NOTE: This article contains MINOR spoilers for God of War Ragnarok. Proceed at your own risk.2018 god of war the game was a structural overhaul on almost every level from the original games. This was primarily initiated through its over-the-shoulder perspective and an adherence to no camera cuts, but it also had an effect on how combat is oriented with a much more strategic approach to the hack-n’-slash of the original. But while it’s widely considered to be a phenomenal entry in the franchise, there are limitations to the design that lays out the experience. god of war isn’t a platformer, for example, but all the climbing parts are a hit.
A lot of god of warThe game has players traversing Midgard’s Lake of Nine in a slowly rowing boat, and trying to reach the player’s destination can be tedious when these animations take a while to complete. On top of these movement animations, fast travel is also a hit when players are waiting for a portal to appear in the Realm Between Realms, and traveling to another realm means players have to climb all the way into Tyr’s temple and activate the Realm Table. Luckily, God of War Ragnarok has effective quality of life enhancements that greatly enhance players’ experiences in the Nine Realms.
God of War Ragnarok has faster traversal animations
The quality of life improvement that fans first recognize is that there are faster animations during traversal. Many rock walls still have runic paintings on them to guide players where to climb handholds, but there are now many rock walls that players can either jump down from, or quickly repel down with God of War Ragnarok‘s Blades of Chaos. Likewise, the ledges that players bounce down can also immediately rise up with the blades, making navigation short in many areas. If there aren’t back-to-back ledges, there can also be grapple points that players can jump through with the blades as well. This combination of traversing makes areas varied enough that climbing walls actually feels long and few.
Traversing via boat is also much faster, with players able to reach their destinations on water much faster than they had in god of war, and driving a dog sled works just as quickly. In a game where so much revolves around exploration and traversing through different environments, God of War Ragnarokthe moment-to-moment gameplay is much more engaging and satisfying than its predecessor.
God of War Ragnarok’s Realm Travel is now part of Fast Travel
Fast travel between Mystic Gateways and not Tyr’s Temple’s Realm Table is perhaps the most effective quality of life improvement in God of War Ragnarok. IN god of warplayers had to climb into Tyr’s temple and reach the Realm Table, which took a long time to activate while players waited passively.
This is no longer a problem, as players can quickly travel to and from an unlocked realm via a Mystic Gateway. Granted, Mystic Gateways must be unlocked before players can travel there, but once available, fast travel is incredibly convenient. Players must still wait within Realm Between Realm’s small path environment for a portal to appear, but even this waiting room seems to last less time in God of War Ragnarok.
Any limitations the game still has in terms of animation speed or fast travel probably have to do with that fact God of War Ragnarok is not exclusive to current genes. This is evident in the squeeze-through and crouch-under animations characters still perform to reach certain areas, giving environments the ability to load.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.
