History YMMV / GodOfWarRagnarok

** In Norse Mythology, Heimdall and Týr are sons of Odin, which led to many fans believing the same within the franchise. But the relation between ''God of War's'' adaption of them and Odin is never explicitly said, instead relying on interpreting various lines differently. In short, while there is nothing saying they ''aren't'' Odin's sons, there is nothing supporting it either.

** [[spoiler: The real Tyr]]. You can only find and free him during the post-game, and save for some small interactions when you visit him in every realm, he has no meaningful bonding with the rest of the cast. And slightly frustratingly, during his first conversation with Kratos, he seems to recognize Kratos but can't place where he's seen him before, saying it'll come back to him later at which point they can talk. But that talk never happens.

** Developed one with ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' over which of the two games were the very best of 2022, something that increased after it was announced that both games were nominated for Game of the Year at that year's Game Awards[[labelnote:Note]]With the other nominees being ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleRequiem'', ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'', ''VideoGame/{{Stray}}'', and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3''[[/labelnote]]. Detractors of ''Ragnarök'' cite its linear nature and [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper handhold-y tendencies]] as points of derision, while detractors of ''Elden Ring'' accuse it of having no narrative[[note]]Or, at the very least, unfavorably comparing its [[StoryBreadcrumbs more subtle]] methods of story telling against ''Ragnarök'''s more cinematic approach[[/note]] and for being [[ItsHardSoItSucks too hard]] like with other SoulsLikeRPG games.

** Sindri can come across as this [[spoiler:after Brok dies. Though it's understandable that he's angry and unwilling to talk to the people he blames for his brother's death, his actions during Ragnarok can come across as very selfish. He refuses to assemble a dwarven army, saying "no more dwarves are dying for this", putting the fate of the realms at stake purely because of his anger, at least partly seemingly to spite his former friends. The implication that he did not even bother to ask any dwarves at all, thereby denying them the choice to fight back, also flies in the face of the game wide lesson that denying someone a choice is a terrible thing. Though the army turns out to be not needed, it causes Kratos to have an OutOfCharacterMoment, he makes it clear to Atreus that emotions can not get in the way over the course of two games, but when Sindri's compromised emotions cause him to not do what he's told, Kratos is silent.]]

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: There are some faint signs that Freyr suffers from something akin to PTSD. Freya mentions that, after being set on fire by the Aesir, Freyr became moody and aggressive for a time. She also states that he suffered from nightmares since then.
* DisappointingLastLevel: For all the build-up towards Ragnarok being a battle featuring all of the many realms joining together to take down the Aesir, the actual final battle feels much the same as the rest of the game, Kratos and an ally fighting small groups of enemies with only dying elven allies every once in a while to suggest there's a battle featuring the armies of several realms. The final battles with the Aesir gods is somewhat disappointing too, while the final battle with Baldur in the previous game was an epic duel spanning multiple locations and with three different parties all struggling against each-other, the fights with Thor and Odin are Kratos and his allies against that god alone in one or maybe two locations - an empty town courtyard and a featureless brown cave - with flat arenas and no real setpieces.

*** And of course, ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', most recently.

* RewatchBonus: There's quite a lot of subtext in Kratos' first meeting with Odin and Thor that gains new dimension once it's revealed that Thor is a recovering alcoholic. He pours two cups and then hands one to Atreus, something that initially seems like a snub to Kratos but is actually him leaving himself out, and when Kratos turns it down he plays with his cup rather than drinking it. Odin saying that Magni and Modi were useless is punctuated by him slamming the cup in front of Thor, then complaining that he's "not fun anymore" when he doesn't drink, making the KickTheDog moment deeper when it's clear that he's trying to provoke Thor to relapse.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: There are two camps when it comes to the now older Atreus: he's either a well-intentioned kid who is just trying to figure out his identity, or he's very grating and selfish, especially in the first half of the game. People in the former camp appreciate how the writers balance his teenage angst with his friendliness, making his seem like a realistic depiction of teenagers. However, it's ''because'' of the angst that people in the latter camp find him annoying.

* RealismInducedHorror: Thor’s struggle with alcoholism is surprisingly grounded in reality, with his struggles with the temptation to drink in his first scene and eventually [[OffTheWagon relapsing into his old habits]]. The results show how self-destructive alcoholism is and many players who have struggled with it in real-life relate to what he goes through.

** Others have claimed the game is too linear and it devolves into hallway like levels, even negatively comparing it to VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII of all things. However, many examples they use to justify this don't actually reflect the actual level design, to the point where they are cherry picked from inappropriate sections of the game (for instance, Kratos' flashbacks to his time with [[spoiler:Faye]] are solely story focused and come at very specific parts of the game where it wouldn't to go off in a random direction). While parts of the main story path can be a bit linear, every world in the game opens up and branches off into huge wide-open levels with tons of areas to explore, side quests to do, and collectables to find just like in the last game. This criticism especially makes little sense in context of the original games where you do actually spend the majority of your time in literal hallways with only one direction to go in (albeit with many puzzles on the way).

* MisaimedFandom: Some of the people who didn't like this game have criticized it for portraying Kratos as wanting to avoid war because the previous games had him all too happy to engage in it, with some even going so far as to accuse the game of "emasculating" Kratos. Even if we discount that Kratos doesn't want his son to march off to war or turn out like he did, these players don't seem to realize that Kratos killing the gods in III was actually a bad thing. As much as Zeus himself deserved it, Kratos basically screwed over the entire world (including his beloved Sparta) just by killing Poseidon and only went on to ruin what's left of the planet as he kept killing more gods. Even in the previous game, Kratos recognized that all the destruction he wrought without care made him essentially irredeemable. Having grown as a person, Kratos is obviously not in a hurry to destroy everything again.

** Ratatoskr is an anthropomorphic squirrel in charge of tending the World Tree with a {{Disneyesque}} character design, cartoonish movements, and a [[PluckyComicRelief lovable, witty personality]] which make him [[NonStandardCharacterDesign stand out]] in the realistic, gritty atmosphere of the Norse world. The fact that he is voiced (and partially written) by Creator/ProZD also helps cement his reputation too.

** In a more one-sided UnknownRival sense, with ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3''. Which most fans were resigned to ''Xenoblade'' losing Game of the Year, even some ''Ragnarök'' fans were shocked at it beating ''Xenoblade 3'' for Best Soundtrack, resulting in the latter picking up no awards. Fans of ''Xenoblade'' are quick to point out ''Ragnarök's'' perceived flaws, linearity and [[AnnoyingVideogameHelper excessive hand-holding]], are criticisms that have been levied at the [=JRPG=] genre for decades but The Game Awards' panel forgave them [[MoralMyopia because it wasn't made in Japan.]]

** Why did [[spoiler: Heimdall react so badly to Kratos trying to spare his life?]] The text implies that it's a case of DontYouDarePityMe, but while he's angry at pity, he only get moreso when he pushes Kratos's PapaWolf button. It's led to a theory that what really infuriated Heimdall was reading Kratos's mind and seeing a loving, concerned father, then immediately recognizing it as [[JerkassWoobie something he would never have.]]

** Similarly, [[spoiler:while Sindri is very well-justified for the AllTakeAndNoGive relationship he had with Atreus and Kratos, it isn't the ''entire'' story. Much of his work he did without question: he made the Sonic Arrows and Compass when neither Kratos nor Atreus asked for them, and making their lanterns was because he unintentionally deprived Kratos of a light source by using the Bifrost key; had he informed Kratos about it, there would have been no need. As well, it was ''Brok's'' idea to use Sindri's house to accommodate them, and later freely offered accommodation for Freya as well, yet Brok is exempt from Sindri's frustrations.]]

%% Date intervals on when each trope that require a waiting period can be added:
%% Broken Base, Base-Breaking Character, Contested Sequel: May 9th, 2023

* AuthorsSavingThrow: At the start of the game, Kratos wears a heavy black-bear-skin cloak to help stave off the cold winds of Fimbulwinter, but during the lengthy QTE sequence of defending against Freya's attacks, he loses the cloak and it never appears again. Due to being a really cool piece of apparel plus being prominently featured on the cover art for the game, fans clamored to have the cloak return as an optional piece of equipment. With the update that also brought New Game Plus, Santa Monica exceeded everyone's hopes by not only bringing back the cloak but making it part of a very useful Gear set.

*** Aside from his connection with animals, similarly, very little is done with the reveal that Atreus is Loki. Loki is known as the Trickster God of the Norse pantheon, who has a mischievous, at times even evil streak to him, and he'd constantly trick and play pranks on the other gods. While Atreus eventually [[spoiler:visits Asgard and interacts with Odin, Thor and other Asgardian characters, his role being Loki barely gets alluded to (other than verbally) and serves little purpose (the arguably closest allusion to the original myths is his hostile relationship with Thor, and even that is due to a completely different reason than the myths, which is Atreus having killed one of his sons than simply being angry at his pranks). Indeed, the fact that Atreus can turn into animals seems to be his main connection to Loki.]] Aside from that, the narrative could remove the name reveal entirely and not much of the story or Atreus' character would change.

** Lots of fans, even on this wiki, think Tyr and Heimdall are sons of Odin, which the games never reference, and Heimdall is even described as Odin's ally at one point. Admittedly, they are occasionally described as such in norse literiture, but their patenity by Odin is nowhere near as established as Thor and Baldur.

** While most of the Berserkers aren't *too* bad, two of them in particular are a real pain in the ass.

* Author'sSavingThrow: At the start of the game, Kratos wears a heavy black-bear-skin cloak to help stave off the cold winds of Fimbulwinter, but during the lengthy QTE sequence of defending against Freya's attacks, he loses the cloak and it never appears again. Due to being a really cool piece of apparel plus being prominently featured on the cover art for the game, fans clamored to have the cloak return as an optional piece of equipment. With the update that also brought New Game Plus, Santa Monica exceeded everyone's hopes by not only bringing back the cloak but making it part of a very useful Gear set.