DLC REVIEW: ‘God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla’ Shows Therapy Works (PS5)

God of War Ragnarok felt like closure for Kratos. It ended a two-game story with Kratos’s raid on Asgard to put a stop to Odin’s plans. We didn’t only find the truth to what was revealed at the end of God of War (2017)’s cliffhanger, but we also got a new outlook for our favorite Greek god. He was wiser, less angry, and was looking for a new future. At 2023’s The Game Awards, we learned that the continuation of Kratos’s story would be much sooner than expected with the reveal of God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, a free DLC released shortly thereafter. The thing is, this DLC is way undervalued and gives us a whole new outlook on Daddy Kratos.

God of War Ragnarok Valhalla DLC takes place a little after the ending of Ragnarok. Kratos got an unsigned letter telling him to go to Valhalla. With Mimir at his side, he does. What he discovers is a land that forces him to repeat the core title’s combat to venture deeper into its depths. Kratos is forced to confront past demons, Greek and Norse, as he dives further into Valhalla and determines what his future looks like after saving the nine realms.

Valhalla‘s reveal at The Game Awards undersold what this DLC is, it is not just an epilogue. What was first pitched as possibly just a roguelite mode twist on God of War is shockingly story-rich. There are payoffs for events that happened all the way back in the original God of War release on the PlayStation 2. That, on its own, makes the DLC worth it. Santa Monica Studio found a way to continue the story of a game that felt like it was already complete and extend it further by tying the whole series together in a six-hour experience. That all is without mentioning some of the big twists and revelations that come out of Kratos’ therapy session.

They took a fantastic feeling gameplay experience and injected it with a roguelite experience. I’m not normally one for roguelites. Typically, without much of a feeling of progression to keep pushing forward, every death feels like one step forward and ten steps back. That’s not the case here. If they make a God of War roguelite game after Valhalla, it could be one of the greatest roguelites ever made. All of that comes with how rewarding each run feels, and how you always come back stronger.

Every run, you’re collecting several different resources. One that can only be used mid-run for quick healing or rune upgrades, and then two to be used afterward. The better you get or the higher the difficulty you play on, the more resources you’re rewarded at the end of each run. The mastery seals you’re rewarded unlock permanent stat increases like more health, strength, or even resurrection stones. Spirit seals upgrade the potential loot you’ll get in future runs with higher chances for upgraded runes to equip, already breaking all pots when entering an area, or even unlocking a challenge mode that leeches your health if you want to push yourself.

The best way to farm the seals is through masteries and labors. Masteries are big goals to aim for which encourage you to try new equipment, beat certain bosses with specific equipment, and explore Valhalla to its fullest. Trials are what change up the gameplay by giving you smaller goals like using a specific attack a number of times or defeating a specific type of enemy. The rewards for completing all of these are great and push you to try out new playstyles you may have never tried out during the main story. Plus, the exploration aspect with a setting of a small snippet of each of the nine realms adds good variety while discovering the best build.

During a run, two aspects make this roguelite feel fantastic as its own adventure. First, are the temporary runes you equip. After each arena you fight in, you get to choose a new rune to add to your arsenal. These add modifiers to any number of your attacks, give you runic attacks for each of your weapons, or empower one of Kratos’ weapons. You could go into a run and end up doing a lot of throwing damage. Another thing is that you could be doing way more charge attacks because those attacks got enhanced dramatically. You’ll end up using a lot of runic attacks, too, that you’ve probably never used before to stay alive.

The second great part is the boss fights. Ragnarok already had a major leg up on the 2017 release with boss fights, and even more are introduced in Valhalla. They, especially the final boss fight, are challenging. On any run, even with good upgrades, you may find yourself on death’s door quickly if you get a little too comfortable with boss patterns. Plus, with the use of influences from Greek Gods and the Greek era in the latter half of a run, you’ll be finding and fighting enemies that feel familiar yet are unique enough to land hits on you when you least expect it (I’m looking at you, centaurs).

The biggest issue with this God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla DLC is its reliance on symbols to tell you what to expect. In the first half of a run, you choose a door to go through. These doors have symbols on them that aren’t always clear about what exactly they represent. To translate those symbols, you’ll find yourself diving into the menus regularly to find the one page under tutorials that tells you what they are. Save yourself some time and put a screenshot of them on a second screen to save you some time. The same goes for masteries. When you start a run, you can choose one of four rage abilities, a shield, and an item. These tell you which ones you need for masteries. But not the specific runes during a run that you need for some of the “equip one of every rune” masteries. You’ll need to write those down so you can keep track of them more easily since you can’t back out after opening a chest. You’ll end up wasting those runes instead.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla is not only a can’t-miss DLC, but it tells an even more personal story. What Sony Santa Monica has done is beyond impressive, forcing Kratos to confront his past in ways never expected. Funnily enough, it turns a Norse mythological location into therapy for angry, violent gods while still keeping it accurate to the source material. Plus as someone who never really enjoyed roguelites, I’ve found Valhalla‘s implementation of those mechanics to be the style that finally let me enjoy them. They let you improve yourself to make it trivial or push yourself to the limits that you want to set for yourself. So even if you don’t like roguelites, do yourself a favor and don’t miss this DLC for what still may be one of the greatest action series ever made, especially for fans of the series.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla is available now for free on PlayStation 5.