God Of War Ragnarok Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs (No Spoilers)
One HELL of a sequel.
Rating: ★★★★½
God of War Ragnarok is almost impossible to review, in terms of a non-spoiler dissection of its themes, story and overall purpose as a piece of art.
There will of course be ZERO spoilers throughout this article, but all the same, there are parts I can talk about that feel remarkably risky - in a way I ended up loving as the credits rolled on my 28 hour first run, but that need to be discussed when recommending the game overall.
Yes, that's vague, but we're dealing with the sequel to one of gaming's most miraculous titles. A re-envisioning and soft-rebooting of a gore-happy 2000s antihero, moulded from the ground up to be a somewhat regretful father, now thrust into a battle with his worst inner demons in an effort to love, and figure out if he was even deserving of love at all in return.
2018's God of War moves with a pace, purpose and overall confidence that reinforces why it's such a stellar, outstanding achievement. By comparison, Ragnarok is grander, weightier and almost "messier", but intentionally so.
Needing to "gameify" the search for answers and the on-the-fly improvisation of being a parent, after the mysterious close of the last game, Ragnarok's structure does pay off... eventually.
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Note: There will be ZERO SPOILERS.