God of War: Ragnarok has become the fastest selling PlayStation first-party game, beating out Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us Part II. Ragnarok sold a whopping 5.1m copies in its first week.
The game has been a massive success all around, with particular praise aimed at its story and visuals. The story of Kratos, the titular god of war, and his son Atreus travelling the nine realms in order to prevent the fearsome Ragnarok from happening has resonated with players. No wonder Ragnarok lead the nominations for last year’s The Game Awards.
At the end of 2018’s God of War, Kratos saw a prediction of his own death, something Atreus also finds out in the new game and works tirelessly to prevent. Much of Ragnarok’s themes revolve around Kratos and Atreus’ complex relationship and Kratos learning to trust his son and allow him to be his own man.
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
But surprisingly, it’s another character who becomes the unexpected heart of the game.
What is God of War: Ragnarok about?
Sequel to God of War, Ragnarok picks up three years after the events of the first game. Midgard has become a barren wasteland and Freya, whose son Baldur Atreus killed in the first game, is still plotting her revenge.
Kratos and Atreus are forced on the move after Thor and Odin visit them in Midgard. Odin politely asks Atreus to stop looking for Týr and offers Atreus passage to Asgard with him. Kratos isn’t happy about this, but then again, when is Kratos happy about anything?
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
Kratos and Atreus escape to their allies Sindri and Brok’s house in a realm in between realms. Kratos agrees to find Týr with Atreus and the two set off with the hopes that the former god of war could provide more clues to Atreus’ identity as Loki as revealed in the previous game.
What happens at the end of God of War: Ragnarok?
Towards the end of the game, it is revealed that Týr, whom Atreus and Kratos successfully freed from Odin’s prison, has actually been Odin in disguise the whole time.
Odin stabs Brok, killing him and devastating his brother Sindri before disappearing back into Asgard.
Kratos, Atreus and Freya finally sound the Gjallarhorn, starting Ragnarok. They battle Odin’s armies in Asgard and Kratos fights Thor, only for Odin to kill his son, the god of thunder, after Thor considers Kratos’ suggestion to ‘be better’ for their children’s sake.
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
Kratos then battles and defeats Odin, allowing Atreus to seal his soul into a tiny little ball of magic. Sindri then appears and smashes it to pieces, killing Odin’s soul in anger.
Atreus explains to Kratos he has to go looking for other Giants and he must do it alone. Kratos supports this, finally being able to let go of his need to protect his son.
Atreus departs Midgard while Kratos and Freya continue to explore it and restore it after Ragnarok.
How Sindri’s journey becomes the most heartfelt in all the realms
Earlier in the game, we learned that Brok already died once. Sindri brought him back but was only able to get three of his four soul parts back, something he never told Brok.
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
Having lost Brok, Sindri lashes out at Atreus and Kratos. Once a close ally, Sindri is now a broken dwarf, unwilling to help in the fight. And why would he? Without Brok, Sindri has nothing to fight for anymore.
Sindri disappears to grieve for his brother, but returns with a promise to bring an army of dwarves to the battle at Asgard. Sindri keeps his promise, but never truly returns to his former, chipper and germaphobic self.
At the very end, the characters unite to send Brok on his final journey. Sindri appears, still dirty from the battle, with no intention or interest in cleaning himself up. Throughout the games, Sindri has been seen cleaning obsessively so to see him dirty and muddy is devastating.
Played by Adam Harrington, Sindri grows from a playful comic relief to a deeply meaningful character. Much like Andor, God of War: Ragnarok emphasises sacrifice as essential for the greater good.
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
Sindri, as a dwarf, is magical, but he’s not powerful in the same way as Kratos, a literal god, or Atreus, whose Giant magic allows him to transform into a bear or a wolf. Sindri has always been scared and weak, but through the death of his brother, he is transformed. Perhaps just not into the character we’d like to see.
Will there be another God of War game?
Not that we know of, nothing has been confirmed.
God of War and God of War: Ragnarok have been huge successes for Sony and Santa Monica Studios so it would make financial sense to make a third game.
Ragnarok also lets you play extended periods of time as Atreus so a third game could continue this path. Or perhaps a third game would take place years later as Atreus returns from his travels.
Credit: Santa Monica Studio
Ragnarok has wrapped up the franchise’s Norse saga so any future instalments would probably move away from this mythology. In an interview with Kotaku, director Cory Barlog revealed he had plans for five more God of War games.
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Please make third god of war game