God of War: Ragnarök (9th November 2022)

[Julius]

34 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Hey, have you looked at what day it is today?

IT'S GONNA BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND!

It's so funny to me that few companies do this with their games/films/products, but I love it when they do 

I swear they knew that with COVID in mind they weren't ever going to make 2021, but aside from the PS5 hype cycle too, I'm sure 2021 was the actual plan pre-COVID, and they wanted to say it anyway because that would be three winters after God of War 2018. And you know what precedes Ragnarök? Fimbulwinter, which is three (successive) winters long! Would've been perfect 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

ShopTo sent out emails earlier today regarding pre-orders for the game on their site going up tomorrow, and I think it might give us our first confirmation of any kind around the technical specs and modes for this game?

Quote

PLAYSTATION®5 IN-GAME FEATURES:
- Feel your journey through the Norse realms, made possible by immersive haptic feedback and adaptive trigger functionality.
- Take advantage of multidirectional 3D Audio; hear enemies approaching from any direction.
- Bask in the beautiful worlds you travel through, brought to life by precise art direction and arresting attention to detail. 
- Switch between full 4K resolution at a targeted 30 frames per second, or dynamic resolution upscaled to 4K at a targeted 60fps.

Not really unexpected (got to imagine we'll see a mode with 40 fps post-launch), but still, nice to (seemingly) know! 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

PlayStation have released an animated video recapping 2018's God of War journey as the build-up to release continues:

A bit under three months to go... 

[Julius]

Ragnarök will be Game Informer's next cover story, meaning it's time for some great cover art!

You know, I hadn't really thought about it before seeing this cover art, but with Atreus saying in one of the trailers that Kratos should be a General and it looking like there's a battle raging on in the background of the cover art...I wonder if we're actually going to, you know, go to war and live up to the title? Or a wide-scale battle for a setpiece? Because that'd be pretty awesome! 

EDIT: better look at the cover;

There's also a short synopsis of what to expect pertaining to Ragnarök:

Quote

God of War Ragnarök is set to conclude the Norse era of the series, a saga that's seen Kratos atone for his troubling past by becoming a more conscientious god and (mildly) affectionate father. In the upcoming sequel, Kratos and Atreus must stave off a preordained catastrophe, calling on old and new friends to succeed against Asgard and, hopefully, prevent all-out war.

I spoke with God of War veteran and newly appointed director Eric Williams as well as some lead UX, combat, and level designers about their experience crafting the long-awaited sequel and the most significant changes coming to the action and exploration loops. Moreover, you'll learn about Kratos' tools/toys, a never-before-seen dwarven realm that feels lived in, the unprecedented number of accessibility features available at launch, and some quality-of-life updates, including new navigation mechanics.

[...]

This issue's cover art has been in the works for some time, and its level of detail is a testament to that. Kratos and Atreus face armored warriors, reptilian monsters scurry into the arena from every direction, the Huldra brothers ready their weapons from high ground, and a dragon soars through the cloudy sky. All the while, fire beams violently collide with a far-off mountain range. Both the circulated magazine and Game Informer Gold edition feature the father and son fighting a legion of deific enemies. Limited to a numbered print run per issue, this premium version of Game Informer isn't available for sale.

A lot to break down there, but more accessibility options available from launch is a huge win! 

Crazy that we're a little over two months away and it feels like we've seen and know nothing. Love it 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

A short bit of combat from Game Informer's cover story:

Odd to get our first look at a short bit of continuous gameplay like this, but oh well, they know what they're doing  looks like GI will be sharing more on Tuesday

Edited September 2, 2022 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

 

[drahkon]

That trailer blew me away  Gonna be awesome.

Media blackout from now on, though. BRING ON NOVEMBER!

[drahkon]

Finished the story just now.

I could tell you that the game looks gorgeous, the sound and OST are awesome, the gameplay is impeccable, yadayada.

But there's only one thing I should say: I, a person who grew up playing video games and absolutely loves them, sees GoW: Ragnarök as a prime example of what a video game can achieve.
Just like the reboot, it is clear from the very first second that this is a labour of love. The devs, actors and everyone involved have outdone themselves yet again and it shows. 

The many instances when I couldn't put own the controller, when I was just blown away by the spectacle...The amount of times I got goosebumps, tears in my eyes...I'm still in awe of everything I've experienced with this game.

There's no higher praise I can give, I think. An absolute masterpiece.

2022 gave us Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök and with these two titles alone this year is going down as one of the greatest for me.

Gonna let myself breathe for a moment and then get to a good old fashioned trophy hunt.

Edited November 25, 2022 by drahkon

[RedShell]

27 minutes ago, drahkon said:

2022 gave us Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök and with these two titles alone this year is going down as one of the greatest for me.

But which would get your vote for GotY?

I never got into the God of War series, only ever played one of them, on PS3 I think it was. 

Once I’m done with Elden Ring I might look into to getting the 2018 game though as it’s now available on PC.

[bob]

Didn't really got on with the gameplay in the first game, but i did enjoy the storyline and 'spectacle' as drahkon puts it.

Has anyone played this on PS4? Is it worth getting it for that? Or will it just melt my console and leave me saddened?

[drahkon]

13 minutes ago, RedShell said:

But which would get your vote for GotY?

That is a very good question. I think if you put a gun to my head and said: "choose one or you'll die" I'd personally invite death to my home  
In all seriousness, probably Elden Ring because it's a generation defining game. It revolutionizes open world games.

13 minutes ago, RedShell said:

I never got into the God of War series

10 minutes ago, bob said:

Or will it just melt my console and leave me saddened?

Just checked a video and: no locked 60fps but mostly a smooth experience in performance mode. 

Asked a friend, too, and he said it's fine on PS4 Pro.
Also: the console will heat the room while playing, so no need to use any gas. Might want to increase the TV's (or headphone's) volume to drown out the noise of a military jet taking off.

Edited November 25, 2022 by drahkon

[drahkon]

Wanted to spend this Saturday morning mopping up some trophies and here I am mopping up tears from the ground.

Be ready for a rollercoster of emotions during this game  

[drahkon]

 

[Ronnie]

Playing this at the moment, nice to finally have something to play on my PS5 again. It's predictably great, extremely high production values, good story-telling, fun gameplay. Thankfully it doesn't do that maddening Horizon thing where 80% of the '?' things you go exploring for, you don't have the tools for.

I'm finding it very very linear so far though. I'm a third of the way through the game I think and there's been 2 side-quests available. Everything else has been these long drawn out main story missions. Tbh, the parts where I ran around and explored on my own have been the most fun so 

Amazing polish as you would expect although the third realm you visit, as well as being an incredibly long linear sequence, was also incredibly buggy. It felt like playing Jedi Fallen Order at launch there were so many glitches and animation bugs. 

But yeah, otherwise it's more God of War, which certainly is no bad thing, I figured as with most Sony first part games it would stick to the same formula. Looking forward to diving in more, though it seems like after that long drawn out story mission there might be another long drawn out linear story mission to follow...

[bob]

3 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Playing this at the moment, nice to finally have something to play on my PS5 again. It's predictably great, extremely high production values, good story-telling, fun gameplay. Thankfully it doesn't do that maddening Horizon thing where 80% of the '?' things you go exploring for, you don't have the tools for.

I'm finding it very very linear so far though. I'm a third of the way through the game I think and there's been 2 side-quests available. Everything else has been these long drawn out main story missions. Tbh, the parts where I ran around and explored on my own have been the most fun so 

Amazing polish as you would expect although the third realm you visit, as well as being an incredibly long linear sequence, was also incredibly buggy. It felt like playing Jedi Fallen Order at launch there were so many glitches and animation bugs. 

But yeah, otherwise it's more God of War, which certainly is no bad thing, I figured as with most Sony first part games it would stick to the same formula. Looking forward to diving in more, though it seems like after that long drawn out story mission there might be another long drawn out linear story mission to follow...

I'm impressed at the amount of backhanded compliments you managed to cram into four paragraphs.

[Ronnie]

The exploration in this game is such a huge let-down. Treasure chests are everywhere but they almost always don't require any puzzling to get to them. 90% of the rarer chests are literally just for turning left instead of right. Maybe the more open free-roam sections will have better puzzles or content, we'll see (if I ever get to one, feels like 10 hours of non stop linear gameplay)

Everything involving Freya is awful so far. Her dialogue and voice performance is atrocious, especially during one mission a third of the way in.

And the way Playstation first party games have been ruining the solution to puzzles two and a half seconds after you arrive at them can f right off. I thought it was bad in Horizon Forbidden West but it's much worse here.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Ronnie

[Julius]

Sold through 11 million units in three months! 

Absolutely insane numbers, and well deserved. 

[Ronnie]

Man, this game just keeps going doesn't it.

A random 'follow the thing' sidequest in one realm, opened up a huge new area with about a dozen of other sidequests and fetch quests, all triggering in quick succession. Some of the strangest pacing I've ever seen in a game.

[EEVILMURRAY]

8 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Man, this game just keeps going doesn't it.

A random 'follow the thing' sidequest in one realm, opened up a huge new area with about a dozen of other sidequests and fetch quests, all triggering in quick succession. Some of the strangest pacing I've ever seen in a game.

When does the pacing pick up? because I've only just pimpsmacked Thor and it felt like a slog getting that far.

[Julius]

A 3 hour game trial is being made available to Premium members of PlayStation Plus:

Pretty much perfect length for a trial for this game. If you aren't in after the opening three hours, I don't think you'll be in at all. 

[Happenstance]

Finally got around to buying Ragnarok. Looking forward to getting into it.

[Ronnie]

Just platinum'd this. 100% in every realm. Loved it overall, it's more of the same, but nevertheless an amazing technical achievement. Great story-telling too, good characters and fun gameplay. Each story mission felt unique and memorable and the bits where it opened up were fun to run around and explore.

Loved all the different realms but gameplay wise I would have liked to have seen a bit more variety. Things like those crystals in Alfheim, let's see stuff like that in other realms to make them feel unique. I also thought the final mission was a little anti-climactic, it started strongly but then kind of rushed to finish things.

In general though, loved it.

[Hero-of-Time]

This game was next on my hit list from my recent purchases. I started it on Monday but I'm still fairly early on in the game. I've only put 5 or so hours into it so far.

Spoiler

Loved the start of it. The God of War games really do like to start with an epic set piece and this certainly delivered. Battling Thor from the very start was quite a surprise. I know he was teased at the end of the 2018 game but I wasn't expecting him to show up so early. Same goes for Odin. 

It seems so weird to see Kratos wanting to hide away. I get that he's trying to protect his son but I was with Thor when he was wanting him to just unleash the beast. Hopefully that happens at some point...

Last night, I went through the Wetlands and rescued Tyr. Dude looks nothing like a God of War and pales in comparison to our Greek champion. Obviously this may change as the story progresses but at the moment he's a bit of a wet blanket.

The last thing I done was play as BOI! and visit Freya. I've no doubt in my mind she will have a larger role to play in the narrative but at the moment she told the kid to sod off and not to come back.

This line made me burst out laughing. The serious delivery of it was brilliant.

This fella also got a laugh out of me.

Spoiler

I'm playing the PS4 version of the game and it looks amazing and runs great. It blows my mind what developers were able to get out of the thing. I had the same experience when playing Horizon: Forbidden West earlier in the year. I thought the game itself was very disappointing but from a technical standpoint I couldn't fault it.

[drahkon]

Looking forward to your reactions when things happen

[Hero-of-Time]

Why do I keep being forced to play as Atreus? This angers me.