![]() ![]() Part of this involves Kratos being less centered in the story, allowing the rest of the cast to influence the plot as much (and sometimes more) than he does. “Everything else has to fall in line with that approach, keeping the heart of the story about Kratos and Atreus’ evolving relationship,” says Sophos. He explains that the Norse God of War games are concerned with “smaller and more personal” stories where Kratos, haunted by his past, “ really doesn’t want to be involved in the affairs of the gods.” Regardless of the plot’s structure, the game’s writers worked to keep the story’s primary concern-a relationship between father and son-in focus. With the stakes so high, Sophos says that Ragnarök’s story needed to focus on “questions of motivation” in its continued exploration of more intimate character dynamics. ![]() Though the 2018 God of War had established him as a kinder, gentler sort of bloodthirsty musclebound warrior-one capable of forming a proper relationship with his son-the sequel poses a follow-up question: How does Kratos behave once that relationship is put to the test by his child growing into an adult and being brought into confrontation with the Norse gods? Naturally, then, Kratos’ role as a father and a character in general continues to change too. With Odin hunting for Atreus/Loki, and Kratos now desperate to find a way to keep his son safe while allowing him to embrace his divine identity without helping bring the world to an end (typical parent stuff, really), the stakes are much higher for the protagonist on both a personal and existential level. The recently released Ragnarök is a direct sequel to that game, picking up after its predecessor revealed that Kratos’ son, Atreus, is actually the Norse god Loki, and that the mythological end times- Ragnarök-are upon them. Sign up for our Games newsletter and never miss our latest gaming tips, reviews, and features. Over the course of the story-which tones down much of the previously over-the-top gore and does away with the goofy, rhythm game sex scenes of the Greek series-Kratos eventually learned how to talk to his son in more than monosyllables and grunts, becoming something like a functional parent over the course of their journey to scatter his late wife’s ashes. Its being an action game starring a living god means it isn’t long, of course, before that past catches up to him and he’s forced to reckon with his child, learning the family history and protecting him from the unwanted attention of the Norse gods. In Santa Monica Studio’s new vision, he was depicted as a sullen widower now left to forge a relationship with his son, Atreus, after heading north to escape his past. With God of War’s Norse reimagining, though, Kratos started to grow up. Mouth fixed in a permanent sneer, hell-bent on revenge against the pantheon of gods who tricked him into murdering his family, the earlier Kratos roared, growled, and ripped apart every deity in his way until he’d toppled an entire civilization’s metaphysical framework. Before the long-running God of War series was reestablished with a 2018 entry that moved the story from a mythological ancient Greece to a mythological ancient Scandinavia, its protagonist, Kratos, was an unparalleled jerk. ![]()
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