God of War Ragnarök
Santa Monica Studio · RPG, ARPG, Action
Overview
God of War: Ragnarök is the ninth installment in the God of War series and the sequel to 2018's God of War. Continuing with the Norse mythology theme, the game is set in ancient Norway and features series protagonists Kratos, the former Greek God of War, and his young son Atreus. The game kicked off the events of Ragnarök, where Kratos and Atreus must journey to each of the Nine Realms in search of answers as they prepare for the prophesied battle that will end the world.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,999 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
The story of Kratos and Atreus comes up in 70% of the longer reviews, and 14% mention crying or call the game emotional, usually over Kratos learning to let his son make his own choices. Half of the longer reviews talk about combat, with direct praise (17%) far ahead of direct complaints (2%); reviewers credit the third weapon, more enemy types and bigger boss fights. The visuals come up in 27%, and Valhalla, the free roguelite mode that reviewers say was added after launch, in 14%, mostly with warm words. Almost half of the longer reviews measure the game against God of War (2018); within those comparisons, 16% say the combat or gameplay improved and 8% say the story is weaker.
The chapters where you play as Atreus, the long Ironwood stretch above all, come up in 11% of the longer reviews, and 79% of those mentions are complaints, in positive reviews as well as negative ones. Among the longer negative reviews, 37% describe the game as slow, padded or more movie than game. Puzzle complaints outnumber puzzle praise by three to one, and companions who announce the solution annoy players separately. On PC, 26% of the negative reviews report crashes or a game that will not launch, and about a quarter of those still say the game itself is great.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
A father and son story that landsHigh
Explicit praise for the story or writing (19% of the longer reviews) outnumbers explicit complaints (2%) by close to nine to one. Reviewers write about Kratos as a father who has to accept that his son will choose his own path, and about how far the character has moved from the Greek games. "This is one of the most touching stories I have experienced. Not just in a game, in general," one player writes. "Emotional" is the word reviewers reach for: 14% of the longer reviews mention crying or call the game emotional, and a few reviewers who are fathers say the conversations between Kratos and his son hit them personally.
The story also draws pointed criticism (see the split entries on God of War 2018 and on the ending), and some negative reviewers concede the writing or acting is strong before explaining what drove them away.
Combat with three weapons and more varietyHigh
Half of the longer reviews (51%) talk about combat or gameplay; 17% praise it outright and 2% complain about it. Players credit the new spear, having the blades from the start, more combos and companions who change during the story. Some who criticised the 2018 game for reusing the same trolls say this was fixed: "No more fighting the same three trolls and soul eaters."
A minority describes a different experience: enemies that power through Kratos's attacks, long animations that cannot be cancelled, and a hero who dies in a few hits. "Despite his moves being cool, Kratos just feels weak," one negative review says. The difficulty entry below covers the related complaints about damage sponges and one-shot attacks.
Visuals, music and performancesHigh
27% of the longer reviews praise or mention the graphics, 10% the music and 8% the voice acting. Reviewers single out the variety of the realms, the facial animation, HDR and ultrawide support, and Christopher Judge as Kratos, with Odin, Thor and the dwarf brothers also named. "The soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece," one writes; another notes "excellent voice acting (especially from Christopher Judge)" while listing the game's flaws.
Valhalla, the free roguelite epilogueHigh
Valhalla, the roguelite mode reviewers describe as a free addition after launch, comes up in 14% of the longer reviews, and 52% of those use clearly positive words about it against 9% negative. Players value it as an epilogue that adds to Kratos's story and as a place to keep fighting after the credits. "What i thought would be a quick stop for completion ended up being one of my favorite parts of Ragnarok," one player writes. The doubters find the runs repetitive, especially when chasing achievements ("the Valhalla DLC is like playing groundhog day in game form which makes it grindy and repetitive"), and some who hit the PC crash bug say a crash ends a run.
Lots of side contentMedium
13% of the longer reviews mention side quests, favours or optional areas. Supporters say the side quests carry real story and open up large parts of the map: "Favours (side-quests) were incredibly rewarding and interesting." Others see the same content as the reason the game runs long, and completionists complain about chests that need abilities from later in the game.
Smooth performance on some machinesLow
A smaller group (3% of the longer reviews) volunteers that the game runs smoothly, some with frame rates and hardware attached, including Steam Deck and ROG Ally owners. "It's insanely well optimised," one reviewer writes. More reviewers report serious technical trouble (see PC crashes below).
Where players are split
Measured against God of War (2018)High
Nearly half of the longer reviews (46%) compare the game with its predecessor. Direct claims that Ragnarök is better (5% of the longer reviews) outnumber claims that 2018 was better (3%). Within the comparisons, 16% say the combat or gameplay improved and 8% say the story is weaker. "The combat is better, exploration is more fun, the bosses are better. The story, while still great, is weaker," one positive review sums up. Some say it plays like more of the same, and some negative reviewers call it an expansion rather than a sequel: "It feels more like a substantial DLC than a brand-new game."
Cinematic pacing: absorbing or slowHigh
Long cutscenes, walk-and-talk stretches and slow climbs split players. Among the longer negative reviews, 37% call the game boring, slow, padded or a movie. "Every time momentum builds, the game slams on the brakes so someone can deliver another emotional monologue," one writes. 23 of the longer reviews ask for a way to skip cutscenes or sections, at least on a second playthrough. Other players love the same presentation, and some describe being won over: "I don't like cut scenes and to start I found them too long here...until I really got into the story." Players on both sides mention a slow first act that picks up later.
PuzzlesHigh
Complaints outnumber praise by three to one among the 12% of longer reviews that mention puzzles. What bothers players is the volume more than the difficulty: small locks before every chest and door, with aiming the axe at the right spot repeated many times. "Only takes a few seconds to figure out. But it's everywhere," one player writes. A minority enjoys them as a break from fighting, and a few found specific puzzles hard enough to look up. Companions giving away answers is a separate frustration (see below).
The ending and the second halfMedium
11% of the longer reviews talk about the ending, the final fights or parts of the story they found rushed. Supporters call the finale the best part: "Out of any game I've ever played God of War Ragnarok by far has the most satisfying ending." Critics say the build-up was long and the big confrontation short and small in scale ("I was expecting a war and got a battle"), and some think the story would have worked better as a trilogy.
Difficulty, optional bosses and the hardest settingsMedium
Enemies as damage sponges, one-shot attacks, hits from off screen, hyper armour and attacks without a clear warning: 8% of the longer reviews discuss balance in these terms. "Do not recommend higher difficulties as enemies just become damage sponges which kind of fights the narrative and fantasy when every enemy feels like a miniboss," one positive reviewer advises. The optional berserker fights (4% name them or the hidden bosses) draw particular anger, especially the duos and trios in one arena; one player says "you feel no one actually tested these boss fights." Challenge seekers enjoy the same fights and the top difficulty: "every death truly feels like another lesson learned." A few players at the other end found even the easiest setting hard in places.
A softer Kratos and modern dialogueMedium
Some reviewers object to the tone. 5% of the longer reviews complain about Marvel-style quips, modern slang or characters who talk like a therapy session, and 4% compare the game with the Greek-era games, some of them missing the rage of the old Kratos: "Instead of feeling like an unstoppable force of rage, Kratos comes across as restrained, subdued, and oddly powerless." Others see that change as the point of the series: "They transformed a saga of extreme violence and revenge into a deeply moving story about parenting, acceptance, and introspection."
What frustrates players
PC crashes and launch errorsHigh
Crashes or a game that will not start turn up in 26% of the negative reviews: 20% describe crashes and freezes, including a graphics device error every one or two hours that players link to a memory or VRAM leak, and 9% describe launch failures tied to the PlayStation PC SDK runtime, black screens, or a game that stopped launching after an update. "Unfortunately there is a memory leak that causes the game to crash every hour or so," writes one player who otherwise loved the game. Reported workarounds include rolling back NVIDIA drivers, turning off frame generation or Reflex, and running the SDK installer by hand. "Having to do hours of what amounts to unpaid tech support just to get it working left a bad taste in my mouth," another says.
About a quarter of these negative reviews also praise the game, and 7% of the longer positive reviews mention crashes too. Smaller recurring reports include controllers that stop responding, audio crackle on Steam Deck despite its Verified badge (some later say it was fixed), missing textures on some AMD cards, low frame rates in the Realm Between Realms, and quest soft-locks that need a reload.
Playing as Atreus, and Ironwood in particularHigh
11% of the longer reviews (15% of the longer negative ones) mention the playable Atreus chapters or the Ironwood section, and 79% of those mentions are complaints. Players describe slow walking, weak bow combat after hours as Kratos, and a long stretch of gathering in a swamp. "Whoever thought it was a good idea to have a 3 hour unskippable section where you do nothing but pick fruit on a bull should be walking around wearing a bike helmet," one negative reviewer writes. Some say these chapters stop them replaying the game and ask for a skip in New Game+. A small group (19 reviews) defends them: "Apparently people hated Atreus' Ironwood section, but honestly... I liked it."
Companions who solve the puzzles for youMedium
4% of the longer reviews complain about hints and chatter. Players say Atreus, Mimir or Freya point out the solution within seconds, and that the setting to reduce hints does not stop it: one names "how quickly companions solve puzzles for you even if you put the setting for puzzle tips on minimum." Some install mods to silence them, and others add that the same voices call out every attack in combat.
Climbing, backtracking and a confusing mapMedium
5% of the longer reviews complain about traversal (slow climbs, squeezing through gaps, backtracking, no jump) and 4% about the map or compass, with Vanaheim the realm players name. Completionists describe "sometimes spending 3-5 mins just to go back through an area to open 1 new door with something you unlocked." "The only real problem is the navigation system, which is confusing and hard to use," another writes.
Keyboard controls, rebinding and menusMedium
5% of the longer reviews raise the interface or controls. Keyboard players cannot bind some actions to a single key (Spartan Rage needs a two-key combination), cannot open the map with its own key, and find menus built for a controller: "Individual hotkeys for map, missions, inventory or codex (like the predecessor had)? No can do." Some say the menus are cluttered and the text too large compared with the 2018 game.
Camera without a field-of-view sliderLow
3% of the longer reviews mention the camera or field of view. Players say the close camera hides enemies in group fights, and ultrawide users and others ask for a slider: "there is no FOV change and I have an ultra wide monitor." Some use mods to widen it.
PlayStation account promptsLow
3% of the longer reviews mention the PSN account. Reviewers recall that it was required at the PC launch and later made optional ("Review edited since Sony walked back their forced login decision"), and some still dislike the link prompt: "it annoys you with a playstation account link popup every time you launch it."
A very large installLow
A small group of reviewers mention the download size, around 175 to 190 GB by their counts. "Nearly 200 GB is a lot of storage," one player writes, and another suggests making the 4K textures and language packs optional.
3. The player conversation
Short reviews are mostly one-line praise, with "BOY" jokes in hundreds of them, while the longer ones dwell on fathers, sons and endings that made people cry. Reviewers who played the 2018 game first treat the two as one story. Some played Ragnarök on PlayStation first and bought it again for PC, and a few started here and plan to go back to the earlier game. Valhalla gives completionists a reason to keep playing after the credits.
Negative reviews fall into three groups. One finds the game slow, cutscene-heavy and padded, and names Ironwood or the puzzles; a second is made up of fans of the Greek-era games who wanted a faster and angrier Kratos; the third has no quarrel with the design but cannot keep the game running, and about a quarter of these reviewers praise the game in the same review. Reviews written in the first six months after the PC launch (September 2024 to February 2025) are a small part of the slice and less positive (81% of 342) than those from March 2025 onward (91%), and some of the early ones were edited after the PSN sign-in requirement was dropped.
4. What the developers could do
- Fix the remaining PC crashes and launch failures: 26% of the negative reviews report periodic crashes, VRAM leaks or PlayStation PC SDK errors that stop the game from starting, and Valhalla players say a crash ends their run.
- Let players skip or shorten the Atreus chapters and cutscenes on replays: some players name the Ironwood stretch and long unskippable scenes as the reasons they will not start a second playthrough.
- Add an option to turn companion puzzle hints off completely: players say the reduced-hints setting still lets Atreus, Mimir or Freya give away solutions within seconds.
- Rebalance the higher difficulties and the multi-boss berserker fights: challenge players describe damage sponges, off-screen hits and unclear attack warnings rather than harder enemy behaviour.
- Give keyboard players full rebinding and a dedicated map key: reviewers cite two-key Spartan Rage, no map hotkey and controller-first menus.
- Add a field-of-view slider: players with ultrawide screens and players in group fights say the close camera hides enemies, and some rely on mods.
- Speed up backtracking and improve the map and compass: completionists describe slow returns to old areas for one chest and getting lost in Vanaheim.
- Make high-resolution textures and extra languages optional downloads: reviewers complain about the 175 GB-plus install, and one asks for exactly these optional downloads.
