Fan expectations are always something that game developers, among others, have to deal with regularly. After all, when it comes to the fans, they feel they “know what should happen” in some instances and often want to be proven right over being proven wrong. When it came to God of War Ragnarok, the notion of Kratos fighting Thor was put out very early via the PS4 game’s hidden teaser and the concept art that showed a more mythologically accurate Thor being in the title. So naturally, fans wanted to see Kratos wield Mjolnir and beat the daylights out of Thor with it.
But, when God of War Ragnarok arrived and the time for the battle came, that didn’t happen. Kratos didn’t wield Mjolnir, nor did that moment come close to happening. Many fans made their feelings known on the matter, as in their minds, it was the “right move” for the character. A person who would disagree with that statement is the director of the game, Eric Williams.
While doing an interview, Williams noted that when the time came to script that battle, he felt it was “too easy” to give Kratos Mjolnir. It was “expected” in his mind, and people wouldn’t react as much if they gave him that weapon. So, instead, they gave him the special axe to deal with the legendary hammer. In Williams’ mind, that was the better story:
“The axe was made to be the counter to [Mjolnir]. It’s almost like the good and evil weapon. So [Kratos] wields the weapon for just. Thor wields the weapon for tearing down the giants and things like that. So we didn’t think fitting [Mjolnir] into Kratos would work very well,” Williams said.
Another element to the decision to withhold Mjolnir was the Draupnir Spear, a weapon connected to the series past via Ghost of Sparta. That weapon had a deep connection with Kratos because it was forged from his blood. Thus having it in the game and giving it to Kratos in his time of need felt perfect for the situation at hand.
Whether you like the decision or not will depend a bit on how you perceive the game and how you handle your expectations. The team never teased that Mjolnir would be in Kratos’ hands by the end of the game. Sometimes teams have to “go against expectations” to deliver something more meaningful and impactful.
Given the reception to the PS5 title, they made multiple right calls.
Source: IGN
