God of War Ragnarok’s launch is right around the corner, and excitement surrounding the game is continuing to mount. Sony and Santa Monica Studio have kept things pretty close to the vest when it comes to revealing new details about the game, but as we approach its release, plenty of new information has emerged from the developers themselves, as well as from a recent round of hands-on previews. Here, we’re going to go over a few of those new details.
MORE BRUTAL COMBAT
God of War as a franchise has always been know for its brutal combat, and even though the 2018 title ended up changing a lot of things, that brutality was something that obviously persevered. Ragnarok, meanwhile, is not only going to keep that going, it’s actually going to up the ante- as you’d expect from a sequel. As per the developers, the combat is going to be much more visceral this time around, and more in line with what you might remember from older God of War titles. Speaking with Vandal about the same, combat designer Mihir Sheth said, “We’ve increased the levels of brutality in God of War Ragnarok considerably, and I think that’s something that makes certain aspects of the game more fun. In God of War 2018, when you get the Blades of Chaos you don’t get many chances to see these weapons do the kind of things that they did in the classic God of War. The way they took down enemies was very brutal and that It ‘s something that we wanted to bring back in God of War Ragnarok, so the system that allows you to stun the enemy and grab them with R3 to execute them is much more brutal now and uses much more the ax and the Blades of Chaos to perform the executions.”
NEW ABILITIES
Combat is being expanded in several ways in God of War Ragnarok, and new abilities are obviously a part of that. We’ve previously spoken about weapon signature moves, and new details on those have also recently emerged. Holding triangle while you’ve got the Leviathan Axe equipped will activate Frost Awaken, which will apply additional Frost damage to both ranged and melee attacks with the weapon. Similarly, with the Blades of Chaos equipped, repeatedly pressing the triangle button will see Kratos spinning the chained blades to stoke their flames for similar elemental effects. There’s also Death from Above, a new ability where Kratos can sprint and leap off of a higher ledge and smash the enemies below with a furious strike.
BIFROST DAMAGE
Another new combat mechanic being introduced in God of War Ragnarok is Bifrost damage, which seems to be specific to one enemy type- the Einherjar, warriors loyal to Asgard. Einherjar can unleash special attacks that’ll inflict Bifrost damage, which functions quite uniquely. While it doesn’t do any damage at first, it marks a chunk of your health bar in purple, and the next time you get hit, that entire chunk is depleted in one go. Avoiding Bifrost damage against these foes will be key, but if you do get inflicted with it, make sure you’re extra quick to pull the trigger on dodges, parries, and blocks.
SONIC ARROWS
Atreus’ different kinds of arrows were a big part of the gameplay in God of War (2018), and it seems like that will continue in Ragnarok with new arrow types. While we don’t know the full extent of how many types there will be, one that Sony has revealed so far is Sonic Arrows. Not only can Sonic Arrows stun enemies, they can also be used to destroy certain objects in the environment, which means they’re going to have an important role to play when it comes to exploration as well.
GRAPPLE
God of War Ragnarok also seems to be making improvements where traversal is concerned, and one particular new addition has really caught the eye. Many of the older God of War games saw Kratos using the Blades of Chaos as a grapple of sorts to fling him across gaps and to higher ledges, and that’s something that Ragnarok is seemingly bringing back exactly as is. How extensively will this be used, and in how many different ways? Will players also be able to make use of the grapple in combat sections, perhaps combining it with attacking moves like the aforementioned Death from Above? That remains to be seen.
LOST LOOT CHEST
Brok and Sindri are obviously returning and will continue to be pivotal characters. When it comes to gameplay, they will once again serve as the game’s hub for upgrading weapons and equipment. This time, however, they’ll also be helpful in another new way. Their shops will have special loot chests, where players will be able to find any items that you may have accidentally missed or left lying on the battlefield. Rather than having to comb through environments to make sure that doesn’t happen, you can just pick that stuff up from these lost loot chests.
ENEMIES
God of War Ragnarok is building upon the foundations of its predecessor’s combat in several ways, and one of those is by significantly expanding its roster of enemy types (which was one of the areas where the 2018 title was found lacking by many). Already, we’ve seen quite a few different enemy types in the footage that has been released for the game so far, and we’d wager there’s still plenty more that we’re yet to see. The prospect of coming up against varied threats that force you to adapt your combat strategies is certainly an exciting one.
THOR
God of War (2018) was a little light on boss fights (especially by God of War standards) but it seems like that’s not going to be the case in Ragnarok. As per the game’s many recent previews, in fact, the first few hours alone will feature multiple boss fights, a few of which have already been revealed. One of them is, of course, a dramatic battle with Thor, which will apparently take place across a number of different icy locations and will even see Kratos and the Aesir brute flying through the air and trading hefty blows. Thor, of course, will be equipped with the mighty Mjolnir, using which he’ll be doling out several deadly electricity-infused attacks.
BJORN
Another boss battle in the early hours of the game will see Kratos going up against a might bear named Bjorn. Though not as high-stakes as Kratos’ showdown versus Thor, it seems like it’s going to be a tense fight nonetheless. Interestingly, it seems like the fight will also introduce another new combat mechanic called “block break attacks”. When an enemy is about to unleash one of these attacks, a yellow circle will flash around it. If you block these attacks, though you will avoid taking damage, you’ll be left vulnerable to a follow-up- so make sure you get your timing right specifically for parries for these moves.
DREKI
Another boss fight in the game’s early section will see Kratos going up against a Dreki, which is described as a crocodile-like dragon creature. Not only can it use its vicious tail and its massive fangs to deadly effect for attacks up-close, it can also dole out electricity based attacks that can temporarily lock you in place if you don’t avoid them, leaving you temporarily vulnerable.
PS5 GRAPHICS MODES
God of War Ragnarok might be a cross-gen game, but it’s looking absolutely gorgeous from all that we’ve seen so far, and if you play the game on a PS5, you’re going to able to choose between four different graphics modes. These will target 4K at 30 FPS, 60 FPS, 4K at 40 FPS, and 120 FPS, with the latter two requiring HDMI 2.1 support. Details on resolution targets for the 60 FPS and 120 FPS modes are currently unknown, while it also remains to be seen how the game will look and run on PS4 and PS4 Pro.
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