I Survived Ragnarok and All I Got Was This Blog Post
Yada yada-ing through the Norse apocalypse.
In my introductory post I briefly mentioned that one of my main motivations for starting this publication was a recent video game. That video game is none other than God of War: Ragnarok.
I have been a fan of the God of War series since playing the first game all the way back in 2006, during the waning days of the PlayStation 2’s lifespan. I have played every mainline game in the series, and the previous game from 2018 is my second favorite game of its generation. I cannot overstate my excitement leading up to the release of the newest game in the series, Ragnarok.
It took almost four months (due to the all-consuming responsibilities of parenthood and being a husband), but I recently was able to finish the game and…yikes…what a disappointment.
The game is a narrative disaster. Character motivations range from murky (at best) to completely nonexistent. Are they trying to start Ragnarok? Are they trying to stop Ragnarok? Are they just going to fudge around and find out? All signs point to that last option.
(MAJOR spoilers ahead for how things shake out)
The game starts with a visit from Thor and Odin. This sequence ends with Odin asking that our protagonists, series mainstay Kratos and his son Atreus, cease what Odin perceives as their efforts to initiate Ragnarok. Odin even concedes that he is willing to overlook the fact that Kratos killed his son and two grandsons in the previous game. Kratos gruffly refuses because reasons and the two big baddies go on their merry way, but not before Thor throws down with Kratos in a fight that’s over all too quickly. Then our intrepid heroes venture out into the wild because they’re totally going to show Odin that he’s not the boss of them.
From there it’s a haphazard dash from one realm of Norse mythology to another, as Kratos and Atreus wreak all kinds of havoc for no discernible reason whatsoever, except that Odin and Thor bad. Why are Odin and Thor bad? What have they done to earn such reckless hostility from Kratos and Atreus?
The answer? Not. A single. Thing.
All throughout the game various side characters bemoan the destruction Odin and Thor have wrought on the Nine Realms. Yet you - the player - are never really given a personal stake in the proceedings, until near the end of the game when Odin, who’s been in disguise as a rescued ally the whole time, murders your dwarf friend in a fit of pique. This is the inciting incident (roughly 45 hours into the game for me) that causes Kratos and Atreus to finally decide that Ragnarok and the destruction of Asgard is what they want after all.
Except not really, because partway through the extremely rushed Asgard finale (which is shorter than many of the game’s side quests), Atreus changes his mind for no other reason than he is a flaky, indecisive nitwit. From then on every narrative thread the game has been weaving up to that point is completely shredded; including Odin’s supposed motivation for doing all the bad things he’s ever done.
None of the characters are particularly sympathetic, and very few go through any significant development. Atreus is consistently dense and naïve. Kratos, meanwhile, has been completely neutered - behaving less like a harsh father attempting to bond with his child (which was ground the previous game covered exhaustively), and more like an impotent babysitter forced to go along with said child’s nonsensical schemes.
The two notable exceptions are Freya and Thor. The former overcomes her hatred for Kratos due to the events of the previous game, while the latter resolves to change his drunken and violent ways after experiencing a thorough beatdown by Kratos during Ragnarok’s grand finale.
On top of the narrative shortcomings the game is often a slog to get through. One sequence in particular had me begging for it to be over at least two hours before it eventually resulted in an utterly inconsequential boss battle. Moreover, the game tries way too hard to make you care about the fate of ancillary characters whom you’ve never met before (Fenrir, Freyr, that one guy who’s name I can’t be bothered to remember, with the quest that leads you to The Crater, which is yet another tediously overlong section), and characters that exist solely to provide lore reasons for game mechanics (Brok and Sindri). It’s a cheap attempt by the writers to play on your sympathies without the long term consequences of killing off anyone of actual importance. They were so busy trying to say something profound that they ended up not saying much of anything.
All that being said, the game is not a total loss. Even on a base PlayStation 4, Ragnarok is the best looking video game I have ever seen. Combat has all the stylistic flair you would expect from a God of War game, and most boss battles are fun and suitably challenging.
The end result is a mixed bag that is the weakest game in the mainline series. Ultimately, Ragnarok fails to live up to its massive potential, and actively ignores satisfying payoffs to many of the themes established in God of War 2018.
Maybe the real Ragnarok was the friends we made along the way.
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In spite of my complete NON-interest in this subject, I read the entire thing — which is saying something. Must be the skillful writing…. 🤓
I liked this game, but more for the beauty and the fighting as you did. I agree the story fell a bit flat and I was partially confused of our motives. I also agree that Kratos was neutered. I like the relentless version of him much better.
I too, have also played all the God of War games. I love the series and will continue to play them.