Image: SIE Santa Monica Studio/PlayStation PC
Mimir just has so many stories to tell about Ragnarok
God of War impressed on PlayStation 4 in 2018, but there was one glaring issue: fast travel time. In the original version of the game, it would take almost a full minute to go from one end of the world to the other.
Because God of War never cut from Kratos, it had to disguise loading screens with doors or elevators. Naturally, this posed a problem for a system like fast travel, which, in most games, just takes players to a separate screen before popping them back into the world. God of War went the extra mile for immersion, though, creating a kind of pocket dimension that Kratos and friends could walk into — a circular waiting room, essentially — and stand around until the door to their new destination appeared, allowing them to escape into a new area.
The Windows PC port, on the other hand, technically loads almost instantly. I know this because the exit door is always consistent — it’s immediate if there’s no story, and if there is a story, the door always appears the second it finishes. Unless someone is talking, I’m not waiting at all. The problem is, characters talk really often. So, because I need to wait for them to finish their dialogue, I’m frequently left waiting as long as I did on PS4.
I don’t really mind, though. Each of Mimir’s tales is so fascinating that even hearing them for the second time, I don’t mind this extra wait. The way Sony Santa Monica managed to retell age-old myths while working them into the overall God of War narrative is just as impressive in 2022 as it was in 2018. And with so many of Mimir’s accounts detailing Ragnarok and Thor, they take on a new meaning as we lumber closer to God of War Ragnarok’s release later this year.
While these long lore dumps might sound like annoying interruptions on your way to snuff out one of Odin’s Ravens, the lengthier chat sessions are actually a blessing. I far prefer a version of God of War where I’m stuck listening to Mimir than one where I can accidentally skip what he has to say. So while I never know if I’ll be at my destination in a moment or end up waiting for Mimir to explain why they call Odin “the hanged man,” I always find myself hoping for the latter.
