Our own Ben Sheene declared God of War: Ragnarök on the PlayStation 5 as perfect, even if it didn’t shift or differ too far away from its predecessor. It brought a solid middle act in a trilogy while adding more depth and context to its characters. While the stakes were bigger, the exploration was certainly more sizeable than the first, in its intentions to fit nicely into place with the first game. From my own experience, it was every bit as Ben advertised it to be.
Now, a little less than two years removed from its original release, God of War: Ragnarök finds its way onto PC thanks in part to Sony’s push to bring its best titles to the PC community. The PC version of the game still brings an unforgettable story backed by deep and developed characters and unrivaled beauty only PC enthusiasts could brag about.
It’s a gorgeous game, folks.
So, sit back, put Mimir on the table, and let me tell you about the myth and the madness of the PC version of one of Sony’s best games.
A story fit for a God
If you’re a PC person who was waiting for the sequel to arrive, that day is here. The sequel brings the continuation of a series that tells the tale of Kratos and Atreu’s journey to find a solution to an oncoming Ragnarök, while also avoiding the likes of Odin, the wrath of Freyja, and their struggles as father and son. As simple as that sounds, the story is far bigger and the stakes are far greater, especially for a certain character that you might have grown used to having around. Bring the tissues.
The story for God of War: Ragnarök is a beautiful woven tapestry that has little to no mistakes with its threads, and that will make you happy, or at least satisfied that you have taken the journey to witness it. I think that the first time around with this game, the story certainly was a driving point to its success. This story brings a lot more tension to the overall mix and explains a few things that weren’t made clear in the first game. Some of those conclusions might not have been obvious during the first playthrough, especially with a couple of goofball dwarves, but they will become impactful in this game. I know that I was surprised and devastated by the main tragic moment and the character shift that accompanies that tragedy. That story-defining moment still haunts and resonates with me even after two years removed. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to revisiting in the PC version.
And, no, I’m not going to pinpoint what that moment might be. You can go online and find it if you want, but if you haven’t experienced this game, then I would just let it occur naturally through the storytelling. It will leave a mark on your heart.
Anyway, the story for God of War: Ragnarök ups the stakes quite a bit from the first game. The first game was just about Kratos getting used to being a single parent, while also dealing with some unhappy neighbors, but this one takes all that further. Kratos is a better parent, more attached to his son and less to his past, and is intent on dealing with his neighbors sooner rather than later. The story connects beautifully with the first and carries a heavier burden when it comes to following up the shift in tone with Kratos’ adventures. In short, God of War: Ragnarök is a masterpiece of storytelling. And PC gamers will not be disappointed with it. It was worth the wait.
Gameplay on PC
The gameplay on PC is exactly what you would experience on the PlayStation 5. The game is broken into a main quest, a bevy of side quests, challenges, and secret hidden goodies everywhere that will motivate you to explore a variety of landscapes. Revisiting this on PC gave me some appreciation for how big the adventure in the game was/is and how Santa Monica Studio makes your efforts worth your time. So, let’s discuss each of the above aspects.
Main Quest
Starting with the main quest, the story unfolds across multiple realms in the Norse world. The lands feel a bit more open in comparison to the first game, and each one acts as a tiny piece of the story’s puzzle as Kratos and Atreus walk through them. Granted, the main quest covers some lands that the duo has seen in the initial game, such as the Dark Elf kingdom, while also introducing new places that haven’t been seen, such as Odin’s Asgard. The main quest line does a good job of giving the illusion that it’s not linear, as you are pushed down a path that is bigger than before but secretly is linear to tell the story properly. This is typical for most games of this type, and it also allows the game to show off some of the other lands. It’s an introductory of sorts for new content, and characters, and allows the game to expand its world.
As for the main quest itself, the progression of the story is steady. Unlike the first game, which did have its occasional lull in action, this one is hellbent on creating a sense of urgency, mystery, and discovery, mainly thanks to the impending Ragnarök. This might have been the first time in a while, maybe since trying to get Samus out of the space station in Super Metroid, where I felt urgency in progression. The main quest does a great job of pressing the ‘end of the world’ on the player, and placing all lands and obstacles perfectly in the player’s path, while also introducing new characters and minor baddies where they need to be. Everything feels like it is in the right place during the main quest and nothing feels forced for the sake of being cool or pretty. It’s just one big beautiful flow of a story that has good gameplay accompanying it.
God of War: Ragnarök is one of the best games I have played because of its main quest construction. Santa Monica did a helluva job making sure this story was well-embedded into good gameplay.
Side Quests
As you continue through the main quest, you will occasionally run into side quests. These quests are mainly driven by finding and collecting objects, but those objects help to build the God of War world out even further. For example, there is a fun squirrel that asks you to retrieve some goodies for him. He is an ongoing side quest that fits perfectly with the ongoing main quest. What he requests of Kratos is laid out perfectly and somewhat (at times) plainly along the linear path that the duo takes, while also making complete sense in Norse mythology. A giant squirrel. In Norse mythology. Lord.
Outside of obvious side quests, like the squirrel’s, the game also lays down breadcrumbs through weapons and devices that you’ll use to access new areas. You might find a steam pipe with a hole in it, or some device that you can’t break to access a treasure chest and a few other tell-tale signs of unique discoveries that you will revisit as you push forward in the main quest. The first game did this but there are a larger variety of places and things to use in the sequel to make revisiting areas worth your while. Nothing will feel like it is dragged out for the sake of extending the life of the game. It all fits in place and is fun to discover along the way. Or not discover. It’s up to you.
I love this about the game and the rewards of waiting at the end of these new places are nearly always worthwhile.
Challenges
Well, if the main and side quests don’t fit your fancy, you’ll love the challenges. As you push through the game toward its conclusion, you will happen upon some point that activates challenges. These challenges will be tough-as-nails brawling with big-ticket beasts, which will mean good rewards. These challenges are akin to the Valkyrie fights in the first game and will extend playing time.
I think I might have spent a hefty amount of time participating in the challenges. They kept the gameplay alive long enough to get Valhalla in the mix. There are different types of challenges, such as fighting a huge bulky boy in an ice-laden ring, going up against fiery competition in the hills of a volcano, and…well…other things that I won’t mention. There are plenty of challenges and all of them are difficult.
Secret Hidden Things
HA! I’m telling you anything about this. They do exist, though.
Anyway, the gameplay for God of War: Ragnarök is vast, it’s proper, and it works well within the world and story built for it. I loved everything that this game offered up and never felt like I was wasting my time. These are the things you hope for in a game.
Progression
If having plenty to do wasn’t enough motivation to keep playing, the backend skills tree and progression system, as well as the leveling of armor and weapons, certainly will convince you to keep going. It’s as wide as it is deep.
Starting with the skills tree, the game features a skills tree for both Kratos and Atreus. The trees range from attacking to defense and act as new ways to interact with enemies. The progression of both characters and the skills that come with them are interesting. They make fighting bad guys progressively easier, while also making the process a helluva lot more fun.
When you’re not fiddling with upgrades and trying to figure out paths you should take early in the game, the game allows you to equip and upgrade both heroes as you see fit. The leveling for armor, weapons, and such is deep. You can create new armor/weapons, upgrade the armor/weapons multiple levels, and even add runes to said stuff to improve it. There are different ways and multiple combinations to improve both characters, and it’s a bit addictive doing so. I spent a large number of hours constantly trying to find the best combination for both Kratos and Atreus, and it was just a fun way to feel more strategic and precise with the fighting.
Now, the armor/weapons/runes are driven by metals you obtain and hidden items you find along the way. Once you discover the first big ticket item, you will be motivated to explore the vast number of lands to acquire more. There are different ways you can take this portion of the game and all of them are equally as intriguing as the other. This is the one aspect of God of War: Ragnarök that kept me completing quests and finding new areas that I might have missed during the main quest. It’s a circle-of-life type of game, where one element of gameplay is directly affected by another. They all work hand-in-hand, or so it seems.
Anyhoo, I thought the progression system complemented the adventure quite well and had its hands in nearly every aspect of the game.
PC-ing it together
While there was only one PC game in the Sony family that hit a SNAFU when released, it appears that Sony has found the right formula to get its goods to a purer platform. God of War: Ragnarök is stunning on PC and works right out of the box without a hitch. I’m not sure what PC system you are sporting, but I ran this game on a machine with the following specs:
- i7 14700KF (CPU)
- 32 GB of DDR5
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
I played in a 60fps environment on Ultra, which brought in some amazing raytracing into the experience. Reflections in water, reflections on armor, and details galore were everywhere. The lighting and shading were as equally as good as the raytracing, creating this beautiful ambiance in the game that brought the adventure to an entirely new level. You don’t get its full beauty until you hit Ironwood and see all the flora everywhere, with light shimmering perfectly down on the characters. It’s just gorgeous.
The game is top-tier on PC, folks. It’s graphically the best way to play. In short, you won’t be disappointed with how Sony brought this to PC, and the PC version is nearly flawless in its execution. I have only experienced one hiccup with my controller. I’m not sure if the PS5 controller or Steam causing the issue, but once I rebooted my machine, the problem seemed to go away and has never been revisited.
If you can afford it, this is the best way to experience God of War: Ragnarök. I love the PS5 version, but I’m enthralled with the PC version.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
God of War: Ragnarök from Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment is a beast on the PC. It brings the same big adventure while sporting some of the most gorgeous graphics the game has shown to date.
