10 Things We Want to See in the Next God of War Game

10 Things We Want to See in the Next God of War

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at features we hope to see in the next “God of War,” from story elements to gameplay mechanics. Since we’re talking about the future, a spoiler warning for all previous games is in effect.

Kratos at Peace

The Norse duology, especially the ‘Valhalla’ DLC, brought Kratos to a place of peace within himself, forgiving the terrible things he had done in his past life. So, it should go without saying that bringing back the violent hatred that occupied the Greek games would be a mistake. Whatever the conflict may be in the next installment, we hope Kratos is trying to prevent it. Not just in a self-growth type of way like in “Ragnarok,” but because he’s grown into that God loved by the common folk, and genuinely cares for their well-being. Sure, he can still let that anger out when it’s time to deal with an unreasonable enemy. But he shouldn’t be thrown into a scenario that takes his development backwards.

Adult Atreus

Both Norse games showed Atreus growing used to the abilities that came from his Godhood. We’ve already seen the stumble of inexperienced youth, which led to some of the lesser aspects of “Ragnarok,” when he was playable. Looking at you, Ironwood. Whenever the next game takes place, we’d really like for Atreus to be an older, more fully formed God. Barring some type of spinoff that sees him tracking down remaining Giants, a persistent rumor, we’d really like for him to be more confident not only in his powers, but in his position. It would be nice if he and Kratos could act as equals in combating whatever threat comes their way.

Resolution With Sindri

There were a few threads left dangling after “Ragnarok” and “Valhalla.” But one of the more personal ones was Kratos and Atreus’ damaged relationship with Sindri. With his brother, Brock, having been killed by Odin, Sindri lashed out and blamed them for his death, particularly Atreus. While “Ragnarok” gave us resolution of Freya’s anger over Baldur’s death in the previous game, we never got the same with Sindri. In fact, the writers even put in extra scenes to show that the once-lighthearted blacksmith’s anger had not dissolved. While sometimes in life, that’s just how things go and relationships are never mended, we really hope that isn’t the case here.

Multiple Pantheons

The Norse games laid the groundwork for the series to go in several directions in terms of which pantheons to adapt next. Any of them would undeniably be cool, and many fans are guessing Egypt. However, Sony Santa Monica could, and arguably should, surprise us. Instead of just moving on to the next pantheon, why not tackle several? The games have clearly shown they’re all connected. Maybe there’s a war between them that Kratos and Atreus must try to prevent. Maybe there’s a power vacuum with what happened to the Greek and Norse worlds. Regardless, it would be an interesting way for the series to grow grander. You could argue that this would make them each less defined. But if planned across several games, with different Gods and areas introduced within them, we know the team could do them justice.

A Brand New Weapon

When Kratos transitioned into the Norse world, its combat was, initially, defined by the Leviathan Ax. The Blades of Chaos from the Greek Era returned at the midway point, and the Draupnir Spear was introduced similarly in “Ragnarok.” When it comes time for him to enter a new location, we think its combat should progress in the same way. Give him a new weapon, linked to whatever area the next game is set in. And if it does happen to focus on more than one pantheon, having him earn another weapon from each place would be a great way to evolve combat as players progress.

Monstrous Enemies

This isn’t to say that Daddy Kratos didn’t fight large enemies. There were Trolls, Dragons, and Garm the Helhound. But when compared to some of the bosses in the Greek Era, these types of fights were far smaller in scale. They still mostly kept the conflict on the ground, or within the same space that they started in. Some of the most impressive boss fights in the older games acted as giant set pieces, like Cronos in “God of War III,” the Hecatonchires in “Ascension,” or even the Hydra, the opening fight of the first game way back in 2005. The boss fights of the Norse games are still stellar, but we hope to see a bit of the ‘epicness’ of the older games come back.

Replayable Boss Fights

Speaking of boss fights, we think we can speak for all fans when we say that they’re highlights across the “God of War” series. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could go back and experience them without the need of replaying the entire story? There are plenty of action adventure games that give players this option. Whether it be through a boss rush mode, or just allowing them to test themselves by increasing the difficulty. You could even lock certain rewards behind them like in-game items or cosmetics, or behind-the-scenes features like artwork. Regardless, the boss fights in “God of War” are some of gaming’s best and it would be great for us to finetune our skills by revisiting them.

Refined Customization

Of the few complaints about the newer “God of War” games, the implementation of RPG elements was one of the more frequent. It was like a midway point between the action of the older entries and the grander style of actual RPGs. But most of the time, if you found armor or enchantments that you liked, it was worth it to keep it rather than change things up. While skill trees for weapons and abilities were fine, this element could use a bit more fine-tuning in the next entry. The UI also walked a not-so-fine line of looking like every other action RPG with multiple tabs to flip through and being awkward to navigate.

More Focus on Exploration

While not open world, the Norse entries featured huge areas to gather resources and hear new stories. In the 2018 game, the Lake of Nine would gradually have more of it revealed as you completed the story. But since many of the locations around the lake looked so similar, you’d spend a lot of time rowing around. “Ragnarok” was a bit better about this, since several realms became huge explorable spaces in their own right. But backtracking once you gained access to new content could still be a slow process. We hope the next game fixes this, and we have a few ideas how. Give us a better fast travel system that eliminates some of the needless backtracking, and give Kratos some quicker movement mechanics if necessary. Maybe even give him his jump back. Also, giving him items and weapons upon completing sections, like in the old games, could allow for more frequent and enjoyable exploration of previous areas.

Explore the Higher Power

We’ll end on another story element we hope to see addressed in Kratos’ future adventures. There is clearly something or someone in a higher position of power than the Gods. We’ve seen this with Athena’s higher plane of being in “God of War III.” And we’ve seen it with Odin’s obsession over the mysterious mask in “God of War: Ragnarok.” But like him, we’ve never gotten any answers, at least not yet. Whether these two elements are connected is unclear, but they are elements we wonder about nonetheless. How are the different Pantheons connected? What exactly happens to the Gods when they die? Who’s in charge here? There are theories that delve into these mysteries, but it would be great to get something concrete from the actual source.

What’s something you hope to see in the next “God of War” entry? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great gaming videos every day!