God of War Ragnarök almost entirely swept the 2022 Game Awards with a whopping total of 6 awards in several fields, proving the game's ingenuity despite not being the overall winner. But such an overwhelming outcome was not a surprise to many of the game's audience.
The 4 entries before God of War Ragnarök had their prestige. The overall series is meanwhile known for its gruesome difficulty that rivals even the Soulsborne series. And to top even that, the creators saw fit to create challenges rewarded by trophies that make obtaining platinum a praiseworthy deed for veteran gamers.
You Got The Touch! (God of War)
For all the horrific and monstrous Greek mythologic entities attempting to end Kratos's life during God of War, one of the least likely obstacles players would think they'd struggle against when exploring the Path of Hades is the simple yet deadly column of revolving spikes. But to earn the "You Got the Touch!" trophy, players must do precisely that without suffering damage a single time.
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Completing this challenge without dying is something most players can accomplish on their first attempt, completing it without taking a single hit on the other hand takes sharp instincts and reaction time to avoid the revolving spikes whilst climbing the column. Though with enough attempts any player can develop their memory to simply memorize the position and rotation of spikes. With enough dedication, any player can earn this simply yet frustratingly annoying trophy.
15 Min Fight Scene (God of War 2)
It was practically unheard of in the 2000s era of gaming for a video game to reward a player for completing it quickly, but subverting expectations once again, God of War 2 did exactly that. The "15 Min Fight Scene" trophy ironically requires the player to pass through multiple areas in under 10 minutes whilst defeating waves of enemies.
Contrary to how stressful such a challenge sounds, it is an enjoyable process that allows players to run rampant against enemies that aren't too tough yet attention-drawing enough to be a hassle in obtaining the trophy. It enables players to become familiar with their utilities and tool sets while training them to experiment with their combos.
Speed Of Jason McDonald (God of War)
With God of War already being a title renowned for its difficulty, it's a bit absurd that there'd be a whole trophy dedicated to having players complete what would be a 9-hour experience in a matter of 5 hours. But thankfully, there are a couple of exceptions that make earning this trophy somewhat bearable.
The "Speed of Jason McDonald" trophy forces a player to complete what could be considered one of the hardest video games to speedrun in almost half of the normal completion time it allows some leeway by pausing the timer during cutscenes and on the pause screen. Another acquiescence by the game is the fact that the difficulty doesn't matter for this trophy, meaning veteran players can breeze through the game on the easiest difficulty with a simple second playthrough.
Bleeding Thumbs (God of War 2)
Acquiring the "Bleeding Thumbs" trophy can only be done by completing the Challenge of the Titans, which is about as daunting as it sounds. This challenge consists of 6 sub-challenges each varying in difficulty and focus. Though each of them usually consists of battling terrifying foes.
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Most of the sub-challenges have some sort of timer to them in which they must complete their objective before then. As such it is heavily advised that only players who've considerably upgraded their gear attempt the challenges for a considerably easier experience. If followed through most of the challenges can be completed via spamming some of Kratos's more powerful abilities.
Fire And Brimstone (God of War: 2018)
Completing the Trials of Muspelheim for the "Fire and Brimstone" trophy is more troublesome than difficult. God of War (2018) while not an RPG presents some of the best RPG-like side quest content in the market. The most notable of course is the Trials of Muspelheim, a set of 6 fearsome trials set in the realm of Muspelheim that can only be reached by collecting the 4 prerequisite Language Ciphers required to travel to that realm.
While the trials themselves allow options for normal and hard difficulties players can manipulate the difficulty beyond that by choosing the easiest one present in the menu settings. Not only that but players don't necessarily need to complete every trial on every difficulty either, at most they'll need to complete 3 trials on the impossible difficulty to gain access to the final trial.
AMAZED (God of War 3)
The "aMAZED" trophy is overall exceedingly high in both difficulty and aggravation. Unfortunately, it is not as simple to achieve as going through a mundane maze and maybe sometimes running into a foe or two. Instead, players are challenged to traverse an ever-transforming puzzle of rooms filled with enemies, puzzles, and dangerous traps.
And to make matters worse, for the "aMAZED" trophy specifically, players must complete the maze without dying or failing a single time, making it imperative for players to preserve pre-death save files or otherwise attempt to face the challenge again in another playthrough. The hordes of enemies in conjunction with the plethora of traps make this level an easy contender for one of the video game levels harder than the final boss.
Unhuman (God of War 3)
This particular trophy is practically a test of both willpower and experience, as the only way to achieve it is by first beating the game in Titan (hard) difficulty. As the hardest difficulty not locked to players Titan mode of course has gameplay differences that greatly differ from any other.
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Enemies in this game mode will now deal extremely large amounts of damage as well as possess exponentially high amounts of health points. Not only that but enemies will also begin to synchronize and coordinate attacks. And to top it all off, Kratos's health and damage will be greatly diminished. The only real advantage players have in this game mode is that with the buff to enemy damage, players can coordinate enemies to attack and eliminate each other with little hassle.
Chooser Of The Slain (God of War: 2018)
Throughout God of War (2018) the Valkyries seem to loom over the story as tales of their ferocity and strength are constantly mentioned as if to warn the characters of their danger. But funnily enough, they're a completely optional set of enemies players can finish the main story without ever seeing.
Though that is not to say they're not all so weak and uninteresting that they weren't shown during the main story. Each of the nine Valkyries exists as endgame-level bosses players shouldn't ever face without high-level gear or equipment. The Valkyrie Queen in particular has even costed veteran players of the series tens of hours just to defeat. Only then though, after defeating every single Valkyrie, players will be granted the "Chooser of the Slain" trophy.
The True Queen (God of War: Ragnarök)
Only after completing the lengthy and epic main story of God of War: Ragnarök will players be granted the opportunity to face off against the newly crowned "True Queen" of the Valkyries, Gna. And just like the previous Valkyrie Queen in God of War: 2018, this Queen is nothing to scoff at. In fact, she's arguably the most difficult boss to face in the entire game.
As one of the hardest bosses to beat in the God of War games, Gna possesses a highly versatile moveset in conjunction with an adaptable AI that reacts to player moves almost as if she could read their minds. She even possesses several moves capable of instantly killing the player if they're unable to react in time. And almost as if that were not enough, Gna is capable of performing feints that trick the player into performing certain moves they're unable to cancel for her benefit. In all, it generally takes players about 6 hours just to defeat her, and thus obtain "The True Queen" trophy.
Grave Mistake (God of War: Ragnarök)
Obtaining the "Grave Mistake" trophy requires defeating a chronicle of nine gravestones each containing Berserkers with their own set of moves and abilities. Of course, the intent of accomplishing such a task is just to be granted the opportunity to face the king, King Hrolf. Who in his own right is an extremely difficult boss to face.
His health is immense, staggering him with normal attacks is nigh impossible, he possesses several AOE attacks capable of instant killing players even if they are equipped with decent gear. To make matters worse King Hrolf has several phases differing in elements that also result in the transformation of his moveset. Defeating him requires precise reaction skills and concentration. While it could even take several hours to just memorize his sequences and forms before performing a move.
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