I nearly quit God of War within a few hours of starting the game. I don’t subscribe to the old notion that games get better after a certain amount of hours played. A turn-based JRPG doesn’t magically get better a hundred hours in if the first battle feels sluggish. I have squandered many hours trying to get through games that I knew within the first hour I wasn’t going to like. Fortunately for God of War, the gameplay loop was not its issue. Driving the Leviathan axe into a draugr with a mighty meaty swing felt immediately satisfying. More games need the ability to throw your weapon and recall it back like Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Watching an enemy get thunked in the back of the head will always make a sneaky smile creep onto my face.
No for me, the issue with God of War is that there are a lot of annoyances that weigh the title down. I won’t say God of War is a failure of a game, but it is not my favorite Sony exclusive. Spider-Man still holds that crown. However, I think God of War Ragnarok can break free from these chains holding the predecessors and dethrone the wall-crawler. It just needs to make some minor changes. Now, my loyal followers, I know what you are thinking. It is mere days until God of War Ragnarok’s release, no way Santa Monica Studios will ever implement these changes. Yes, I agree that standing atop my soapbox probably won’t yield the results I am hoping for, but when has that stopped me before? MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS, I PRESENT MY WISHLIST FOR GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK:
A warning for some minor spoilers. I won’t talk about the big reveal at the end, but there are some characters and events that I will discuss. Take heed.
Part 1: Early Dialogue
My tolerance for dialogue has been slowly waning over the years. I think my biggest grievance is where the same interactions between characters happen and nothing new comes from it. I look back to Sony’s Uncharted movie; the number of times Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland (I refuse to acknowledge these two as Sully and Nate) cry that they don’t trust each other almost made me audible scream in a crowded theater. All of your plans involve trusting each other, stop saying that you doubt his intentions.
Similar early interactions between Kratos and Atreus were starting to test my patience. If one were to play a drinking game where you take a shot when Atreus is curious and Kratos immediately stonewalls him, I would fear for your safety. I understand their relationship is rocky. I understand Atreus is a young child, curious about the world and eager to ask questions. I understand Kratos isn’t comfortable opening up to Atreus. I can see this after a couple of interactions. You don’t need to keep hammering this point five hours in. Even better, give me more scenes like the early deer kill. Kratos is proud of Atreus, and goes to pat him on the back, but hesitates, afraid to show his emotions. These quiet moments have more gravity than the endless chatter.
Thankfully, God of War already had a solution to this problem: Mimir. This character completely saved the game for me. His wealth of knowledge allows Atreus to ask questions about Norse mythology the game is steeped in. He is even able to get Kratos to say more than just boy with his constant hints that he might know about Kratos’s past. He is also willing to give Kratos the needed jabs he deserves. He brings a lot of comedy to our more straightforward duo but also knows when to shut up when Kratos and Atreus are having a serious moment. With Mimir returning in God of War: Ragnarok, I look forward to interactions between this trio.
Part Two: The Camera
I absolutely loath this camera. Now I don’t think we need to go back to the wide-angle older God of War titles were known for, but this current angle is way too tight. Numerous times, enemies would get cheap shots on me either from my left side or back side. God of War tries to compensate by putting arrows around Kratos’s waist to indicate when an enemy is attacking from the left or behind him. Unfortunately, when I am playing a third-person action game, I am not looking at my character; I am looking at the enemies in front of me trying to look for opportunities to parry or dodge. These arrows are merely a bandage over a gaping wound.
Much like the dialogue, God of War does introduce a solution part way through the story: the Blades of Chaos. As much fun as it was to throw the Leviathan axe and call it back, it doesn’t help with enemies flanking your sides. However, the Blade of Chaos turns Kratos into a spinning saw blade. Enemies trying to get cheeky shots to my back were grounded into a fine paste. Even though I enjoyed becoming a whirlwind of death, I still think the camera could be pulled back just a hair. From recent screenshots and trailers, it looks like Santa Monica Studio did adjust the camera for God of War Ragnorak, but I am not sure if this has been confirmed. It has only been a mere observation I have made, but I hope my intuition is right.
Part Three: The Gear and Talent System
Stop me if you have heard of this one: a game with gear that is color coded to mark its rarity. White for common. Green for Uncommon. Blue for rare. Purple for epic and gold for legendary. What game could I be talking about? Marvel’s Avengers? Gotham Knights? Anthem? No, I am talking about God of War. Yes, I am willing to admit, this gear system isn’t as atrocious as the previous games I mention, but I am still not the less, absolutely sick of seeing it. I know the gear is there to give me stats like strength, vitality, and luck, but these stats never felt impactful in my hours of play. I would occasionally swap gear just to see if I could feel a difference, but I was unable to tell which stats were giving me any benefits.
The talent tree system also failed to really make an impact on my gameplay. The only talents that come to mind were the upgrades to Atreus’s bow. It turned his awkward pea shooter shot into a useful multi-target stun that I could use to buy seconds for my runic attacks to come off cooldown. These runic attacks, which I could collect throughout my travels, did give me massive area-of-effect attacks, which helped me become that whirlwind of death. Frankly, these runic attacks were the only part of the gear system that felt impactful.
If it were up to me, I would make all the gear cosmetic, trim down the talent trees, make all of Kratos’s stats passively increase as he leveled, and maybe add a couple more runic attacks. I just don’t see the use of designing such lackluster gear. I don’t see people making various builds as you see for a game like Elden Ring. This system adds no value to the game and the time spent creating them could have been used to design another boss or optional Valkyrie. I am aware there isn’t an overlap between a system designer and a combat designer, but honestly, I don’t feel like a game like God of War needs this gear system. All these systems were done better in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima; I genuinely believe Santa Monica Studio could take some inspiration from those games.
Some of you might feel I am being needlessly harsh to God of War. I would agree I am being tough because I believe they are very close to something perfect. So frequently the game reaches for greatness only to have the deadweight drag it back down to Earth. Frequently, it recognizes its own problems and corrects them, but doesn’t completely erase them. I can see the unending labor that the developers have poured into this title, but mere blemishes squander the moments. I shouldn’t be rolling my eyes at such well-written characters. I shouldn’t be stabbed by an enemy off-screen while I am cleaving enemies in two. I shouldn’t be spending hours in menus looking at mundane gear and talents. I am honestly pointing out that this is a solid B-plus from a studio that clearly has the talent and resources to deliver A-plus work. Some might not be bothered by these annoyances, but I was more than willing to walk away from God of War. I see great potential for this series and this studio; I only ask that they reach for it. Let’s see how far they can reach in Ragnorak.
