10 Things To Know Before Playing God of War Ragnarok
New Director
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Although many were expecting 2018’s game director Cory Barlog to once again take up the challenge of crafting a new Norse adventure for Kratos, that honor has instead been passed to longtime series veteran Eric Williams who has worked on nearly every entry since the first game way back in 2005. The God of War series in the past has always changed to a new director with each entry, Cory being the only outlier as he directed God of War II and 2018’s God of War, but that tradition continues here. Both Cory Barlog and Eric Williams have since talked extensively about the change of directors as Cory wanted to do something else and given Eric’s extensive assistance throughout the series’ decades-long run, he was the perfect fit to guide Kratos’ newest adventure.
Release Date
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After the conclusion of God of War 2018, it was very clear that Kratos’ time in Midgard was far from over, but the only question that remained was how long would it be before gamers got to continue Kratos and Atreus’ journey through the Norse Pantheon? Well along with the reveal of the PlayStation 5 came the reveal that “Ragnarok is coming” and it was coming in 2021. Sadly, this did not come to pass and the game was delayed into 2022 amid even more rumors the date would be pushed back again. Thankfully, the team at Santa Monica Studios managed to keep their promise and Ragnarok is coming on November 9th, 2022.
Collector’s Editions
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Along with the release date, came news of two separate collector’s editions and later a special edition DualSense controller was also announced. Unfortunately, if you haven’t already pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition or Jotnar Edition of God of War Ragnarok, it would seem you’re out of luck as all copies sold out within mere hours of going up online. Included in both editions is a steelbook with a download code for the deluxe edition of the game, 2 Vanir twins wood carvings, a Dwarven Dice Set and the main attraction, a life-size replica of Mjolnir all packaged within a highly detailed Knowledge Keeper’s Shrine Box. However the Jotnar edition does come with a few extras such as a cloth map, a pin set, a Draupnir Ring and a 7-inch vinyl of the game’s soundtrack by Bear McCreary.
Atreus
While many bemoaned what was expected to be an escort mission spread throughout the entire game after Atreus’ introduction, the boy proved to be quite capable, and his abilities and combat prowess grew as the game continued. In God of War Ragnarok, Atreus is a far more confident fighter and has many new abilities and tricks to help in not only battle but traversal as well. We’ve seen a couple of Atreus’ new runic summons including a Stag that he can ride around steering into enemies as well as him shooting barriers that seemingly only he can destroy which would have otherwise impeded Kratos’ progression. Time will tell what other surprises Atreus has cultivated in the years since 2018’s God of War but he’s clearly come a long way from the boy who waited for his father to tell him when to fire.
Enemy Variety
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One of the main criticisms leveled at 2018’s God of War was the lack of enemy variety. While you did encounter numerous enemy types during your travels, some based entirely on the realm you had traveled to, you were still mostly fighting variations of the same Draugr, Hel-walkers and especially Trolls. Raganrok is taking those criticisms to heart and beefing up the number and variety of opponents Kratos and Atreus will be facing as Ragnarok approaches. While the Draugr and Hel-walkers will still appear, they’ll be joined by new enemies such as the Grim, bi-pedal lizards that can spit acid, the Dreki, the centaur-like Stalker, and interestingly human enemies called Berserkers. These are just the ones that we’re aware of so far as Santa Monica Studios is keeping many things close to the chest, so we’ll have to wait and see what other surprises they have in store for our duo heading into Ragnarok.
Shield Options
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Alongside the Leviathan Axe, Kratos’ collapsible shield was a true standout in terms of the God of War’s new arsenal in Midgard. Kratos’ ability to parry incoming attacks and leave enemies vulnerable for a counter expanded the game’s already stellar combat and was a marked improvement over the previous titles’ “blocking” system which rarely served a purpose. Ragnarok is expanding the shield’s usefulness even farther by allowing gamers to choose the shield that best fits their style of play. The two revealed so far, with others that can be acquired later on, are the Dauntless for more offensive players and the Stonewall (naturally) for more defensive minded players. Both come with their own special abilities as the Dauntless can send enemies flying by building up energy from perfect parries. The Stonewall can also store energy from blocking but will become unstable if the energy isn’t released and less reliable until the energy is unleashed.
Abilities
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In tandem with his upgraded shields, Kratos’ armaments are also getting an upgrade. While we’re not sure if Kratos will acquire any more new weapons alongside the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos, besides presumably Mjolnir anyways, they will at least have some new abilities. While in God of War 2018, the triangle button was used exclusively to recall the Leviathan Axe, and it felt so good to do so, in Ragnarok, now if players hold down the triangle button, it will infuse Kratos’ weapons with their elemental properties such as Frost Awaken for the Leviathan Axe, and Whiplash for the Blades. This will seemingly replace the need for certain runes to boost elemental attacks and could also be a way to not completely downgrade the weapons’ abilities between games.
Traversal
While the absence of a jump button was a noticeable departure for the series, Kratos still managed to make his way around the game’s numerous environments without really any major inconveniences. It seems with the higher stakes of Ragnarok, Kratos is feeling the urge to be a bit more nimble during the various enemy encounters he and Atreus will face. By using the Blades of Chaos, Kratos latch onto not only ledges but enemies as well to pull himself up to higher vantage points as well as use the Blades to swing across large gaps in a clear throwback to his Greek adventures. With Fimbulwinter in full swing, the father son duo will also need a new way to traverse the frozen landscape and that’s where their new sled led by two of the goodest puppos that aren’t Skoll and Hati come in, named Speki and Svanna.
Realms
Although Kratos and Atreus traveled to many realms and their lands in God of War 2018, out of the Nine Realms of Midgard, only 6 were available. However in Ragnarok, Odin’s locks on the remaining realms have been released and Kratos and Atreus can now travel not only to realms they’ve already visited previously, but also the remaining three: Vanaheim, Svartalfheim, and Asgard. We’ve seen glimpses of returning realms albeit new areas we didn’t get to explore originally, as well as one of the most prominently featured new realms Svartalfheim, realm of the dwarves, but we’ve yet to see Vanaheim or Asgard as Santa Monica Studios appears to be keeping those secret for the time being. One particularly interesting location is what appears to be Ginnungagap, in which Kratos and Atreus battle the two Valkyries and is believed to be the void where the Norse World came from.
Ragnarok
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Given the teaser at the end of 2018’s God of War, gamers knew Kratos’ journey through Norse mythology was far from over. Many assumed that the new entries within the Nine Realms would continue the precedent laid out by the series’ predecessors and this new adventure would conclude a trilogy with a showdown between Kratos and Odin. However shortly after the full reveal of God of War Ragnarok, it was also revealed that Ragnarok would be the last entry in Kratos’ decimation of the Norse pantheon. Director Eric Williams and Cory Barlog explained the decision was made due to the long development times between entries and they didn’t want gamers to wait nearly a decade to conclude Kratos’ Norse mythology arc. While it’s unclear if Kratos’ travels will continue outside of Midgard, as hinted at by the panel in Tyr’s temple, Kratos and Atreus’ navigation and presumable survival of Ragnarok would be their last within the Nine Realms.
