Beautiful destruction: God of War III gets an HD makeover for PS4

By Will Fulton March 20, 2015

god of war 3 remastered announcement iii — Image used with permission by copyright holder

God of War III is coming to PlayStation 4 in a new, remastered edition on July 14, 2015. All of the series’ trademark minotaur-skewering and chimera-eviscerating action will be rendered in eye-popping 1080p graphics, in what should be one of the most visually lush mythological bloodbaths ever. It should help tide over fans until the new game, which is still a ways off, according Sony Santa Monica creative director Cory Barlog.

The release comes 10 years after the first God of War hit PlayStation 2 in 2005, setting a high bar for action-adventure games of the era. The series was also instrumental in popularizing quick-time events (QTEs) as a gameplay mechanic. It follows Kratos, a perennially angry Spartan warrior who takes a homicidal tour through Greek mythology, brutally murdering everything from lowly harpies up through the gods and titans themselves. God of War III, first released in 2010 for PlayStation 3, continued the series’ trend toward more weapons, bigger boss fights, and more brutal finishing moves.

Check out the PlayStation Blog announcement post for reminiscences about the franchise by Barlog, who has worked on it since the first game. It also includes a Twitch stream for a speedrun of the first game, in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Gaming

How to get Mod Tokens in God of War Ragnarok

Atreus in God of War Ragnarok.

Even going back to the first entry in the series, God of War has always incorporated RPG elements to some degree. It started out simple -- essentially just allowing you to power up weapons -- but has expanded to include crafting, gear, skill trees, abilities, and more that can all be leveled up and modified. While playing, it can easily become too much to remember to manage to keep all your gear, skills, and abilities up to date, so even knowing about Mod Tokens might pass you by.

Mod Tokens are almost completely glazed over by God of War Ragnarok's tutorials. If you're not actively paying attention, you could go through the entire game without utilizing them. While it would certainly be possible to beat the game without interacting with them, this series is all about getting as powerful as possible, so why limit yourself? Here's everything you need to know about Mod Tokens in God of War Ragnarok.

Gaming

God of War Ragnarok: all Ratatasks and rewards

Kratos and Atreus sail on water in God of War Ragnarok.

As pressing a matter that the end of the world (aka Ragnarok) is in God of War Ragnarok, there's always time to diverge from the main path and do some side activities. The game is a realm-hopping adventure, and essentially every place you visit has something optional you can do. There are main side quests, called Favours, but also smaller objectives you can do throughout your playthrough called Labours.

Many Labours are tied to your skills or various collectibles, but there is one special set called Ratatasks. Named after the caretaker of the world tree Yggdrasil Ratatoskr, this mystic squirrel will present you with four categories of tasks, each with multiple tasks, tiers, and rewards for completion. There are a ton of these, so knowing which ones to go for if you want the best rewards will save you quite a bit of effort. Frost up your ax and get ready to unleash your Spartan rage as we go over every Ratatask and their rewards in God of War Ragnarok.
How Ratatasks work

Gaming

Every action game should take notes from God of War Ragnarok’s skill tree

Kratos looks at the Leviathan Axe.

Not every piece of God of War Ragnarok is a step up from its 2018 predecessor, but there's one area where it's an undeniable improvement: action. Like his last adventure, Kratos uses his heavy Leviathan Axe to chop up enemies and his Blades of Chaos to rain hellfire down. Both tools feel the same in the sequel but have been altered with the addition of elemental abilities that bring an extra set of moves and decisions to combat.

What stands out to me most about the game's evolved combat though is something a little less flashy. God of War Ragnarok features a handful of skill trees that let players unlock more combos. That's a bit run of the mill, as it's become a staple of Sony's first-party exclusives in recent years. However, Ragnarok's skill tree goes one step further than most games with a new customization system that encourages players to actually use those skills once they've been unlocked. The feature is so effective that I hope every character-based action game takes notes from it from here on out.
Use your skills
The skill trees in God of War Ragnarok function about the same as any game that includes them. Kratos earns experience points when he slays monsters and those points can be spent to unlock new skills. Both the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos have their own three-pronged skill tree, as does Atreus. Every time Kratos levels up a weapon using resources, more skills become available to purchase. By the end of the game, players have access to a fairly wide range of moves that'll have them holding down buttons, comboing moves together, and more.