Can't find it, either the video's been deleted/taken down, or it's just not showing up in my history for some reason...

Have another secret though. Those that bought the collector's edition got a cloth map with it that had Nordic runes on it that, when translated, leads to a secret treasure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GodofWar/comments/8fam00/the_hidden_secret_treasure_from_brok_and_sindri/

Edit:

Found it! Fuck, that was so hard to find again... Seems no one is talking about it...

 

I had no issue with the text at all.

 

Finished the story at the weekend, although I've still got loads of the game to play; haven't defeated any of the Valkyries yet (fought one, got my ass handed to me, beat a tactical, post-death retreat), various artefact collections, favours and labours to complete, and I haven't been to Muspelheim or Niflheim at all, although I've unlocked them both.

It's easily one of the best games I've played this year, and certainly the best that came out this year. The gameplay is amazing, if occasionally frustrating at more challenging moments (although in all honesty, that's probably more to do with the nasty combination of my stubborn streak and my inability to remember that blocking/parrying is a thing), it all looks stunning, and even though I haven't played any of the previous games, and am therefore - presumably - missing some useful context, I was engaged with the story and characters throughout. I didn't realise how much I cared about Atreus until he fell ill, and then again when he goes through his brooding phase.

Like Republic, I hadn't realised that they had specific plans for a trilogy, rather than open-ended hoping to be able to make sequels, so I was a little surprised at how relatively lowkey (ha) the plot was, but I'm really looking forward to the inevitable sequel. Definite recommendation to anyone who owns a PS4.

 

I think Barlog said it was a five game plot - and given the breadcrumbs, possibly only two more in Midgard and surrounding realms. That would have sent warning signs to me before playing this game, now? Not so much.

 

@Shinysavage I definitely recommend fighting all the Valkyries before getting the gear necessarily to absurdly outlevel them. The Valkyries are challenging but with no RNG involved, such that they're some of the best fun I've had in videogames in years. If you fight them on easy mode you'll do yourself a disservice.

 

Sweet. New Game +

 

Father's day trailer

 

Ragnarok time. I have a whole weekend to do literally nothing else.

 

Truly a game with masterful storytelling. Facial animations and expressions conveyed are just getting next level.

 

Just as good as the first one so far. No Mercy mode is pretty intense. Even the goons can destroy your health bar. Unlikely I'll be doing a maximum difficulty run.

Running around Nidavellir atm. Peter Dinkles where you at bruh?

 

Mfw I realize Kvasir's poems are all little nods to other PS games.

( oOo)

 

Finished the game this morning, very pleased with it overall. The first game was a little better, but it's still a very solid 8.5/10 from me.

As for the problems I have with it, there's really only two of any significance. The first is that the narrative is a little clunky at times, with a couple poorly paced subplots and character arcs that really needed more screentime plus some obvious railroading of the plot (it's mostly minor and some of it is 'the point', but it also pulled me out of the story pretty hard whenever it happened). The grand epic saga is definitely cool, and Kratos/Atreus dynamic and evolution continues to be beyond excellent, but the first game's much more personal, more grounded narrative gave each piece much more room to breathe and was on the whole just better put together. The twists the game puts on the traditional story of Ragnarok are all very cool though, and it's pretty fun the whole way through.

The second issue is the combat. Or more specifically, Kratos' kit. They carried over most of his kit, albeit with a little streamlining, from the first game, with the notable exception of the unarmed skill tree being entirely gone (you can still punch stuff, but punching is exactly the same at the beginning of the game as at the end), and then added a whole slew of new shit on top of it. Unfortunately, most of this new shit doesn't actually add to the experience; it's either finicky additional attacks that you don't need or alternative ways to do things you could already do. It's mostly just there to justify combat designer salaries, and it really detracts from the overall experience. The additions simply overcomplicate it, and by the end of the game, you'll be largely ignoring 60+% of your kit except in very specific scenarios (e.g., sometimes enemies have shields that take extra damage from a specific weapon/attack, so you use that until the shield breaks). It makes a lot of the combat feel clunky and weird because of it.

That said, enemy design and diversity is much improved compared to the first game, with the vast majority, if not all of that game's roster plus half again as many entirely new enemies with their own unique flavor, especially when it comes to bosses and minibosses (there's like half a dozen 'standard' boss types you fight a couple times each, rather than just trolls everywhere, and that's not including the Berserkers, the 12? valkyrie equivalents that are all entirely unique boss fights of their own). So that's really nice. Combined with playing as Atreus for several sections of the game, and the combat never gets boring.

Everything else about it was also pretty sublime. Visual and sound design, music, voice acting, etc was all basically perfect. Special shout out of Christopher Judge, because he fucking nailed his performance, even better than the last time. It was all great.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, putting just over 36 hours in before I finished it, with probably another 12-15 hours of content left to do, between post-game quests, collectathon stuff, and hunting down whatever sidequests I missed, and I had fun in pretty much all of it. But in the end, I definitely think the first game was the better game overall.

 

Ragnarok gonna win GOTY for sure.

Imo, combat has gotten even better. Enemies are way more intelligent and punishing than the first iteration. They actually know how to flank you and stay in your blind spots.


Just got the Draupnir spear for ranged shenanigans and that has been super fun. The only thing that feels clunky is how slow swapping between axe/blades/spear is.

I think storywise, while not as strong as the first game on average, the highpoints are a lot higher. Atreus' whinging has become far less grating, and I love every other character. Freya, Angrboda, and Upper Management Odin have been great.