The first major trailer for God of War Ragnarok was released by Santa Monica Studio this week during the recent PlayStation Showcase.
The video itself provided our first deep look at what the highly-anticipated sequel will have in store and also teased a handful of new characters that will be appearing within the story.
One of those characters happens to be Thor, who is the iconic Norse God of Thunder. And while Thor himself wasn’t shown directly in the trailer for Ragnarok, Santa Monica Studio has since revealed what he would actually look like in-game.
God of War Ragnarok: Spoiler Alert
God of War: Ragnarok is heading to PS5 and PS4 in 2022, and we’ve finally seen some gameplay footage and got the official title, thanks to the PlayStation Showcase.
Since the game’s announcement back in September 2020, there’s been very little official news or firm details about what we can expect from God of War: Ragnarok, other than a confirmation that the game’s release window has shifted from 2021 to 2022.
Read God Of War is making something great for you.
That’s all changed now as we have a more firm idea of what Kratos and Atreus will be facing in their upcoming game. Ragnarok is an event that leads to the end of the world in Norse mythology, so our duo may have their work cut out for them when God of War: Ragnarok finally drops in 2022.
We couldn’t be more excited here at Santa Monica Studio to finally share our first real look at God of War Ragnarök with all the fans who have been very patiently waiting for an update!
As you can see in the trailer, we’re picking up a few years after the events of God of War (2018). The freezing winds of Fimbulwinter have come to Midgard, making survival for Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir in the Norse wilds even more challenging than before.
While the last game built an enormous amount of trust and understanding between father and son, there is still a great deal of complexity in their interactions – especially after the revelation of Atreus’ Giant heritage and the hidden prophecy only Kratos saw.
Atreus is desperately curious. Like most young people, he wants to understand who he is more than anything. In this case, he wants to understand who he could be.
The mystery of Loki’s role in the upcoming conflict is that Atreus cannot let go of. He wants to keep his family safe, but Atreus also doesn’t want to stand by and do nothing while conflict consumes the Nine Realms.
God of War: Ragnarok: what we want to see
Exploring that ending further
At the end of God of War, we found out that Kratos’ wife (and Atreus’ mother) Faye was actually a Giant called Laufey. So that means Atreus is half God and half Giant, and, what’s more, he has a different name altogether: Loki. You know Loki, the trickster of Norse mythology.
Hopefully, God of War: Ragnarok will explore this further, and we’ll find out more about Faye’s secret past, as well as why she kept it all a secret in the first place.
We’re also hoping Atreus will embrace the shape-shifting abilities that Loki is notorious for instead of simply standing on the sidelines firing arrows at enemies.
Atreus isn’t a boy anymore.
The God of War sequel may continue directly from the events of the previous game. However, we think it would be more interesting to see how a teenage Atreus and grumpy dad Kratos fair on an adventure.
The Bottom Line
After days of speculation, we got new God of War details at the PlayStation Showcase on September 9, 2021. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a release date, but we did finally get an official name – God of War: Ragnarok as expected – as well as a new trailer which you can watch above.
After the event, Cory Barlog – the director of God of War on the PS4 – put out a wholesome response on Twitter, including a tongue-in-cheek response to the name reveal.
Previously they had shown us a brief teaser for God of War: Ragnarok at the end of Sony’s live stream event in September 2020. But, unfortunately, all it showed was a brief logo and the words “Ragnarok is coming.”
