The latest chapter of God of War released for PlayStation 4 is undoubtedly one of the best videogame works of recent years. A well-deserved triumph for Santa Monica Studio which has a lot of talent behind it and a mammoth production, which contains several interesting backgrounds.
While we wait to know the fate of Kratos and Atreus in God of War Ragnarök, expected in 2022, we list ten three of the most curious facts of the title released in 2018. Please note that the article will contain spoilers, so we recommend that you read it after completing the adventure.
Spoiler
Speaking of spoilers, we know that at the end of the game Kratos and Atreus come across some murals that show their deeds as if they had already been predetermined and predicted. What few have realized is that already in the initial stages we cross one.
During the first fight against the Stranger or Baldur, it is possible to notice a painting on a piece of wall that is involved in the fight. Looking at him carefully we can recognize Kratos (with an ax in hand) and Baldur fighting next to a giant. So right from the start, the game showed us how it would turn out.
Paternal Instinct
One of the most distinctive and successful aspects of God of War is the synergy between Kratos and his son, both in the story and in the gameplay. Yet in the course of development, there was a risk that the character of Atreus would be eliminated from the game.
This is because the implementation of the character as Cory Barlog thought was an ambitious and expensive process, so many in the studio tried to persuade him to find a different solution to tell his story. The director had thought of alternatives but ultimately managed to convince Sony to support his original vision.
The Barlog intuition certainly proved to be a winning one to give depth to Kratos’ character and the story in its entirety, which without the relationship with Atreus that we have seen would not have been absolutely the same.
Family Inheritance
Speaking of Atreus, the authors have included in its design a rather subtle reference to its origins that perhaps not everyone has noticed. The scars on his face, in fact, give shape to the same red tattoo that Kratos has in correspondence with the left eye. For those who do not remember, the Spartan warrior had this tattoo done to replicate the particular birthmark that Deimos, his younger brother kidnapped by Ares, had on his face.
This is obviously a mere aesthetic coincidence, but one that somehow carries on the tradition of the peculiar brand, the object of the prophecy that triggered the course of events that traced Kratos’ path.
Trolol
Many will remember the first presentation of God of War at E3 2016, during which Kratos and Atreus as they cross a bridge are surprised by a troll that they must defeat. In the final game, however, that confrontation was removed, probably because the writers thought that after watching the trailer they would have expected it, or perhaps because it was still too early to put them in front of a boss.
The fact is that there is no trace of that troll at that moment in the game and the two protagonists cross the bridge without problems. Atreus will comment that he expected to find a troll under that bridge. A self-quote that the authors have inserted referring to the presentation trailer.
Speaking of trolls, much later in the game, in Tyr’s Temple, the two will have to defeat a frost troll and an ash troll together. After taking down the last one, Atreus will comment that he was big but not big enough for them as gods; when Kratos tells him that he killed more, the boy will call him a puny troll. It is a reference to the movie Avengers when the Hulk calls Loki a puny god. The quote is even more humorous when we think that Atreus is actually Loki in the world of God of War, showing a certain reversal of roles.
Endless Misfortune
Also in this God of War, there is a small space for the Captain of the Ship. You may not know it, but the Captain is a recurring figure throughout the saga with a tragicomic function. It is in fact the captain of the ship attacked by the Hydra of the very first God of War, which has cameos in all chapters:
- In the first God of War he is “saved” from the stomach of the Hydra by Kratos, but only because the Spartan needed his key; as soon as she is recovered she throws it back into the monster’s stomach. Later in the adventure, after being killed by Ares, Kratos manages to stop his fall into the Underworld towards the River Styx by clinging to the legs of the Captain, who in turn tried not to fall clinging to a cliff. The Spartan pierces him with one of his blades and leverages his body to climb up, causing him to fall towards his cruel destiny.
- In God of War II, we will see him again during the fight against Alrik, the Barbarian King when he summons some souls to fight alongside him. The Captain finds himself summoned against his will in the middle of the fight, recognizes Kratos and tries to escape, but is “killed” once again.
- In God of War III, we do not see him physically, but in the Underworld, it is possible to find a letter from him in which he curses Kratos with these words:
- “He could have saved me. He had my life in his hands, and he let it go. I may have been a simple ship captain, but he treated me like I was nothing. It is his fault for my torment here! I hope he suffers in Hades as much as I do. Cursed Ghost of Sparta!
- He is also not physically present in God of War: Ascension, but an artifact called Captain’s Idol can be found in the Cave. Ironically he is found in the wreck of a ship, which suggests that even before meeting Kratos the Captain had already had his misfortunes.
Also in the last God of War, there is a reference to the poor Captain and precisely in the description of a treasure map “The Captain’s Key”, which coincidentally is the object that inaugurated the tragic link between the two. In the description, we learn that someone, perhaps a member of the crew, after the Captain’s death took his ship to embark on a journey, but ended up shipwrecked in Midgard.
Loudly
The actor playing Kratos, both in the motion capture sessions and for the dubbing, is Christopher Judge. Despite the considerable number of films and TV series in which he took part, one of his most iconic roles was as Teal’c in Stargate SG-1 and later Stargate: Atlantis. The character is remembered for his catchphrase: Indeed, and since Cory Barlog is a fan of the TV series he wanted to put the line in the script for Christopher Judge to pronounce it in God of War.
Stories of Sailors
While Kratos and Atreus travel by boat in the Lake of Nine, you may have heard the boy ask his father to tell him a story. The Spartan replies that he has met a man whose stories were short but meaningful. In case you hadn’t thought about it, that man was Aesop, the Greek writer considered the initiator of written fables.
There are several stories that Kratos tells his son, but it seems that the authors have chosen with a certain criterion which ones to insert. Like that of the scorpion ferried by the frog, whose nature is immediately compared to the gods, if analyzed well, others also seem to apply well to some situations and characters of God of War.
The fable of the horse that allows a hunter to tie him up and ride him in revenge on a deer, but ends up losing his freedom, can be read as a metaphor for what happened to Kratos with Ares. The fable of a mother crab scolding her son for walking sideways can be applied directly to the two protagonists: Kratos always tries to encourage Atreus to be better, especially by virtue of his divine nature, but he himself has yet to come to terms with his past.
That of the thief and the mother could apply to the relationship between Freya and Baldur, acting as a harbinger of how the overprotectiveness of the goddess will lead Baldur to detest and attempt to kill her.
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His Martial Highness
Throughout the God of War series, the Kratos pattern hasn’t always remained the same. During the course of the first four titles, the alterations were not very evident, limiting themselves to minor details of style. The real change came with the most recent chapter, and we’re not just talking about the beard.
Kratos has always been a man of considerable size, but the subject of his official height has always remained somewhat nebulous, as his height in the original series is supposed to be around 2.34 meters. In any case, for the new course that started in 2018, the Santa Monica team has chosen a more realistic design than that of the first series with a rather “cartoonish” style. For this reason, Kratos is now “only” 1.94 meters tall and his body has been reshaped, so his muscles are more proportionate than his head. A decidedly apt choice that contributes to making the character more human.
Directorial Obstinacy
The most passionate cinema players will surely have noticed in the new God of War a palpable directorial difference compared to past titles, namely the dynamic and continuous framing. The camera follows Kratos continuously between exploration, fighting and cutscene without ever “disconnecting” as if the whole game were one giant film in sequence. This directorial choice was strongly desired by director Cory Barlog, but he was an intuition that he had been carrying around for many years and that he had already proposed for the Tomb Raider reboot released in 2013.
In fact, in 2010 Cory Barlog had left Santa Monica Studio and, after a fruitless experience with Avalanche Studios, joined Crystal Dynamics as director of cinematic sequences. It was during the development of the new Tomb Raider that he came up with the idea of using the seamless framing technique, but this was rejected by the studio as madness. From that resounding refusal, Barlog had already realized that this was probably not the ideal place for him, so much so that he left Crystal Dynamics as soon as Tomb Raider hit the shops. In the meantime, he had begun to converse with Sony about the new project and later praised the company for the support it gave him in the creation of God of War according to his vision.
Hints of Destiny
Speaking of vision, by now we have understood that the boys of Santa Monica like to leave hidden clues in plain sight and already in April 2019 they had evidently decided the main event of the sequel. In the dynamic theme released at that time, in fact, we can see Kratos and Atreus on the boat used in the game, on which it is possible to glimpse some runes. Well someone translated those runes and the hidden message is: Ragnarök is coming. A clear reference to the main event and the title of the next God of War Ragnarök.
