First Look At God of War Ragnarok Footage, Story and Gameplay

Sony Santa Monica Studio brings us our first real look at God of War Ragnarok footage at the Playstation Showcase 2021.

The God of War Ragnarok footage seems to show that it has been a couple of years since the last game. Kratos and his son Atreus have to prepare for war with the Norse Gods.

Atreus has developed into a teenager and you can definitely see that teenage angst coming through. How will Daddy Kratos deal survive?! The first step seems to be to find Tyr, the Norse God of War who’s supposed to be dead but they’re gonna go look for him anyway. And by the end of the trailer, they seem to have found him.

The game sees the return of old allies from the last game, God of Wisdom, and talking head Mimir and the twin Dwarf Blacksmiths.

It also gives a nice teaser of the game’s antagonists; Freya from the last game and the God of Thunder himself, Thor, playing a much more antagonistic role than his usual pop culture appearances, but I suppose that’s to be expected in a God of War game.

Finally, the trailer ends with a young girl. Fans are already speculating that she might be Angrboda, Loki’s (and therefore Atreus’) Wife in the myths who gives birth to his three children, the Fenrir Wolf, Hela The Goddess of Death, and The Midgard Serpent. The Serpent appeared as an ally in the previous game so perhaps there are some time shenanigans going on or they’re taking some artistic liberties.

As for the gameplay, Playstation Blog summed up the changes to combat:

It would not be God of War without a healthy serving of visceral and spectacular combat. You’ve been able to see just a hint of new attack abilities, a new Runic Summon for Atreus, and of course, the return of Kratos’ legendary weapons

As a team, we’ve worked hard to take our learnings from God of War (2018) and improve upon combat to feel fresh, yet familiar. With God of War Ragnarök, one of our main goals was to push player choice in combat. Whether it’s through hard-hitting combos, a mastery of elements, or clever defensive tactics – you will find plenty of opportunities to fight alongside our duo in a way that feels uniquely expressive.

Whatever your choice of combat strategy, the enemies that await in God of War: Ragnarök will be ready. The realms have grown harsher, and a whole host of new creatures from across Norse mythology will test your skills. From the trailer, you can see what happens when Kratos finds himself under the hooves of the Stalker or grabbed between the jaws of a Dreki, and that’s just the beginning.

God of War Ragnarok will release exclusively for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 in 2022. The game will feature enhanced graphics on the PS5 version.

The previous game, God of War (2018) is available on PS4, PS5 and now also PC for those that want a recap on what happened last time.