God of War Ragnarok: How Long Does It Take to Beat the Game with Varying Difficulty Settings

In the early days, God of War games were linear adventures. Each of those early titles funneled gamers down glorified corridors filled with enemies, punctuated by the occasional (and easily missable) side path. However, those games were focused more on spilling as much monster blood as possible over exploration. The God of War reboot changed the franchise’s formula with a semi-open world, and God of War Ragnarok continues that trend with action that should keep gamers entertained for months. How long does it take to actually beat the game, though?

Long story (and game) short, it will take most players around 30 hours to beat God of War Ragnarok. At the very least, it will take you about that long to see much of what the game has to offer. It took our gaming editor about 32 hours to complete the story and many of the game’s side quests the first time around on “standard” difficulty.

Sites such as Forbes and Eurogamer took around the same amount of time (30 and 35 hours on default difficulty, respectively) to beat much of the game. But what if you’re more interested in just completing the campaign over exploring every piece of side content? Well, Forbes estimates that will only require a 20-hour investment, but you will miss out on quite a few memorable encounters and rewards. Furthermore, certain boss fights and puzzles may take you longer to overcome than others, so that number could shoot up a bit if you suddenly get stuck on one of the game’s mandatory challenges.

Like the God of War reboot before it, God of War Ragnarök has plenty of post-campaign content to keep players going after the credits roll. Gamers can pick up artifacts, read stone markers, and solve puzzle chests they missed. Forbes claimed that anyone who wants to see everything Ragnarök has to offer will spend around 40-45 hours in total, while Eurogamer placed their estimate between 50 and 60 hours. Either way, anyone who sticks around for the completionist lifestyle will receive a platinum trophy.

God of War Ragnarok: Give Me Grace Is a Slightly More Forgiving Default Experience

In 2018’s God of War, the game skipped straight from a “Very Easy” mode to “Default” mode. God of War Ragnarok offers players who find “Very Easy” too easy and “Default” too challenging a welcome middle-ground option.

The “Give Me Grace” setting is essentially an “Easy” mode for God of War Ragnarok. Enemies deal more damage and have more health, but they are still pretty sluggish and go down without too much fuss.

God of War Ragnarok: Give Me Balance Is Your Pretty Standard “Default” Mode

As the difficulty mode suggests, “Give Me Balance” gives players a balanced experience. This is essentially the game’s default difficulty and how the developers intended most players to experience the adventure.

In “Give Me Balance,” enemies don’t deal a ton of damage, but they deal enough to give most players a challenge. Plus, they are faster and can overwhelm players who aren’t careful. But what is an action-adventure title without a bit of challenge?

God of War Ragnarok: Give Me No Mercy Is Meant for Veteran Action Adventure Fans

If “Give Me Balance” is “Normal” difficulty, then “Give Me No Mercy” is God of War Ragnarok’s “Hard” mode. Enemies boast a lot more health, hit harder, and are far more aggressive. Plus, some enemies might whip out attack behaviors you just don’t see in easier difficulty settings.

While “Give Me No Mercy” will provide a challenge, the mode is far from impossible. Players who fight smart and hone their reflexes (and have completed the game before) will eventually make their way through the challenge.