A big surprise this year, Valhalla is a free DLC for God of War Ragnarök that adds a rogue-lite mode to the game and provides an epilogue to the story. It might sound too good to be true, and that there’s a catch somewhere, but there isn’t. It’s as meaty, maybe even more so, than most paid DLCs, adds a lot of replay value and its storyline is, admittedly, great, with a lot of references to the older God of War games.

First and foremost, while I’m not the biggest fan of the rogue-like and rogue-lite genre, I very much enjoyed this one. There’s constant progress to be made and new mechanics are introduced all the time, adding a lot of variety to the cycles. Some aspects of Kratos are fixed, like the weapons, but you can still customize a lot of elements before and during the run. 

The runs take you through arena-like areas based on the nine realms, and while you’re trying to progress you face off against several enemies and mini-bosses from Ragnarök there, accumulating more and more powers with each victory. It has all the familiar trappings of the genre, like choosing buffs, doing optional challenges, and collecting currencies that give permanent upgrades. 

Things spice up later though, as a new area is introduced to the run, with its own rules. It’s similar to a maze, and you’re required to navigate and clear several enemy groups which get stronger as time passes. Furthermore, while Valhalla heavily reuses assets, it manages to shake things up a bit as part of this new area, introducing a few new enemies to the mix and expanding the overall variety. 

I feel fans of the series will appreciate this part of the expansion, and it’s a very clever reuse of the game’s assets. The atmosphere and the music of this section elevate it as well and manage to create some very memorable instances.

The bosses are worth mentioning as well, as there are some new and quite fun fights. Valhalla leverages the multiple difficulty modes and accessibility features of the base game and allows for a lot of customization as far as the preferred challenge goes. While your mileage may vary considering the genre, some parts and bosses of a cycle are quite challenging even in Normal difficulty.

What surprised me the most with this mode is the overall narrative though. It’s a short and personal story about Kratos’ reflections on his past and his fear of the future, which works well with the rogue-lite structure of the game. It also manages to take advantage of a lot of elements from the past entries of the series, the games before God of War 2018, really effectively, and I have a hard time thinking of a better way to pay homage to those titles and still honor Kratos’ overall character development.

The strength of the base game’s storytelling is still there as well, as Mimir accompanies Kratos during his journey in Valhalla, often offering stories or his opinion on anything that happens, making the runs rather lively. Several side characters from the base game also appear in between runs and have some short stories attached to them, further adding to this expansion’s narrative.

While I feel most of us wanted a classic story expansion for Ragnarök, I can’t stress enough how much Valhalla caught me by surprise and it is something that delivers beyond any expectations, especially for its lack of price tag. It took me about 8 hours to complete, but I’m certain some people will get even more value from it. Highly recommended for everyone who owns the base game, whether you’re a fan of rogue-lite or not.