This is the first time I've been playing the new God of War games. I started the 2018 one a while ago and then dropped it because I found it hard to adjust to some of the gameplay differences between it and the earlier ones. Mainly the lack of a jump, which I had some real trouble getting used to. There were so many times when I wanted to close the distance to an enemy with a jump before I realized, right, we can't do this anymore. Now, having given it another try, I warmed up to it when the combat opened up a bit and I started to adjust to it.
I mean, there are many ways in which these games are a departure from the old GoW trilogy in regards to pacing, narrative, presentation and everything but I like to think of myself as open minded when it comes to these things. As long as I don't end up with something like Zelda: Skyward Sword, I'm happy getting something different. GoW 2018 had some bold decisions, mainly starting what is pretty much a redemption arc for Kratos who, by the end of the old trilogy, was probably one of the least sympathethic player characters in any high budget game.
Putting him in the role of a single parent was certainly not an obvious place to take the character and you really gotta give the writers some credit that he managed to come out of it with his dignity intact. I felt the game occasionally kind of acknowledged that there is something inherently comedic to that entire premise but it was still something I could accept as an evolution of the series. I ended up enjoying GoW 2018 quite well. I think the actual action was easily on par with that of the old games. And the entire single shot approach to cutscenes provided some visually breathtaking sequences.
Ragnarök so far seems to improve on the previous games mechanics in most ways, but is also the kind of sequel to obsessively add more capital S Stuff, a lot of which feels a bit like bloat. I'm saying this having just finished a segment that has best encapsulated my two biggest issues with the game so far. The second sequence in which you control Atreus, the one that introduces a love interest for him. One being that a lot of the dialogue feels modern in some of the worst ways. Atreus usually gets the worst of it, talking way too much like a modern day teenager. His dialogue with Angrboda gets... pretty painful. I'm probably meant to find the awkwardness endearing, but I mostly found the awkwardness awkward.
The other problem is that the segment seemed to go on forever. The word "indulgence" comes to mind. It's the sort of thing that made me wish the game would just get on with it already. A writer could, surely, explain to me how every single bit of it is important for Atreus' character development. And an editor could surely explain to them how some of it just wasn't necessary.
I don't begrudge the series for taking a plot heavier direction, but in Ragnarök that newly found plot focus sometimes seems to be at the detriment of its virtues as an action game. An impression I never got with the 2018 game. I don't think Ragnarök is bad or anything, I just question some of its priorities.