Thousands upon thousands of video games are released each year, always of widely varying quality. However, when everything is said and done, a select few games rise to the top of that pile, shining brighter than any other. Of those elite few, an even smaller group come to be heralded as all-time classics. Games so masterfully perfect that their mere existence defines an entire console generation.
God of War: Ragnarok is one such game.
I sure hope no other PS5 game was going to try and be the best game on the system, because GOWR already has that position locked in, and I don’t see any other release in the next few years taking its spot. A game this perfect doesn’t come often, and it’s set a new standard for all PS5 releases (and, of course, other consoles too) to follow.
So, if you’ll indulge me, allow me to throw together a couple paragraphs filled with basically nothing but praise for this remarkable achievement in modern video games.
There’s hardly an aspect of this game that isn’t perfect, but even if there was some sort of glaring flaw (which there isn’t), it’d be trivial to overlook thanks to just how spectacular and breathtaking the game is as a whole. AAA gaming does not come often these days, but when it does, it is always bound to be a treat. Even amongst giants like Uncharted 4, The Last of Us 1+2, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and more, GOWR still stands taller, louder, and prouder.
The overarching narrative simply has to be experienced to be believed. This is a bombastic plot of epic scope and scale, and yet it never wastes an opportunity to slow things down to a crawl to allow its characters and themes to breathe. The writing is consistently top-notch, and every single character in this game is utilized perfectly and written in a refreshingly realistic and human way. Kratos is an overwhelmingly compelling hero for a man who spends most of his time grunting, the supportive dwarf Sindri has one of the most surprisingly emotional turns in the story, and Odin and Heimdall are two of gaming’s greatest villains for distinct but equally memorable reasons.
And I won’t go too much into spoilers, but man oh man is the last hour of the game some of the most fulfilling and cathartic story beats ever put to the screen.
Graphically, GOWR is easily one of (if not the best) looking game on the PS5. It runs smooth and loads quick, and each new locale is more visually arresting than the last. There’s so much detail packed into every little corner of the world that it’s difficult to truly soak it all in. In a similar vein, the soundtrack is next-level. I know I very recently highly praised the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack, and while that one is still my favorite, on a purely quality level the music in GOWR is of a cinematic excellence that I don’t think I’ve ever heard in a game before. It’s incredible.
If there was one area of the game that I enjoyed the tiniest fraction less, it was the combat gameplay, but that’s more because I’m not a huge hack-n-slash fan, and not a knock against the game itself. The combat is still pretty viscerally entertaining, and I enjoyed all of the one-on-one showdowns against bosses and minibosses. More broadly, I also really like the exploration and puzzle-solving gameplay. It was fun to run around the corners of the world to uncover secrets and find new areas.
On that note, GOWR has some of the absolute best side content in any video game I’ve played, right up there alongside Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and (the still unmatched) Xenoblade Chronicles X. It’s almost mind-boggling the amount of times you venture down a tiny little trail, only to discover a massive island filled with upwards of two-to-three hours of wholly optional but still exciting (and fully voice acted) side content. If you skip the side content in this game you are severely missing out, especially if you skip the secret boss against the Valkyrie Queen and the heartbreaking funeral side quest, both of which only unlock after the credits roll.
So yeah…God of War: Ragnarok is a masterpiece. I went into it expecting it to be fun and worth my time, but I was blown away to instead find a genuine console generation defining masterwork.
For those who might be curious how GOWR might fit into some of my blog’s earlier Top 10 lists (were I to ever redo those lists), here’s how: The game’s soundtrack would definitely slot into my Top 10 Soundtracks list, both Heimdall and Odin would find a place in my Top 10 Gaming Antagonists list, the Heimdall boss fight would surely be on my Top 10 Boss Fights list, the secret showdown against the Berserker King would be in my Top 10 Hardest Bosses list, and the big man Kratos himself would be on my Top 10 Gaming Protagonists list.
Anyway, to bring a rambling praise to a close…
10/10
The Contrarian Corner 