So I finally got around to playing GoW Ragnarok. It came included with my ps5 but somehow I always had something else to play.
It's basically more of GoW 4 but with better graphics and a story that is actually moving fast this time around, which is basically all I ever wanted after that cliffhangery ending. The parts where you play as Atreus were a huge surprise (yes I somehow managed to stay spoiler free about them) and a lot of fun to play as a speedy arcane archer char after 5 games of bashing skulls with Kratos.
I just played through the Jormugandr and Freiya boss fight and damn, that's how you write a story. I remember back when GoW4 was first shown people were making comparisons to the last of us 1 because of the over the shoulder camera and slightly more cinematic combat, but no, people should have been making these references about this game and the last of us 2, because if Ragnarok was written by lesser men Freiya would have bashed Kratos' skull in with a golf club and Atreus would have lost and arm, never able to shoot his bow again or some dumb shit like that. Letting Freiya grieve and have her better angels eke out a fragile victory was so satisfying and worth it, and the entire sequence of Kratos telling her his backstory as you traverse the forest was very heartwarming and also full of references to the older games too.
Oh and that fuck Atreus made me cry with his fucking wolf. Rip Frenrir. (though I have a sense that his soul is trapped in his knife, we'll see)