We reviewed God of War: Ragnarok

Driftwood
Thursday, November 3, 2022 | 5:00 PM
13 comments

GSY Review PS5 PS4

God of War: Ragnarok is clearly this year's last big exclusive and it will finally be available next week on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5. Contrary to those who managed to get their hands on the game very early because of a retailer, we don't intend to spoil you anything in our video review. It basically means that we have chosen not to talk precisely about a couple of things that are actually a bit fresh in the series. You won't see anything related to that in the footage we recorded and we only captured a few of the early environments to keep you safe from spoilers. Enjoy yhe video and let us know what you think!

Commented on 2022-11-03 17:44:51

Well,you showed more than expected but nothing too bad. Looks great but we don’t know how it would look if PS5 only, does not look like a generational leap. And again, your soothing voice is always a pleasure to listen :D

In reply to

Sdarts

Commented on 2022-11-04 04:17:00

I won't watch the video, but I wanted to say "thank you" for trying to not spoil as much as possible. That's always appreciated. Cheers.

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2022-11-04 20:16:04 In reply to unknownuser0001

Soothing? You didn't watch the English version, did you? Because I think I was in such a rush to record this that I was not very calm and soothing. :D

In reply to

unknownuser0001

Commented on 2022-11-05 08:02:34 In reply to Driftwood

Maybe I’m biased then but I can listen you relaxed, plus you have good observations without spoiling too much :)

In reply to

g4m3er

Commented on 2022-11-05 09:04:23

Although I rarely leave comments, I appreciate your effort!
I don't watch gameplay videos of story driven games that I definitely want to play. :D

In reply to

dc_coder_84

Commented on 2022-11-07 11:42:24

@Driftwood: If I remember correctly you said you're not happy with the skin rendering looking like wax figures. What do you think about the faces in The Last of Us Part I and II? Any video game where do you think it's better?

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2022-11-07 12:05:58 In reply to dc_coder_84

For me it looks better in TLOU Part I and II, but to be fair, they both go for a more realistic rendering, in God of War, it might also be an artistic choice after all.

In reply to

dc_coder_84

Commented on 2022-11-07 17:48:19

I think realistic skin rendering is difficult in general even on modern GPUs. Skin is transparent to a degree and my guess is that this is an important part of the equation. Often when I see girls with makeup they look quite artificial and I think that's because of the loss of transparency. Regarding art direction I think God of War is quite realistic. Hair, fur and skin are all very challenging in 3D graphics. Graphics programmers won't be jobless anytime soon ;)

In reply to

dc_coder_84

Commented on 2022-11-07 18:12:14

John Linneman from Digital Foundry explained the visual improvements. Compared to the prequel we have better water rendering and also improved global illumination via baked lighting. Very nice! As a fan of technology fan I would have liked a PS5 only release but practically a PS4 makes perfect sense due to the very large install base. And PS5 version is still very nice with the high frame rate modes.

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2022-11-07 19:48:56 In reply to dc_coder_84

Yeah the higher frame rates are indeed very welcome, and like he said, we wouldn't have had such smooth frame rates if they had pushed the hardware a lot more to get to that generational visual leap people are hoping for. It's exactly what I was thinking about as I was reviewing the game. Did I fail to mention that the water looks better now? I did say it in the French review, though again, I also said it still look a bit like oil to me. ^^

In reply to

dc_coder_84

Commented on 2022-11-07 21:38:10

In close up the water in God of War Ragnarok has a bit pixel jittery in the distance. I was quite impressed about the water in The Last of Us Part I which was released recently on PS5 with sharp reflections, the waves generated by moving characters and also the overlapping of multiple waves.

In reply to

Ajus

Commented on 2022-12-11 11:30:06

After 5 weeks I finally had some time to watch the review, soooo... considering no one else except the Admin will read this, I'll rate the video: 5/5 straight! You managed to show everything I'd expect from this kind of material without spoiling the plot, which is a very big advantage. I wouldn't call your voice "soothing" this time, as I could hear some emotions there, but it was still nice to hear. I also liked the selection of locations shown and video editing. Really - nothing I could pick at you.
Two big thumbs up, Driftwood - keep up the good work!

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2022-12-11 12:20:27 In reply to Ajus

Thanks man, much appreciated. :)

In reply to

What's up?

Members
Announcements

Loakum Ugh….scratch that previous comment. The upcoming Game of Thrones video game is a F’in mobile phone game. Why can’t they came an open world GoT game, like Witcher 3 or God of War? (5 Weeks ago)
Loakum By FAR, the upcoming Game of Thrones King’s Road was the Game of the Show! It plays like God of War Ragnarok! :) (7 Weeks ago)
Loakum @Driftwood Awesome! I’m loving it! It does show a much crisper picture and the frame rate looks good! I was playing Stella Blade and Dragonball Soarkling Blast! :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood @Loakum: enjoy, the one Sony sent us will be there on launch day. Coverage will follow asap. (> 3 Months ago)
Loakum *takes a large sip of victorious grape juice* ok….my PS5 pro arrived early! So much winning! :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood @reneyvane: non ils l'ont publié le 1er octobre et je crois que tu l'avais déjà linkée. ;) (> 3 Months ago)
reneyvane Factornews à joué à KingdomComeDeliverance2 au Gamescom 2024 mais ne publie sa preview que maintenant ? [url] (> 3 Months ago)

Driftwood Download is now functional again on Gamersyde. Sorry for the past 53 days or so when it wasn't. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood Another (French) livestream today at 2:30 CEST but you're welcome to drop by and speak English. I will gladly answer in English when I get a chance to catch a breath. :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood GSY is getting some nice content at 3 pm CEST with our July podcast and some videos of the Deus Ex Mankind Divided preview build. :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood For once we'll be live at 4:30 pm CEST. Blim should not even be tired! (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood More Quantum Break coverage coming in a few hours, 9:00 a.m CEST. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood We'll have a full review up for Firewatch at 7 pm CET. Videos will only be tomorrow though. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood Tonight's livestream will be at 9:15 GMT+1, not GMT+2 as first stated. (> 3 Months ago)

We reviewed God of War: Ragnarok

12 Gamersyde images

French review (PS5/PS4 Pro)

English review (PS5/PS4 Pro)

All comments (13)

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Avowed

Our video of Sniper Elite Resistance

First glimpse of Eternal Strands

Our PS5 Pro video of Dynasty Warriors Origins