God of War Ragnarok (PS4, PS5) is a worthy followup to 2018’s God of War. Let’s dive in spoiler free.
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Hey and we're back with another episode Of before you buy that show we give you Some straight up gameplay and our first Impressions of the latest games Releasing as usual I'm Jake baldino Thanks for being here whether you're new Or you've been watching these videos Since the first one I did on Arkham Knight don't go back and watch it it's Really bad uh but today we're talking About God of War Ragnarok this is the Pretty hotly anticipated follow-up to 2018's God of War which took one of my Favorite 2000s action franchises into a New Direction now with this new Adventure Ragnarok in 2022 well I'm Happy to confirm it makes my job mostly Pretty easy today after it feels like so Many games in a row released and felt Kind of middling or disappointing or Forgettable this game is the opposite And it feels great to just say that Ragnarok is pretty much everything you Want bigger battles more cool Gods more Gore bigger worlds bigger end game while Also doubling down on a gentle emotional Impactful story it is equal parts what You expect you know familiar and Surprising and some thought-provoking Ways but most importantly as fun as hell Man uh Ragnarok is tremendous and some Housekeeping just so you know I've been Playing a review copy of the game and The footage I've captured here is
Running on PS5 also I've made sure to be Careful to keep this video extremely Spoiler free it's hard to talk about Some big chunks of the game uh there's a Lot of surprises and just things I don't Want to spoil I want you to discover it For yourself just know by the time You're watching this spoilers are Probably already floating around out There on the internet so be careful Especially for YouTube thumbnails I've Had those spoil games for me before too Now again no spoilers but the story Setup super basic is a new adventure for Kratos and atreus time has passed since The first game and the world is Different and atreus is a bit older and A bit more mature the focus on the Father-son relationship is different This time around as atreus kind of leads The two into a world-hopping adventure That just gets bigger and bigger and Grapples with prophecy fate being a good Person and uh yeah I mean like I can't Really say anything again I don't want To ruin it to keep it short and sweet That's like the back of the box Description now you're journeying around The Realms once again but everything is Completely different and you see way More of this mythological world that They set up in the last game it is a big Big world structurally it is all over The place in a good way like it's not a
Typical open world of course but it's Also not just a hub open world with Smaller areas it's just a collection of Big open areas to explore and you keep Stumbling across more as you progress Through the game this game is built on Like a perfect tightrope of stringing You along not quite linear not quite Open world it's pretty staggering to Continuously stumble upon new large Areas filled with places to explore Across the whole game but also not feel Totally overwhelmed like in your typical Open world or side quest filled game You'll kind of find yourself dipping Your toe into a little exploration when You find a new area and then you realize That you've lost another four hours Completely ignoring the main quest it's Like that and the rewards for Exploration are mixed for me personally I got really tired of opening up endless Treasure chests and coffins getting the Same few things I did that a hell of a Lot in God of War 2018. by halfway Through this game I was over it how much Hack silver could I really find it's not That exciting but it doesn't really Matter what I realized is that the Exploration isn't for like the reward Stuff or player progression it's really The bare minimum the exploration is for The fun the game is so varied in Encounters and areas and puzzles that
You always want to find a new thing I Found myself exploring less for cool Loot and way more for just fun and I Think that's says a lot it might vary For you but that was how I felt Throughout the whole thing I also found Myself diving head first into side Quests to be rewarded with just good Story good characters and cool stuff you Know like no filler nothing really Boring just lots of cool character Moments and action stuff that all adds To the overall story in meaningful ways Like I love a Meandering and Well-written side quests as much as an Ex-person but when it feels absolutely Essential to everything else going on And you're having a blast seeing it I Love it and I think they really nailed That here definitely take the time to See everything in the game it's Definitely meant to be chewed on and Savored and not like rushed through Whoa is that a dragon what happened here Use caution I think it's dead Yep definitely dead Hey I wonder if I wanted to start with that because Those are my favorite aspects but now The more video gaming stuff too which is Also no slouch most notably the combat Combat is still really solid you know They crack the code with 2018 and just Kind of expanded upon it here in this
One I don't know how they did it then And the same now uh the feel of hits the Dynamic swings and Camera During certain Moves the animations the feedback of Every little bit of movement it took a Lot to sell me on moving away from the Awesome hack and slash stuff from the Old games but it did and now I will say Uh kratos's core moves list remains Pretty much the same but with like a Bunch of layers added on top of it I did Find myself resorting to my old tricks Again you know charge throws hold uh R2 For the big heavy hit that backstep Dodge and toss uh the timed button Presses to deepen the combos I got right Back into my flow but the game team Slowly dulls out more and more on top of That with a bunch of stuff I don't Totally want to spoil uh the stuff that I think is safe to discuss is the more Upfront stuff more Spartan rage options Like you have a few choices on how to Burn your rage meter in more strategic Ways also Shield combat is expanded with More capabilities and different types of Shields for different occasions or Different play Styles I found myself Just kind of finding my favorite style And sticking to it but the Experimentation is good and will Probably kick ass for higher level play Also one thing I really liked Kratos Also just feels a bit zippier a bit more
Maneuverable he gets up and down Ledges Much quicker now and in combat Arenas it Makes a hell of a difference there's a Reason why it was one of the first Things they showed off when the game was Announced like sprinting off of a ledge And doing a death from above smash Attack works great but just as equal is A chain blade grapple hook zipping Yourself across the map to kick someone Else's ass you know and exploration You're still doing a bunch of slow Boring climbing and squeezing through Cracks in caves and after doing it so Much in these games I'm really not a fan Of it anymore I'm over it but thankfully Kratos gets some pep in a step when it Comes to murdering because the new Maneuverability in combat is pretty good Just an added layer of control to Something that was already pretty tight You know the game also has a lot of push Pull in Elemental stuff between your Equipment your abilities and using your Allies abilities like atreus is way more Capable and useful now so uh with all of This you have a lot more ways to slow Attackers down or stack more damage also More special runic attacks to discover And Slot onto your weapons that have a Lot of variety to them you know I really Liked a heavy Rune attack that was like A big freezing double smash but a simple Classic Ricochet ax throw thing or a
Spinning AOE thing work great you can Also unlock special Relic attack Abilities that have even more variation And like slow down your enemies give Yourself a damage buff stuff like that And speaking of Buffs the armor and gear Loot stuff is still here and the game Has a big amulet system to progress Through that allows you to stack even More stuff you would find out in the Wild amulets that give you increased Cooldowns higher melee damage when you Have low Health you know stuff like that It's all a bit more complex but I was Like I didn't really care too much about The stats until I really needed them in The last game here despite there being More it doesn't really bog you down I Liked it more overall I felt like I Really had to bust my ass to find the Good stuff and then the amount of stuff I stacked onto my character basically my Character build made it feel a bit more Necessary especially because the game Can kick your ass sometimes now if You'll remember my various videos from God of War 2018 my biggest complaint was The lack of like sub boss enemy types You know the bigger encounters you Fought that same damn type of troll so Many times in that game and it felt kind Of like it was like one nasty fly in an Otherwise delicious soup of a game does That does that make sense that sounded
Kind of bad but anyway uh they did fix That now there are a few of the same Main smaller enemies that were in the Last game here which but where they Really improved is the bigger baddies The bosses the sub bosses all of it is Pretty excellent and very there's big Creature brawls that are over the top And God of worry there's chunky sword Guy battles just a lot of stuff you're Looking for here I'm happy that there is A lot to fight now and like the previous Game there are optional enemies to go Out and find that will happily be Waiting to kick your ass but this time There's a ton of them and they're pretty Interesting there's a lot to stumble Upon and some pretty difficult stuff I Said it before but like this is another Reason why you could spend a lot of time In this world and uh with that the music Is probably my favorite but visually It's pretty good as well I played in 60 FPS mode and didn't see any detail drop Or anything and the game ran solid some Might say it's familiar looking at first Glance for sure but art wise it pops off Like character designs and environment Designs are really special the new Realms especially the more populated Ones are really really cool to see in Motion and have some nice detail now uh Lengthwise the estimates and things Floating around out there were pretty
Accurate took me about 30 hours doing About maybe 70 percent of the main side Quests and I've heard other reviewer Colleagues get way closer to 40 hours Played and as a fan of the series from The beginning I loved seeing the DNA Continue here you know the music is Absolutely huge and epic sounding and Works great for these incredible battles Where Kratos is choke slamming skeletons And and all the gods drama and I Really feel like I'm playing like the Successor to the old games without it Kind of nostalgia pandering the whole Time but also on the same coin it tells An unexpected nuanced story where a lot Of people had feelings and thoughts About fatherhood and stuff with God of War 2018 I think this time around folks Will extract and interpret even more Emotions and stuff from this plot and I'm really looking forward to seeing What people think now stick with me kind Of like a weird comparison but like Red Dead Redemption 2 Ragnarok does Something thing I really respect it's a Big massive expensive pretty Triple A Game with all of the detail and the Action and the budget and a million Billion people working on it and a Million billion people probably buying It but it uses that big Mainstream-ness as an in to tell a Nuanced heartfelt surprising and yet
Subtle and unique story and as a single Player story fan for more than any other Type of thing I absolutely love this I Was definitely left pretty satisfied There is plenty more to that we can talk About in a spoiler video or something Down the line but for now I'm gonna Leave it at this this is a before you Buy you know how this goes by now I give You some pros some cons and a bunch of Personal opinion so I want to hear yours Down in the comments I want to know what You're thinking about the franchise in General what your favorite is maybe you Only got on board with 2018 I know a lot Of people that did that but what are Your expectations please keep it civil In the comments and please keep keep it Spoiler free be nice really hope this Helped you out if it did inform you at All click on the like button is all you Got to do it really helps us out if You're looking for more from me on God Of War find me on my other YouTube Channel at Jake baldino or on the Friends for second podcast all that'll Be linked below but thank you guys very Much for watching here and we'll see you Guys next time Oh
