God of War: Ragnarok

God of War: Ragnarok is an action adventure game and the fifth main installment in the God of War series, which originated in 2005. It was developed by Santa Monica Studio, belonging to the PlayStation Studios division, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. In terms of pacing, gameplay and story, the game is a direct follow-up to God of War from 2018.

Plot

The plot of God of War: Ragnarok takes place a few years after its predecessor. The titular Ragnarok, a massive battle between the Norse gods and the Giants ,which is fated to destroy the world, is fast approaching. This is proven by Fimbulvinter, the great winter preceding the Ragnarok, which has already reached Midgard. Wanting to avoid the inevitable tragedy which further encounters with the Aesir would undoubtedly lead to, Kratos' greatest desire is to keep Atreus safe.

The boy is, however, curious about his identity and the role he is to play in the coming events. Father and son end up embarking on yet another challenging adventure, during which they make choices determining their fates, as well as the fates of all the nine realms. The previously inaccessible realms, such as Vanaheim, home of the Vanir, Svartalfheim, home of the dwarves, and Asgard, land of the Aesir become accessible here. There are new areas to see in already visited realms as well: Alfheim, Muspelheim, Helheim, Niflheim, Jotunheim and Midgard.

Mechanics

The gameplay of GoW: Ragnarok is shown from the third-person perspective. The player traverses diverse locations, such as jungles and labyrinthian mines, completing story quests, side missions, solving environmental puzzles and fighting hordes of enemies, as expected from a game about a god of war.

The game's combat system, similar to the one in the previous instalment, has received some improvements and new features. During battles we must observe the enemies' movements, dodge at the right time and quickly counter. Our main weapons are Kratos' iconic Blades of Chaos, as well as the Leviathan Axe. Both these weapons have unique special moves and can be enhanced with fire or frost magic respectively, letting the player burn or freeze enemies.

Both the Blades and the Axe can be used outside of combat to solve complex environmental puzzles. For example - the Blades can be used to dismantle cauldrons of boiling water encountered in Svartalfheim, while the Axe can be used to freeze geysers. The Blades can be also used to grapple to ledges and reach higher platforms, while the axe can be thrown and recalled, just like Thor's hammer.

God of War: Ragnarok also introduces two new types of shields. One is used for dynamic defense and unarmed counterstrikes, while the other is great at withstanding attacks and stores kinetic energy from the opponents' blows, which can then be released with a ground pound, causing a devastating shockwave.

During combat we're also supported by Atreus. We can command him to fire his bow at the enemies as well as make use of his new abilities, such as collapsing structures onto foes. In GoW: Ragnarok he can be extremely useful outside of combat as well. As an example, he can operate various mechanisms while Kratos handles something else. As we progress through the game we develop our characters' skills, upgrade their weapons and armor, letting us face more powerful opponents.

Our foes are very diverse as well, consisting of generic enemies serving as cannon fodder, to overgrown monstrosities straight out of Norse mythology. Since Kratos isn't favored by the Aesir, to put it lightly, he's also pursued by other, much more powerful adversaries, such as the vengeful goddess Freya and the aforementioned Thor.

Technical aspects

God of War: Ragnarok runs on technology developed for the series' previous installment. The graphics are of the highest possible quality; the detailed character models and animations, as well as the diverse surroundings are especially impressive.

There are also over sixty accessibility options implemented for people with disabilities - mainly suffering from blindness and deafness, as well as those with limited motor and cognitive capabilities. Some of the settings you may enable include a high-contrast mode, automatic item pickup, camera movement assistance, slowdown during sequences requiring high reflexes, assigning Kratos' abilities to the touchpad or changing the size of text and icons displayed on the screen.