【The Exotic Time Machine】

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for some elements of God of War: Ragnarok’s late-game content.

The The Exotic Time Machineend of God of War Ragnarokis actually just the beginning.

Well, sort of. While it pales in comparison to the 30-plus hours it’ll take you to play through this PlayStation exclusive’s main story, there isa substantial amount of post-story content waiting for you. I know, I know, you probably just got started with the game and haven’t even cleared the tutorials yet. But it’s good to have plans, right?

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Without wasting any more time, let’s jump into a spoiler-lite rundown of what God of War Ragnarokhas in store after the credits roll.

The story isn’t over

God of War Ragnarokhas a compelling story with a handful of lovable characters. Of course, it's an emotional journey full of twists and turns, and one of its subplots has a nice payoff that's easy to miss if you stop playing after the final boss battle.

To be as specific as I can, after the credits roll, one character will briefly remark on something that’s happening in one of the areas you’ll explore early on in the game’s story, saying they’d like to visit and see it. It’s related to something that happens much later in the story and if you have any attachment to Ragnarok’s characters, you won’t want to miss it. 

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t add an icon to the map or anything. You have to listenclosely to what that character says and seek it out on your own. Once you find it, a little side-story opens up that has a cathartic conclusion. I promise this is worth pursuing; Ragnarokis full of nice cutscenes with good writing and voice acting, and you don't want to accidentally miss out on one more at the very tail-end of the game.

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Is this a huge, earth-shattering moment that will leave your jaw on the floor? Not really. But if you enjoyed the journey up to that point, you might as well put some punctuation on the end of it.

Combat challenges galore

Midgard has one of the easier Berserker fights to take on. Credit: PlayStation

In the 2018 God of Warreboot, the most challenging post-game content involved boss encounters against a bunch of pissed-off valkyries. To be honest, I never even came close to beating all of them. They were way too difficult and I didn’t have the patience to upgrade Kratos enough to give myself a fighting chance.

If you didlike those fights, however, I have good news for you: God of War Ragnarokhas a new spin on this idea with Berserker Gravestones. At one point in the story, Kratos unlocks the ability to activate 10 gravestones littered around the realms of Ragnarok. Doing so closes the player off into combat arenas for tough-as-nails boss fights against angry undead dudes.

These will likely be the stiffest challenges you’ll face in Ragnarok's post-game as these optional bosses don’t mess around. If you haven’t been upgrading your gear and mastering all of the game’s weapons, you'll likely be toast. Persevere and succeed, however, and you’ll get big rewards in the form of experience points, crafting materials, and unique armor.

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To be clear, you can technicallytry to clear these out before the credits roll. I certainly tried and failed gloriously. It's best to wait until Kratos is sufficiently beefed up with quality gear and abilities.

Clear out the nine realms

You probably missed a lot of cool stuff in the jungles of Vanaheim. Credit: PlayStation

Unless you’re super vigilant about doing everything you possibly can before hitting the end credits, there’s a decent chance there will be leftover content from the main game after you finish God of War Ragnarok. Thankfully, finishing the story doesn’t seem to lock you out of any of it.

By “leftover content,” I mostly mean side quests (called “favors” here) and collectible treasures strewn throughout the nine realms. I still had a bunch of favors left to do after finishing Ragnarokand the game graciously let me tackle those after the story was over. It’s not a big thing, but it’s nice, nonetheless.

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It’s always good when you can get your money’s worth out of a video game (especially on PS5, where the game is $70), and God of War Ragnarokcertainly accommodates that. The post-game content isn’t anywhere near as substantive as what comes before it, but it’s still a solid excuse to keep cruising around the gorgeous world, if nothing else. I know I wasn’t ready to stop looking at every stunning expanse and taking screenshots once the credits rolled, and you probably won’t be either.

Topics PlayStation