“Ragnarök is coming.” The anticipated sequel to God of War (2018) is up and on the horizon for fans of the series, all around the world.
September 9th, A trailer for the long awaited game was released at this year’s Playstation Showcase, an event where Sony gives fans insight on upcoming games. Featuring fan favorite characters such as Kratos, Atreus, and blacksmith brothers Brok and Sindri, the trailer for this game shows a lot of promise.
Beginning with a scene that could be compared to the last game, the trailer showcases how Atreus, (Son of Kratos) had a lot of development from his young and inexperienced personality from the last game. In the last God of War, a great deal of gameplay was spent training Atreus, and helping him become more mature.
By the end of the latest game Atreus showed a lot of this progress, but in the trailer the change was exponential. Quotes like, “Stop thinking like a father for a moment, and start thinking like a general.” display Atreus’ newfound independence, and defiance against his father, Kratos.
Prospectively, Atreus may be set out for a journey of self growth like his father in the original game saga. Between the first God of War, and the latest game, we saw Kratos gain responsibility and control over his rage. This parallel storyline would create a sense of nostalgia for longtime players, while being relevant to new fans.
If Atreus goes down this path of defiance and rage, the game could feature a struggle with the relationship between father and son. This could contribute to more difficult missions that are more emotionally complex than challenges in past games.
Speaking of complexity, this game is set out to explore new characters such as Thor, Angrboda, and the Norse God of War, Tyr, who was thought to be dead in the previous game. In the trailer, the introduction of these new characters has been heavily discussed by fans of the God of War Saga.
On the topic of Thor, the decision to create his character in the design of traditional Norse mythology has been a fiery topic.
As Logan Evans, a senior, said, “Marvel’s superhero archetype is super shredded and cut, but In reality, when you look at strongman contests, those guys are going to look different.I think it’s great they’ve taken Thor’s design in a different direction, it’s refreshing.”
On the subject of Marvel, many fans believe that this decision was purely Santa Monica Studio’s attempt to distance themselves from the Franchise’s take on the Norse God. However, others see this as a route of paying homage to the figure.
Tyr, on the other hand, has been discussed for reasons other than controversial design. After Santa Monica Studios announced that this game would be the last in the Norse Saga, fans began to question where the father and son duo will head next. Some conspire that the two will invade the mythology of areas like China, Maya, or even Ancient Egypt.
Although these theories don’t have any official statements to back them up, the character design of Tyr and Angrboda have prompted fans to believe that Egypt could be in the duo’s future. Tyr, for example, has tattoos that resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs on his arms, and coins on his waist band that may be Gold Staters, or Ancient Egyptian coins. Among these coins is one Greek coin, that can be traced to the past God of War Games, which were based on Greek Mythology.
Although all this talk of future games is interesting, Ragnarök, which is scheduled to come out in 2022, is rumored to have nearly twice as many hours of gameplay in comparison to the previous game. This can be traced to the decision to combine two plausible games into one, to finish off the Norse saga. In total, this game is set up to surpass previous expectations. When it comes to storytelling type games, it will be revolutionary.
