God of War Ragnarok early gameplay impressions are here! Get the latest and greatest on the highly anticipated action-adventure game.

God of War Ragnarok Gameplay and Hands-On Impressions – First 8 Hours

We’re here to talk about our early impressions of God of War Ragnarok in this video. PlayStation was gracious enough to give us a code quite early, so we will have a full review ready quite soon. For this early God of War Ragnarok impressions video, we were able to play about six hours in total.

At the moment, we cannot capture any specific footage for the video. All of the footage will be from the trailers and media already released by Sony in the various teases. These impressions will also be 100% spoiler-free.

God of War Ragnarok’s Visuals and Performance

To start things off, Ragnarok has a huge visual upgrade when compared to the first title back in 2018. For a bit of perspective, the entire download size on the PlayStation was roughly 98 GB. The download for last-gen will probably be a bit bigger due to the newer console’s excellent compression systems.

The visuals and textures for God of War Ragnarok are absolutely phenomenal. They are definitely some of the best graphics around, and that is to be expected from Santa Monica Studios. Just like on the PS4 Pro, and most modern titles, God of War Ragnarok will come with both a Performance Mode and a Quality/Resolution Mode.

Performance mode is able to achieve very high FPS, and definitely at or extremely close to 60. However, we haven’t been able to measure this officially. Quality Mode hovers around the expected 30 FPS. We chose to experience this game primarily in high-framerate mode.

Do note that all of our experience with Ragnarok was with the PlayStation 5 version. We can’t confirm yet how well the performance mode will run on the last-gen console.

Accessible Accessibility and Other Customization

Ragnarok comes loaded with tons of accessibility options that should be very helpful for those who want and need these features. Similar to The Last of Us 2, Ragnarok has a surprising number of customizations that players can do especially considering this is a console game.

The usual offenders such as Motion Blur, Camera Sway, and Camera Shake can all be toggled on or off. There are even features that can automate some player actions such as Puzzle Assist, Auto Looting, and Auto Movement (such as vaulting over low obstacles). Controls themselves, and the UI and font size can also be adjusted to one’s liking.

Give Me God of War Ragnarok

Of course, everyone’s excited to hear what Ragnarok’s main gameplay loop and combat will feel like. Players who’ve experienced the 2018 version will feel right at home in God of War Ragnarok, as combat is extremely familiar.

Kratos will start out with all three of his weapons from the previous title, specifically the Leviathan Axe, the Blades of Chaos, and the Guardian Shield. Our hero will also have his signature Spartan Rage ability available that players trigger with the L3 button. Kratos’ brutality during these segments is still awe-inspiring, and the ripping and tearing of foes will always be a welcome sight. Runes, equipment drops, and equipment Crafting all make a return in God of War Ragnarok as well.

God of War Ragnarok’s story will pick up right after the epilogue of the first game. Without saying too much, both Kratos and Atreus will be dealing with the ramifications of their choices at the end of God of War (2018).

The Gameplay Progression

In terms of progression, God of War Ragnarok will reintroduce some of the previous game’s systems. Skill trees will be returning, though with a slightly touched-up UI style. As usual, there will be passive and active skills again. Each weapon (as well as Atreus) will still have their own skill trees.

Exploration is also highly similar wherein Kratos and Boy explore large set pieces and then move on to the next area with tons of meaty combat in between. There’s also a return of the handy checklist of collectibles so that God of War Ragnarok players will know that they aren’t missing out on anything. Also, we see that sailing in our little row boat makes a comeback.

Just like the 2018 reboot, God of War Ragnarok will have some light “metroidvania” elements, in which not all obstacles can be overcome the first time encountering them. Kratos and Boy will need to backtrack to previously explored areas when they unlock new and shiny powers.

Overall thoughts

In summary, the first 8 hours of God of War Ragnarok do not seem to have any apparent mechanical differences from the 2018 reboot. The mystery and wonder of the “reboot” and re-learning everything isn’t here in God of War Ragnarok, as it all is very familiar. 

Hopefully, we can still get treated to new things, such as how the 2018 reboot surprised us with the second weapon set. Perhaps more weapons or even new skills would be a nice way to mix things up. Ragnarok is ultimately more of the same, but even better and more polished. This is definitely not a bad thing, especially since everything was already very well done.

We will have our full review for God of War Ragnarok ready in the next couple of weeks. Of course, we will give you all the nitty gritty details but will keep the review as spoiler-free as possible.