"I think a lot of people going in [to the reboot] had felt like Kratos was a pretty irredeemable character," said Matt Sophos, narrative lead on the latest entry in the series, "God of War Ragnarok." "Going into the last one and then ['Ragnarok'], you know, we evolved that hopefully in most people's eyes." Longtime fans were quick to portray the franchise's tonal shift as the "daddification" of Kratos; the change corresponded with the introduction of his son, Atreus, who accompanies his father through the realms of Norse mythology.

Loading times are another story. On PlayStation 4, loading into a save took about 50 seconds, as opposed to the mere handful of seconds on PlayStation 5. Fortunately for PS4 users -- and unfortunately for people hoping to tap into the PS5′s full feature set -- "Ragnarok" is optimized for the PlayStation 4 first. This means the game barely has any visible loading screens once you boot up your save file, but it also means, as I mention in my first impressions on PS5, that "Ragnarok" is a game designed with several invisible loading screens. Within the first half-hour, players will encounter cracks in walls to slowly slide through, a common tactic developers have used to hide the loading of the next section of the game.

Kratos retains his chains and ax, adding to the sense of continuity. While the kill animations of 2018 felt a bit repetitive, "Ragnarok" does a better job making each fight feel beautifully choreographed. Shield deflections are now supported with follow-up shield attacks. Even if it's similar to 2018′s game, Santa Monica Studio's fight mechanics remain unique among action games thanks to the ability to throw and summon back the ax. Kratos can throw the ax at a group of enemies, charge into them with flying fists, recall the ax to hit an enemy from behind and punctuate it all with a glorious finishing kill animation.

Fans have been anticipating God of War: Ragnarok since the release of the last game of the franchise, God of War, landed on consoles in 2018. There's good reason for this: It's fun as hell, and everyone wants to visit grumpy Kratos and his band of friends again. Without question, I am one of those fans. There's just one problem: I never finished God of War. For a lot of people, this might not be an issue.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the developer behind the celebrated Yakuza franchise, announced a remaster of 2014′s "Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!" titled "Like a Dragon: Ishin!" The mainline Yakuza games are set in contemporary Tokyo, primarily in the fictional district Kamurocho (which is based on the glitzy, real-life Kabukicho), but the franchise has also created a small spinoff series set in 19th-century Japan. "Like a Dragon: Ishin!" will put players in the sandals of Ryoma Sakamoto, a real-life revolutionary and instrumental figure in Japan's Meiji Restoration. However, this game is not a history lesson. Expect to see Ryu Ga Gotoku's brand of over-the-top action and zany humor interspersed with gangster movie drama.

As I scan my Netflix page, which rectangular tiles leap to the forefront of my attention? There's Sexify, with its promotional photo of a woman's face seemingly captured at the peak of passion. Or maybe I should watch Lucifer, its star staring shirtlessly into my soul, his chest so uncannily hairless it looks like a video game character's. The answer to What Lies Below might be a jacked aquatic geneticist with a Superman jaw line, but other mysteries are left teasingly unsolved by Netflix's most popular titles. For a while this spring, Why Did You Kill Me? jostled for space on the Top 10 list with Who Killed Sara?

Season 5 of Fortnite has officially begun, and with it comes a brand new Battle Pass. The Battle Pass is Fortnite: Battle Royale's most ingenious innovation. For 950 V-Bucks, or just about $10 USD, you buy into the paid version of the game for one season. Seasons last 10 weeks and come with weekly challenges, 100 cosmetic rewards and lots more. So now that the Season 5 Battle Pass has gone live, let's take a look at what's in it.