God of War Ragnarok has finally made its way to PC after being exclusive to PlayStation 5 for two years. Our review of God of War Ragnarok highlighted its strengths, including the Valhalla DLC and PC-exclusive features. However, some players are experiencing two major issues with the port that are affecting their overall experience.
Since the game’s launch, I have been playing it and, overall, the experience has been positive. The game runs smoothly, offers a wide range of graphics options, and incorporates advanced technologies like Nvidia’s DLSS 3 and AMD’s FSR 3. Despite these positives, concerns arise regarding the game’s demanding VRAM requirements even for high-end graphics cards, as well as the need for a PlayStation Network (PSN) account, despite the absence of online features.
Two Significant Problems
One immediate issue is that God of War Ragnarok requires a PSN account to play, as stated by Sony. This requirement has led to mixed reviews on Steam, with many negative reviews focused on this precise issue. Notably, earlier this year, Sony faced backlash from PC players when attempting to enforce a PSN requirement in Helldivers 2, ultimately backing down due to player feedback. In the case of God of War Ragnarok, being a single-player game without online features, the PSN requirement is seen as unnecessary.
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Despite my personal experience of playing the game without needing a PSN account, the game automatically installed the PlayStation PC SDK on both PCs I tested it on. This could pose compatibility issues on non-Windows devices, such as the Steam Deck OLED. Moreover, the game may not be available in around 170 countries where PSN is not accessible, raising concerns for players in those regions.
Even without signing in, the game collects system data by default, with an option to minimize data collection. This echoes a similar situation seen in Ghost of Tsushima, where the PSN requirement was challenged by players given the absence of online features justifying such data collection.
Another significant issue revolves around performance, particularly concerning VRAM. During my initial gameplay on a high-end PC, I noticed VRAM usage escalating dramatically, indicating a potential memory leak issue. This could lead to performance bottlenecks and stability concerns over extended play sessions.
While the game delivers an engaging experience, the concerning VRAM consumption and potential memory leaks could hinder the overall gameplay performance and stability. These issues need to be addressed through patches and optimizations to ensure a smoother gaming experience for all players.
