Less than five minutes into the game, and God of War Ragnarok already has me going, “holy shit!” Here are my thoughts on the opening hours of God of War Ragnarok. 

Before anyone reads on, I wanted to first clarify a few things: there won’t be any major spoiler discussions here. While there is a strict embargo around what can and cannot be discussed about God of War Ragnarok in this preview, I’m not here to ruin anyone’s experience before release, and if it matters, even in my final review. In fact, I would even highly suggest you go on a full media blackout until the release in case the unfortunate leaks that may occur between now till launch. But if there is a cast of doubt of whether or not this game will meet your expectations, I’ll give you the tldr; (too long, didn’t read) version of this impression – Yes, God of War Ragnarok is immensely good based on the opening hours of the game, improving on nearly every aspect of the previous entry, while addressing criticisms that some may have had with it. My early hours can best be described as utterly jaw-dropping, as I found myself completely engrossed with the story, as well as the familiar, yet new world that Santa Monica has beautifully crafted. Of course this feeling can change by the time I reach the end, but if the opening hours are anything to go by, be very excited for next month’s release. With that said, let’s dive into my early hours of God of War Ragnarok.

Boy.

Like I said, I’m not here to spoil anything major, so I’ll try my best to stick with what’s publicly known about the game. I will have to talk about a new (it’s been shown) location that we visit that the preview is centered on, so again, if you want to go into God of War Ragnarok completely blind, now is your time to bail. Still with us? Good. 

Earlier in the year, we learned that God of War Ragnarok would be featuring all nine realms for us to freely explore and play. One of those locations which has been prominently shown in the marketing material is the realm of Svartalfheim; a paradise for the Dwarves, and home to our favorite brothers, Brok and Sindri. Upon arriving at this location shortly after the introduction, Kratos and Atreus are tasked with finding the Norse God of War, Tyre. With a new shiny compass guiding them, the two set off unbeknown to the dangers that awaits. 

Immediately I was taken aback by the sheer amount of beauty that Svartalfheim had to offer. This being home to the Dwarves, who are known for mining and craftsmanship, the village really shows as there are monuments scattered throughout the realm, with architectural feats that are loaded with details that you cannot help but admire as you pass through

There’s a settlement that you go through, filled with homes, along with a few NPCs that you can talk to in order to gather intel on Try’s location. This is where Santa Monica sprinkled a bit of humor, as one of those NPCs that you encounter assumes that Kratos is an intruder set out to kill him, and only requests that he finishes his musical ballad. Other moments I couldn’t help but chuckle at given Kratos’ height, he’s practically a giant in this realm, having to arch a bit when he enters some of these homes. Even Atreus and Mimir can’t help but poke a few jokes here and there, and Kratos’ response is always a hilarious one. In fact, I think I even saw Kratos at one point crack a smile, and weren’t for his god-like beard, I could probably confirm whether that was true or not. 

I bring this up because as a character, it shows how far Kratos has come since his days of revenge. Of course God of War 2018 gave us a very different character than what we were used to, but Ragnarok also takes place what seems to be a few years after the events of the first game. Kratos, as well as Atreus, have grown significantly off screen, both physically, and mentally. Atreus is still a young lad, but he’s matured to that age where he’s a bit rebellious. Despite that, there is a clear unbreakable trust between the two, and even Mimir has developed a strong relationship with Kratos, to the point that Kratos respects him enough to fully accept any fatherly advice he may have to offer.

There is this unwavering bond between all the characters that you can’t help but feel drawn to. It’s not just the trio either, you see this with, Brok and Sindri, and though it’s been years since last saw them, they certainly make it feel like it was only yesterday. 

There are a lot of other story details I want to talk about, but I won’t. All I’ll say is that you should be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster filled with suspense, anxiety, laughter, happiness, and what I can only eventually predict, sadness and weeping. 

Evolved Combat, Rewarding Exploration, and Far More Gore

God of War 2018 introduced a number of changes to the series to the point it essentially was a complete reboot of the franchise. Gone was the Devil May Cry style combat system that allowed you to endlessly chain combos together, and it was replaced with a new, slower paced brawler that felt not quite as deep as it was in the previous titles. It was a huge change, though for me personally, one that I absolutely loved, as it felt more personal and heavy hitting than past entries. I loved it, but admittedly it could have used some tweaking, such as faster pace, and a little bit more depth.

Luckily, it seems that Santa Monica has taken that criticism to heart, as the combat in God of War Ragnarok has seen some much needed improvements. 

At the start, you’ll immediately have access to both the Leviathan Axe, and Kratos’ iconic Blades of Chaos. Familiar weapons, but once we got into combat, it was clear that the studio tuned these weapons to be far faster, and deadlier with a newly expanded skill tree loaded with unique abilities and combos for each weapon. Kratos also feels more nimble this time around. He’s old, sure, but so was Zeus and that guy zoomed around the screen at a million miles per hour in God of War 3. I’m not saying Kratos should do the same, but he was a bit too sluggish for me in the 2018 release. It’s noticeable just how much faster he feels in performing attacks, climbing objects, and even opening chests as he simply just breaks through them now like a barbarian.

Even the animations between weapon swapping have been shortened a bit to not break the flow of combat. You could swap weapons in God of War 2018, but Ragnarok makes the transition smoother as to not to break combos. 

They improved the climbing too. It’s still predetermined like before, but Kratos scales walls faster, and can even use his blades to grapple to points to skip the climbing altogether. Elsewhere, the early preview section of the game has tons of puzzles that you must solve. These are as simple as moving a block, to some elaborate ones that require the use of your weapons. The Leviathan Axe can once again cut and freeze objects, while the Blades of Chaos are mostly used for pulling objects, and burning things, including enemies. 

Armor upgrading, and the rune system also makes a return in Ragnarok, though seeing that we can only discuss early game stuff, we can’t exactly go into full details. Still, anyone who played the previous should already be familiar with it just how deep you can get with it. You are going to be upgrading your armor and weapons very early on in the game, and the unique attacks that you can unlock with runes will keep the combat feeling fresh, as you progress throughout the game. 

However, what I personally feel is the biggest improvement is the gore and dismemberment in Ragnarok. I felt that God of War 2018 made the idea of blood be a bit sacred, saving it for some key moments in the game. It made sense given that Kratos was trying to put his violent history behind him and raise his son, but I still missed it. Ragnarok see’s a big return to carnage, as Kratos once again finds himself drenched in the blood of his enemies. There is a pretty gruesome scene early on I won’t spoil, but they really don’t hold back. And there are a large number of finishers you can pull off that all end in a pool of blood. It’s not just from Kratos either, as Atreus will even do some tag team takedowns, gutting creatures alongside Kratos. Nothing screams more of a father and son activity than that. 

Then there’s the exploration. For nearly the entirety of the franchise, God of War has always been a linear, straight forward path kind of game that offered little to no deviation from the set path. Mind you, this was a working formula that has helped cement the reputation of the series to what it is today, but when God of War 2018 came out, Santa Monica decided it was time for a change. So while not fully open-world, the team offered players a whole new experience by allowing them to explore what was essentially a connected hub world, split into some of the traditional linear level format.

Ragnarok continues with that formula, though appears to be offering that for every location you visit. Svartalfheim, for the most part, had a pretty straightforward layout, as it wasn’t insanely big, but it offered just enough for players to go out and venture should they want to deviate from the main story. Mimir and Atreus will even encourage you to do just that, and the rewards for exploring come in the form of new worthwhile gear, as well as detailed lore, with Mirmir once again recounting old stories. There are loads of secrets to discover. At one point during my side questing I happened to stumble upon a [REDACTED] Easter egg that just made me smile. It seems that Santa Monica has made all the side activities this time around meaningful and well worth exploring. 

Performance

I won’t spend a lot of time here (deeper tech dive in my review) as really the only thing you probably care about is whether or not the game runs smooth and it does. I can say with confidence that the performance mode runs at a buttery smooth 60 frames-per-second, and if there were any dips, I didn’t notice them. When you factor in the visuals, which look to be pushing the PS4 to it’s limits, it’s actually surprising at how well God of War Ragnarok runs on both platforms. There are other things regarding the tech performance worth talking about, but I’ll save it for our full review. 

Closing Thoughts

This may be premature for me to say, but I firmly believe we have a Game of the Year contender based on the few hours of gameplay the preview is based on. Mind you, I’m well past this point of the game as of today, and there is a lot — and I mean a lot — to talk= about in our upcoming review, but wow! I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t impressed by what was delivered in the early chapters. Santa Monica has a lot of expectations to live up to, and if this preview is to serve as an indicator of what’s to come, I think the studio, as well as the fans, have nothing to worry about as God of War Ragnarok is proving to be strong follow up, and quite possibly an even better game. We’ll see you all on November 3, at 9:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm EDT / 4:00 pm GMT / 5:00 pm CEST when our full review is published. 

A review code for God of War Ragnarok was provided by Sony Computer Entertainment for the sole purpose of reviewing, and providing an early hands-on impression.