Episode 146 - Red House Studios - God of War: Ragnarok

Close your heart to it. Welcome back to the podcast! Today we’re going to be talking about God of War: Ragnarok, Santa Monica Studios follow up to 2018’s God of War. And honestly, you in all likelihood know what this game is all about, so let’s just jump into it. Ragnarok is a direct continuation of the events in the previous game, and more than that, it almost feels like a direct continuation of the development of that game. It builds entirely off the systems that existed in the first game but adds some more variety in the form of more unique bosses, different companions and, eventually, a new weapon to play around with which does expand your options in combat. Does this variety actually change enough, though? Yes and no. While the combat feels more varied, and not fighting thirty more trolls is a welcome change, it still has some issues, some of which feel even more pronounced here in the sequel, and the basic systems aren’t really altered enough to ever really feel like you’re playing something different than 2018’s game. As a narrative continuation of the previous game though, this one does make strides in fleshing out its characters further, giving several of them proper arcs they didn’t have previously and completely revitalizing some characters into something more than archetypes. It’s a mixed bag of a game and one whose successes and failures are actually pretty complicated and a good indication of how huge games are being made, so we hope this episode can unravel at least some of it. We’re going to be talking about the sequel-y-ness of this game, both in how it’s built off its predecessor and how it sets up for a probable third game, the combat and its accompanying gear system, and what sort of hairdo they could give Kratos to most set off the vocal internet video game fans. Thank you for listening again this week! This episode sort of exemplifies why it can be so complicated to talk about the big new releases when they come out. For one, we’re like six months late to this particular party because of our scheduling, and for two, we aren’t really “God of War fans” in the traditional sense, so we aren’t coming at this from a place of excitement or anticipation for the sequel. If you are, what did you think of the game? Do you think our criticisms were well placed? Let us know in the comments or over on the Discord. Next time, we’re going to be talking about Neon White, a fast-paced FPS platforming game that somehow jammed a deck building element into it, so we hope you’ll join us for untangling that.