Damn, God Of War Ragnarök’s Opener Still Whips

I’ve been replaying God of War Ragnarök now that it’s on PC, and despite some clear, widespread technical issues with depreciating framerate, this is still fundamentally the same excellent sequel that launched on PlayStation in 2022. I put a few hours into the game again to test how it ran on PC, and revisiting it after a perhaps unwise rushed first playthrough two years ago has compelled me to reassess Ragnarök. In the early moments, before it has a chance to overload itself with too much story for one game, god, it packs a punch. Specifically, it has an incredible, succinct early boss fight that captures the sequel’s new stakes in brilliant fashion, fusing cinematic prestige sensibilities with a clever twist that only a game could pull off. Goddamn, I love the first Thor boss fight in Ragnarök.

Suggested ReadingThe Week In Games: Gold Rings And Ragnarök

Suggested ReadingBefore the actual fight begins, we get a new version of the 2018 God of War’s secret ending, in which Thor comes a-knockin’ on Kratos and Atreus’ door with his lightning-powered hammer in hand. Only this time the god of thunder actually speaks instead of just being all intimidating and shit. Thor towers over Kratos, which sets the tone for a kind of tacit catty dick-waving between the gods gathering in the ramshackle hut. There’s a lot of grunting and slamming shit down, and if the killing intent weren’t so clear I’d say Kratos and Thor could kiss at the slightest push.

Before they even really get down to business, a new god enters the hut to break the silent tension: Odin, the charismatic, flamboyant All-Father of the Norse pantheon. He lays out why they’re here: Odin may not be too broken up over the loss of his grandsons Magni and Modi who died by Kratos’ hand in the previous game, but Baldur, who Kratos also killed, well, he had his uses.. Still, Odin considers himself a reasonable sort and offers a truce between both parties, provided Kratos and his son agree to certain terms, like Atreus giving up a little investigation he’s been pursuing. Kratos responds with a simple “no.” Odin doesn’t argue, and simply tells Thor, “Don’t take all day” as he leaves.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Thor gently tosses his hammer to Kratos, which sends him flying through the roof of his home and into the unrelenting blizzard of Midgard. You immediately get a sense of dissent between Thor and his father, as he repeatedly brings up his son’s death rather than Baldur’s. The disconnect between Odin and the rest of his family is a thread Ragnarök follows for its (too long) run time, but the game’s early hours repeatedly pit parents against other parents in struggles over the lives, deaths, and fates of their children. With these struggles, Ragnarök deftly establishes itself as a tale about familial relationships and their complications, and it’s quite effective at presenting the differing views, dynamics, and philosophies of its numerous parents and children. Thor may be getting what he wants in being allowed to lay Kratos out for the loss of his children, but it’s still only within the limited constraints that his own father, Odin, approves of. Despite Ragnarök losing the plot throughout its run time as it attempts to wrap up a trilogy’s worth of worldbuilding in two games, early on it establishes a wonderful foundation for dissecting harmful family dynamics rooted in patriarchal values of dominance and control.

But even without all those rich, compelling narrative complexities and thematic layers, the Thor boss fight is one of the most memorable moments in Ragnarök because it beautifully marries the prestige-style cinematic storytelling Sony has become known for in a post-Last of Us era with the game design that has always made God of War compelling, even before it had a reflective thought on its carnage.

The encounter takes advantage of the surprise of Thor’s attack by leaving you with only your fists to fight with for its first stage. Thor mocks Kratos for not being able to fight without his ice-powered Leviathan Axe, and even remarks in disbelief that this guy is the one who killed his sons. He taunts you like this until you activate your Spartan Rage power boost, and then he’s intrigued. Then the axe finally makes its way into your hand and it feels like a fair fight as your arsenal gradually rebuilds. That is, until Thor yeets the god of war across Midgard once more.

The gods land in a new arena and Thor starts putting the hammer down. He overpowers Kratos and you’re given a button-mashing prompt to try and push back as Thor tries to slam his weapon down on Kratos’ head, mocking him for any notion he may have had that he could escape his heinous crimes in the Greek pantheon by fleeing into Norse mythology and becoming a father. But no matter how hard you press the circle button (or whatever you’re using on your PC now), Kratos gets a nice hard bop on the head and is knocked right out.

The game’s loading screen pops up as if you’re being taken back to your last checkpoint. Maybe you just weren’t pushing the button fast enough. Try again, bucko. Then Thor’s voice comes booming through your speakers: “Oh no…I say when we’re done.” Then that motherfucker resuscitates Kratos with his hammer for round two. Reader, I was gagged. We all were. Not only is that incredibly cunty on Thor’s part, but it’s also a hilariously clever move from Santa Monica Studio. I spent a lot of this morning watching old reaction videos to this moment and seeing the shock turn to awe in real time never gets old.

I still want to keep playing Ragnarök and give it a second chance. I adored the 2018 reboot, and Ragnarök’s Valhalla DLC is still probably my favorite thing Santa Monica has done. I do think Ragnarök loses its incredible momentum after its incredible opener, but I still have so much love for Kratos and Atreus in my heart, and that cannot be undone by Ragnarök’s bloat. Maybe it’ll be better if I chip away at it instead of devouring it in a week. Then maybe I can better appreciate the moments like this when they come along.