My oh my, what an utterly incredible game this is. Having played every entry including the two PSP titles, this has been a hell of journey to follow and witness what has unfolded from the original back in 2005.
With the sort of soft reboot in 2018 moving from the Pantheon of Greek Gods, to the Norse saga of these two titles, I didn’t know what to expect, I mean honestly they are both nothing short of phenomenal. This is mainly due to the directing style, the story line, the voice acting and the motion capture. I mean to be fair everything about these games are pretty much 10/10 in all aspects. But the character work and writing is where it truly shines. We follow Kratos from being the angry Spartan boy of the old games to that of a man who just wants to be a good dad and move on from his past mistakes.
The dynamic between Kratos and Atreus is just top. Not from just the excellent cutscenes between them, but from the joint combat and puzzle solving that you do. I mean I don’t wanna be too spoiler heavy here but I will probably spoil some stuff so if you haven’t finished or completed it yet I can only apologise. At the heart of this concluding game of the Norse Saga is Kratos finally becoming the God he should’ve been with people actually revering him and Atreus moving on from being the Loki of the Ragnarok prophecy to being his person. Having a good few missions where you control Atreus, in fact the entire Asgard and Jotunheim story unfold through his eyes, his combat his highly different from Kratos, quick strikes, archery and smacking the bad guys on the head with his sturdy bow. Unlike the crushing, heavy blows with precise striking and combos of Kratos. Having the blades of Chaos, the Leviathan axe and the new Draupnir spear, which quickly became my favourite weapon.
Every realm looks, breathe and feels different. They all feel so alive in the way the need to be, Vanaheim having thick forests and foliage. Midgard submerged in Snow, Svartalfheim covered in rocky landscapes. They all feel huge and that there is more past the small snippets you are privileged to explore. Each area is made for you to want to explore with some areas blocked until after the main story is concluded. Every corner seems to be a mini boss of sorts, which isn’t a bad thing. With the highlights of this for me being the dragon hunts in Vanaheim, and if you find the right relic you can even unlock a few extra secret bosses. You can go searching for Nornir chests, legendary chest, artefacts from other far away lands. Release the spying Odin Ravens, favours from the dead or other characters you meet along the way. One nagging problem I did have though and honestly it’s about the only one, was the lack of fast travel. You can travel between the many gates, but only from another gate. It’d have made life so much easier if you could just ping over to the right gate you’d want without having to traverse all the way back.
I was going for the platinum on this one, having 100% the last game, I had every intention of doing the same again. I still might, having got to the last two final Hurdles though. The two super bosses of the Game the new Valkyrie queen Gna and the big bad berserker boss King Hrolf. I am at level 9 meaning I have maxed armour, weapons, shield and upgraded hilts. They can both eat shit. Honestly only thing that ruined the game somewhat. Having a mixture of not having the time just battle the same boss for hours straight hoping I get lucky enough to win and wanting to play the PS5 upgrade of the Witcher 3 I decided to move on for now. But seriously fuck those guys, the are unnecessarily hard, considering how the rest of the game isn’t that bad even the 12 berserkers you have to fight to unlock King Hrolf are pretty standard as you keep on top of improving your strength,defence and vitality.
Each weapon has it’s own skill trees that add new function or added combo strikes to your arsenal. The same works for the companion trees of Atreus and Freya. I’d argue the best part of this is each new move or skill has it’s own 3 tiered system, so once you’ve used it enough to hit the gold level you can use experience points to add a sub feature to it, so it can say stun more or even cause slightly more damage. So through the endless slaughter it’s worthwhile swapping between the three weapons and hitting all the different combos just so you can fuck shit up just that little bit more.
I can’t do a review without pointing out how fucking amazing the game looks. Graphically it’s nothing short of immense. In fact all the pictures in this review are basically just stills from parts of the realms that just show off how good everywhere looks. The siege on Asgrard at the end of the story really exemplifies this. Having Surtr and Jormungandr in the background fighting with Thor. Whilst all the realms are bearing down on Odin in a unified attack. Speaking of Jormungandr, one of my favourite parts of these games is the way Atreus on his journey inadvertently created him, using the giants souls in Jotunheim and the fight he had with Thor at the end which sent him back in time to the 2018 game. There is many there other small details like this dotted around, and hidden in dialogue. Something the Santa Monica writing team truly excelled at.
I could probably make this review twice if not thrice as long, with what I could talk about, but ultimately it boils down to just playing it yourself. Which I’d imagine pretty much everyone who wants to has by now. This game talk me to around 45 hours to do everything bar those dickbag final bosses. Having the returning trials of Muspelheim as well, which ain’t that bad really, just a bit repetitive in the way you unlock the final six challenges. A couple bigger side quests and the small favours, finding all the hidden lore and buried treasure. There is a lot to do, not as much as other games of the same style. I’d argue this game though is more concise and in wanting you to be able to do everything without it becoming a bore or slog.
This game now firmly sits in my top 3 games, just under the Witcher 3 and just above Death Stranding. So you bet the announcement of DS2 rustled the ever loving shit out of my jimmies. In all the games I have played over the years not many reach the rich detail and story driven excellence this one hits. All encompassed in the best looking game I’ve seen off the PS5 so far, and intertwined in the rich lore of Norse mythology. Even though DLC for this probably won’t happen there is so much that can be done, and the same can be said for if they choose to continue the story. However if they choose not too. This is definitely the right end for Kratos’s story. Having made him so much more then one dimensional character of the original trilogy, and this is largely due to the performance of Christopher Judge and that can’t be understated enough.
This game gets a definitive 10/10, Real Fuckin’ Tasty.
It looks phenomenal, the combat is fast, fluid and brutal when necessary. The plot and overall story is brilliant, the writing and directing of the game is top tier. Honestly just play the game, you won’t regret it. I also realise all my pictures are just screenshots of nice views, i’m not sorry for this. I wish for you all to experience how immense it looks.
Released November 9th 2022, Sony Playstation 5
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