God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla
“God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla isn’t just a fun free DLC; it’s a fitting epilogue to the entire God of War series.”
Pros
Compelling, private narrative
Heavily connects to unique trilogy
Engaging roguelite methods
Encourages construct experimentation
Cons
Repeated arenas
Ragnarok’s fight quirks carry over
At The Game Awards 2023, Kratos actor Christopher Judge joked that his award acceptance speech the prior yr was longer than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3‘s campaign. The light jab would turn to controversy in the context of a layoff-filled year where The Game Awards also failed to highlight the creators it was supposed to be awarding. Several Call of Duty devs clapped back at Judge’s remark in since-deleted tweets, with some highlighting how engagement of their multiplayer shooter is larger than that of the linear, narrative-focused God of War video games.
So it’s considerably ironic that this yr’s Game Awards additionally introduced the announcement of God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, a roguelite mode demonstrating that neither facet of that argument was right. Judge and the Call of Duty devs’ feedback had been all considerably insensitive; either side centered on the improper facet of single-player video games. Valhalla, because it seems, is the compromise between these views.
God of War Ragnarok‘s excellent Valhalla DLC shows how new, repeatable content can both draw players back into a great game more than a year after release and tell a compelling story that serves as an epilogue to the entire franchise. It’s the very best of each worlds.
A triumphant denouement
Going into Valhalla, I anticipated an satisfying recontextualization of Ragnarok‘s excellent combat with some light narrative elements. I hadn’t anticipated a narrative that serves as a satisfying epilogue to not simply the Norse duology, however your complete God of War franchise. If you’re somebody dissatisfied by the truth that the latest God of War video games haven’t spent quite a lot of time addressing the occasions of the unique trilogy, Valhalla is a must-play.
Valhalla proves itself a must-play for any God of War fan.
After the occasions of God of War Ragnarok, Freya asks Kratos to develop into the brand new God of War for the Nordic realms to assist her reshape them following Odin’s defeat. Worried that he’ll fall again into his outdated methods and that he isn’t deserving of such energy after all of the struggling he triggered, Kratos’ journey by Valhalla supplies some much-needed self-reflection. This DLC is all about self-love and forgiveness and the way it’s OK to acknowledge that you simply did one thing improper prior to now whereas nonetheless working towards a greater future.
After the entire chaos and harm Kratos triggered all through so many God of War video games, Valhalla appears to be like inward as Kratos works by private conflicts which have eaten away at him because the unique God of War. It calls again to the occasions of the outdated trilogy with areas, characters, and occasions from the previous. Developer Sony Santa Monica even discovered intelligent methods to tie it into the gameplay expertise, with one notably memorable sequence calling again to a puzzle within the first God of War the place Kratos burns a prisoner alive so he can progress. If the final two God of War video games had been about Kratos turning into higher for his son, Valhalla is about Kratos turning into higher for himself.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
It’s a narrative that thematically matches the free DLC’s roguelike setup, as repeating the identical violent actions repeatedly in runs displays how Kratos feels doomed to repeat his outdated methods. It affords closure for the God of War franchise as an entire and had me glued to the display screen run after run as I might see how the piecemeal elements of this narrative got here collectively. A free DLC that I initially anticipated to be a quaint bonus mode, Valhalla truly proves itself a must-play for any God of War fan.
Restructured right into a roguelite
Ahead of every run, I select my most popular Relic, Shield, and Spartan Rage capability. After getting into Valhalla by a large door, I’m going from area to area, combating totally different combos of enemies pulled from Ragnarok and the unique trilogy. God of War Ragnarok’s fight nonetheless has its eccentricities — it’s laborious to easily get at enemies attacking from behind — however the brutal fight shines in Valhalla. More particularly, a number of new boss fights with distinctive assault patterns pressured me to assume on my toes with the instruments I had at my disposal.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
At the tip of every room, I discover a chest that rewards me with stat will increase, Glyphs that grant fight bonuses, and particular Light and Heavy Runic assaults unique to that run. Along the best way, I’d earn Fleeting Echoes — foreign money to spend on run-specific boosts and skill upgrades within the sanctuaries between arenas — in addition to Mastery Seals, Spirit Seals, and Divine Triumphs that I redeemed between runs for everlasting upgrades to statistical data. It’s not a groundbreaking roguelite setup, but it surely does one factor distinctly effectively in comparison with its style friends: encourages experimentation between runs.
Ahead of every run, Valhalla marks a particular Relic, Shield, and Spartan Rage capability that can grant additional rewards if used through the subsequent run. This, together with a wealth of resource-rewarding missions tied to weapon and skill utilization, encourages me to diversify what I choose up every time. I’m a roguelike participant who tries to seek out the very best construct after which persist with that for so long as doable, so I’m glad that Valhalla pushes me outdoors of my consolation zone because it does with Kratos in its narrative.
Combat not often ever feels the identical in runs …
The Draupnir Spear, which I used to be by no means a giant fan of utilizing within the base recreation, lastly clicked for me throughout a run the place my improve paths primarily centered on it. It’s now one in all my favourite weapons to make use of. Combat not often ever feels the identical in runs, which is likely one of the greatest compliments I can provide a roguelike. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla demonstrates that an interesting gameplay loop and a prolonged, compelling story aren’t mutually unique. There is a story with a definite ending that Valhalla tells, however you possibly can maintain heading again in after the credit roll.
Valhalla’s one noticeable problem is that, with the expectation of a few late-game arenas, I’d seen virtually each stage I might struggle in inside an hour of play. The fight rooms and sanctuaries in-between are random so as every run, however that is the one space the place the repetitive nature of roguelites and reuse of belongings from Ragnarok’s marketing campaign does put on skinny. Thankfully, each different facet of that is expertly designed and is bound to maintain me enjoying despite the fact that I’ve already seen its story by.
The engagement debate
As I headed again by Valhalla after beating this DLC’s primary story, the entire debacle with Judge’s The Game Awards joke got here again into my thoughts. Here I used to be, enjoying a DLC with a marketing campaign that’s technically about so long as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s, but it surely engaged me for lengthy after. But neither of these issues actually mattered, because the method to recreation design demonstrated that each might coexist. I like that I’ve a purpose to maintain coming again to God of War Ragnarok now, however I additionally really feel fulfilled simply by finishing Kratos’ religious journey.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Those who do put Valhalla down after just some hours will nonetheless expertise an exhilarating epilogue to one in all gaming’s most iconic franchises, whereas those that benefit from the fight and roguelike methods can have no problem operating again by Valhalla time and again. Instead of disparaging one another’s work, we, like Kratos, ought to discover it inside ourselves to maneuver on and be the very best model of us that we could be, and never fear about trivial issues like participant retention or recreation size.
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla was examined on PlayStation 5.
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