With the release of God of War: Ragnarok just around the corner, the excitement is building for the long-awaited sequel to God of War. In a new interview with GamesRadar, the game’s director Eric Williams has shed a bit more light on the father-son dynamics players can expect to see between Kratos and Atreus in God of War: Ragnarok. In short, fans of the first game shouldn’t expect to hear Kratos referring to his son as “boy” any longer, which may disappoint lovers of the “dad of boy” meme from the original God of War.
In God of War, players would often hear Kratos refer to his son simply as “boy,” something that many might’ve expected to continue into God of War: Ragnarok. Old habits die hard, especially when it comes to parents and their children. However, this won’t be the case in the sequel. As explained in the interview, the relationship between protagonist Kratos and his son Atreus has definitely evolved from the original game. As one might expect with the passing of time, Atreus has matured from the events of God of War and has definitely developed a more independent way of thinking from that of his father. Williams explains that this evolution in his son’s personality has also prompted a shift in the way Kratos addresses him clarifying that now, “he calls him Atreus.”
This is also in part a deliberate choice by the game’s developers. God of War: Ragnarok may attract entirely new audiences, many of those may not have played the original God of War, so may not have quite got the reference entirely if Kratos was to continue calling his son “boy.” As Williams makes clear, “it’s that idea that we really wanted it to be this feeling of like ‘oh, I can find a way into this story, whether I’m a parent or a child, or I’m somewhere in between, or I remember both sides of it’. There’s a way in for everyone.”
essentially it sounds as though Atreus is really beginning to find his feet as a teenager as well as dealing with his origin story. It seems as though a lot of the narrative that comes along with that will be reflected throughout God of War: Ragnarok. According to Williams, giving him a more three-dimensional vibe is an important move, as reflecting his teenage personality will obviously give the feel of the game more authenticity. “The last game you had Atreus just always being told what to do by adults,” he explains, “anybody asks a question and they never give him an answer. But we wanted to be a lot more grey. Now we’re getting into Atreus being like, “Well, I don’t think it’s like that,” and (Kratos and Mimir) are like, “Oh, are you being sassy? Or should we actually have a real conversation about this?”
Early feedback on God of War: Ragnarok has so far been almost universally positive, although we’ll have to wait a little longer to see how the long-awaited sequel is received by players.
God of War: Ragnarok launches on November 9 and will be available on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
