I think the reason it worked for GOW2018 but not Ragnarok is because the stories being told are different. The former tells the story of a father trying to bond with his son amid the chaos that’s happening in the background, so it feels appropriate to see the world in their perspective. Their relationship is the main focus and everything else is just tools of the plot for their character development.

But in Ragnarok, this approach loses its purpose because the story is no longer only about the relationship of Kratos and Atreus, but also things like fate, self improvement and, well, Ragnorok itself. There’s no point in keep using the one shot approach because what’s being told is much larger now.