In 2022, Santa Monica Studio and PlayStation launched God of War Ragnarok for PS4 and PS5. A monumental achievement, God of War Ragnarok wowed gamers with its captivating story, stunning visuals and visceral combat that successfully built the revolutionary 2018 God of War game. Two years later, PC gamers get a chance to see what all the fuss is about God of War Ragnarokand I'm happy to report that the PC port lives up to expectations.
There have been a few misses, but for the most part, PlayStation's PC ports have successfully brought the company's best games to the platform. God of War Ragnarok is another of PlayStation's high-quality PC ports, and as long as one has a powerful enough platform, they can get an experience on par or even better than what was achieved on the PS5. The game is polished to a shine, with near-perfect performance and the same incredible graphics as its PlayStation counterpart. Of course, the best graphics in the world don't mean much if the game doesn't support it, but God of War Ragnarok delivers in that arena as well.
God of War Ragnarok features strong action similar to the 2018 game, with a shoulder-mounted camera and up-close and personal hack and slash action. Ragnarok expands Kratos' arsenal as the game goes on, with the titular God of War finally able to wield an infinitely respawning spear that shakes things up considerably. Kratos primarily uses his weapons to dispatch the many different enemies he encounters on his journey, but they are also used for puzzle-solving purposes, such as when players need to freeze something using the Leviathan Ax, for example .
God of War RagnarokIts PC port introduces a great quality-of-life feature when it comes to solving puzzles. While the original PlayStation version of the game had Atreus and other characters quickly step in with puzzle solutions before players could even pick up a game of them, Ragnarok it gives players the option to turn off help, which is a nice touch that really allows players to tailor the experience to suit their tastes.
God of War Ragnarok is best played with a DualSense controller
Otherwise, God of War Ragnarok on PC it's basically the same experience as the PlayStation version. God of War Ragnarok it does, of course, have some PC-exclusive features like ultra-wide support and the option to play with a mouse and keyboard, but nothing that would necessarily make it worth double-dipping for those who already own the game on console. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend that PC gamers forget about playing with a mouse and keyboard and get their hands on a PS5 DualSense controller instead. while God of War Ragnarok it's certainly playable with a mouse and keyboard setup, as well as a variety of other PC-compatible controllers (I mainly tested the game on PC using an Xbox controller), nothing beats playing with a DualSense. Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers add an extra layer of immersion to the game's combat and it's simply the best way to play God of War Ragnarok.
Those who have never played God of War Ragnarok are in for an incredible ride with the PC version. Ragnarok sees Kratos and Atreus at odds with the Norse gods Odin and Thor after the events of the 2018 game. What follows is a heart-pounding adventure that sees Kratos, Atreus and their companions explore the Nine Realms in an effort to stop the apocalypse prophesied RagnarokHis story is truly gripping and easily one of the best the series has offered to date. It's full of brilliant character interactions and shocking twists that will ensure players are completely engrossed from start to finish, minus a few pacing issues here and there.
I think so God of War Ragnarok it's a near perfect game until a certain Atreus section. I don't want to go into spoilers for those who haven't played Ragnarok forward, but know that the game loses a lot of momentum at a certain point when Atreus becomes the main playable character. This section of the game is tedious and can make the runtime feel a bit bloated, though I will say that it ends with one of the most memorable boss fights of the entire game. God of War series. It also introduces an interesting new character, so it's a shame that the gameplay for this section is pretty boring compared to the rest of the game.
We tested God of War Ragnarok using a PC powered by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-core 3.70GHz processor, and 32.0GB of RAM.
Besides, it's hard to find fault God of War Ragnarok. It's an amazing, long journey, full of wonderful sights to see, memorable battles to participate in, and tons of secrets to find. The puzzles are great and even better in the PC version without Kratos' companions ruining the solutions, the worlds are fun to explore, and the story is one of the best in gaming history. However, there is a flaw with the PC version God of War Ragnarok which fans should be aware of.
God of War Ragnarok's PSN requirement is disappointing
Unfortunately, God of War Ragnarok requires a PlayStation Network account on PC. God of War Ragnarok it's strictly a single-player game, and so it's not clear why Steam users are required to have a PSN account. It's true that it doesn't take too long to create an account or connect an existing one, but it's still an inconvenience that seems like it could have been easily avoided, given previous PlayStation games that landed on Steam without such a requirement . One benefit of this is that it allows players to play with a PlayStation overlay that unlocks trophies at the same time as Steam achievements.
PC gamers who can look into the past God of War RagnarokHis PSN account requirement will have a great time with the game. But there's even more to play once the main story is done. God of War RagnarokIts PC port includes Valhalla mode at launch, meaning PC players can get the full experience out of the gate. Valhalla, for the uninitiated, is a special merge game mode God of War Ragnarok battles with roguelike elements to tell a unique story set after the events of the base game. Valhalla was a free update for the PlayStation version of the game, so it's not like it adds any extra monetary value to Ragnarokhis PC port, but it's still nice to get the whole package at once.
God of War Ragnarok will give PC gamers their money's worth and then some. It's a long adventure and one of Kratos' biggest outings to date. However, there are some pacing issues and the PSN account requirements are a letdown. Sony is unlikely to drop the latter, so PC gamers looking to enjoy the company's games without buying a PS5 should keep that in mind.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PC, PS4 and PS5. Game Rant received a PC code for this review.
