Prelude
With how good God of War 2018 was, God of War: Ragnarok was close to half the reason why I bought a PlayStation 5 in the first place. The thought of waiting years to play this game was literally tearing on my mind. The fact that the game came bundled with the console that I bought couldn't have been more perfect.
Having already played and completed 100% of Elden Ring, which actually won the Game of the Year award, and laughed at all the God of War fanboys who review bombed Elden Ring after it won I was quite eager to return to Midgard and find out for myself which of the two games deserved the Game of the Year award more.
Having now completed the game my mind is fully made up.
No
Did God of War: Ragnarok deserve to win the Game of the Year award? I'll let Kratos answer for himself (minor spoiler from the first 10 minutes of the game below):
Seeing as God of War (2018) won back in 2018 it would actually have been quite a travesty if God of War: Ragnarok ended up winning the award the same year something as grand as Elden Ring released. It would simply have been wrong.
From the very beginning God of War: Ragnarok felt like one huge DLC. From a game-play perspective there's basically nothing new and differing from the prequel. They made Kratos forget all his skills, downgraded his weapons, threw away his armor and then expanded on the story. While the new skills you get are different from the prequel they mostly feel the same.
God of War: Ragnarok is simply "more of the good stuff" and in my opinion that is not deserving of winning the Game of the Year award twice in four years. Luckily, "more of the good stuff" still makes for one of the best gaming experiences out there.
The good stuff
The story in God of War: Ragnarok is undeniably fantastic. The seamless transitions between game-play and cutscenes, the lack of loading screens and amazing world design makes it one of the most immersive experiences I've ever had. If there's one award this game, and this game only, deserved it was the Best Narrative award, which it also won.
The world design, as I've already mentioned, is something else in this game. Never have I seen a game that's done world design better. Every location in this game is as atmospheric as it can get. The attention to detail is insane. It's the true definition of Next Generation and I feel like it's gonna take years before we see a game that's going to reach God of War: Ragnaroks level of world design.
The voice acting is also second to none. I'm not sure if there is an award for Best Voice Actor but if there is then God of War: Ragnarok should have won it. Christopher Judge did however win the Best Performance award for his role as Kratos which was very much deserved. They also hit the nail on the head with their voice actor for Odin. Throughout the entire game it was impossible to know if you could trust a single word coming out of his mouth and that's thanks to his voice actor, Richard Schiff.
Every gamer out there deserves to experience a game like this. If you who reads this haven't played this game you need to add it to your bucket list. It doesn't matter if it takes months or years. Just do it. There is no way you can end up regretting it.
There's lots I still have to say about this game but for now I just had to get these few points off my chest. Don't let Kratos trip you on your way out.
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.