God of War Ragnarok vs God of War (2018): what’s been upgraded from the past entry?

In a new video, El Analista de Bits has gone ahead and compared both the 2018 God of War and God of War Ragnarok to interesting results. How much have Kratos’ graphics improved over the last 4 years? How much has Santa Monica Studio been able to optimize their engine, and what changes did they introduce? These questions are answered with careful measurements and observation.

There’s more chances than one would think. Mostly details, but enough to make a big difference in the long run. From the weapon models, much more refined, to a new range of animations for Atreus that paint the pictures of a more confident and motivated character than in the first game. Of course, that’s not even mentioning the lighting, a challenge that Santa Monica seems to have taken personally. God of War 2018 has admittedly aged really well,demonstrating how powerful and optimized it’s been since its release, but Ragnarok absolutely knocks it out of the park with plenty of polish and care.

Destruction, one of the biggest changes

The best example of these changes is mentioned by the YouTuber that made this comparison: In God of War 2018 we weren’t able to break the branches off of trees with our ax, while in Ragnarok you can. Ruben Voorhees, lead destruction artist in Santa Monica Studio, has confirmed that this is one of the many details with which he had a lot of fun during development. The team has tried to make everything we’d be able to hit into a breakable object . It seems like a lot of work, but one that is entirely rewarding in the end.

Critics are calling God of War Ragnarok “one of the best titles created by PlayStation in the last years”. Luckily, we won’t have to wait much longer since Kratos is landing on PS4 and PS5 this November 9th.