God of War (2018) was a complete reboot of Sony’s iconic hack and slash action game series, and this was no mistake on Santa Monica Studio’s part. The change itself completely transformed the series into (arguably) Sony’s greatest exclusive ever, both in terms of narrative and gameplay.

What was once an over the top and super fun hack and slash action game has now transformed into a comparatively grounded, over the shoulder third-person action adventure game that had Kratos and his son Atreus journeying through the realms of Norse mythology.

This change in gameplay was met with universal praise, and rightfully so as nothing like it had ever existed before.

The sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, was met with some light criticism upon the first few trailers, with detractors saying that no innovation was done to the already existing gameplay of the 2018 game. However, there were quite a few changes in terms of gameplay that make the game play in such a way that it sets the experiences of both games apart significantly!

So, in this list, let’s take a look at all the gameplay changes that were introduced in God of War: Ragnarok!

**SOME SPOILERS AHEAD**

10. New enemy types

While this shouldn’t really be surprising, it is still worth making a note of the fact that God of War Ragnarok adds quite a few new enemy types. It is also no secret that players can now visit all the realms from Norse mythology, meaning that they will now face all new enemy types native to each realm.

Every new type of enemy has their own unique move set and they all make perfect sense within their environment. For example, Svartalfheim has the towering Bergsra mother, Alfheim has the Light Elves, Vanaheim has the Wyverns, etc. 

These new enemy types keep the playthroughs fresh and are challenging enough to keep you on your toes, making sure you stay alert and utilize everything in your arsenal and use everything that you have learnt to beat them!

9. Realm Access

One of the biggest gameplay implementations in God of War: Ragnarok was the fact that now, players had the option to go to any of the 9 realms of Norse mythology. This provides players with the option to go to any of these realms (except Asgard) at any point they want once they are all unlocked. Players also get to visit Asgard, but it’s a brief visit that is only part of the main story.

On top of this, since each realm has its own aesthetic and build philosophy, all realms are greatly different. This allows the player to have different experiences with each realm and to look forward to unlocking each realm as it provides an entirely new perspective on their journey!

8. New Mechanics for the Blades and Axe

Many people would say that, compared to the blades and axe in GOW 2018, the blades and axe in GOWR are a bit limited in their move sets and their combat is simplified, and this is true to an extent. The game is massive and also introduces new weapons (which we will get into later) as well as many new other ways of fighting.

This means that the combat relating to the axe and blades had to be more compressed rather than dumbed down. This was done by giving only the best light and heavy runic attacks to all the weapons in the game, taking the fan favorites from the last game and adding some new ones this time around.

This gives a comparatively limited moveset, but also allows for much more freedom in terms of playing with the other combat options in the game.

7. Customizability

Ragnarok definitely takes the customizability aspect of the previous game and dials it up greatly. The amount of pommels available for all the weapons is very vast, coupled with the collections of light and heavy runic attacks for each weapon means that no 2 builds will be the exact same.

Upon adding a ton of new armor sets in the game, the ability to mix and match all of them still remains. There is now also an amulet that can be fit with specific jewels, with the ability to upgrade it to the option of having a total of 9 jewel slots. These jewels can greatly affect the way you play the game as they all strengthen one stat or the other.

6. Far more open and diverse world

God of War 2018 really shook up the formula of the God of War games by introducing the semi-open world of Midgard that the players were able to explore, riddled with exciting things to find and new places to unlock. Many places were hidden before that could only be unlocked later on in the game with the right item.

Well, Ragnarok takes this concept and dials it up to 11. You can now explore every realm and discover wholly new things, places and activities that are native to that realm. Vanaheim takes it even further towards the end of the game, where it introduces an entirely new, massive area that is entirely optional. Talk about massive.

This new area has several quests to complete, a whole bunch of weapons and armor to find and a ton of secrets to unravel. The very existence of this new area opens up a great bunch of new questions and possibilities for the past.

5. Tons of new quests and bosses

One of the things that comes part and parcel with the sheer size of this game is the insane amount of content that comes with it. Each area that you can go to in this game also comes with its own set of quests, that can range from simple fetch quests to one big quest broken into 3 parts that all have to be solved in order to piece together a certain story that connects them.

The amount of bosses in this game is also nuts. There are a whopping 20 bosses in just the main story alone, meaning that if you only focus on the story, you will still face down 20 bosses! The favor and other optional bosses in the game number at 37, meaning that there is a mind numbing 57 bosses waiting in store for you if you’re a completionist! Damn…

These bosses range from trivial reskins to entirely new, very difficult and unique bosses such as the Valkyrie Queen and Hrolf Kraki that will make you wish you never even installed the game. Happy hunting!

4. Different shields

One of the biggest changes that Ragnarok brings is the fact that there are now different shield types that the players can opt for. There are a total of 5 shields and they all have their own positives and negatives that make the most sense for different kinds of players.

All 5 of these shields have different special abilities. The almond shaped Dauntless Shield gets charged with a perfect parry, allowing for a stronger shield bash once charged. The Stone Wall Shield is a tough shield that gives great protection rather than parries; 4 hits charge the shield up, allowing a powerful shield slam that damages enemies in front of you.

The square Shatter Star Shield has a great special ability that allows Kratos to punch the shield, sending enemies in front of you flying, which can also be charged up. The Onslaught Shields ability allows for the player to leap forward and hit the enemy, often causing stun damage and interrupting their moveset.

The Guardian Shield is the best, jack of all trades shield available in the game that is broken at the start of the game and has to be fixed, the ability of which launches a counter attack to the enemy upon a perfect parry.

3. Freya as a companion

Yeah, I felt the same way. When we first went to Vanaheim and we saw that Freya is now taking the role of our companion with the bow, I audibly screamed with excitement. This isn’t only a cosmetic change where Freya merely takes over for Atreus, we actually are journeying across the realms with the wise goddess who makes for a great travel companion.

As stated above, she is so much more than just a narrative and cosmetic change. Freya comes with her own customization and an entirely new special moveset, with her holding swords and going into her Valkyrie form at a moments notice. 

She has entirely unique moves and even plays completely differently to Atreus, so this isn’t just a reskin, it is a whole new gameplay mechanic!

2. Draupnir Spear

Just when you thought they couldn’t get more creative in terms of combat after the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos, the game presents you with the Draupnir Spear! This is an entirely new weapon and works completely differently to the other 2!

The narrative significance was that Kratos and the squad needed a weapon that would help them fight the super menace Heimdal, so the Lady of the Forge and Brok forged this INSANELY cool spear that explodes upon throwing it on the users command. It is such a welcome edition and is just incredible to play with.

It comes with a fully stocked and deep moveset, with its own light and heavy runic attacks which are some of the coolest and most effective in the whole game. Kratos has now become the master of elements with an axe of ice, blades of fire and now, a spear of wind! 

It just also makes perfect narrative sense as being the only weapon to combat Heimdal, on top of Kratos having perfect knowledge of how to use it due to it being the weapon that every Spartan warrior is trained with. Too good.

1. Playing as Atreus

Yes, you read that right. You actually get to play as BOY. 

Though these sections are few and far between in the game, they are a great way to add depth to already very complex gameplay and they flesh out Atreus as so much more of his own character. It adds even more complexity to not only him but also to the story of the game.

This is because we see him now being way more grown up as compared to the last game, and with this growth comes angst and a sense of dumb courage, which leads to him coming to odds with this father multiple times due to their differing ambitions. The way that these Atreus sections are structured in this game really reflect this.

He is on his own journey and we the players get the option to see him in this journey, fully complete with his own combat mechanics, attacks and abilities that all see him become more independent from his father as a fighter and as a person.

These sections also strengthen the prospect for there being an Atreus themed DLC in the future where we might end up with Mjolnir. Fingers crossed!