God of War has given us some epic boss battles and fights over the years. And our man, Kratos, seemingly comes out unscathed. Well, at least plot-armor-wise. Player-wise, however, The Valkyrie Queen might have made some of us cry, or even rage quit.
But it does beg the question, doesn’t it? How long can old man Kratos carry on, and is his end in sight? That may be for Santa Monica to answer in their next outing, whenever that is (We will be seated). Though the studio did have plans to kill off The Champion in God of War Ragnarök, we’re glad that wasn’t the version we played.
Thor was going to be the end of Kratos
We had a massive ‘Psych!’ moment with the Thor fight already! But it seems the earliest draft for the game would feature the God-Killer’s final breath being sealed by Thor himself.
In an interview with Minnmax, Santa Monica’s Narrative Director, Matt Sophos, stated how the very early fight would’ve, could’ve, been “it” for Kratos.
The earliest, earliest draft of an outline that we had come up with that we took to Eric… Kratos died in the Thor fight at the very beginning of the game. He was going to die, and it wasn’t a permanent death. He would get pulled out of Hel essentially by Atreus but now 20 years have passed.
It probably was for the best that we didn’t get to see this version of the draft come into effect since most players hated Atreus, at least at first. So to maybe have played as him for a good portion of the game only to pull his father out of Hel later, might’ve been quite the controversial move.
Granted, Atreus would’ve been an adult if this draft went through, but the annoyance factor could’ve stood its ground. Sophos continued-
As we were developing the story, we knew that we wanted the story to be one about letting go and changing. Knowing that Norse mythology is all about fate and prophecy, we wanted to say, ‘That’s bullsh*t, nothing is written that can’t be unwritten, as long as you’re willing to change or make changes in your life then you’re not bound to fate.’
Given how many times Kratos has had close encounters with death, this formula would’ve felt quite stale, and the emotional impact of his end would’ve been completely lost.
God of War Ragnarök heads to PC!
After Ghost of Tsushima, this 2022 PlayStation title is now making its way to PC on September 19th this year. It’s unfortunate but expected of PlayStation at this point, that a PSN Login will be needed (via PlayStation Blog).
That aside, players can look forward to the best graphics this game can offer with ultrawide monitor support and unlocked framerates. The PC version also boasts a New Game+ and the Valhalla DLC made available as well.
As for the next title announcement? There’s nothing on that front in the near future, but we remain hopeful. Gamers have speculated the next setting could see Kratos in Egypt, and it would be the perfect mythos jump from the Norse.
Players can now pre-order the game via the standard edition and the digital deluxe edition, ranging from $60 to $70.
