I collected credits in God of War Ragnarök this week, and as I reflected on my 30-hour journey with the game, I quickly came to the conclusion that it was one of the best PS5 games to date, if not the best.
This is no small achievement. While most of the major PS5 titles so far have been overlapping and also available on PS4 – and this includes God of War Ragnarök – the last two years of gaming have been fairly solid in my eyes. Some have argued that this generation started slow but I loved games like Elden Ring, Deathloop, Returnal, and It Takes Two. But the god of war Ragnarok leads them all.
However, if there’s one criticism I can make about Kratos’ latest adventure, it’s that it offers very little new. And this has become a growing trend among Sony’s exclusive first-party lineup. The current collection of PlayStation Studios games on PS5 consists almost entirely of sequels. And I’m starting to itch about something really new.
God of War Ragnarök is a historical title
First, if you’re going to overwhelm me, I need to talk a little bit about God of War Ragnarök. I fell in love with God of War (2018), and when I revisited it earlier this year on PS5, it was a stark reminder of what an impressive game it is – yet its sequel arguably outshines it.
The surprise factor is certainly off, but Ragnarok looks like a much more confident game. Her narrative is more ambitious with greater scope and greater thematic depth, not to mention that she manages to properly flesh out her supporting cast without neglecting Kratos and Atreus in the process.
The gameplay improvements are mostly minor, but I really appreciate the more streamlined gear upgrade system. And without spoilers, using the additional weapon that you unlock in the second half of the game is very fun. I wish it was available earlier.
Special mention should also be made of the quality of the side content this time around. I found the optional missions in God of War (2018) to be a bit frustrating, and after a few hours I focused mainly on the main campaign. In Ragnarok, I would constantly stop by to help different spirits in distress or to collect some of the ethereal oddities of a talking squirrel.
My colleague Tony Polanco described the game as “the definition of a must-have title” in his excellent God of War Ragnarok review, a sentiment I echo very much. If you own a PS5 God of War, Ragnarök is an essential purchase. But to be honest, you probably don’t need any convincing from me, you’re probably already playing it yourself.
Sony is obsessed with sequels
As much as I love God of War Ragnarök, and the lineup of PS5-exclusive games we’ve been dealing with Sony for the past couple of years in general, there’s no denying that the latest production from PlayStation Studios has been pretty heavy-handed.
From Horizon Forbidden West to Spider-Man Miles Morales and Gran Turismo 7 to Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, many of the PS5’s biggest releases have been sequels. Even the likes of Demon’s Souls and The Last of Us Part I are remakes of pre-existing games. Not to mention the bloated next-gen ports of Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding.
In terms of original titles from PlayStation Studios on PS5, we only have two so far: Returnal and Sackboy: A Big Adventure. And the latter is set within the world of LittleBigPlanet, so it’s technically an offshoot of a pre-existing IP rather than an entirely new, original video game.
I do not immediately reject any of these titles. In fact, I’ve played with all of them (except for Gran Turismo 7) and liked every one of them. However, I began to feel the sensation of repetition slowly but surely. And I felt this intensely when I made my way through Horizon Forbidden West earlier this year.
While I adored my first 15 hours with the game, the next 20 hours were a bit daunting, at least sometimes. I still won the Platinum Cup, so obviously I enjoyed the game enough to move forward. But I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I was playing something so familiar. This is probably because the game doesn’t do much to separate itself from its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn. Although God of War Ragnarök doesn’t evolve much either and I haven’t had the same problem there.
I want more games like Returnal
There is only one game in the PS5 exclusive lineup that can give God of War Ragnarök a run for its money in My Books: Returnal.
This replayable subtle red was my personal pick for GOTY 2021, an experience I still find myself recalling up to 18 months since its launch. Its combination of bullet hell challenge gameplay, an intriguing narrative and a visually stunning world is intoxicating, and overcoming many challenging enemy encounters was incredibly satisfying.
It’s also featured in the lineup of PS5 exclusives as something completely new. Sure, it clearly takes inspiration from a number of other games, but it’s an original title surrounded by sequels and maybe that’s why I’m still thinking about it after all this time. Going forward, I’d like to see more games like Returnal from PlayStation Studio.
To be clear, I’m not talking about a return sequel here – although I absolutely wish I had one of those. What I mean is that I am eager to see many talented studios under PlayStation ownership making their own original game which is not a sequel to one of his previously successful efforts.
The future looks bright for PS5 exclusives
Given what’s currently cooked up in many PlayStation Studios developers, I might get my wish.
In recent months, there have been unconfirmed rumors that both Bend Studios and Naughty Dog are working on brand new original games that won’t be tied to any pre-existing franchises.
In addition, Sony acquired Haven Studios Earlier this year, the Montreal-based studio was reportedly developing a Sony-focused multiplayer game. At least, that’s sure to feel fresh given that Sony’s first-party production has been mostly single-player focused in recent years.
Of course, there are still plenty of PS5 sequels in the works, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I am not advocating that all follow-ups or spin-offs be canceled in the future. Ideally, I’d like to see a mix of sequels and original titles launched on PS5 in the coming years.
I’m really excited about Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games, and Horizon: Call of the Mountain will probably be my first PS VR2 game – assuming I’m able to pre-order the PS VR2 next week.
Over the years, first-party developers from Sony have created dozens of amazing worlds and characters, and I obviously don’t want to see them all disappear. But I also want PlayStation Studios to imagine new worlds and introduce us to a new character that we will grow equally with as well.
Hopefully when we look back at the PS5 generation in a few years, we’ll see a bunch of new and familiar exclusives.
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