Ragnar Review Summary

With smooth, satisfying combat, stunning visuals, and varied weapons, this early access game is promising, but shallow content, weak build synergy, and rough UI hold it back.

Smooth Satisfying Combat Mechanics: Combat is frequently described as smooth, fluid, and satisfying, with animations that have just enough impact. Many players note the combat flow and hit feel are well executed.

Stunning Visuals and Art Direction: The art design is consistently praised as beautiful and stylized, with a pleasing color palette and readable visuals. Many highlight the gorgeous graphics and the game's unique aesthetic.

Weapon Variety and Build Options: The game offers a wide variety of weapons, each with unique attack modules and playstyles. Players appreciate the depth of build customization and the ability to find or buy weapons during runs.

Polished Early Access Experience: Many players are impressed by the game's stability and polish during Early Access, reporting no bugs and smooth gameplay. The experience is already enjoyable even before full release.

Hades Inspiration and Comparison: The game is widely compared to Hades, with players noting similar mechanics, visuals, and a maximally Hades-like feel. Many see it as a worthy alternative or even prefer it over Hades.

Build system lacks synergy: The blessing and element enhancement system is confusing and lacks synergy. Synergies between skills and weapons are minimal, and element combinations are fixed, leading to weak and unsatisfying builds.

Insufficient content for early access: Many reviewers note that the game lacks content, with only three chapters that can be finished quickly and then become repetitive. Even for an early access title, the amount of gameplay is considered too little to enjoy.

UI and UX need polish: The user interface and experience are unrefined and inconvenient. Issues include poor menus, hidden tutorials, and lack of separate key bindings for dash and sprint.

Meta progression is too grindy: Meta progression requires large amounts of resources that must be tediously mined in maps. This grind is excessive and boring, with upgrades feeling pointless as enemies scale.

High difficulty lacks checkpoints: The game is extremely difficult, especially the first boss, and dying after it forces a complete restart with no checkpoint. This brutal difficulty and lack of meta progression make it frustrating.

Roguelike Hack-and-Slash Gameplay: The game is a roguelike action game with hack-and-slash combat, similar to Hades. It features arena-based runs and top-down perspective.

Norse Mythology Theme: The game is set in Norse mythology, featuring gods like Thor and Odin, and travels through the nine realms connected by Yggdrasil. It includes interactions with mythological characters.

Class and Weapon Variety: Players can choose from multiple classes such as Ranger, Rogue, and Barbarian, each with unique weapons and skill trees. Weapons range from bows to melee, with different playstyles.

Roguelite Loop and Runs: The core loop involves runs with combat, resource gathering, and gradual upgrades. Runs are quick and designed for replayability with different builds and routes.

Hades-Like Combat and Builds: The combat and build system are heavily inspired by Hades, with smooth action and rich build variety. Many reviewers compare it directly to Hades and Hades 2.

Solid Optimization: Reviewers highlight that the game is well-optimized. One cluster specifically notes solid optimization.

Steam Deck Ready: The game runs smoothly on Steam Deck out of the box. A cluster confirms it works well without additional configuration.

Positive overall recommendation: Numerous clusters express a general positive recommendation, with players finding it worth trying and regretting nothing. The consensus is that it is a worthwhile experience.

Recommended for Hades fans: Many reviewers recommend the game to players who enjoyed Hades, citing similar action combat and roguelike structure. The game is seen as a solid alternative for fans of that style.

Appeal to roguelike enthusiasts: Players recommend it for fans of roguelikes and roguelites, especially those who enjoy action-oriented hack & slash gameplay. It is seen as a good fit for the genre.

General try recommendation: Several clusters simply suggest giving the game a chance and trying it out. The overall sentiment is that it deserves a try.

Early Access caveats noted: Some reviewers caution that the game is in Early Access and may not meet high expectations. It is not recommended for those who cannot tolerate an unfinished state.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Story completion: 5.0h.

Session length: 0.5h.

Players broadly report immediate enjoyment from the combat, builds, and Hades-like loop, but some later hit a progression brick wall and cite missing checkpoints, weak meta progression, and onboarding/grind issues.

Friction: Hidden tutorial cues for healing and moves during combat.; Lack of beginner guidance.; Heavy meta-progression grind.; Sparse shop nodes.; No checkpoints and barely any meta progression.; Excessive enemy spawns..

Unlock drivers: Meta progression after each run makes the player feel stronger.; Currency tutorial for newer players..

Hades Combat Veteran: Aggressive run-based melee combat with high mobility, critical hits, and boss-focused dungeon clearing. Motivation: Reliving fluid Hades-style combat, responsive controls, and aggressive hack-and-slash action. Stance: buy.

Norse Mythology Enthusiast: Theme-driven playthroughs, tolerating repetitive grinding to experience the mythology and world. Motivation: Exploring the Norse mythological setting, characters, and nine-realm story despite early access limitations. Stance: sale.

Roguelite Meta-Progression Grinder: Run-based resource farming, hub upgrades, and path planning with branching route choices. Motivation: Building meta progression through repeated runs, resource gathering, and route planning. Stance: buy.

Frequent Hades comparisons: Reviewers frequently compare the game to Hades and Hades 2, noting similarities in character interaction, borrowed elements, and overall style. Some consider it a tribute to Hades.

Early Access and stability: The game is in Early Access and generally stable with no major bugs. Players note that kinks are expected to be worked out during this phase.

Developed by two-person team: The game is developed by a very small team of two developers. This is often mentioned as context for the game's scope and update pace.

Limited content in Early Access: The Early Access version currently offers only the first three chapters/acts, with relatively little content. Some reviewers note that little new content has been added in over half a year.

Localization and platform support: The game supports multiple languages including Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian. It also has full gamepad support and is available on Mac.