Completed the main campaign last night. I timed it when my wife was out of town so that I can use the TV loudspeakers and turn off the light and couple it with a Jim Beam.
I was so pleasantly surprised by how well it stuck the landing. I generally dislike most game endings because they end up two things that annoy me:
1- Stacking enemies, waves and waves of combat, to extend the play time and create a false sense of climax when it's just annoying and I wanna get to the end
2- Use shortcuts like nonsensical changes of hearts, deus ex machinas or stupid "twists" that are cheap ways to just end the narrative
Ragnarok side steps both brilliantly. Yes, there are waves and waves of enemies but I didn't mind because I did lots of side stuff so I had a nice shiny armor and whatever so I didn't even have to drop the difficulty down like I normally do. More importantly, it was packaged in the context of a story that made sense and surrounded it with interactions and cut scenes that truly made it feel both epic and touching.
I cannot praise the story pacing of the main campaign enough. I mean- cut scenes that are both deeply impactful and never out-stay their welcome (hello Japanese video games, please take a freaking hint).
I'm trying to be spoiler-free but if I say that "Ragnarok" happens at the end of Ragnarok we cool right? Anyways, the whole lead up to it, the setup and delivery and denouement... *chef's kiss*
When I think about good games that end poorly, with like B.S. level designs and enemy waves, the old GoW games are a primary example, especially GoW3. That makes that awesome ending of this game even that much sweeter.
I kind of wish I wasn't dead set on platinum because it would feel very rewarding to just not play this any more. But if a game I like has trophies that don't depend on difficulty setting or replaying the game, I just can't help myself.