Ragnarök on PC at Launch?

After a two-year wait, God of War: Ragnarök has finally been released for PC. PC gamers who are fans of God of War have flocked to Ragnarök, with over 22,000 concurrent players within its first few hours of launch. Over the last 24 hours, nearly 2,000 reviews have flooded in, leaving Ragnarök with a “Mixed” rating on Steam, many of the negative reviews due to the PSN requirement.

As for the positive reviews, players are enjoying God of War: Ragnarök‘s PC port, finding minimal issues and requesting Sony finally port other popular PlayStation titles, as per usual. As the game itself was a major success on its initial console release, the content of Ragnarök was not expected to disappoint. When it comes to PC ports, the main concern is if fans will actually get to enjoy the game on a technical level.

How God of War: Ragnarök Fairs on PC

An individual experience with the game over 3.5 hours has proven that God of War: Ragnarök is a solid PC port, with many others finding the same to be true. Some players have complained that there is an issue with VRAM usage, and some framerate stutter, but others have found no issues with either. The game is smooth, and defaults to lower settings than a player’s computer may need, allowing them to opt for the next level and finding it to run just as well. A change from medium defaults to high defaults saw a minimal percentage increase in VRAM usage, totaling 67%.

A big concern for many is the dreaded “Compiling Shaders,” but God of War: Ragnarök proves it’s nothing like its predecessors in the area of PlayStation PC ports. The compilation takes about five minutes, and watching the God of War recap cinematic in the menu helps to speed the process along. It’s worth the wait to ensure a smooth gaming experience, even if the excitement makes it feel like an impossible wait. From an individual experience, there’s not a single glitchy texture to be noticed, not a single framerate stutter. The game is fresh out of the oven, fully baked. Most players with the proper hardware and equipment won’t be disappointed.

The First Patch

PC ports often see patches within the first day of launch, tackling easy and immediate fixes for players, and God of War: Ragnarök is no different. The developers released Patch 1.1 which fixes black topical corruption when toggling HDR settings, and blurry decal textures. It was quickly followed up with Patch 1.1.1 which handled telemetry events not recording properly.

So far, none of the few mentions of players having issues with VRAM have seen a fix, as it is more likely a heftier issue to tackle. Some Steam Deck users have also complained that the PSN requirement causes the game to be unplayable, another issue that has yet to receive attention. Regardless, it’s clear the devs are on top of things and looking to smooth out the experience for players as quickly as possible.

God of War: Ragnarök is Not Immune to the PSN Issue

Aside from Steam Deck users saying the need to link to a PSN account is causing issues, many of God of War: Ragnarok‘s negative reviews are due to the player ambivalence towards the PSN policy. PlayStation has refused to bend on the requirement despite the clear uproar towards it, and Ragnarök is no exception. For some, connecting to a PSN account is as easy as using the QR code in the menu and logging in. Others, who find they have to put in their home address, are struggling to load the page and experience a disconnect between the game being able to recognize their sign-in.

The idea of the PSN account being necessary for players to enjoy a single-player game is another issue entirely, but it is causing issues for those who want to play God of War: Ragnarök. What could have been a “Very Positive” rating from the get-go, on its way to “Overwhelmingly Positive,” has found itself in the same pitfall as Helldivers 2 after its review bombing due to the PSN requirement. What is proving to be a phenomenal PC port with minimal issues is being held back by its requirement that players connect to a third-party account to play.

With a solid setup, a PSN account, and $60, players should feel confident in diving into God of War: Ragnarok straight away. Those burned in the past by The Last of Us Part I, possibly fearing that “Compiling Shaders” in the bottom right corner of the screen, have nothing to worry about with Ragnarök. Outside the PSN issue for some, all other issues are proving to mostly stray away from the possibility of making the game unplayable. Ideally, the VRAM issue will be up next in a future patch as it is causing some to have to put their adventure into Fimbulwinter on hold.

Despite God of War: Ragnarök having issues for some, it is still proving to be a stellar PC port for most, hitting over 25,000 concurrent players on its second day of release. PC ports are tricky, no one is denying that, but dedicated devs who tackle the problems are always appreciated, and it appears Ragnarök is benefitting from just that. The requirement of a PSN account, on the other hand, is unfortunately here to stay – players can only hope it becomes a smoother process.