God of War Ragnarök Day 1 PS4, PS5 Patch ‘Strongly’ Encouraged by Santa Monica Studio

God of War Ragnarök is out now, and with that, developer Santa Monica Studio is “strongly” advising players to download the day-one patch. In its patch notes, the Sony-owned studio listed over 160 fixes for both the PS4 and PS5 versions, aimed at offering the best possible gameplay experience. While most updates are geared towards stability, some contain quest, creature, and ability names, so be prepared for mild spoilers as you scroll down. The God of War Ragnarök day-one patch is 745MBs in size, Gadgets 360 can confirm, while the entire game is north of 80GB.

The patch, detailed on Santa Monica Studio’s website, lists several changes to gameplay, quests, UI, stability and performance, cinematics, audio, and dialogue. During the quest for Týr, the son of Odin, players are supposed to travel to dwarf Durlin’s office, which is a short boat ride away. Once you dock it along the shore and enter the office, God of War Ragnarök is supposed to trigger a cutscene where Kratos and now-teenaged son Atreus meet up with him. The developers have now fixed the case where sometimes the cinematic would not play. Similarly, the studio claims to have fixed an issue with subtitles, which wouldn’t trigger once the player restarted from a checkpoint in between a cinematic. Multiple dialogues in the story segment would also not trigger on time, which has now been resolved.

God of War Ragnarök Review: Fitting End to Kratos and Atreus’ Nordic Era

Coming to gameplay, instances where the loot would drop in inaccessible areas are fixed, alongside cases where the NPC companion would get stuck and not follow you around. There’s also a rare case of the final boss not appearing, forcing players to trigger a checkpoint restart. With this new patch, players should be able to see the endgame through without any hassle. Most of the issues, including the game-breaking ones, can be simply fixed via a checkpoint restart, if you don’t install the day-one God of War Ragnarök patch.

In our God of War Ragnarök review, we noted several graphics settings on the PS5, tailored toward getting better framerates or graphics fidelity, across multiple resolutions. There’s a 4K 30fps option dubbed “Favour Quality”, 60fps and dynamic resolution called “Favour Performance”, and even a 120fps high-refresh-rate (HFR) option, provided your TV/ monitor is capable of that. If your TV also supports variable refresh rate (VRR), you can even combine the modes in a variety of ways to increase fidelity or performance, as listed by Santa Monica Studio recently on Twitter.

Of course, quality of life improvements would also enhance stability issues, causing crashes or occasional stutters when discovering new areas in God of War Ragnarök. Crashes when browsing the in-game journal, equipment menus, and general exploration have been fixed, alongside the unresponsiveness during the “Phantom Challenge.” On the PS4, fixes have been implemented for loading hitches, where the world textures would slowly rearrange themselves, causing “temporarily degraded graphics.”

With that, here’s a complete list of patch notes for you to browse.

God of War Ragnarök day-one patch notes

Dialogue fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed several cases where dialog would not play from shopkeepers.
• Fixed a case where shop dialog would repeat too frequently. 
• Fixed several cases where stories would be incorrectly interrupted.
• Fixed a number of situations where dialog was incorrectly prioritized, causing minor dialog to play instead of critical dialog.
• Fixed a case where puzzle hint dialog would interrupt and block quest dialog during the quest “Across the Realms.”
• Fixed a case where the companions would direct the player to stun enemies that could not be stunned.
• Fixed a case where Mimir gave incorrect instructions to use a relic item.
• Fixed a number of locations where dialog could play out of order, causing repeating dialog or confusing conversations with the companion. 
• Made adjustments to dialog timing to make conversations sound more natural.

Cinematics fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a case where the cinematic did not play when entering the office in the quest “The Quest for Tyr.”
• Fixed a case where a cinematic did not play during the quest “The Lost Sanctuary.”
• Fixed a case where backtracking during the quest “The Lost Sanctuary” caused a story beat to not occur.
• Fixed several cases where dialog and subtitles would not play if the player restarted from last checkpoint during a cinematic.
• Fixed a case where dialog and subtitles would not play during the quest “The World of Fate.”
• Fixed a case where contradictory dialog will play during the quest “The World of Fate.”
• Fixed a case where a story beat would not occur during the quest “The Summoning.”
• Fixed a case where the wrong conversation could be triggered during the quest “The Realms at War.”
• Fixed a case where the characters were in the wrong position after restarting a checkpoint during a cinematic in the quest “The Realms at War.”
• Fixed a rare case where stories would not play after completing the quest “A Viking Funeral.”
• Fixed a case where stories would play during the quest “The Weight of Chains”, interrupting quest dialog.

Quests and Progression fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a case where an NPC would reappear after completing the quest “Cure for the Dead.”
• Fixed an instance where the player would be unable to interact with an NPC in the quest “The World of Fate.”
• Fixed a case where the companion would not activate a puzzle element in the quest “The World of Fate.”
• Fixed a several cases where the companion would not move to the correct location during the quest “Forging Destiny”, which blocked puzzle completion and required a restart from last checkpoint.
• Fixed a case where gates would be unavailable when backtracking during the quest “Reunion.”
• Fixed a case where enemies could spawn twice, causing an abnormally difficult encounter.
• Fixed several cases where specific shopkeepers would not spawn, requiring a checkpoint restart to restore them.
• Fixed a case where the player could not exit the room in the quest “Into the Fire.”
• Fixed a case where a critical encounter would not spawn in the quest “Scent of Survival.”
• Fixed an area that would not load in time which resulted in rare cases where the player would fall out of the world in the quest “The Quest for Tyr.”
• Fixed a case where the player could be pushed out of the world during the quest “The Quest for Tyr.”
• Fixed a few cases where the companion would disappear during the quest “Nine Realms in Bloom.”
• Fixed a case where the quest NPC could be invisible in the quest “For Vanaheim!”
• Fixed a case where a chain did not appear, blocking further progress in the quest “The Runaway.”
• Fixed a case where the wolf sled would disappear after restarting from checkpoint during a wall squeeze traversal in the quest “Hunting for Solace.”
• Fixed a rare case where a gear would not freeze in the quest “Return the Favor” blocking progress and requiring a restart from last checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed a case where the camera could get stuck in a cinematic in the quest “Creatures of Prophecy” requiring a load from an earlier save.
• Fixed a case where the player was teleported backwards and reset when trying to leave an area in the quest “Creatures of Prophecy”, requiring a restart from last checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed a case where restarting from checkpoint during the cinematic would cause characters to be missing during the quest “Surviving Fimbulwinter.”
• Fixed a case where a character could remain in the quest “Unleashing Hel”, causing disruption to gameplay until restarting from the last checkpoint.
• Fixed a rare case where the sled would not pass a gate in the quest “Surviving Fimbulwinter.”
• Fixed a case where the sled would teleport behind a locked gate severely impacting the quest “The World of Fate.”
• Fixed a case where the game would return the player to an incorrect checkpoint when restarting from checkpoint in the quest “The Realms at War.”

Gameplay fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed several cases where enemy loot would fall in inaccessible places and could only be retrieved from the lost items chest in the shop.
• Fixed a few cases where the companion would get stuck and not follow the player.
• Fixed cases where the companion would behave erratically.
• Added checkpoints to specific encounters that were missing them.
• Made improvements to AI pathing.
• Fixed several cases where the player could fall through the world under certain conditions.
• Fixed several locations where the player could not interact with an elevator or was blocked from entering an elevator.
• Fixed a case where the player was unable to enter the Svartalfheim office, which prevented them from returning to the bay when backtracking. 
• Fixed a case where the player was unable to interact with health stones during the quest “The Lost Sanctuary.”
• Fixed a case where the companion could get stuck to the sled and carried away.
• Fixed a few cases where the player would be unable to dismount a sled while exploring, which required a restart from the last checkpoint.
• Fixed several cases where the sled did not properly follow the player when traversing on foot in exploration areas. (It can be a long walk!)
• Fixed a case where the player could lose functionality while interacting with a mask and fall off a ledge during the quest “Unlocking the Mask.”
• Fixed a case where the player could lose functionality and be unable to open a gate after completing the quest “The Last Remnants of Asgard.”
• Fixed several cases where picking up collectible items could cause the player to fall out of the world.
• Fixed a case where the player would fall out of the world when loading in after having restarted from last checkpoint while crawling through a cave.
• Fixed a case where camera control could become disabled if the player and the companion entered a crack climb simultaneously.
• Fixed a case where the companion would behave incorrectly during a tutorial in the quest “The Reckoning.”

Combat fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a rare case where the final boss does not appear in the final boss fight, requiring a restart from previous checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed several cases where canceling a move to evade would not properly cancel.
• Fixed a case where projectiles from a player weapon would be invisible.
• Fixed a number of cases where enemies could be knocked out of the world.
• Fixed several cases where enemies could get stuck in the environment.
• Fixed a case where the enemy in the quest “The Burning Skies” could remain passive.
• Fixed a case where fighting a particular enemy while exploring would cause the weapon to be visually misaligned from the enemy.
• Fixed a case where an enemy would not be properly stunned by a particular heavy runic attack on Give me God of War difficulty.
• Fixed a case where using a realm shift ability when an enemy was spawning could cause them to get stuck during the quest “The Desert Door.”
• Fixed a case where the companion could fall out of the world when using a resurrection stone.
• Fixed a rare case where an enemy could hit for double damage.
• Fixed a case where the companion could incorrectly trigger a Ravager detonation.
• Fixed some cases where an enemy attack could hit the player outside of the visual damage radius.
• Fixed a case where the Bifröst status element was causing more damage to the player than indicated.
• Fixed a case where the player could recall the Leviathan Axe if it was equipped during the boss fight in the quest “The Reckoning.”
• Fixed several cases where the Stun Grab (R3) move would play incorrectly when the move damaged, rather than killed, the enemy.
• Fixed some cases where an enemy would be incorrectly marked indicating a Stun Grab (R3) move was available when they were not stunned.
• Fixed a rare case where an enemy affected by a damaging Stun Grab (R3) move that left them at 0 health would not die and could not be killed, blocking progress in the game.
• Fixed a case where enemies in an adjacent encounter could heal enemies in the active encounter.
• Fixed a case where an enemy was missing an unblockable indicator when performing an unblockable attack.
• Fixed a case where a specific AoE attack at a lower height level could unfairly connect with the player.
• Fixed a case where the player was not properly invulnerable when exiting Rage Fury.
• Fixed a case where a particular enemy would clear all status effects mid-fight, unintentionally making the fight harder.
• Fixed a case where the counters count incorrectly in the “Ring Out Challenge”, leading to failure of the challenge.
• Fixed a case where an enemy would not be properly dispatched during a narrative moment, preventing progress in the quest “Reunion,” requiring a restart from last checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed a rare case where “the Hateful” enemy could become invulnerable, requiring a restart from last checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed a case where enemies could become idle and invulnerable in the quest “The Broken Prison.”
• Fixed a rare case where animation could become misaligned during the boss fight in the quest “Reunion.”
• Fixed a case where the boss continued to attack when stunned in the quest “Surviving Fimbulwinter.”
• Fixed a rare case where the player could be knocked out of the arena in a boss fight during the quest “The Realms at War.”
• Fixed a case where if the player restarted from last checkpoint, the companion would not attack the boss in the quest “The Realms at War” until commanded.
• Fixed a case where the player could be teleported out of the world when restarting from checkpoint during a Stun Grab (R3) move in the boss fight during the quest “The Reckoning.”
• Fixed a case where the companion would not attack the enemy “Slag Horn” until commanded.
• Fixed a case where the player would be unable to use the Rampaging Ibex runic summon in a specific encounter in the quest “The Lost Sanctuary.”

Equipment and Upgrades fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a case where attempting to upgrade an equipped shield would fail after upgrading other equipped armor.
• Fixed a case where Shattered Runes could not be sold in the shop after completing the main story.
• Fixed a few cases where the player would be unable to upgrade or craft equipment despite having the required resources.
• Fixed a case where upgrading Rage Fury while it was active caused it to stay on indefinitely, blocking further progress in the game.
• Fixed a case where some armor items would appear under the wrong category when buying back from the shop.
• Fixed a case where an amour set could be acquired multiple times, preventing other armor sets from being upgraded and required loading a previous save to progress.
• Made the first resurrection stone free!

UI/UX fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Made improvements to the compass throughout the game.
• Made tutorial timing adjustments throughout the game.
• Made improvements to font rendering.
• Fixed a case where the player could become stuck in the shop with no UI when pausing and unpausing the game while in the shop menu, requiring a reboot of the application to fix.
• Fixed a few cases where interacting with puzzle elements during a tutorial could cause the tutorial prompt to remain on-screen, requiring a restart from last checkpoint to clear.
• Fixed a case where subtitles could remain on screen after the dialog was finished, requiring a reboot of the application to clear.
• Fixed a case where the “Death from Above” tutorial did not appear if the player cleared the enemies using ranged attacks before entering the area. 
• Fixed a case where the incorrect instructions would appear for a “Crucible Challenge.”
• Fixed a case where headers would display incorrectly in the Favors menu.
• Fixed several cases where context-sensitive information did not appear when hovering over map icons.
• Fixed a case where the scrollbar would be missing from the Accessibility Preset menu.
• Fixed a case where the Dreki health bar would be the incorrect power level color after reloading from a checkpoint on Give me God of War difficulty.
• Fixed a case where the map markers would be missing when returning from the “Unleashing Hel” quest.
• Fixed a case where after restarting from a checkpoint, the companion HUD would remain visible while the companion was unavailable in the quest “The Quest for Tyr.”
• Fixed a case where the companion down indicator could remain on-screen throughout a cinematic if the companion was downed when the cinematic started.
• Fixed a case where the compass markers could overlap boss health bars.
• Fixed a case where completing an encounter did not remove the marker from the map.
• Fixed some missing lore entries in the journal.

Stability and Performance fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed several conditions that could cause a temporary drop in frame rate.
• Fixed several crashes that could occur when browsing the journal.
• Fixed several instances of crashes when using the equipment menus.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes when exploring.
• Fixed an issue where the game would stall and become unresponsive during the “Phantom Challenge.”
• Fixed a rare crash related to the Rampage of the Furies ability.
• Fixed several cases where the application could crash:
  • During the quest “The Quest for Tyr”
  • During the quest “Unlocking the Mask”
  • During the quest “Old Friends”
  • During the quest “The Summoning”
  • During the quest “Scent of Survival”
  • During the quest “In Service of Asgard”
  • During the quest “The Realms at War”
• Fixed a crash in the final boss fight due to a particular attack hitting the player when using the accessibility feature “Recenter On Attack” set to “Priority +”.
• Fixed a rare crash when using the “Falcon Dive” runic ability.
• Fixed a rare crash when destroying an explosive pot in the quest “Old Friends.”
• Fixed a crash when fighting enemies in “The Crucible” challenges.

Visual Impact fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a few cases where enemies would load in slowly.
• Fixed a few cases where the zip line rope would become disconnected from the supports.
• Fixed several cases where the environment would “pop in” when moving throughout the realms.
• Fixed a few cases where the player could see missing world geometry from specific vantage points.
• Fixed a situation where arrows embedded in enemies would not embed deep enough.
• Fixed a few cases where the boat could be docked into rocks at the side of a beach.
• Fixed a condition where the sled harness could become misaligned.
• Fixed many places where armor and equipment could clip through the character model or environment.
• Fixed several cases where VFX would be missing from specific player attacks.
• Fixed a case where performing a shield punch and recalling the Leviathan Axe at the same time would cause the shield to remain open.
• Fixed a case where a gate remained visible after being destroyed during the quest “The Quest for Tyr.”
• Fixed a case where Dínner is missing when returning to the Svartalfheim safety office.
• Fixed a case of incorrect VFX sorting in the quest “The Summoning.”
• Fixed several cases of missing lip sync.

Audio fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Made general improvements to the Audio Mix.
• Fixed a case where dialog and sound effects would stop playing, requiring a reboot of the application to restore.
• Fixed cases where puzzle elements would not play environment sounds until interacted with.
• Fixed instances of missing sounds from lift gates.
• Fixed several cases where dialog volume was too low impacting story comprehension.
• Fixed several cases where the player could hear Odin’s Ravens in the environment when they had already been collected.
• Fixed a case where the low-health “heartbeat” sound would remain on past when it should, requiring a restart from checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed several cases where the sound of doors or gates could continue looping, requiring a restart from checkpoint to correct.
• Fixed missing sound for narrative moments in the quest “Into the Fire.”
• Fixed duplicate sounds for the player when using Spartan Rage.
• Fixed missing wolf sounds when using the sled in the quest “Surviving Fimbulwinter.”
• Fixed several cases of combat status effects incorrectly causing dialog to be quiet.
• Fixing missing sound on parry and impact when using certain shields against particular enemies.
• Fixed a case where combat music would be missing when restarting a checkpoint during the encounter during the quest “The Lost Sanctuary.”
• Fixed several cases where combat music would be missing while exploring after completing the quest “The Realms at War.”
• Fixed a case where part of the combat music either would not play, or would not stop playing, during the boss encounter in the quest “The Summoning.”
• Fixed a case where the player struggle efforts would continue after death during the quest “Unlocking the Mask.”
• Made improvements to audio blending between ambient zones.

Accessibility fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed a case where the characters would become unresponsive in the quest “The Lost Sanctuary.”
• Made improvements to the Navigation Assist feature throughout the game.
• Made Improvements to the high contrast markup throughout the game.
• Fixed a few cases where the screen reader did not read on-screen prompts.
• Fixed a case where setting an accessibility preset to Full would set all accessibility presets to Full by default.
• Fixed a condition where threat indicators would not flash to indicate enemy attacks when using High Contrast mode.
• Fixed a number of cases where the Audio Cues would not play or would play incorrectly.
• Fixed a case where a second button press would be required with the feature Repeated Button Presses set to “Hold” in order to register the input during the quest “Unleashing Hel.”
• Fixed a case where the feature High Contrast mode would cause unexpected results in Niflheim.

Localisation fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed several alignment issues with Arabic text in the menu screens.
• Fixed a few missing lines of dialog in Russian.
• Fixed a case of incorrect information for armor stats in Arabic.
• Fixed a case of incomplete text for graphics modes in Greek, Italian, Japanese, and Russian.

PS5 Specific fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Implemented additional tuning and coverage for DualSense controller haptics.

PS4 Specific fixes in God of War Ragnarök day-one patch

• Fixed several instances of loading hitches.
• Fixed a few cases where the world would load in slowly causing temporarily degraded graphics.
• Fixed an extremely rare crash when loading a save file.