Published on: 15/02/2023

God Of War Ragnarok: Kratos supposed to have different fate

According to Santa Monica Studio narrative director Matt Sophos, God Of War Ragnarok’s Kratos originally had a different fate from what players know today.

The initial plan for Kratos’ demise was linked to the end of 2018’s God Of War, in which the protagonist saw a mural depicting his own death.

“There was the earliest, earliest draft of an outline that we had come up with, that we took to [director Eric Williams where] Kratos died in the Thor fight at the very beginning of the game,” Sophos said.

“He was gonna die [but] it wasn’t a permanent death. What was going to happen [was that] he would get pulled out of Hell, essentially, by Atreus.”

Sophos said the game’s director, Eric Williams, was the one who vetoed this storyline. Williams argued that the emotional weight “wasn’t really going to be there” because Kratos had died and got resurrected “too many times.”

Kratos’ survival became an integral part of Ragnarok, Sophos added. The team wanted the storyline to center around letting go and making changes instead of the “fate and prophecy” theme commonly found in Norse mythology.

“Nothing is written that can’t be unwritten. As long as you’re willing to make changes in your life, then you’re not bound to fate. When we knew that was the story we wanted to tell, we knew that Kratos couldn’t die.”

Matt Sophos, Narrative Director of Santa Monica Studio

Sophos explained that he did not have a problem revealing this information because it was already in the past and thus became “fan fiction at this point.”

Ragnarok was released on November 9, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The action-adventure game gained critical acclaim for its storytelling and overall gameplay improvements over its predecessor.

The installment is also the first cross-gen release in the God Of War franchise. Last year, the developer Santa Monica confirmed that it would launch a New Game Plus mode in Ragnarok this spring.

Although Santa Monica has not provided details on the new mode, players predict that it will be similar to the game’s predecessor. In God of War (2018), players could create new armor sets for the protagonists and transform talismans into enchantments.

The game mode also introduced timed Realms Tears, which offered various kinds of rewards. Attack patterns for Valkyries also changed in the game mode. Ragnarok players can likely skip cut-scenes following the mode update.

Review of Ragnarok

Atreus, who is now older and more experienced in fighting, becomes more prominent in the storyline of Ragnarok. Analysts said he is a driving force in the story as Kratos often steps back to allow his son to make independent decisions.

Players also said the conversations between Kratos, Atreus and Mimir — god of knowledge in Norse mythology, which takes in the form of a disembodied head — are engaging.

According to analysts, the pristine visual effect in PS5 makes players feel like they are exploring an expansive world, even though Ragnarok’s worlds are relatively small. The enemies are also getting “increasingly weird and wonderful” as players progress with the game.

The weapons in Ragnarok are similar to the 2018 reboot in terms of power. However, Ragnarok players get some perks, including the ability to charge weapons to gain elemental frisson before attacking enemies. The skills trees also introduce some interesting abilities that players can use in combats.

Atreus will stay beside the player’s character to distract or manhandle the attacking enemies. The character will also attempt to deck enemies with his bow at times.

Analysts said one of the few issues with Ragnarok is the lack of innovation from a mechanical perspective. Players still need to perform mechanics commonly found in movement-based adventure games, such as shuffling around in narrow areas and pulling obstacles out of the way.

According to players, they prefer to perform mechanics specific to the game — god killer, wanton murder and being bald and angry — and join more fights rather than performing these tasks.