Ragnarok

PlayStation VR2 Edition | Video Game Review

Virtual reality gaming lends itself to some genres of gaming more than others – one of those on the “more” side being rhythm games. From strumming notes with laserbeam swords to pretending you are playing a specific instrument – there is no shortage of options – so developers need some quirk to stand out from the competition. Ragnarok, a launch title for the PlayStation VR2 accomplishes just that, standing out for two particular reasons: theming and music selection. In this review, I will dive deeper into highlighting what could make Ragnarok a sleeper-hit VR rhythm game you should consider adding to your library.

In Ragnarok, you take to the seas as the captain of a small Viking ship, as you and your crew of fellow Vikings traverse through some hazardous-looking but otherwise serene-in-reality locales as far as possible as part of timed races. As the leader, you do not need to worry about physical exhaustion from all that rowing. Instead, it falls on you to keep the crew moving their limbs and ploughing the vessel forward through the power of music and drums. Gameplay is somewhat arcade-style, where you have four drums in front of you and two hammers in your hand – if you can already guess where this is going… well it is quite obvious. As beats of your selected song come towards you, you hit the corresponding when the note is perfectly positioned over the drum. Depending on how well your hits were timed, you’ll either miss, gain points and maintain speed, or gain even more points plus an incremental increase in your combo gauge. The idea behind the game isn’t particularly revolutionary, however, it is clean, simple and addictive fun that has staying power by the quality and clear effort put into it.

The combo gauge is one of the main areas of risk and reward in Ragnarok, and while a small mechanic in the larger game, was something that kept my attention on the game, over zoning out and hitting beats mindlessly. Perfect drum beats build the combo gauge in your hammer – one charge offers a speed boost for a small period, while a second offers a more significant and lengthy speed boost. The only issue is that… miss one note, and the entire gauge is depleted. So it comes down to whether you build that gauge and risk coming across a more intense moment in the song or take the short boost which is less impactful. Even then, to use the combo gauge, you need to hit a gong behind you amidst all the other beats coming your way. So, nothing like killing a combo streak by hastily missing the gong. Rhythm games almost universally have combo gauges to keep track of perfect performance, and that extra layer of gamification to Ragnarok’s was most welcome – and adds an extra layer of difficulty and complexity.

On the note of difficulty, each song in Ragnarok has multiple options, starting from the typical “Easy” option before moving on to harder difficulties. While differing between songs, the increase in each difficulty tends to be a little steep but palatable, encouraging players to build up their skills to tackle their favourite songs at higher difficulties. Also worth noting is that the lowest difficulty levels for each track aren’t cakewalk easy, instead providing a level of challenge that newcomers to rhythm games can work towards improving on.

The shining grace of Ragnarok however is its music selection, which truly sets it apart from other rhythm games on the market. Rather than loading its tracklist with hit songs, the team at WanadevStudio has brought together a range of Celtic and metal-style music which suits a faster-paced style of gameplay and gets you pumped for some drumming. There was practically no bad song in the mix, and there were genuinely songs I would be happy to play over and over again on a loop. It is hard to pinpoint an exact favourite song of mine, but before writing I really enjoyed a session to Mexico by ALESTORM, and love the 8-bit introduction to the piece. However, I hope some DLC is added sooner rather than later to expand upon the in-game tracklist – especially since unlike the PC version – custom tracks are not possible. 

Ragnarok takes good advantage of the PlayStation VR2’s capabilities, especially around the controller’s haptic feedback which lets you feel every beat through haptic feedback in your hands. I would say however that the game is much better played standing up, as at least in my experience, the seated mode never got a perfect position of the drums for my arms – often placing the drumhead above eye level. There were a few scattered issues with drum beats being missed, which always sucks given its potential to break a good combo, but fortunately, these were just that… scattered and not a common issue. On the visual and graphics side of things, even if there is minimal time for sight-seeing when you are jamming along to each song, the stage environments are well designed and detailed, and also justifies the game entering the world of virtual reality.

Overall, for $24.99 USD or your local equivalent, Ragnarok serves as an exemplar of what a VR rhythm game should look like – an interesting premise the development team are committed to designing for, a soundtrack full of memorable tracks suited to their target niche, and some easy-to-grasp yet addictive gameplay. Since the PSVR2 launched, this has been my go-to game to warm up before a play session or just pass a bit of time and is good for both extended play sessions and jump-in-jump-out gameplay.

8.5
Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

Want to read

More?