Some things you need to know about the video game God of War Ragnarok

“God of War Ragnarok” is coming

and even though Sony is being

extremely tightlipped about the game,

we’ve put together a
pretty comprehensive list

of all the info that’s out there.

Now, on top of all the gameplay changes

we will be talking story stuff,

so there will be some spoilers
for “God of War” from 2018

as well as a discussion
of some of the things

seen in the trailers so far for this one.

Now also note, there are
leaks and rumors out there

but we’re not touching any of that stuff.

All the information covered
here is publicly available

and we won’t spoil anything

not seen in the official trailers.

We don’t wanna ruin it for you,

we just wanna talk about the info.

And of course, like always,

everything we talk
about, all the trailers,

all the sources will be linked

in the description down below.

So we got 10 things, let’s get
started off with number 10.

This is a direct continuation

from the last game in more ways than one.

Of course, as you probably know,

it’s a third person action game

where you control Kratos and son, Atreus,

as they explore a perilous
world of Norse mythology.

Set in a semi-ish open world,

you travel to different
locations, you battle enemies,

and engage in some light side quests

and experience a pretty linear story.

Now if you played “God of War” 2018

then you’ll know what to expect going in.

I mean, from all the indications,

this isn’t a departure
from the previous game,

rather it’s a refinement.

Many iconic elements of the
previous game return here,

like the single camera take.

there are like no camera
cuts or loading screens.

Once the game starts,

there are no cutaways
or fades or transitions,

even during parts that traditionally

would require a loading screen,

like when Kratos travels between realms,

they find clever ways to
keep the single take going.

Bear McCreary returns
for the soundtrack too.

His involvement brought
a very different sound

to the world of “God of War,”

but his work on the previous
game is some of his best work,

and considering how much stuff

the guy has been involved
with, that’s high praise.

Now, one person who isn’t

technically returning for
this game is Cory Barlog.

His DNA, of course, runs really deep

in all of the older “God of War” games,

but for some people he really
became a household name

as the director of “God of War” 2018.

But for this game, he has handed the reins

over to Sony Santa Monica
veteran Eric Williams,

who has also worked on pretty
much every “God of War” game

in some capacity.

Next, over at number
nine, let’s talk story.

“God of War Ragnarok” takes place

several years after the
ending of the first game.

Atreus is now a bit of a teenager

and the legendary Fimbulwinter
is in full effect,

so as the first sign of
the coming apocalypse

of the Norse mythology called Ragnarok,

this means that the
prophecy that was revealed

at the end of the previous
game is coming true.

Like the first game,

the bond between father and son is tested

as Atreus wants to learn
more about his identity.

In the previous game it was revealed

that he is actually Loki,
than Norse god of mischief.

He wants to find a way

to stop the apocalypse from happening,

while Kratos wants nothing to do with it.

He doesn’t believe in prophecy

and doesn’t want his son to get involved

in the affairs of the gods,

but judging from how things are looking

it looks like he goes
along with him anyway.

No matter how much Kratos
wants to be left alone,

he’ll have to contend with many more gods

looking to take revenge on him,

or stand in his way like Freya, Thor,

and the king himself, Odin.

Of course, we have no idea what happens

beyond this basic premise,
but one thing we do know

is that the game will have
some kind of decisive ending

because Cory Barlog has confirmed

that this game is the
end of the Norse saga.

The reason for this is pretty logical,

he didn’t want it to take
nearly a decade or more

for the story to finally end,

so instead of stretching things
out over three installments

he decided that things would
conclude with the second game.

But of course, like we always say,

we’re just gonna have to wait and see.

Next over at number eight,

the one thing that people are
probably most curious about

but that Sony has been
incredibly secretive about

is the combat.

The trailers shown so far

only reveal a very few
brief moments of combat,

and for the most part,

everything we’ve seen does look similar.

Now, a lot of this we know

thanks to Game Informer’s
exclusive coverage,

if you wanna check all that out

that’s linked into description down below.

The developers have
come out and said that,

when designing Ragnarok

they wanted to give players more choice

when it comes to the combat system,

which in this instance means

that they wanted to make
combat more dynamic.

Both weapons from the
first game return here,

the Leviathan Axe, and of
course the Blades of Chaos.

They got a lot of play

in some of the footage
that we’ve seen so far.

And while those weapons
look functionally the same,

they got a few more
moves to mix things up.

I mean, the most obvious innovation

is with the Blades of Chaos.

Now you can grapple onto ledges

to quickly climb vertical surfaces.

You can pull yourself towards enemies

and swing around the environment

and even perform powerful smash attacks

After jumping off a ledge.

Just from the brief clips we’ve seen,

there looks like a lot
more vertical movement

and positioning in combat
encounters and combat arenas.

Now, Kratos isn’t just
using the Blades of Chaos

to pull himself around either,

it kind of looks like he uses them

to pick up debris off the ground

and fling it at enemies like a projectile

in one of the story trailers.

And Atreus, of course, remains
an important part of combat,

even if he seems to act
more independently now.

We haven’t seen really
everything he can do,

but the reveal trailer shows

that he has access to runic summons,

just like the first game.

Another major change is how
the Triangle button works.

In the original game, all you can do

with the Triangle button

is press it to recall the
Leviathan Axe after throwing it.

It was mostly unused

so the developers added an
additional function to it.

There are now special
Triangle button attacks

called Weapon Signature Moves

which can imbue each weapon
with a different element.

The Leviathan Axe has a Frost Awaken

which imbues the weapon with ice,

while the Blades of Chaos have Whiplash

which causes the blades
to burst into flames.

It seems like shields have
some changes to them as well.

Instead of having a single shield,

Kratos can pick from
a few different kinds.

Two that have been disclosed so far

are the Dauntless and
the Stonewall shields.

The Dauntless Shield
gives Kratos a big boost

if he blocks at the last moment.

If you get the timing right,

then it looks like Kratos will perform

a devastating counter
attack that stuns enemies.

The Stonewall Shield in
contrast is more about turtling.

It can’t parry at all
but it absorbs attacks

and builds up an energy meter,

which when full lets Kratos do a move

where he kind of slams
the shield into the ground

and knocks back enemies.

Now those aren’t even

the only two shield variants in the game.

Apparently there’s gonna be more,

with even more skill-based ones to unlock

as the game goes on, and
we can’t wait to see those.

Next over to number seven,

here’s another element of the game

that they’ve been pretty secretive about

but we’ve seemingly discovered
a few interesting tidbits.

Now, we mentioned that the Blades of Chaos

can sometimes grapple now,

and that doesn’t stop at
pulling Kratos up ledges

or yanking enemies.

He can also grab onto
highlighted swing points

to get across large gaps.

This all plays into the developer’s drive

to make the world you explore

have more variety and verticality.

Now that Kratos no longer needs
to carry Atreus everywhere,

the designers can really go
nuts with Kratos’ movement.

Puzzles involving the
Leviathan Axe are still here

and you can still
command Atreus to perform

certain content sensitive
actions in the environment,

but it looks like there will be

more variety to these
kinds of puzzles this time.

One major gameplay difference

is that instead of using a
boat to navigate the hub world,

the the Lake of the Nine,

Kratos now uses this cool
sled pulled by two wolves

named Speki and Svanna.

With the realm engulfed in
winter, the lake has frozen over,

so sledding seems to be
the only way to get around.

Boats are still here though,

it looks like they’re used to explore

more temperate climates that
we’re gonna see in the game.

And one interesting thing we found

is that instead of enemy
placement remaining static

for the entire game like
in the previous entry,

in Ragnarok old locations
will be populated

with new and more powerful
enemies when you return to them.

Enemy encounters in
optional areas also change

as the game goes on and
become more populated

with more difficult enemies

as you progress through the story.

Now, next, over at number six

let’s talk about the new enemy gods.

Now, just from the trailers,

it’s obvious that this game
will have a lot more god action

than in the last game.

This time of course, Kratos
is gonna have to take on Thor,

the Norse God of Thunder.

Seeking revenge on Kratos

for killing his half brother Baldur,

and his son’s Magni and
Modi, Thor seems to be shown

as every bit an equal to Kratos in combat.

Now, one of the coolest details

is how he recalls his weapon.

At the very end of the story trailer

we see Thor snap his fingers

to recall Mjolnir, his famous hammer.

Now from Ymir’s many
stories from the first game,

we know that the Thor of “God of War”

is far from the MCU
version of the character

that a lot of people know.

This guy is a psychopathic brute

who in many ways is a mirror
to how Kratos used to be,

this single minded killing machine.

Now, another god out for
revenge of course is Freya,

the queen of the Valkyries
and mother of Baldur,

the main antagonist of the previous game.

She wants Kratos dead for
killing her son and considering

she was an ally for most
of the original game,

it’s likely that their
relationship will change

somehow in this game, or
Kratos kills her maybe?

I don’t know, anything could happen.

Then Tyr, the Norse god of war and laws,

also plays a major role in the story.

Atreus seeks him out hoping

that he can help him stop Ragnarok,

But when they find him

he’s a very different character to Kratos,

so that should be an interesting dynamic.

The biggest question mark

is the king of the gods himself, Odin.

The one-eyed Raven is central

to the story of Ragnarok, probably.

But we’ve only gotten
a brief glimpse of him

in the shadows for a second
in the story trailer.

Odin, of course, is a god with many names

and is known for being
both wise, mysterious,

and even treacherous.

I think it’s safe to say

that his approach to fighting Kratos

will be very different from Zeus,

but we’re interested to see
how that actually plays out.

Now next over at number five,

one of the few complaints people
had about the previous game

was the overall lack of enemy variety.