Aside from a shared publisher, there really isn’t much room to compare God of War with The Last of Us 2, due in part the incredibly different gameplay, tone, and worlds of the two titles. However, while the two games are so incredibly different, that doesn’t mean that Santa Monica Studios can’t learn from and even borrow features from Naughty Dog’s latest title.
One feature in particular could mean introducing a whole new dynamic into God of War, specifically by moving the perspective away from Kratos for a moment and putting players in Atreus’ shoes. In this way, similar to how The Last of Us 2 took players away from Joel and Ellie and instead put them in control of the secondary protagonist Abby, giving a more personal representation of Atreus could ground the character.
It isn’t unheard of for players to simply not connect with or eventually dislike a character, and child characters like Atreus are fairly prone to take on a lot of frustration as it can be difficult to patiently observe them grow over time. As a result, Kratos’ “boy” quickly became one of the primary selling points of God of War as well as lightning rod for criticism, thanks in part to his adolescent angst and his troubled relationship with his father. Especially considering the fact that players had over a decade of games to establish a connection with Kratos, having a small child spend the majority of the game arguing with him can easily rub a player the wrong way.
So, for those players that didn’t connect with Atreus originally, a chance to actually control the character may be exactly what they need to really empathize with him in God of War: Ragnarok. Beyond some of the more calculated “heartstring pulling” that The Last of Us 2 attempted with Abby’s background, some players really connected with the character’s personality and regret-motivated story. This likely wouldn’t have been the case if players hadn’t been put in her shoes halfway through the game, which would likely work twofold for Atreus since he hasn’t already been set up as an antagonist.
One way to keep players guessing is to utilize a timeline within the story that twist around in an unconventional way, locking the player’s knowledge off by the limited perspective they view the world with. Giving control of Atreus could twist time in God of War: Ragnarok in the same way that The Last of Us 2 does by setting the game over the course of three days and sending the player to experience them through two separate characters. This allows for a unique type of storytelling in which players think they have all of the information at first, before eventually learning that the events unfolding are much more complex than they originally imagined.
It may work better in the next God of War to do more than simply copy The Last of Us 2, but instead transform this storytelling device by chopping up the division into several sections instead of splitting it between two. In some cases, this may have been a decent tool to utilize in the 2018 release, as moments like Atreus slaughtering an army of Dark Elves among other limited times that the characters are separated. At times, the less is more style of storytelling does hint at how powerful Atreus really is due to what he is sometimes able to survive, but letting players see this for themselves could solidify his godly status.
Putting players in the shoes of Atreus as he begins to discover his godly powers could have multiple affects on how fans begin to perceive the world and the strength of these deities. More importantly that simply showing Atreus’ growth, putting players in his shoes with no all-powerful Kratos in sight could help us understand how powerful characters like Thor really are. Instead of being able to punch, hack, and bash through any encounter, Atreus’ age and initial lack of godly strength could give a better look at these characters from the eyes of a character that can only run to survive.
It’s not that Atreus can’t fight for himself, in fact there are plenty of times that he has proven to be able to topple armies of Dark Elves and survive lethal blows from fellow gods. However, if God of War: Ragnarok is expected to start where the secret ending to the last one left off, then that would likely mean that Atreus might not have a great grasp on his powers yet. If this is the case, then facing off against Thor, who should be stronger than anything faced in the last title, should be well out of the realm of possibilities without Kratos to do the heavy lifting.
One thing that players would be most excited to see if God of War: Ragnarok lets players take control of Atreus, is the new locations that would only be available to the smaller character. This is already a mechanic in the latest title, with Kratos directing his son to complete certain tasks that are easier for him to reach. However, these puzzles can be widely expanded on with the player being able to control both characters, and needing to switch back and forth in order to complete the puzzle properly.
Of course, digging into the way that The Last of Us 2 utilized this splitting of the story between multiple characters, this could also give chances for players to explore multiple realms as the two main characters are set on different paths. Sending Atreus on his own separate mission while Kratos heads out somewhere else could be a fairly organic way for player to explore more Norse realms in God of War: Ragnarok. This can especially go a long way towards making sure that visiting new areas and possibly revisiting previous realms doesn’t feel forced or unnatural to the plotline, as splitting up automatically doubles the playable area along with the characters.
God of War: Ragnarok is currently in development for PS5.
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