Fans have guess God of War: Ragnarok since the release of the last game of the franchise, God of Warlanded on consoles in 2018. There’s a good reason for this: It’s fun as hell and everyone wants to visit. Kratos grumpy and his group of friends again.
Without a doubt, I am one of those fans. There’s only one problem: I never finished God of War.
For many people, this may not be an issue. If you’re shouting “Just dig in and experience the new!” on your screen right now, I understand. But God of War series is nuance. There’s a lot of insight when it comes to its characters, world, and lore. Playing without knowing all of them can lead to serious FOMO when a fun character reunion or side plot point doesn’t go as expected.
Yes, I can continue where I left off (after all, I really enjoyed the game). But it’s quite difficult and full of complicated controls that I don’t remember. (There is an Easy Mode, but even that is challenging.) And the reason I gave it up in the first place? There’s a boss I just can’t beat and wouldn’t be able to without some serious gear upgrades—improvements I couldn’t get without winning the battle. It’s a vicious cycle that I see no way out of. Basically, I’m stuck, and I don’t have much interest in going back.
My solution: cheat. OK, no cheating exactly. This is not a comprehensive protection against code fraud or hacking. Rather I’ll burn some God of War YouTube plays through and doesn’t feel guilty about it.
When I first realized I could just watch a 15-minute YouTube video instead of watching a game I didn’t like, it was a revelation. And it’s especially useful for a situation like this, where I’m invested in the characters and the world but stuck at actually playing it. I always try for two YouTube videos — one for the story and one for the game. Although the studio will probably adjust the controls in Ragnarokit’s always helpful to refresh the way the first one works.
This kind of story interpretation is especially useful for a large franchise like God of War. The 2018 game is a refresh of the franchise, an entry point for gamers like me, but it’s not a reboot. Technically, this is the fourth game in the series, so I missed a lot of the story. Choosing your own adventure on several YouTube videos about the franchise makes filling in the blanks pretty easy.
If you ask most “serious gamers” they will tell you these methods are wrong, to understand the whole story you have to play the game and sword that knowledge. And OK, that might be true. I’m fine with that. Oh, also: I don’t care.
Video games are something I do for fun, to relieve stress. I don’t need money for entertainment. I work hard to earn money for entertainment – that’s enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Ragnarok The countdown timer says I have 21 days to go and I have a lot of videos to watch.
