God of War Ragnarok is undoubtedly the most anticipated game of 2022. It will launch on PS5 this Wednesday, with a metascore of 94, putting it on par with legends like The Elden Scroll V: Skyrim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
However, a Korean IGN reviewer does not seem to be satisfied with Santa Monica's fascinating sequel with an average score of 94 on Metacritic, and he even got a death threat for giving 6 out of 10 for the game.
In the article, the reviewer Bae Sang Hyun describes Ragnarok as "a quickly brewed DLC of the previous title" without "any sort of effort of evolution." He was dissatisfied with the similarities between the game and its prequel, saying, "everything in Ragnarok seems to act like soulless puppets attached to a series of strings."
He also criticized Ragnarok's main story, which revolves around the parent-children relationship. "These stories felt like a boring story that just continued monotonously without giving up on ending and ending, and after the first half, the game itself felt like a massive homework."
After counting the game's many flaws, Bae Sang Hyun gave Ragnarok a solid 6 out of 10, which is an "Okay" in IGN's review criteria.
Bae Sang Hyun is the guest critic of Korean IGN
This "Okay" has led to a lot of unexpected trouble. Since the review article was released, Bae Sang Hyun's social media accounts got overwhelmed by angry players. Many harassed him about the review he had done. Some of them were directed at his looks and race, and he even received a death threat saying literally, "Imma kill you."
And please don't do this. It's so heartbreaking. I can't do anything else. I ask you politely, please, just enjoy your game. pic.twitter.com/zsjECeCscj
— Bae Sang Hyun (@innobaetion) November 6, 2022
In response, Bae Sang Hyun stated that the translated English version on Opencritics wasn't decent enough to express his feelings about the game. He posted the original article in Korean and asked the angry players to read the full text to reduce misunderstandings.
Bae Sang Hyun also commented under a YouTube video criticizing the acts done by the irrational GoW fans: "I believe that various opinions can develop this industry. I may continue to write reviews from a different perspective. And I want to tell this everyone. Just because I write a review with a different perspective doesn't change your gaming experience." In the end, Bae Sang Hyun again stated that he respects all opinions and positions and wished every GoW fan could spend November 9 as the best day of 2022.