Fimbulwinter is coming

I really enjoyed Kratos's lake trip the first time around, and returning to it years later has been a delight all over again.

It's just such an epic journey: following Kratos and Atreus through mythic locales and awe-inspiring events, as well as following their personal grief, struggle, and growth. The way this game combines its beautiful environment art, expressive character animations, and powerful voice acting - how all of its storytelling elements complement each other, and build holistically impactful moments - is still remarkable.

I have come down a bit, though, on God of War's combat -- in 2018 I said "... but I'm glad that there wasn't too much of it," and this time it did feel like, well, a bit much. Turning the difficulty down to easy/story mode prevents individual fights from getting frustrating, but I might've rather had fewer fights, instead. Sometimes the majesty of a set-piece felt dulled by the umpteenth wave of draugr.

(Of course it didn't help that in this playthrough, I decided to collect all the collectables and upgrade all the upgradeables, including multiple tedious runs through Muspelheim and Niflheim. That was my own fault.)

I'm also less-than-enthused about the maze of menus and submenus involved in managing Kratos's equipment and abilities; thankfully the easy setting meant I didn't need to worry about them very much.

And anyway, those annoyances are trivialized by the game's incredibly strong narrative direction, and the memorable scenes - and resonant feelings - it produces. This satisfying journey nevertheless leaves me wanting more, more of Atreus discovering his own power, more of Kratos getting angry at jackass demigods, and more of Brok and Sindri and Mimir making wisecracks while begrudgingly coming along for the ride.

I mean, that's the real reason I returned to Midgard: to prepare for Ragnarök.