God of War Ragnarök

God of War Ragnarök is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released worldwide on November 9, 2022, for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the first cross-gen release in the God of War series. It is the ninth installment in the series, the ninth chronologically, and the sequel to 2018's God of War. Loosely based on Norse mythology, the game is set in ancient Scandinavia and features series protagonist Kratos and his teenage son Atreus. Concluding the Norse era of the series, the game covers Ragnarök, the eschatological event which is central to Norse mythology and was foretold to happen in the previous game after Kratos killed the Aesir god Baldur. The gameplay is similar to the previous 2018 installment. It features combo-based combat, as well as puzzle and role-playing elements. The gameplay has been revamped from the previous game: in addition to Kratos' main weapons, a magical battle axe and his double-chained blades, he also acquires a magical spear and his shield has become more versatile, with different types of shields that have differing offensive and defensive abilities.

His son Atreus, as well as some other characters, provide assistance in combat and can be passively controlled. Additionally, and for the first time in the series, there are some story missions where the player takes full control of Atreus; his gameplay is similar to Kratos, but he uses his magical bow as his weapon. There are also more enemy types and mini-bosses than in the previous game. Originally slated for a 2021 release, the game was delayed in part due to Kratos actor Christopher Judge's health problems in August 2019, and later, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on development. Ragnarök garnered universal acclaim from critics and was praised for its storytelling, characters, visuals, level design, and overall improvements to the gameplay over its predecessor. It won Game of the Year at the Titanium Awards and was a nominee for the same award at The Game Awards 2022, where it won Best Narrative, Best Action/Adventure, and Innovation in Accessibility, among other awards and nominations. The game was a commercial success, selling 5.1 million units in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling first-party game in PlayStation history.

God of War Ragnarök is a third-person action-adventure game. It features an over-the-shoulder free camera, while cinematographically, the game is presented in a continuous shot, with no camera cuts or loading screens. The gameplay is similar to the previous installment, God of War (2018), and like that game, it is single-player-only.Throughout the game, players battle Norse mythological foes, with more enemy types than in the prior entry. In addition to enemies found in the previous game, some newer enemy types include einherjar, wyverns, stalkers (centaur-like creatures with antlers), phantoms, human raiders, and nokkens, among many others. The developers also added more mini-bosses to give the game more variety. The player primarily controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat and puzzle game elements. Kratos' main weapons are a magical battle axe called the Leviathan Axe, and his signature double-chained blades, the Blades of Chaos. He also has a shield, the original version of which is called the Guardian Shield. Kratos also utilizes hand-to-hand combat. The Leviathan Axe is infused with ice elemental magic. It can be thrown at enemies and magically summoned back to his hand, similar to Thor's hammer Mjölnir. The weapon can be thrown at environmental objects to trigger a damaging explosion, and freeze objects and some enemies in place for puzzle-solving until resummoned. The Blades of Chaos, infused with fire elemental magic, are a pair of blades attached to chains that can be swung around in various maneuvers.

A new mechanic for Ragnarök is that the blades can be used like a grappling hook to traverse over chasms, and pick up objects to hurl at enemies.Kratos also obtains a new weapon called the Draupnir Spear, a close- and long-range attack spear that is infused with wind elemental magic and can make copies of itself; Kratos can throw multiple spears at an enemy, then have them all explode at once. The spear is also used to traverse or unblock certain pathways. Each weapon has standard light and heavy attacks. They can be upgraded with runes to allow for magical runic attacks, with slots for a light and heavy magical attack, providing players with a variety of options for their own play style. The triangle button on the controller was also changed for Ragnarök. In the previous game the button was only used to summon Kratos' axe back to his hand but if he already had the axe, nothing happened. Now, the button additionally allows the player to use "Weapon Signature Moves" to unleash a powerful magical attack depending on the weapon equipped. Another added mechanic is that if on a higher ledge, the player can leap down to perform a powerful weapon attack on enemies below. In the previous game, the shield was only used for blocking and could perform a minor parry attack, and while multiple shields could be obtained, they were only cosmetic, changing the color of the Guardian Shield. For Ragnarök, the shield was revamped for versatility; different shields can be obtained and used offensively or defensively depending on which is equipped. Smaller shields are more for parrying while larger ones are more defensive. For example, the Dauntless Shield has a parry attack that when triggered correctly, Kratos smashes the shield into a foe that tosses and stuns enemies. Conversely, guarding with the Stonewall Shield raises its kinetic energy and once it is fully charged, the player can slam the shield into the ground, emitting a large wave of energy that knocks back enemies. When not in use, the shield folds up and appears like a vambrace on Kratos' left forearm. Kratos' Spartan Rage ability was also updated to three variants: Fury, Valor, and Wrath. Fury is the standard mode for Spartan Rage and is identical to the previous game in which Kratos uses bare handed attacks to greatly damage enemies. Valor consumes rage energy to restore health and can also be used as a parry if activated at the right time, while Wrath unleashes a powerful weapon attack depending on what weapon is equipped. Like the previous game, while the player plays as Kratos, his son Atreus provides assistance through artificial intelligence, helping in combat, traversal, exploration, and puzzle-solving. The player can passively control Atreus by dictating where he fires his arrows with his bow, either in combat or for puzzle-solving, as well as what magical spectral animals he can summon to further assist with combat. Additionally, Atreus' combat was updated to reflect his character's growth. In the previous game, Atreus was watching Kratos and learning how to fight, while in this game, Atreus has matured. He has longer chained combos, may initiate a fight before Kratos, and his magical abilities were expanded.There are also points in the game where another character will accompany Kratos instead of Atreus and they too can be passively controlled. For the first time in the series, the player can play entirely as a character other than Kratos (not including Ascension's multiplayer). This only occurs during some story missions when Atreus goes off on his own without Kratos and the player takes full control of Atreus. His gameplay is similar to Kratos in that he has close range combat by hitting enemies with his bow, and he has long range attacks by using his bow to shoot arrows. Additionally, he has special magical arrows, can create a shield from magic, and can summon magical spectral animals to assist in combat. Atreus also has his own rage ability in which he transforms into a wolf (and later, a bear) to deal greater damage. During these missions, Atreus typically has another character accompanying him and the player can passively control this character just as they do with Atreus when playing as Kratos. For some missions, Atreus has a magical floating sword called Ingrid that replaces the accompanying character. The game retains the role-playing video game (RPG) elements of the 2018 installment. This includes the crafting system with many of the same resources to create new armor or upgrade existing armor and weapons with better perks. There are also many side quests found outside the game's core narrative. Ragnarök also adds armor transmogrification, which allows the player to change the appearance of their equipped armor to any other acquired armor without losing any of the equipped armor's stats. To transmog, however, the equipped piece of armor has to be fully upgraded.Ragnarök has over 70 accessibility options. The game's user interface (UI) system was redesigned "to allow for more flexibility and readability", and more customization options for combat and interaction systems were also added. All accessibility features from the 2018 installment were retained but also expanded upon to allow players to adjust the gameplay to suit their own play style and needs.