Spoilers forward for God of Struggle and God of Struggle Ragnarok
“Baldur is blessed with invulnerability to all threats, bodily or magical,” Mimir explains to Kratos and his son Atreus in 2018’s God of Struggle. But as quickly as Sindri, the dwarven blacksmith, gave a bundle of mistletoe arrows to the younger god, I knew Baldur’s destiny was sealed.
I am not an knowledgeable on Norse mythology, however the fables of Odin, Thor, the giants, and Vanir are one thing I’ve had an curiosity in for various years now. I do know the broad strokes surrounding Ragnarok and a few of the smaller myths, starting from the story of Thor creating the tides after being tricked into ingesting the ocean, to the story of the development of Asgard’s walls–which ends with Loki being impregnated by a horse, by the way. Whereas some gamers have been questioning how Kratos was ever going to cease an unkillable god, I knew the reply was already sitting proper in entrance of us, neatly docked on Atreus’ quiver. The precise particulars of Baldur’s eventual demise might differ in God of Struggle in comparison with the Norse mythology it pulls from, however mistletoe–and by extension, Atreus–still play an important position within the dying of its fearsome antagonist.
Most of what we learn about Norse fable comes from the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, two Previous Norse texts from the thirteenth century. I’ve briefly explored each, however most of my information of those previous pagan tales comes from Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, a superb ebook that retells most of the Norse myths whereas making them palatable for a contemporary viewers. Due to this, God of Struggle did not throw too many curveballs my manner other than one main exception. The ultimate reveal that Atreus is actually Loki was a reasonably stunning one, not least as a result of it launched some points concerning the timeline of occasions. For essentially the most half, nevertheless, God of Struggle sticks pretty carefully to the mythology it is pulling from, solely notably deviating relating to its depiction of sure characters and their prominence within the story. Oh, and there is not normally an indignant Greek god, both.
Going into God of Struggle Ragnarok, I used to be anticipating extra of the same–more delicate spins on in any other case well-established mythos. I could not have been extra fallacious. For all of the reward I may lavish on so many various points of Santa Monica Studio’s spellbinding sequel, the one which stands out as most deserving is how usually the sport’s narrative toys with established information of Norse mythology earlier than subverting these expectations in fascinating methods.
God of Struggle Ragnarok Director Breaks Down Largest Moments
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Fenrir is without doubt one of the clearest examples. At first of God of Struggle Ragnarok, Fenrir, who’s certainly one of Atreus’ pet wolves, dies within the younger boy’s arms simply moments after we first meet him. This can be a stunning flip of occasions contemplating Fenrir performs a pivotal position within the Norse myths, killing Odin by consuming him complete throughout the world-ending occasions of Ragnarok. You see, Fenrir is certainly one of Loki’s three youngsters, the opposite two being Hel, the goddess of the underworld, and Jormungandr, the world serpent. It is prophesied by the Aesir that each one three will convey nice misfortune upon the gods due to who their father is.
In Norse mythology, Loki is commonly depicted as a crafty trickster who operates as each a companion and enemy to the opposite gods. The identical could be stated of Atreus, although Santa Monica Studio considerably redeems the mischief-maker by depicting him as somebody able to empathy and kindness as effectively. This significant change in characterization can also be mirrored in Fenrir. When the wolf dies, Atreus inadvertently locations Fenrir’s soul inside his knife, later transplanting it contained in the physique of the large wolf, Garm. Fenrir won’t be Loki’s son within the conventional sense, however Atreus resurrects him with this act and it is not outlandish to contemplate him his creator. It is a distinctive twist on the Norse fable that falls according to God of Struggle’s depiction of the younger god. Quite than swallowing Odin complete throughout Ragnarok, Fenrir reveals as much as supply our heroes an escape–saving lives slightly than ending them. He is not the vengeful power he’s in Norse mythology, and that is partly as a result of Atreus is a vastly completely different character to the unique Loki, usually deciding towards violence as a primary response.
Jormungandr’s position in God of Struggle extra carefully resembles the Norse fable, as we see the large snake sq. off towards Thor throughout the battle of Ragnarok. Nevertheless, the conclusion to their encounter–and the implications born from it–are far more fascinating than the unique story. Seeing the second from afar throughout the recreation’s large-scale finale is breathtaking; the world serpent looms over the horizon as he collides with the tiny speck of lightning that’s Thor, crashing into the portal for Alfheim when he is struck by a mighty blow from Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. In Norse mythology, the world serpent and thunder-god are arch-enemies, prophesied to kill one another come Ragnarok. The legend states that Thor finishes off the serpent with a killing blow from his hammer, solely to take 9 steps ahead earlier than succumbing to the lethal poison Jormungandr has coated him in. In God of Struggle Ragnarok, the combat ends when Thor hits the large snake so laborious that it splinters the world tree, Yggdrasil, and sends Jormungandr again in time to a interval lengthy earlier than his birth–a prophecy that Mimir tells Kratos and Atreus about in 2018’s God of Struggle.
The Jormungandr in that game–who finds Atreus oddly acquainted after they first meet–is the identical one who will get hit again in time by Thor. Whereas that is taking place, the present-day world serpent is hibernating beneath the ice within the Lake of 9. He wasn’t born centuries in the past, however slightly when Atreus and Angrboda head to her grandmother’s home in Jotunheim, the realm of the giants. There, Atreus revives a big snake with a lacking soul by giving it the soul of a large, just like how he transplants Fenrir’s soul into Garm’s physique. As soon as once more, Loki is not Jormungandr’s father within the conventional sense, however he makes use of his big powers to provide life to the world serpent. As Mimir posits, this additionally explains why Jormungandr has a private vendetta towards Thor earlier than they even encounter each other. It’s extremely doubtless that the 2 clashed when the large was nonetheless alive in its unique physique.
There are many different examples the place God of Struggle Ragnarok subverted my expectations of Norse mythology, however these involving Atreus are essentially the most fascinating. Loki is an integral character within the Previous Norse texts and Atreus nonetheless fills that position, albeit in a vastly completely different manner.
This reinterpretation of historic mythology has at all times been part of God of Struggle’s DNA. It originated in Greece, pitting Kratos towards Zeus and the remainder of the Greek pantheon, earlier than heading north to Midgard and past. The beauty of historic mythology– and particularly Norse mythology–is that it is open to interpretation, with loads of blanks ready to be crammed in by your individual creativeness. Lots of the characters in Norse fable are barely even that; they’re simply names talked about in passing. Baldur is described as being common, after which he is lifeless. He has no dialogue, nor a tinge of persona, but Santa Monica Studio turned him right into a multi-layered villain. There are moments in Ragnarok that excited me due to my current information, however essentially the most gratifying thrill got here from seeing these occasions reworked for a brand new viewers. It speaks to the enduring attraction of those thousand-year-old myths, and their improbable reinterpretation performs a significant position in elevating God of Struggle Ragnarok into probably the greatest video games of 2022.
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