Winter Has Come

God Of War Ragnarök director Eric Williams discusses continuing Kratos’ and Atreus’ growing relationship as the Norse Saga comes to an apocalyptic conclusion, ascending to new Asgardian heights

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2022 / PUB PLAYSTATION STUDIOS DEV SANTA MONICA STUDIO / PLAYERS 1

War is not the only way,” Kratos (voiced once again by the phenomenal Christopher Judge) gruffly tells Atreus, his son, in the emotionally charged and long-awaited full reveal for God Of War Ragnarök. Just as the inhabitants of the Nine Realms have anxiously awaited their apocalyptic event, we’ve been waiting for this sequel to the marvellous reinvention that was the first game. We understand Kratos’ hesitancy well. Despite being a god of war himself, Kratos isn’t particularly pleased to find himself on the brink of one of the biggest wars imaginable – Ragnarök.

Several years have passed, and Fimbulwinter is encroaching on their home in the woods of Midgard, the season making survival tougher. Atreus, no longer a boy, has grown restless to understand his Jötunn heritage and his own role in Ragnarök (some of which Kratos has kept hidden from him), anxious about the destruction that’s sure to ensue once the ticking time bomb of Fimbulwinter ends.

BOYS 2 GODS

While the first game saw Kratos and Atreus coming to terms with their relationship and their shared loss, there’s still plenty of that to come. After all, familial connections never really stop changing. People are complex, and as over-the-top as the action in God Of War can get, the last game showed that this current saga is all about the people at the heart of tales of mythological proportions.