The Power of Customization
God of War Ragnarok has finally arrived, bringing a new chapter of Kratos’ story to PS4 and PS5 players. As a sequel to the highly acclaimed God of War reboot from 2018, the game promises a thrilling action-adventure experience. Whether you’re eager to see Kratos’ journey continue or simply excited to wield the powerful Leviathan Ax once again, there’s plenty to be thrilled about. However, amidst all the excitement, there was one thing that truly captured my attention when I first launched the game—the settings menu.
Embracing Accessibility
In recent years, Sony has made significant strides in enhancing accessibility options for players. God of War Ragnarok follows this trend by offering a fantastic accessibility menu that allows players to customize their experience according to their specific needs. Even if you don’t have any specific requirements, exploring these settings can still greatly enhance your gameplay over the game’s 30+ hour runtime.
Auto Pick Up: A Game-Changer
I can’t stress this enough—make sure to turn on Auto Pick Up. Located in the Gameplay menu, this feature enables Kratos to automatically grab items as he walks near them. No more tedious button-tapping to collect health, resources, or other essential items. This becomes especially useful during intense battles when you need to quickly grab a healing item but struggle to position yourself correctly. Moreover, the game is smart enough to prevent unnecessary item collection if you’re already full on health or rage, so nothing goes to waste.
Mastering Puzzles with Ease
God of War Ragnarok introduces a plethora of puzzles, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. Many of these puzzles involve throwing your trusty ax at various objects like bells or reflective surfaces. However, dealing with small or distant objects can be frustrating. That’s where the Puzzle Aim Assist option comes in. By enabling this feature in the Gameplay tab, the game subtly assists you by gently guiding your aim towards the target, rather than forcefully snapping to it. If you desire even more puzzle-solving assistance, there are additional options available, such as a Puzzle Timing tool that allows you more flexibility in executing time-sensitive tasks.
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Navigating Made Simple
Navigation Assist is a lifesaver when it comes to exploring vast open areas. By simply pressing the right stick, the camera aligns itself with your current objective, preventing you from getting lost. This standard quality-of-life feature, which can be enabled in the Gameplay menu, ensures that you always know which direction to head in.
Seamless Traversal
With God of War Ragnarok focusing more on adventure and exploration, you’ll find yourself frequently vaulting over objects or climbing chains. These actions often require multiple button presses, which can break immersion. To solve this, head to the Gameplay menu and activate Traversal Assist. This setting allows Kratos to perform actions like vaulting, mantling, descending, and jumping over gaps without the need for button inputs. For an even more streamlined experience, you can enable Auto+, which further reduces the number of button presses required for crawling and climbing.
Making the Most of Menu Holds
While I personally didn’t utilize this option, it’s worth mentioning for those who find long confirmation holds bothersome. By reducing the amount of time you need to hold down a button to perform shop or inventory actions, you can streamline your gear management tasks and save precious seconds. Given the sheer size and scope of the game, this can add up to a significant time-saving opportunity.
Unleash Your Customization Potential
The settings mentioned above are just a taste of the customization options available in God of War Ragnarok. There’s so much more to discover, including the ability to eliminate button-mashing quicktime events and create control shortcuts using the DualSense’s trackpad. So, before you dive headfirst into the main game, take a moment to explore the settings menu. Trust me, it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Note: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. God of War Ragnarok is now available on PS4 and PS5.
