Santa Monica Studio's fantastic God of War remains one of the best games of the previous generation of consoles. Naturally, a sequel has been commissioned and will be expanding on the story and gameplay presented in its predecessor. While it may be an award-winning title, though, there are definitely low points as well.
These were excusable in God of War due to the game being a soft reboot of the series. However, bringing the same flaws forward for the sequel would be a big mistake on the developer's part. To this end, it’s worth recapping these mistakes in the hope that they won't be repeated next time around.
Updated January 14, 2022, by Tom Bowen: 2022 is set to be a huge year for the God of War franchise for a few different reasons. As well as the series finally coming to PC after more than a decade and a half of PlayStation exclusivity, a sequel to the 2018 soft-reboot should also have been released by the time the year comes to an end. Unlike its predecessor, God of War Ragnarök won't be available on PC (at least not at launch, anyway), with only PS4 and PS5 versions announced at the time of writing. Series fans will be hoping that Kratos' next outing avoids some of the many mistakes made by the previous God of War game, particularly those relating to its world and narrative.
12 Restricting Player Movement
Although God of War PS4 did bring some control of the camera, Kratos was far more limited in his move set. Due to the narrative’s insistence on a single-shot camera presentation, gameplay is also restricted thanks to the complete lack of diversity in combat and control of the main character.
The next game needs to look into empowering the players during their playthrough, as restricted movement hinders replay of the game. Even during the story, having more access to controlling the character will allow the gameplay to have a better flow rather than players having to get used to Kratos’ movements.
11 Limiting The Available Realms
Unfortunately, certain Nordic realms are completely sealed off in God of War (2018), with Midgard and some of the more morbid areas the only ones available to Kratos and Atreus. The mistake the game made was not necessarily skipping them, but instead making players believe that areas like Asgard would eventually be unlocked due to their inclusion on the wheel in Tyr's Temple.
Kratos has made some pretty bad decisions during his time and not exploring all nine of the Nordic realms might be worthy of inclusion. The sequel should make sure that all of these areas are accessible in order to show the dramatic differences between them and make the heroes’ journey even larger in scale.
10 Providing Plot Hooks Without Delivering On Them
Despite God of War (2018) bringing an entirely new story, there are more unresolved questions than points established. The general outline of the game had to do with providing several hooks for fans to follow, only to avoid resolving them at the end.
It would be an even bigger mistake for the sequel to engage in such practice, seeing as fans have waited years for these plot points to be resolved. In any case, having so many story hooks isn’t the best method since it only leaves an incomplete feeling for the viewer.
9 Not Making Atreus A More Dynamic Playable Character
It was a missed opportunity in God of War (2018) not to capitalize on Atreus, with the game making the mistake of placing him only as an AI-controlled archery option. This reduced his relevance during gameplay since many didn’t really feel the need to use him all that much.
With the story hinting at Atreus taking the reins of the lead from Kratos, it would be the wrong move to again limit him as a side option in gameplay. Fans already expect a lot from Atreus and his effectiveness in gameplay should be expanded rather than be restricted.
8 Bringing Too Many Low-Scale Boss Fights
One of the selling points of the original God of War games was the sense of scale in the boss fights. These were larger-than-life and really drove him the magnitude of Kratos’ battles. In God of War (2018), however, characters were on the smaller side, be it Kratos’ allies or his foes.
It’s the wrong move to make boss fights so low-key since the average God of War fan expects these battles to be grand in execution. The next title needs to bring back the original series’ flair for high-octane bosses, especially during the first quarter of the game.
7 Placing The Open-World As A Secondary Option
The majority of big-budget games from the past decade or so have been open-world offerings. With that in mind, it came as little surprise when God of War (2018) followed suit, although it was a bit of a misfire in this area due to the open-world being far too dull for players to really want to engage with it.
It’s clear the open-world was always supposed to be secondary to the story, which shouldn’t be the case next time around. The sequel needs to incorporate the sandbox style into the plot, or at least make the free environment more vibrant so that players want to explore and extend their playthrough.
6 Forcing Players into Boats
Exploration is supposed to be fun, but there's nothing enjoyable about being stuck in a boat as Kratos and Atreus sail aimlessly around the Lake of the Nine. Okay, that's not entirely true, as Mimir's encyclopedic knowledge of Norse mythology does help to improve the experience a little, but there's only so much that the severed head can really do.
Driving around in GTAV or using Rico Rodriguez's iconic wingsuit and grappling hook in the Just Cause titles is arguably every bit as enjoyable as engaging with those games' main stories, if not more so. The same cannot be said about sailing, so if Ragnarök is to be another open-world title, the developers really need to find a more eloquent way of dealing with travel or, at the very least, minimize the amount of time spent in boats.
5 Lack Of Significance To Side Missions
When it comes to open-world games with the best side missions, God of War (2018) ranks surprisingly well. However, the title didn’t do as much as it could have where the stakes were involved, with side missions only laid for fun without substance.
In order to improve in this area, the next entry should make the side missions part of the story. This can be done by making it necessary for Kratos to complete these quests to empower himself in his journey. Alternatively, side missions can have a bearing in the plot where useful exposition is provided upon completion.
4 Keeping The Runtime Short
The gaming landscape has evolved significantly and it’s not endearing anymore to keep the plot so much in focus that gameplay is impacted. God of War (2018) didn’t understand this aspect, delivering a runtime of about ten hours and slightly more, which hinders its replay value.
The sequel has to avoid this since expectations are so high that smaller runtimes will sour the experience. The game needs to be around twice the length of its predecessor or will make the same mistake of being a limited offering whose fun factor doesn’t last long.
3 Poor Save File Management
Regardless of whether or not Ragnarök ends up being a little on the short side, the developers should really look into making improvements when it comes to the way that players manage their save files. For a big-budget first-party exclusive — not to mention a game that derives much of its value from its replayability — God of War (2018) does a truly abysmal job in this regard.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that players are unable to delete a manual save file in the event that they accidentally create a new one; something that's surprisingly easy to do due to the default cursor position. It is possible to overwrite a save file if needed, but for those looking to keep things neat and tidy, this is a far from eloquent solution. Players should also be able to see things like playtime, difficulty settings, and resources without needing to load up a save.
2 A Big Twist In The Story Very Late In The Game
By this point, everyone is aware of the events that will lead to Ragnarök. Changing this up with a twist will be the wrong move and a repeat of God of War (2018)’s practice. The game changed the perspective of the story by delivering a twist in the closing minutes of Faye’s true plans.
The problem here was that it played around with the fans as a swerve in the story clashed with what players had carried in their minds the whole playthrough. The sequel’s story has already been set up well, so presenting a very late twist will be counterproductive.
1 Making Weapons Too Weak
Sadly, none of the weapons in God of War (2018) really had the same oomph factor as some of the ones found in the original series. The developers mistook power in weapons to be a weakness to the story, with the result being Kratos’ lack of punch in his combat mechanics.
At various points, it seemed as if spamming moves was the only way to go due to weapons feeling powerless. The next title has to feature weapons that are actually worth wielding, especially since Kratos will be going up against even more powerful foes. As the God of War, his weapons should reflect the position of power he’s in.