atreus full on Spartan Rage at that moment aside from changing into a bear which was still cool but no where near as impactful after the first time.
They could've really thought this out and executed it well. maybe if it was a ps5 exclusive. but it is what it is. The music is 10/10 in this game and there were some great moments like the beginning, the garm fight, even the tyr twist shocked me, they couldve kept that in but done it way earlier in the story to really establish odin as the villain and then we go and get the real tyr when we assemble the armies for ragnarok since we spring out the real tyr at the end of the game but that is pointless now since it's the final norse game.
My 2 cents.
agreed. its all downhill after the the first thor fight
No wonder when they let the ppl play the 1st hour and come back to report about it, the 1st hour was so intense. Then, we’re all “yea, we’re definitely getting the game. Regardless, I agree..I also wanted more THOR. Baldur fights shouldn’t have been better than Odins AND Thor’s. They hyped it up and we didn’t fight on through realms? Flames burning red? You can literally beat the end in 30 minutes. We spent more time with Atreus riding that damn Bull. I honestly think simply ran out of budget and didn’t want to cut it out the game.
I’m so glad other people see it, I was very disappointed with this game
And the humor in it was a big disappointment in it to. No one took Ragnarok serious in this game, no one. I swear It became a marvel esc type of game. Sucks.
@@marcoplaystation2314 yeaaa what a good way to describe it, it doesn’t feel as serious or taken seriously. It’s a magical fairy tail instead of god of war
This game just doesn't feel like a true sequel to 2018. GOW 4 felt like slowly uncovering the mysteries Týr and the Giants left behind. Ragnarok tells you everything from the let go and it feels underwhelming.
It feels underwhelming because the writers are actively trying to subvert your expectations for the actual Ragnarok event. All that cool stuff in the prophecy? You'll get, maybe, half of that and it'll look really boring.
Yeah should have been 4 games
2018 was the introduction, 2 would be fimbulwinter where Thor kill Kratos and kidnap atreus, Kratos would have to escape hell and get back atreus, 3 would be the preperation for ragnarok where they introduce to all the big characters and 4 will be ragnarok
@@AB-fr2ei I don't know about that/ If they couldn't fill 1 game with enough plot, I doubt more games would fix that problem.
@@codafett the devs literally forgot/throw out/cut a lot of plot/story and norse mythos are so rich that you could easily make 4 games about them
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that the whole dark elf vs light elf conflict being immediately solved by Freyr being “a likable guy” was a little weird. What an excellent analysis!
One thing that really annoyed me with this game is that Fenrir had literally nothing to do with Odin’s death. Odin who is arguably the most important character in Norse mythology gets killed by Fenrir in the mythos. And this game literally did nothing with this.
Fenrir is not even in the game, they just put a random wolf soul in the body of garm the hell hound and became a scooby doo puppy, but the real fenrir brother of the snake doesn't exist, funny because he was mentioned in 2018 by mimir, he was called Hróovitnir and mimir said he is the father of skol and hati, but here in ragnarok they retconned their own lore made in GOW 2018.
This just shows that a lot of people stop thinking about a game critically when they already like it. Same goes for most movies.
Just like movies. Yup, Endgame comes to mind
When they think they should like it
Ragnarök just left me feeling hollow. 2018 was such a good game and it was on the right track.
*if this was a trilogy i think this second game could've focused more on the effects of fimbulwinter*
*And Heimdall could've served somewhat as the main antagonist (kinda like bualder)*
*Have more time focused on kratos and freya repairing their relationship*
*Introduce these new characters like Freyr and durlin but with more time to develop*
*Maybe have them be temporary companions while playing through the story*
*With theirs own special abilities*
*And you see these new realms from new perspectives*
*Throughout the game you're helping These characters build their rebellions*
*Maybe we actually see the conflict between the light and dark elves begin to heal instead of glossing over it in a sentence by Freyr*
*To me that's what Kratos and Atreues should've been doing in this second game*
*All leading up to a third game where we finally face Ragnarök*
*With characters we gotten to known better and an army we've grown more familiar with*
The legacy of this game has been that its completely forgettable, remember when everyone and their mother mentioned God Of War for months and years after its release... Well no one is doing it about Ragnarok
Exactly. Soulless like a Marvel movie. Fades from memory like a fart in the wind.
Lol, that's what happens when you ruin your reputation your name doesn't carry as much weight
Wait, didn't it selll a lot of copies, break records and earn lots of awards?
Marvel movies used to be better y'know
Atreus was completely wasted. Odin was a boring villain. Kratos wasn't Kratos and was completely hollow. Ragnarok was way too short and marvel movie-like. The rule "show don't tell" is almost not followed. And what's wrong with Odin's plan? He is not doing anything wrong... We are only TOLD why we should hate him. The norse GOW games should have been a trilogy because DAMN was this game was weak.
I still think the existential question of the mask is more interesting than the boring story we got. Where do Gods go when they are gone what is their purpose etc.
I couldn’t agree more I thought I was alone
Kratos will talk about how “nature will take its course” and how “it’s in his nature” to protect Atreus. To me, this was weird when he also says he opposes prophecy 😅
But he she’s tears about the prophecy of him being worshipped 😂 he was absolutely okay with that..
@@Ishbikes it's not about him being worshipped, it's about how faye drew over his prophecy of death with a image of him being a provider and builder. He tears up bc he knows faye loved him so much that she saw him that way. Instead of seeing him as a destroyer and a monster. I agree the games story is kinda meh but this part is actually a nice one.
2018 story was better and more suspenseful. I thought in Ragnarok they would explore how Kratos got to Midgard, when he first met Faye and they fought, who blew the horn, could of had Modi survive and show Buldur in Hell.
not to mention the cringe-worthy dialogues in modern slangs .... they really went from ancient era to modern .... it's annoying as hell.
@@alexlau2312 yeah, they jumped on the Marvel bandwagon.
@@GRUSTLERBlame Sweet Baby Inc for the terrible writing, they ruin everything they touch
I swear to god wouldn't it had made more sense if Thor came to kratos home and killed him then his son spends the first half of the game trying to find a way to bring him back to life and maybe the sacrifice he had to make was his humanity or something turning him into the real Loki something like that
@@edwinchigozie215 i agree with you except its kratos trying to get out of hell and taking his revenge on Thor
It’s just so sad because of the potential that the sequels could have had, how deep the lore could have gone and an actual development of Atreus as Loki, because it literally doesn’t even really matter in Ragnarok. Like Atreus big god power is to turn into a fucking wolf, he was more badass in the first game. It’s just such a disappointed looking back.
I don’t mind Old Kratos not wanting to embrace his dark side, but you were right on the money. Kratos knows what he does NOT want, but rarely spends time on what he does want and WHY
I completely agree with ur point. I understand the entire point of the game is to show how Kratos is maturing and trying to lead a peaceful life. See I'd understand that... If the majority of the game wasn't just a hype machine with an underwhelming ending. For so long through the game U can see Kratos becoming more and more angry with his situation, and I rlly hoped he would go back to his god killer self. Ik that isn't him anymore but it would be an interesting tragic story! Of how no matter how far he runs, he'll always to be a god-killer. Plus I'm rlly upset we don't get to use Mjolnir, that was like 50% why I wanted to complete the story 😭
The Axe is literally what the hammer does, minus lightning, that's why is was made by Brok and Sindri, to counter Thor's Hammer
@@Hunterese123no it isnt,only similar thing between them is coming back to the hand
Bro kratos deciding to leave the team after broks death just to 5 seconds later tell atreus they’re running and they should go back…
It wasn't the death of Brok that got me but instead what it did to Sindri, the foreshadowing of having a future villain who we do have a deep personal connection with at the funeral broke me into tears which surprised me but gave me hope for the franchise
The part about wanting spectacle is so true. I was willing to forgive the god awful writing and dialogue where they spell out everything in every scene if they just gave me the moments I've been imagining, just imagine what fighting around thor and jormungandr in the sea could have looked like. Also, how the fuck did we not get to use mjöllnir? I was convinced that the throwing axe that returns to you was a guaranteed setup for gaining mjöllnir as a way to defeat Odin or something. I thought I knew the devs, but turns out I didn't, or Corey's vision was something completely different to the sequel we got.
i dont think corey worked on this game it was made by woke interns
Cory wasn’t the director of this game
All of their money went to environmental design and graphics and they just hired redditor writers from craigslist with the pennies they had left over
Sweet baby inc."magic"
@@mzbadr3167magic of destroying everything you love. Like The arkham series.
I am so happy that someone speaks about the actual issues of this game and not just the typical "overhyped" or nitpicky points.
I like the game. It's a good game. But it is worse than the previous. And that shouldn't have happened. The first game was build from scratch, the ideas, models and mechanics. *Insert a "they build it in a cave with a box of scraps" meme here*
For Zeus` sake, Atreus has only one kind of arrow and a second one that gets copy-pasted from a different companion - both gained not from narrative developement, but because Sindri said so. Every new ability mattered in the first game.
In the first game, in every area you can explore and if you do some extra work, you get a chest. Now the game wants you to go along with the story: You get a segment done, you get a chest. Like a rat in a maze where the way is lined with nuts.
And that can work in games, if the story is strong, but just when you think, the "new kid at magical school"-plot with Atreus in Asgard kicks in and he might form deeper connections with the people there, he leaves and only comes back one more time that is cut short but the game acts like it mattered much more than it did. Yes sure, Atreus definetly won over multiple ancient dietys during the entire two conversations they had each.
On an unrelated note, I don't know how I feel about the kinda on the nose choice of having the character with the almost lost culture be a nature loving black girl with native american vibes while her grandmother is a mad witch in the woods practicing vodoo and black magic. Atreus being the insensitive dick, throwing obviously significant cultural objects in the bag.
Although it is almost funny that Angrboda seems aware of and annoyed by the trope that a white boy comes in to save a peoples culture that he is incredibly ignorant off. And as soon as she fulfills her role in the prophecy she starts acting cold and so done with him for a while.
The biggest mistake of the game was making me and surely a lot of other people feel like everything could have been solved by going to Asgard and kratosing Odin, just as we did in the end. The whole Ragnarok thing could have been avoided if Dad of War just killed the one guy and anyone who came between them (aka Thor and Heimdal), instead we get 20 minutes of an apocalypse we cant enjoy or focus on and two boss fights that could have been done anywhere. Ragnarok itself, the games names-sake, doesn't matter in the grand finale of the nordic saga.
But I did get a semi from how awesome the spear was. Best new toy.
PS: Atreus didn't attend spoiles funeral! What a little dick, Mr. "I gotta go my own way and find things that definetly can wait until I help my family and freinds rebuild the societies of the people who were displaced from three different worlds". No wonder, he gets impregnated by a horse.
Thrud is best girl, Spear is best toy. Good video. Rant over.
Interesting you liked the spear. I does about as much damage as a fart.
Light and dark elves killing each other for hundreds of years with no mercy all put behind cuz a pretty chill guy shows up😂
I remember there was this interview where Eric Williams was talking about his reasons for killing Brok and he said something in the lines of "He needed to die because he's like the family dog"
Now, i really liked Brok, but Jesus Christ, if your whole reasoning to kill off a character was because "Well, people liked him, it's like killing the family dog, you see? Nobody messes with the family dogecoin" just makes it sound like you didn't know how to advance your story in any meaningful way and you're just scratching the bottom of the barrel, that and the fact that for you Brok was nothing more but a "dog" just makes it sound weird as heck lol
Bro the fact that we do NOT see something as important as VALHALLA bothers me soooo much. Also speaking about stuff that we do not get to see, were the hell are Geri, Freki, and SLEIPNIR? Or Vidar? Shit they are even mentioned if not outright SHOWN in some secondary stuff in the game! (Geri and Freki being shown in an asgardian painting in Odin's room, and Sleipnir being depicted as Odin's horse IN THE FUCKING ALTARS ). Then again, where is Ydalir, Ullr's house, which is mentioned in something as important as the resources to power up Atreus' bow?? My god Ullr could have been PERFECT for Atreus to meet.
This game deals with norse mythology yet is so profoundly lacking in what it shows, its insane.
Agreed all the way. Not sure why this has not been talked about more by developers/reviewers.
The best God of War games are the ones with Kratos only
Npc
I honestly believe Kratos taking the deal with Odin would have probably made this game more than just interesting because then Atreus, seeing his father take a deal with Odin who he believes to be untrustworthy from what Mimir says, can then have a solid reason to distrust his father which gives more meaning to their conflict. And after that point for almost half of the game we could get to play as Atreus sneaking off to gather allies, fight bosses while occasionally shifting back to Kratos to sort of investigate where Atreus is sneaking off to because this game puts a lot of emphasis on Atreus coming into his own but it doesn''t feel like it. And then finally when Atreus begins the war near the midway point of the game he gets captured in the first fight and is imprisioned in Asgard because well, he's a boy, and finally when Kratos discovers this Kratos has more of a reason to start Ragnarok to get Atreus out and go on god killing spree.
I thought they were going to do a scene of Atreus and Kratos in Helheim watching an illusion of how Kratos kills his family. It's a shame I don't understand how they could do 27 hours without anything epic.
100% him taking the deal would make Atreus have legit reasons for wanting to deceive him. Perhaps by faking his own death to make His dad believe Odin reneged only to learn the truth after Ragnarok
Why the fuck would I want to mostly play as Atreus? Hated the parts you had to as is. It's called God of War, not God of Mischief.
13:36 Listen, I love Brok. His death was top 10 saddest death in stories personally. I listened to the funeral song on a regular basis to feel that moment again. But his death doesn't immediately makes me want to kill Odin cause I know Kratos doesn't want Ragnarok. It's lunacy to start Ragnarok just because of Brok. So you're still good in my book.
Top 10 most "Idc about this crap" deaths? Yeah, I agree.
Kratos literally sounds like someone who's antidepressants arent working amd hes zoned out
I agree. The way he talks is so forced and ridiculous. They try too hard to make everything "emotional," but they fail miserably because the 2018 game did this much better and naturally without breaking a sweat when compared to this abysmal sequel.
I felt the same way, ragnarok felt like it was happening in the background during the last segment
Wow! That’s exactly how I feel about the game as well! Nice to know that I am not alone!
Wasted potential are the key words.
They really should split it to 3 games.
All the build up from the first game went flat with the ragnarok story.
They wanna move on to new games, not work on GOW for the next 10 years and I don't blame them
@@Hunterese123you are pitiful
And yet there's inevitable gow games that will be developed. So you've made a moot point lol.
We just wanted some of old kratos killing through gods till the end like that’s what we signed up for. I 100% agree with you. I hope they fix everything in the next game
Hell, the game's title is a misnomer. Ragnarok mean "Fate Of The Gods", both Aesir and Vanir are meant to die, and barely anyone died
I was confused too about kratos saying no to Odin offer of peace
I was like “wait isn’t that exactly what you want” and it doesn’t help that we don’t see an explanation of why it’s a good thing he declined, also him constantly talking about how he doesn’t want war even tho he declined peace when it was offered is weird
Best GoW:R review i have seen, by far. You hit the nail on the head, congratulations!
The first Thor boss fight was fucking awesome -- flying all over midgard, wrecking Tyr's temple, the frozen lightning bolt and the giant crater in the iced-over lake -- that was cool as shit.
The entirety of the second Thor boss fight AND the Odin boss fight take place in Odin's front yard. And that's it. Very underwhelming indeed.
I can agree that there's elements that def fell flat. There's a lot of wasted potential with Odin or Thor, or even Angrboda. I thought she and the ironwood would have had a larger part to play, or that you could go back beyond just the end of the game. Like I legit thought that you'd go back and visit again in a dream or something, or explore Asgard a bit more, but you were contained to that log house that Odin built. I still stand by you should've gotten more than 5 seconds (I saw one person time it, it was literally barely over a second at one point) to look at a puzzle. I agree that if you're playing God of War, you're not going in for puzzles, but also like... I want time to at least LOOK at the puzzle for 10 seconds before my companions are yelling out the answer. I've also seen people argue about the fact that the companions are a bit OVERLY chatty at times, and I can agree with that to a point. I like a bit of chatter, but it can feel a bit much at times. I can turn my brain off a lot and just mindlessly play a thing, so my complaints are a bit smaller because I just go no thoughts, head empty to enjoy a thing when I want to, so I really enjoyed it. I didn't know the bit about it being discussed about this section of God of War being 2 games or 3, though. I think it could've def used being 3 games so that there was better pacing aspects. I'll stop here because I'm getting a bit rambly, though.
They definitely should have turned the Norse saga into a Trilogy. Cory Barlog said in interviews, he had so many ideas for the Norse saga that he realized he was writing the fifth installment in the series and had to cut back. And that’s what we got in GoW 2018. So it is weird why they decided to stuff everything into GoW Ragnarok and rush the ending of the Norse saga
It should have been a quadrilogy
If "Plot whole" was a video game .
It seams the script was writen by chat GPT or by Netflixs algorithm
Among all the issues, the biggest is how badly they nerfed Kratos
Fenrir, like are you kidding me? I have a gigantic pet wolf that tears through the fabric of space and time? Hell yeah! … Hours later… …. …. Any day now… Game over.
The best video review of the story on TH-cam imo. Also I don't like Thor who is a dumb drunkard with no brain. He listens to his wife one moment another moment he listens to his father.
Then you have Odin who knows about the prophecies and the God Killer he still doesn't do nothing! Even in the end when Kratos goes towards Surtr he even tell Atreus this is too easy. Odin knows this is our only way and it stays easy cause Odin never actually intervenes or isn't scared of getting killed hence why he never brings a big monster out
Here's why you don't like Thor, because he didn't kill Kratos like the 2018 game seemed to insinuate, like how are we supposed to thing he's a badass and a brute wen he doesn't even kill the guy who murdered his 2 sons and his brother, like wtf, we are supposed to believe that he's some kind of mass extinction, all intimidating butcher lol. Also why Odin didn't want to kill Kratos is beyond between him Thor and the full might of Asgard you would thing he'd be pretty hyped, instead he offered Kratos peace, these guys aren't bad guys they are nice guys
Dont know why they didn't make GOW winter. Whole game could have been stop the wolves eating the sun and moon. A simple A to B plot. Like every god of war
1 kill ares
2. Get to the sister of fate
3. Kill zeus
4. Get to the top of the mountain.
I disagree with your first point completely. The first Norse God of War was about creating a healthy father and son bond by Kratos, through the adventure, revealing and being honest about who he was to his son. Because of his past it was Kratos who was the guarded one and his fear of allowing Godhood to corrupt his son. He was harsh and cold with him at first . The story ended with them bonding, Kratos able to open up and show affection for his son and him letting go of the fear of what being God would do to Atreus . God of a War Ragnorock is now Kratos growing his relationship with Atreus. Now that he is more emotionally bonded, he is understandably, the overly protective father. But Atreus is older now, and he wants to form his own path. Now Kratos must learn to trust him and let him without his protection. This is why he had to actually run away in order to do that, and Kratos needed to understand that his son will no longer need him. That’s the purpose and progression of their relationship in Ragnarok. In God of War one Atreus is still like nine years old so even though he loves him and he’s more bonded with him, never in the story he ever let him go off and do whatever he wanted. He was always with Atreus. This development made perfect sense and shows progression. This is why the closing scenes Atreus walks off by himself on his mission as Kratos looks on.
I didn't like the final fight with Odin. God of war 2018 finale was way better than Ragnarok. It took you in difference environments, places, stages, rounds but with Odin it's only two floors beneath.
What a Complete disaster and pathetic.
And that's how you know this game was rushed.
I think they missed the boat on having a little role play story choices applied to the game. Imagine depending what weapon you used most decided how Kratos story would end. The axe is leading to redemption and the blades are leading to destruction.
I'm glad you said this because I was really struggling with this game's story for real! I was just disappointed like it's called God of War and there was barely any Gods War or Ragnarok itself like wtf
I agree that the Ending feels rushed and Kratos is annoying. But I would argue that Kratos wasn't supposed to change, Atreus was. Also the fact that everyone dislikes Odin in the last game heavily effected that "No" in the beginning and there aren't any giant bad guys in norse mythology like in greek they could use given the first game.
.."Not any bad guys like in Greek Mythology"
"Hahahahaha! Are you serious?!" (J.J. Jameson). Surtr - giant fire demon on par with Odin (Satan on steroids). Easily could be used as a secret final boss, manipulating behind the scenes Kratos so he weakens Asgard, and whoevers wins, is easy target for Surtr. Also in Norse mythology Ymir (ice giant king) and Hella (ruler of underworld) are not very nice. To lesser degree backstabbing Loki. Surtr corrupted Loki would have been interesting concept after 1st game.
I think the "No" was most of all to Odins offer to kill Freya. Kratos didn't want that and took a stance against Odin, except that it would be the "calm and rational persons" move to say what he actualy wants and nagotiate:
"Leave Freya alone, better yet, set her free. I do not wish to fight Gods, so don't send any after me or my son, for non will return. That is the deal." Say nothing about Tyr, then talk to Atreus about it.
@@copiumkiller Sure the could have made surtr a bad guy but (at least to me.) in the myth and game he is just enacting the prophecy. He doesn't even seem to care. Ymir is already long gone in the game, and hella (to my knowledge) doesn't exist. I also agree Surtr corrupted Loki would have been interesting.
@@ryandunagan1903 He is not "just enacting prophecy". He is convinced that destiny is in his side in destroying Asgard, because he is (similar to Odin) aware of the cyclical nature. And reminding others about the prophecy, IMO, is his "4D joke" (you are a fool for trying to think that you can avoid destiny, because future has already happened, now you are just experiencing it).
Even if there weren’t any “bad guys” it’s not like they’re above changing them (which I’d encourage). Loki isn’t mischievous in GoW, Heimdal, I’m fairly sure, isn’t a prick in Norse mythology. Plus the fact that Kratos exists in this world now understandably would change how a lot of gods behave. You can MAKE antagonists, it feels like they just played things too safe.
One of the biggest problems gaming has these days can be summarized into three words: Sweet Baby Incorporated..
And Anita's and Neil D's of the world
@@TrigonAZR and many more extreme leftist industry plants for that matter. The sickness has been spreading steadily.
They basically did to Kratos what they did to Luke in the disney star wars movies. Made him old, broken, sad, tired, cowardly and defeated. Regretting his life, seeing himself as a failure and running away. After Odin kills Brok his first reaction is to run away. Freya of course is way more badass then he is just like rey was to Luke. It's all cringe.
Even Kratos says it at one moment: "this feels too easy". It felt way less epic that 2018; if 2018 was LOTR, this one feels like the last 3 seasons of GoT.
I'm surprised that I haven't seen people talking about Freya and her wasted storyline
The ending of the last game was hyping up her going ballistic on Kratos, throwing everything she had at him... then she just attacks him once or twice, goes on a mission with him and they're friends again
feels cheap, like they shouldn't have set it up if they weren't gonna follow through
same thing with Loki's dog, nobody wants to see a dog die, so don't do it at all if you're just gonna go back on it later
Agree with you on most accounts. Ragnarok itself is so underwritten and underdeveloped it retroactively lessens the 80% leading up to it. They didn't need to make it three games, just make most of the game be the actual stuff you discuss above (really, no brainer stuff with this storyline)--this ultimately feels muddled and confused with what it wants to communicate.
I’m almost certain that when Eric Williams took over this project, it was his intention to improve on primarily 3 MAIN things that the last game needed major improvement/expansion on: enemy variety, environment design (the whole 9 realms), and a flourish on combat and side content. Artistically, mechanically, and gameplay-wise, the game exceeds at these 3 things. You wont really see anyone complain about them, they’ll be the highlight for most in fact.
However, because of SUCH a short time frame of development spanning little of 2-4 years, a lot of stuff HAD to be skimmed in order to near its completion. This meant an immediate call to the drawing board for overall storyboarding and mapping, necessary for building the maps and framework of the game in the first place. Because of this, it seems that a lot of its story elements and potential seem to be squandered for the sake of finishing off this installment in order to make it for the time frame of this title’s eventual release date. I remember Cory Barlog once mentioned that a reason he didn’t want to have a trilogy was because he did not like the stretched-out nature of making series so dragged out. Also, I do believe that Cory did not go in as overall creative director because he was probably so burnt out on working his ass off on the first game that he couldn’t spare to do the second, which I’m sure they started development on very soon after 2018’s initial release due to the high acclaim it received.
Although the game does not reach the spectacle it nearly preached in 2018’s play through, it still holds a massive amount of heart and dedication and talent that I can still really respect and enjoy, despite its shortcomings on the narrative aspect. However, I’d like to theorize that they’ve kept a good amount of things inconclusive in Ragnarok’s end as to start a completely new THIRD installment that involves Atreus and of course Kratos, but one that spans the different pantheons of mythology. But thats just me having my hopes up.
I was convinced that Angrboda was Tyr's daughter with an Egyptian goddess. Especially because of the hieroglyphs tattooed on his arm. I was convinced that it was the beginning of the Egyptian saga. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the race change was gratuitous.
Exactly! They didn’t even try to pretend that this was for any other reason besides pandering.
With a few tweaks, they could have easily made it work but no. Creativity doesn’t exist with “the message.”
Its the only reason they do race changes nowadays
I often said that they do not feel like gods , they tried too hard to humanize them that they no longer feel like gods , even Odin looks are not intimidating , I was already let down with his look! Fights did not feel as epic as they should , it was a great game , but should have been so much greater ! The only thing I was happy about was at least they made it longer this time , but I wanted epic fights with gods and we just don’t get that ! They need to make the gods feel like gods again ! And give us the spectacle back from the old trilogy !
Everything feels off the rule of cool has been tied up and thrown in a pit somewhere none of the gods but Thor look particularly otherworldly or godlike and why does everyone sound American!, Also Ragnarok was a 20 minute fight in the background while you fight waves of normal enemies. We should have been riding that giant snake and fighting Thor in the middle of a hurricane on floating rubble. Where is the damn cool factor nothing is epic!
13:23 thank you so much.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. Like Odin isn't really all that bad and that it's been skewed by what Mimir and others have said. Also a redemption \understanding of Odin would match the themes of the story.
That there would be some sort of forgiveness
econciliation with Odin's story. And yes the Tyr reveal did feel out of nowhere and lackluster because of how little he did which was just to he break his deceit just to stab Brokk.
That was the point. He was locked away in Asgard, so we were never gonna find him unless Asgard was destroyed, so it made sense it was after all the fighting
Everybody is praising this game like it's some sort of masterpiece. The fact of the matter is that the writers dropped the ball on this game. Truly wasted potential.
I think Kratos said no to Odin's offer because he Mimir and all the other main characters apart from Atreus know he's a manipulator and a liar so even if Kratos was to follow through Odin would keep pushing and pushing for more ridiculous demands like we see in the realm of the dwarves to the point where he would have to refuse something he asks and go to war with Asgard anyway and as for the he always says don't go to war but doesn't provide any alternative I think this shows how protective he is because in the beginning he doesn't hear out Atreus a lot he doesn't trust him because of him putting himself and everyone in danger with Thor and Odin he just sees the negatives of war (because he's lead armies he knows the horrors it brings) and he's so focused on not bringing Atreus into that he doesn't think of an alternative that could be just me I also want to clarify I only watched playthroughs of this game not played it (I don't play them because of the puzzles) so maybe I don't have a good perspective on it and if anyone can shed a different perspective let me know just be respectful
I personally adore Odin and his nonchalant evil nature, and I like how the bosses were kinda a personal reflection of the scenario of what the characters are doing. And finally, in defense of sif, she never really randomly turned. She didn't like BOY because she thought he was just another puppet of Odin, she doesn't care about asgard, she cares about her family.
I loved Odin too in terms of him being an entertaining character. He was genuinely hilarious and I loved hearing him be a sassy old new york man. In terms of like a villain I was excited to defeat, not so much.
@@honestlybrutal5927 Is it just me or does kratos seem kinda dumb in the game? Especially in my opinion in the seige of asgard, I mean the guy has lead in countless wars I thought we would get to see General Kratos in action barking out orders for the soldiers to follow. But to be fair the seige was underwhelming af
Sigh… I hate to say it but everything u said is true especially comparing it to gow3. The fights the environment was truly a god fighting a god. Not a regular side quest boss that so happens to b another god. Like the oden fight zzz 💤 like really bra this is oden??? Thor 💀. Like damn
I honestly felt like I was playing tekken lol story was decent but the wasted things we could have had was like damn. And when he was smacking o boy face in the ground I got so hypeeeeeeeee but we just choke him out 💤 💤 💤 😢 to anyone reading this go play gow3 and I guarantee you will understand
@@everblur992 ? The thor foght did feel like good and like you were fighting a god tf you mean?
Happy to know I'm not the only one who doesn't like the direction the game is heading. Its nice to see Kratos grow and develop his character, finding happiness and not repeating the mistakes of the past, but i buy a God Of War game because i want to experience exciting combat and violence regarding killing gods. Adding feelings of drama in the game does indeed make the game Legendary, but first you make the gow game a gow game, and then you add the drama on it. The childhood problems of the studio's staff should not be placed into a God Of War title.
I just thought the Odin boss fight was underwhelming, but after watching this I realize, Odin HIMSELF was underwhelming
The weirdest part when Kratos was like that’s it I’m out then the next scene immediately he’s like we gotta go back 😂
he said no to odin at the beginning of the game because he knew odin was trying to manipulate him, he knew odin is not and would never keep that deal.
"What are your promises ever worth?" - Mimir (20 seconds after that question by the way)
I disagree with some thing but I can see where your coming from and understand your agruments. And it was actually nice to see someone talk about the ending and how it all felt a bit off and rushed a lil. Really great vid and don't let people put you down in these comments. I'd hate to see a few bad apples ruin a great content creator like you. Love the videos
Such a great take in all honesty. Ragnarok was one of those games I loved playing because the gameplay is so tight overall but still felt underwhelmed and could never quite put my finger on the why. You have summed it up perfectly though. Easily the game with the most wasted potential of the decade. For so much riding in on it especially after GoW 18 it fell tremendously short. You didn't even talk about the absolute very end of it which I feel is the biggest letdown. Nothing really feels resolved. We have the Valhalla DLC for Kratos but what about Atreus. Just a shame overall. Fun to play but that's not unique to God of War. This could have been any game.
so glad i found this video.
for me the game's story and dialogue execution was sooo bad that i couldn't believe same people from 2018 approved it. like fr ???
the combat was only reason i enjoyed it
The end would be better if Odin Win At the end to adopt Atreus/Loki and Atreus become the Loki we know Traitor,liar,handler Who underestimates and belittles his enemies and is arrogant And it would be awesome if kratos dies or stays alive and goes after Atreus giving Doubts and questions to the sequence With more creatures,Giants and others children of Odin/Freya like:
Vidar,Hermod,Uller,Bragi,Hoder,Forseti and Nanna Baldur's son and wife,Meili and Vali and others Vanir gods Freya's brothers they are:
Ran,Hoenir,Aegir,Njord,Skirnir,Kvasir,Vanlandi,Mani,Lytir,Oder,mundilfari,Fulla,Hlin,Saga,Bil,Gefjunn and Loki's and Surtur Wifes Simara and Sigyn appearing
+ others children of Thor and Loki Including the appearance of Hela,Lorride,Siegfried and Beowulf the Midgard demigod warriors and more Valkyries and Odin's horse,Horofiltner the mysterious giant Wolf and Thor's goats even Thor wearing gloves and the belt that makes him more stronger..
And show Valhalla,Sessrumnir and a new rebuilt Asgard
+ What happened to Laufey/Atreus' mother and Return of Baldur,Thor,Freyr,Magni and Modi And to close Show more of Tyr the true God of War with his death by the Garm.
+ we have The final battle the kratos vs Loki fight For a Nordic and trilogy saga finale and maybe Loki betray Odin and Fenrir kill Odin just like in the original Norse Mythology It's the least we expected But a pity it didn't happen 😢😔 like and Bye!
It would have been such an awesome last move after Heimdall got his arm cut off if he blew the horn to start Ragnarok...and then the screen cuts to black as we wait for the next and last Norse God of War game
couldnt believe people were expecting this to win GOTY over Elden Ring 😂 same with Spider Man 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 last year
As soon as I beat it I deleted it. Very underwhelming game that had so much hype.
Yh god of war Ragnarok's motto is: "if we can make em cry then it's a good game. Forget spectacle and power feats, that's gonna take time and effort let's just rely on the mocap and acting as an excuse for a more personal story". And I've seen better designs for Odin it wouldn't really matter if his boss fight wasn't mondane.
Yeah it was disappointing, the ending was so damn underwhelming.
I can’t believe people defend this story and regard it as a “masterpiece” with so many incoherent plot wholes and weird choices.
It felt so rushed one hand and empty-handed on one hand. I think Ragnarök should have been longer and should have been more fleshed out from God Of War 2018 with a different focus.
If this series was a trilogy like the original set of games were, I could see Fimble Winter being the second game of the series. Instead of Atreus trying to calm down Freya, he'd be in Asgard, Kratos would be in Midgard looking for him. All the while Freya stalks you like prey. It would be Kratos alone, with raiders, Freya on his tail, and his Cabin being the main gameplay loops while he also tries to avoid hellwalkers too. It could be some seriously cool horror in the Norse setting.
the main problem with odin is he knows how to manipulate so it doesn’t matter what he does or say he can’t be trust not even in the slightest
Ragnarok imo is just a $70 dollar expansion. I like 2018 but Ragnarok left me disappointed more than anything else.
you said almost every thought I had, the only thing missing is the unfulfilled mysteries left in the last game such as who called the world serpent, that was supposed to be important and some other holes were filled in very unimpactful ways such as how the serpent was created and sent back, it was just brushed over
I am highly disappointed at how Ragnarok played out.
Damn. U actually are right.
WOOHOO
I can remember seeing someone say that it peaked at the first Thor fight and I agree with him
Imagine if Thor taught atreus to kill more brutally, like during the beginning sections atreus' kills would be family friendly but due to thor's negative influence by the end atreus' kills would be just as brutal as kratos'
Damn nobody knows what opinions are anymore, acting like criticizing these newer God of War games are a crime. I literally had someone tell me to off myself because I dared say I liked the Greek games better.
Just wait till they hear that I still prefer Greek Kratos over Norse Kratos..
It’s the same for anyone criticizing post botw zelda. Some people are just assholes.