God Of War 2018 Easter Eggs You Totally Missed

Mimir! The smartest man alive is full of deep lore to help flesh out the world of Midgard and the Aesir Gods. No matter where you go, he’s got something to say about it. Alfheim is the first realm that Kratos and Atreus travel to and they complete this portion of their journey without Mimir in tow. Once you’ve completed Alfheim, assuming you fully explored and unlocked all the secret chests on your first visit, there isn’t much reason to return. But those who did go back were treated to even more details about the Elven realm and the fight between the light and dark elves over the light of Alfheim. Mimir is nothing if not an encyclopedia strapped to Kratos’s belt.

If there’s one thing we know about Kratos, it’s that it’s hard for him to let things go. In a detail that went unnoticed by most players even after climbing all the way to the peaks of Jotunheim with the father and son duo, if you look closely, you’ll notice the sash that Arteus wears is actually Kratos’s loincloth he wore during his original quest to kill the gods of Greece. The tattoos Atreus sports also have meaning to his character with the one on his neck stating xref “Calm mind, fast hand,” referring to his skills as an archer. Not only that, if you look closely, no matter what armor set he’s wearing, Kratos still sports the leather straps of his Spartan skirt. While it’s likely Kratos couldn’t part with this piece of his past, it also never hurts to have a bit of extra protection for your little Spartans.

All modern games have ways of guiding the player along a given path, whether it be highlighting it with some kind of game specific visual cues, or the old standard or having climbable ledges be covered in white paint - at least we hope it’s white paint. Canonically, it might be bird poop in a lot of these games. But in God of War 2018, Cory Barlog and his team made the traversal markers a meaningful part of not only the gameplay but also the story. Shortly after reaching Jotunheim, Kratos and Atreus find one of Faye’s glowing golden handprints alongside one of the markers designating a climbable ledge and Atreus remarks that Faye not only predicted their path but was also guiding them on their journey. It’s an important detail that managed to go over a few gamers’ heads and made those who caught it completely rethink their entire journey.

Freya is one of the first allies Kratos and Atreus meet on their journey and by the end of the game, this relationship has all but ended. With the reveal that Freya is Baldur’s mother, the father and son’s friendship with the witch of the woods is strained to say the least. After Kratos saves Freya by killing Baldur, Freya swears complete and absolute revenge against Kratos before absconding with Baldur’s body. While we know Freya’s path will cross with Kratos and Atreus again in Ragnarok, there is an important detail players may have missed if they didn’t or were unable to complete the Valkyrie side quests. After returning from Jotunheim, Mimir tells Kratos Freya came to see him about where Odin kept her Valkyrie wings and paired with Sigrun telling Kratos she is not the true Valkyrie queen, Freya’s warrior past begins to come into light.

Infinite Power

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Thanos’s Infinity Gauntlet is so powerful that not only can it cross into the multiverse, it can travel back in time and cross into other entertainment mediums as well! Players dedicated to completing all of God of War’s many side quests were treated to the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages, which is the MCU Infinity Gauntlet in all but name. By picking up the side quest “Family Business” from Sindri, you can unlock the Gauntlet itself, but it’s by upgrading the Gauntlet and socketing combinations of the six enchantments, or souls if you will, the Gauntlet is easily one of the most powerful additions to Kratos’s arsenal. You can’t rewind time or snap all the Aesir Gods from existence, but the Gauntlet’s crowd control blast and subsequent energy shot can still lay waste to any who cross Kratos’s path.

What’s In A Name

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At the close of the game, the player as well as Kratos and Atreus are bombarded with revelations and even more questions. The reveal that Faye was in fact a Giantess came as an enormous shock to all parties and meant that Baldur was actually looking for Faye not Kratos at the beginning of the game. Many were so blindsided by the illustrations on the wall depicting the pair’s entire journey that many overlooked the details hidden within. Etched in runic within the murals is Faye’s full name, Laufey who in Norse legend is the Frost Giant mother of Loki, which brings the Loki reveal full circle. More surprising is the name given to Kratos by the Giants: Farbauti. While not as much is known about Farbauti in Norse legend, the myth still tracks since there’s so little information about Loki’s father that Kratos easily slips into Norse mythology.

The collector’s edition of God of War is a treasure trove of collectibles and secrets for fans to pour over and decipher, and by far one of the coolest is hidden in the world map included with the set. If players follow a set of instructions on the map while at Muspelheim tower, they can unlock the Grip of The Ages, an incredibly powerful axe pommel that was created by Brock and Sindri and seemingly tossed into the void only for the God of War to find it. It’s best to get this Grip as early as possible because while it is powerful early on, you will most likely come across more useful axe pommels in your travels, but this is still an interesting Easter Egg that was right under collector’s noses.

The reveal of the murals at the end of Kratos and Atreus’s journey is certainly eye opening but some gamers noticed during replays of their adventure, some of these predictions can be spotted earlier than your arrival at Jotunheim. During the player's initial fight with Baldur, Kratos slams the aesir God into an enormous rock standing all on its own amongst the surrounding mountains. However, if you’re quick enough to take a closer look before Kratos attempts to pancake Baldur with it, you can see Faye’s prediction of Kratos and Atreus’s final fight with Baldur and Freya. While some details are different from the mural on the walls of Jotunheim, this may stem from the belief that time is always in flux and no event is set in stone. Quite literally in this case.

The Boat Captain

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Pour one out for the poor boat captain. After being unceremoniously sacrificed by Kratos to the Hydra simply to retrieve the Captain’s key, he was then accosted by Kratos again while trying to escape from Hades before finally being summoned against his will to fight Kratos alongside the Barbarian King. It seems the Boat Captain’s troubles didn’t end there either. Kratos and Atreus can find a note along with a map leading to the Boat Captain’s key and treasure. It seems after his untimely demise at the jaws of the Hydra, the Boat Captain’s crew took his key and his ship and somehow ended up sailing to Midgard before getting shipwrecked. Even after his multiple humiliations, the poor Boat Captain can’t even find peace in the Norse realm.

One of the biggest reveals came at the end of the game when not only was the origin of Atreus’s name revealed but also his true name his mother had chosen for him, Loki. However, before the name Atreus was revealed as the name for the boy, Gamespot took it upon themselves to give him a name, Charlie, for some reason. Obviously, this wasn’t even close but director Cory Barlog thought it was funny enough to include a nod to that name and awarded it to Freya’s turtle home. But eagle-eyed players hunting for more secrets hidden throughout the game discovered one right above players' heads in Kratos and Atreus’s homestead. Carved into the woodwork in runic letters around the house is the name Loki, meaning Faye never let go of the name she had originally chosen for the boy even after agreeing to name him Atreus.