Is this game a masterpiece?. YES! Sony brought the next of its exclusive PlayStation top games to the PC - with the usual slight delay of two years. While most of my companions don't necessarily get prettier over the years, Kratos looks better and better each time. Kratos is not the youngest anymore, he has accumulated a few scars over the years, but I've never seen him as detailed as this time. And of course, the same goes for all the other graphical assets in the game - really well done! God of War Ragnarök isn't all that new though, it was released back in 2022. You've already been able to play it on the PlayStation 4 - with 30 FPS. Or on the PlayStation 5 with 60 FPS. But it only looks really good on PC. The PC version plays fantastically with DLAA, Nvidia DLSS 3.7 or AMD FSR 3.1 and on an ultrawide monitor (or under 4K). Rich gaming freaks can play with three monitors in 48:9.

The story picks up where it left off in Gods of War. If you haven't played the (highly recommended) predecessor, you can view a summary of the story so far in the game's start menu. At the start of the current game, Kratos, the former god of war, and his son Atreus are hiding out in the wintry Northlands, with the somewhat mobility-impaired but very eloquent Mimir living with them in the wooden hut. Freya also hangs around the area and is somehow angry with Kratos after he killed her son (in the previous game). She would like to kill Kratos and tries to do so at every opportunity. In addition, wild men who have become animals make the area unsafe. Atreus' favorite wolf, Fenrir, is seriously ill, and the pubescent Atreus is making life difficult for his father Kratos and wants a change of scenery. Kratos is torn by grief for Atreus' mother and his desire to protect their son.

One day, while Atreus is discovering his magical powers, which he cannot yet really control, Thor drops by for a glass of mead. He also has his hammer with him. Odin then joins the party and makes Kratos an offer of peace, which Kratos rejects, causing the situation to escalate somewhat. And so begins the journey of Kratos and his son Atreus, who must travel to nine realms to perhaps avert the end of the world (Ragnarök) after all. The scope of the game is enormous, the individual realms are all in different regions with their own fauna and flora. After the snowy north, you enter a region full of foul-smelling swamps destroyed by mining, and later a lava world, water world and desert. The enemies are also varied and there are always challenging boss fights.

You control Kratos from the shoulder view. Kratos can strike with his (icy) axe (slow/fast), block with his shield or throw the axe (and then whistle back again). He fights some opponents better with his (fiery) swords, which he can also use to move large objects. He uses quick dodge rolls to get out of danger and instructs his son to shoot at individual enemies with his bow. When he is not fighting, he explores the area and finds, usually in areas slightly off the main path, resources for later upgrades to his equipment. As beautifully designed as the levels are - you really can't complain graphically - many of the environments are quite linear. You move along the designated path, enjoy more or less long cutscenes, fight enemies, find resources. You improve your armor, upgrade Kratos' Leviathan axe, his swords or shield, Atreus' bow and also learn a whole host of different new skills.

Despite all the fuss, God of War Ragnarök is essentially a hack and slash game. Enemies must be defeated every few meters in order to progress. Fortunately, the enemies are quite varied. Your enemies are nowhere near as dangerous as in a typical soulslike, but they're still not just cannon fodder that you can dispose of with mindless button-mashing. Two or three hits from one of the smaller enemies might not kill you, but even the former god of war can't take an infinite number of hits. And you can take hits quite quickly, especially if, as is so often the case, you are not fighting a single opponent but are surrounded by a whole pack. You will also encounter larger opponents (mini-bosses) relatively often, which have their own life bar at the top of the screen and take a lot of hits before they finally die.

Conclusion:
Apart from the good technical implementation, God of War Ragnarök is also an extremely elaborate, extensive and playfully excellent action adventure. As Kratos, it is simply fun to artfully dismember enemies with his magical axe or flaming swords and explore the mythological world together with his son Atreus. Kratos is taciturn like the action heroes from the 80s, muscle-bound like Arnold of old, and he clearly fights on the side of good (at least in this part). There aren't many better hack and slash action-adventure games at the moment.

[table][th] Review by [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/34633003-Gaming-Masterpieces/lists/] Gaming Masterpieces [/url] - The greatest games of all time on Steam. [/th][/table] Is this game a masterpiece?. YES! Sony brought the next of its exclusive PlayStation top games to the PC - with the usual slight delay of two years. While most of my companions don't necessarily get prettier over the years, Kratos looks better and better each time. Kratos is not the youngest anymore, he has accumulated a few scars over the years, but I've never seen him as detailed as this time. And of course, the same goes for all the other graphical assets in the game - really well done! God of War Ragnarök isn't all that new though, it was released back in 2022. You've already been able to play it on the PlayStation 4 - with 30 FPS. Or on the PlayStation 5 with 60 FPS. But it only looks really good on PC. The PC version plays fantastically with DLAA, Nvidia DLSS 3.7 or AMD FSR 3.1 and on an ultrawide monitor (or under 4K). Rich gaming freaks can play with three monitors in 48:9. The story picks up where it left off in Gods of War. If you haven't played the (highly recommended) predecessor, you can view a summary of the story so far in the game's start menu. At the start of the current game, Kratos, the former god of war, and his son Atreus are hiding out in the wintry Northlands, with the somewhat mobility-impaired but very eloquent Mimir living with them in the wooden hut. Freya also hangs around the area and is somehow angry with Kratos after he killed her son (in the previous game). She would like to kill Kratos and tries to do so at every opportunity. In addition, wild men who have become animals make the area unsafe. Atreus' favorite wolf, Fenrir, is seriously ill, and the pubescent Atreus is making life difficult for his father Kratos and wants a change of scenery. Kratos is torn by grief for Atreus' mother and his desire to protect their son. One day, while Atreus is discovering his magical powers, which he cannot yet really control, Thor drops by for a glass of mead. He also has his hammer with him. Odin then joins the party and makes Kratos an offer of peace, which Kratos rejects, causing the situation to escalate somewhat. And so begins the journey of Kratos and his son Atreus, who must travel to nine realms to perhaps avert the end of the world (Ragnarök) after all. The scope of the game is enormous, the individual realms are all in different regions with their own fauna and flora. After the snowy north, you enter a region full of foul-smelling swamps destroyed by mining, and later a lava world, water world and desert. The enemies are also varied and there are always challenging boss fights. You control Kratos from the shoulder view. Kratos can strike with his (icy) axe (slow/fast), block with his shield or throw the axe (and then whistle back again). He fights some opponents better with his (fiery) swords, which he can also use to move large objects. He uses quick dodge rolls to get out of danger and instructs his son to shoot at individual enemies with his bow. When he is not fighting, he explores the area and finds, usually in areas slightly off the main path, resources for later upgrades to his equipment. As beautifully designed as the levels are - you really can't complain graphically - many of the environments are quite linear. You move along the designated path, enjoy more or less long cutscenes, fight enemies, find resources. You improve your armor, upgrade Kratos' Leviathan axe, his swords or shield, Atreus' bow and also learn a whole host of different new skills. Despite all the fuss, God of War Ragnarök is essentially a hack and slash game. Enemies must be defeated every few meters in order to progress. Fortunately, the enemies are quite varied. Your enemies are nowhere near as dangerous as in a typical soulslike, but they're still not just cannon fodder that you can dispose of with mindless button-mashing. Two or three hits from one of the smaller enemies might not kill you, but even the former god of war can't take an infinite number of hits. And you can take hits quite quickly, especially if, as is so often the case, you are not fighting a single opponent but are surrounded by a whole pack. You will also encounter larger opponents (mini-bosses) relatively often, which have their own life bar at the top of the screen and take a lot of hits before they finally die. [u][b] Conclusion:[/b][/u] Apart from the good technical implementation, God of War Ragnarök is also an extremely elaborate, extensive and playfully excellent action adventure. As Kratos, it is simply fun to artfully dismember enemies with his magical axe or flaming swords and explore the mythological world together with his son Atreus. Kratos is taciturn like the action heroes from the 80s, muscle-bound like Arnold of old, and he clearly fights on the side of good (at least in this part). There aren't many better hack and slash action-adventure games at the moment.