Everything We Know About God of War Ragnarok

Script written by Ty Richardson

Everything We Know About God of War: Ragnarok

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we're taking a look at Everything We Know About "God of War: Ragnarok"!

Finally, after all of this time waiting, the gates to Valhalla--I MEAN, Sony Santa Monica have blessed us with more information regarding Kratos's next outing. What are you most excited about for this sequel? Let us know in the comments below!

It’s the End of the World [Again]

When we last left off, Kratos and his son had finally made it to Jotunheim and spread his wife’s ashes. After returning home, Mimir mentions the long and cold Fimbulwinter before a raging storm arrives. Outside of their home stands a not-so-mysterious figure donning a cloak and all-too-familiar hammer. “Ragnarok” picks up sometime after the encounter, where Atreus is now a teenager and Kratos is...well, still Dad of Boi. Not only will they have to take on Thor, but Freya is still out there plotting revenge for her son’s death. As for king of the gods, Odin? Well, we’ll get to him later.

Notable Names

As one would expect, Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic will be reprising their roles as Kratos and Atreus, respectively. Mimir, Brok, Sindri, and Freya will also be voiced by the same actors from the previous game. Thor, on the other hand, will be played by Ryan Hurst who folks may remember from the critically acclaimed FX series “Sons of Anarchy” and Universal’s TV series “Bates Motel”. Famed voice actor and YouTuber SungWon Cho will be playing a squirrel named Ratatoskr. Speaking of YouTubers, Alanah Pearce, known for her work across gaming media, is also one of the writers on the team, having joined Sony Santa Monica back in late 2020. So, rest assured, “Ragnarok” is going to be one Helheim of a finale.

Recycled Assets

One topic that has been floating around and causing discourse is the similarities between...ugh, boat animations. This is nothing to be alarmed about, folks. Recycled assets is quite a common practice across game development, and this is done to save developers time and keep the budget from over-inflating. As a bonus, this also helps get the game out somewhat quicker than it would if they had to rebuild everything from the ground up. The only differences one may notice are small things like tighter animations, controls, and spruced-up visuals. To see Sony Santa Monica employ this same practice is actually relieving as it reduces a bit of the load on their already-hectic schedules.

Tyr

A prediction that has been floating around since the previous game was that Kratos was also a Norse figure known as Tyr. This theory was bolstered by a mural that depicted Tyr as a traveller between worlds, those worlds being the Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Mayan pantheons. As we saw in the trailer, Kratos and Tyr appear to be two separate individuals. Given their different heights and appearances, it’s safe to assume that the “Kratos is Tyr” theory has been debunked. Either that, or there’s some weird “Back to the Future” stuff happening here and Kratos is staring at a future version of himself...which is unlikely.

They Know…

Those who played the previous game will remember the fifty-something ravens Kratos needed to find. Now, was it just us, or did something about those ravens’ locations feel a bit odd? One can presume that Odin had been using those ravens to keep a close eye on Kratos, and there’s evidence that the Nordic gods know very well of Kratos’s past from start to finish. Thor even hints at their knowledge in the trailer, asking the Ghost of Sparta if he is as much “a calm and reasonable man” as he appears to be. We all know that isn’t the case, and after seeing how easily Baldur was able to provoke Kratos, it seems “Ragnarok” will force Kratos to reveal all to his son. Offing daddy dearest was not the only dark deed done, boy!

Different Director, Familiar Face

2018’s “God of War” propelled its director, Cory Barlog, into a celebrity-like status within industry and media circles, and because of that kind of fame, many of us expected Barlog to helm “Ragnarok”. After all, we’ve often heard about the game from him personally. However, that is not the case. Instead, Evan Williams is serving as the game’s creative director. In case you aren’t super deep into games media, Williams is not a new face to the franchise as he’s worked on the “God of War” series since the very first game back in 2005. So, Kratos and Atreus are in good hands. As for Barlog, he is supposedly not in any directorial role currently at Sony Santa Monica. According to him, SSM operates in a way where the director’s chair is always rotating, Barlog being the only one to take the mantle more than once. So, that mysterious open-world fantasy game is being led by someone else at the studio.

Cross-Gen

With the PlayStation 5 now out to the public (er...somewhat), folks were expecting to see “God of War” be one of the many franchises to lead PlayStation fans into the new generation. Unfortunately, that is not entirely the case. In June 2021, it was announced that a few upcoming titles were being turned into cross-gen titles, meaning they will release on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Those titles were “Gran Tursimo”, “Horizon: Forbidden West”, and of course, “God of War: Ragnarok”. Because of this, folks are rightfully concerned about “Ragnarok” not taking full advantage of the PS5’s hardware, specifically because the game is also being developed for PS4. While there is a chance that we’ll have to see those same old loading tricks (like riding elevators or shimmying between ledges and cracks), nothing has really been said on the matter nor has there been a glimpse of it.

We’ll Have to Savour It

If you were expecting there to be a Norse trilogy in the same manner we got the Greek trilogy, well, you might be a tad disappointed; “Ragnarok” will be the final entry in the Norse storyline, but there is a reason for this. A couple of weeks after the game’s reveal, Barlog explained that the team didn’t want to spend fifteen years working on a trilogy. The math adds up, too, as 2018’s “God of War” spent five long years in development. In the end, the team found ways to wrap up the story in a better way that’ll allow them to deliver a quality story and move onto something different. That being said, it’ll be quite some time before we see Kratos again once “Ragnarok” is out. Perhaps this will give another one of Sony’s studios, like “Days Gone” developer Bend Studio, a chance to continue the tale of the Ghost of Sparta with a different mythological theme.