All God of War Games Playable on PS5 In 2022 (& When)

2022 is a big year for the acclaimed God of War series, if only for the fact that Ragnarök is expected to release. Ever since the PlayStation 2 era, God of War has been one of Sony’s flagship franchises for its line of consoles and handhelds. Those who are able have been transitioning to the new generation with the PlayStation 5, which was released just over a year ago, and those playing catch up on all the great PlayStation exclusives may be looking to play through every God of War title before Ragnarök drops.

The hack-and-slash series began in 2005 with the original God of War on the PS2. Players take control of Kratos, who is formerly a commanding officer and great warrior under the Greek god of war, Ares. Tragedy befalls Kratos when he is tricked by Ares into killing his own wife and daughter, a ruse Ares hoped would mold Kratos into an even greater killer by detaching him from his emotional anchors. Kratos’ anger and violent revenge for Ares’ betrayal are the narrative impetuses that began the series, which now has a total of seven games, soon to be eight.

Throughout the life cycles of the PlayStation 2, 3, and Portable, God of War remained a fixed-camera hack-and-slash game with interspersed puzzle-solving and platforming. The original game had two direct sequels in God of War 2 and 3, a major prequel in Ascension, and two PSP titles, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, which fit into the God of War timeline before and after the original game respectively. It wasn’t until the PS4 soft reboot – also simply titled God of War – that the series would undergo any significant gameplay evolution. 2018’s God of War adopted an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective, brought Kratos into Norse mythology, and was welcomed with widespread acclaim from both critics and longtime fans. Those hoping to see the evolution of the series for themselves – or just replay them all on PS5 in preparation for Ragnarök – are in luck, because every single game in the series is playable on Sony’s latest console.

God Of War Ragnarök Release Date

God of War Ragnarök will, of course, be playable on PlayStation 5, and is the first game in the series designed specifically for the new console. It is releasing on the PS4 as well, though, and was reportedly always intended to be cross-generational. There are very few details on how exactly the two versions of God of War Ragnarök will differ, but playing on the PS5 will likely be the definitive experience. PS5 players will have the added benefit of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers thanks to the DualShock controller, faster load times courtesy of the PS5’s solid state drive, and will likely enjoy a higher frame rate. Many who have already opted in to the new generation were hoping Ragnarök would be a PS5 exclusive, but Sony probably didn’t want to miss out on being able to sell the game to the much larger PS4 player base.

Although the end of 2018’s God of War all but assured a sequel would come at some point, Ragnarök wasn’t officially confirmed until the PlayStation 5 was revealed in 2020. Even then, it didn’t have a name for another year, finally getting the “Ragnarök” subtitle at the 2021 PlayStation Showcase. Even before it had its official name, though, Ragnarök was delayed into 2022 after its original 2021 release date seemed to become increasingly unlikely. Like so many games over the past year or two, Ragnarök fell victim to development issues arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a few other problems. There’s no specific release date, or even a more precise release window, inside of 2022 for God of War Ragnarök, but barring unforeseen circumstances, Sony and Santa Monica Studio seem confident it will come to PS4 and PS5 in 2022.

All God Of War PlayStation Games Available On PS5 Now

In the meantime, for those lucky enough to have gotten their hands on a PS5, every single God of War game that has come before Ragnarök can be played on the new console, albeit with some caveats. For starters, the 2018 soft reboot and God of War 3 Remastered, both native PS4 games, are playable on PS5. Both even run at 60 frames per second after GOW 2018 received a PS5 patch a few months after the new console launched. Unfortunately, God of War 3 is the only pre-PS4 game in the series to have gotten a remaster which is directly compatible with the PS5. It’s arguably the best title of the original fixed-camera games, so it’s not a bad place to start, but anyone looking to play the whole series will need to utilize other means.

Luckily, every God of War game that precedes Ragnarök is available on PlayStation Now, even God of War 3 Remastered the 2018 game. Sony’s games streaming service even has high definition versions of the original God of War and God of War 2. Ascension was developed to support 1080p, but Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta should reach full HD as well, providing a stable enough internet connection. This is because PS Now appears to use each game’s PS3 port. Unfortunately, this means the original God of War, God of War 2, the two PSP titles, and Ascension can only be streamed, and not downloaded from PS Now. The service only lets PS5 users download PS2 and PS4 games to the console since the PS3’s architecture made backward compatibility difficult for the PS4 and PS5 – one of the many reasons PlayStation’s backward compatibility pales in comparison to Xbox’s.

Unless Sony decides to have every game in the series ported to the PS5, a PlayStation Now subscription is likely the most cost-effective way to play through the entire God of War series. The alternative would be finding a used PS3 and getting the God of War Saga, a collection including every game pre-Ascension, which would have to be purchased separately. The PlayStation 5 is a wonderful console, but one of its drawbacks comes from its rather limited backward compatibility. PlayStation Now is a fine service, but many of the God of War games being from the PS3 isn’t very helpful to those with less-than-ideal internet speeds.

About The Author