God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla guides you through an exciting new adventure featuring a reimagined rouge-like gameplay.
We’ve finally been presented with God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla. It’s been a little over a year since greatness was released. God of War Ragnarök took the world by storm for so many reasons. But boy, I tell you, it feels great to be able to play as the son of Zeus again, but this time in a brand-new adventure. Valhalla becomes the epilogue of Game of the Year runner-up, God of War Ragnarök. If you’ve been wondering about what happens after your battle with God Odin, you’ll get your chance by playing the brand-new DLC.
This is a shocker because Santa Monica Studio confirmed that there would not be a DLC last year, and we would only enjoy the game’s initially significant content. With that being said, they’ve clearly made a U-turn and insisted on providing greatness for the fans, and we cannot thank them enough for God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla.
It gets even sweeter when you realize that the DLC is completely free. That’s right, you don’t have to pay a thing for the new content. This is Santa Monica Studio’s thank you card to the fans, and making the content free is their way of showing appreciation to the fans. And we cannot thank them enough for this Christmas gift. However, you must be an owner of God of War Ragnarök to be able to actually play. Of course, it’ll be on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation users, not to fret, the content is also available for you guys.
After the events of God of War Ragnarök, especially your incredible battle with the all-father, Odin, Kratos goes on a very exciting but also personal journey that now involves a brand-new location to the Norse Era, Valhalla. Along the way, immense challenges persistently motivate him to seek the long-awaited answers he’s been looking for in order to come to terms with his past whilst acting as Freya’s new God of War.
Here’s the thing. You’re well within your right to play Valhalla at any time. However, it’s strongly recommended that you finish God of War Ragnarök’s main story before playing the DLC because it was made for those who completed the story, and of course, it contains spoilers. And seeing that it’s the epilogue, this makes sense. Think about this, would you want to ruin the flow of your God of War Ragnarök experience because you decided to jump the gun? Didn’t think so. So, complete the story, and you’re good to go.
Without going into too much detail, but seeing as this is the epilogue, Kratos’ son, Atreus, will not join him on this adventure. And if you haven’t completed the story, you better do so quickly to find out why that is. By the way, do not worry; this review isn’t a spoiler, and it’ll be mainly the changes made. You’ll be pleased that the DLC has a compelling gameplay length. You certainly won’t get anywhere close to the long Ragnarök playthrough, but it isn’t short, either.
God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla is where Kratos will be fighting by himself. So, think of this as going back to the OG God of War times, which is probably why the story has many ties to the previous God of War titles. But you’d still be accompanied by the trusted severed head, Mimir, to provide the likes of assistance and warning shouts whenever you’re on the verge of being attacked.
God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla consists of some changes. Strike that; the DLC has considerable changes that change your God of War experience. Santa Monica Studio has taken a new gameplay approach. You still have the same mechanics, weapons, moves, specials, and so on from Ragnarök, but with a twist.
They had gone and decided to experiment by modifying the game’s combat by including new features, and they used the rogue-like genre as their inspiration to do so. They’ve really put on show an amazing combat and, without a doubt, delivered one of the best third-person combatting systems ever developed.
On top of that, you’re getting more goodies to help you tackle the relentless foes that get in your way. The DLC has also seemingly taken a strong emphasis on preparation and strategy. You’re encouraged to master a variety of skills, abilities, and other facets from Kratos’ Arsenal and now make correct decisions.
In fact, it’s imperative that you do successfully progress on each attempt, especially on the hardest difficulties, as you often face increasingly more challenging combinations of enemies and other surprises that await Kratos, including guaranteed many new enemies prompting you to put a pep on your step.
And speaking of difficulties, God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla introduces a brand-new difficulty called ‘Show me Mastery’, making it five difficulties instead of four. ‘Give Me God of War’ was difficult, but this one just takes things to the next level. If you die even once, you start all over, as in from the beginning of the game. This difficulty can deter any player, but thankfully, your hard work will be rewarded. The harder the difficulty, the more the reward increases as you progress. So, perhaps that may be your incentive?
With the new amended gameplay, you’re placed right back to the shore every time you die. Plus, your stats are reset; the same goes for the Runic attacks and Perks, and you’re allowed to try out other abilities, skills, and so on, rather than the usual recent checkpoints where you previously restart from the battle you’ve lost. As you succeed in each attempt, you’ll be given crucial choices to make between rewards. These rewards will guide you much deeper into the depths of Valhalla and help you build recourses on upgrades simultaneously. Plus, you can change difficulty during play.
Valhalla’s vibrant and attractive location is definitely worth mentioning. Whatever you’re doing, you can’t help but stare at the beautiful designs all around. Plus, there is the remarkable music to support it, as well as the battles you’re in. Huge praise goes to the genius composer Bear McCreary for giving us great music to listen to.
It’s not so often that a DLC would become a masterpiece and be as great as the base game, but God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla is one of the exceptions to the rule. And seeing that it’s Santa Monica Studio, would you really expect anything less? It is a phenomenally written aftermath that puts far too many things into perspective and has fantastically answered many long-lasting questions. Moreover, as an avid God of War fan, it was fantastic to feel good sensations of nostalgia and witness many noticeable references to the previous God of War games.
The new rogue-like gameplay of God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla took a little time to get used to. But after getting used to it, it’s no question that it incredibly adds much more to the DLC, let alone the combat, and overall, an enthralling replayable experience in Valhalla, and would welcome this new type of gameplay in future God of War projects. To top it all off, again, it must be said the DLC is totally free. This is a DLC you’d be happy to pay for, but you don’t need to. Imagine something this great doesn’t require you to reach for your credit card.
