As I am writing this, I am on my second playthrough of God of War Ragnarok, and I must say, this game is absolutely amazing. The story picks up perfectly from the 2018 edition. Not only is the story amazing (more on that later), but the game also looks absolutely beautiful. Santa Monica Studios did an amazing job to tell an amazing story. And that’s where it gets real if you’re a dad.
God of War Ragnarok from a Dad’s perspective
This article isn’t about the gameplay or plot of God of War Ragnarok. This is about how a video game loosely based on old myths tells a perfect story of what it is like to be a father who wants to protect his child. It also tells the story of a son who needs to be the man he wants to be.
The recent games in the God of War series continue the story of Kratos, the God of War, after he killed everything and everyone in Greece. He finds himself in Norway (Midgard), with a new wife and Faye and a son named Atreus. The beginning of God of War 2018 starts with the funeral of Faye and a father/son hike to spread her ashes on top of her favorite mountain. With a lot of adventures and friends we meet along the way, Kratos and Atreus achieve their goal, and her ashes are spread. However, there are more questions left unanswered as the duo finds out the real reason why Faye sent them on their journey.
God of War Ragnarok begins in the saddest way possible, with a now-older Atreus having to put down his sickly dog. Additionally, Ragnarok is coming. In the first game, the Norse god, Baldur, was killed, and his death was prophesized to kick off Ragnarok, which is the end of the world for Norse gods.
While I won’t go into the entire story synopses, it is important to note that Kratos and Atreus’s relationship isn’t the only father/son dynamic we see in God of War Ragnarok. We see the manipulative relationship between Odin and Thor, the grief and struggles experienced by Thor in the wake of the death of his sons, Magni and Modi, and his struggles with his daughter, Thrud. This game is full of fathers trying to relate to their children in very different ways.
A few moments in God of War Ragnarok brought me to tears, and each of those moments was those shared between Kratos and Atreus. The writers truly captured what it was like for a young man to want to choose his own path in life even if he were afraid to do so. Atreus didn’t just grow up from an animation standpoint, his character fundamentally became a more mature and capable person, and Kratos’s reaction to it was mixed with both joy and his own type of fear. Fear that only a parent can have when they realize that they can’t protect their children from everything, and that holding on too tight can cause a rift in the relationship.
There is a side quest in God of War Ragnarok that sums this up perfectly. In Alfheim, Atreus hears an animal in pain, and Kratos decides they should rescue it. In the dialogue during this quest, Atreus questions why his father was even interested in doing this. Kratos doesn’t answer a few times. Once the animal is freed, Atreus asks again why his father even cared, to which their companion Mimir tells Atreus, “Have you ever considered that he just wants to spend time with you, while he still can?” Kratos adds, “We don’t know what lies ahead, but if Ragnarok approaches, I wish to enjoy the time we have left.”
That statement is what countless fathers who care for their sons truly feel. We know that one day, we may not be able to spend time with them for a myriad of reasons, so why not take advantage of the time we have now? Kratos’ motivation in God of War Ragnarok was to protect his son even if it meant that Kratos died. This is something I’m sure any parent reading this can understand.
God of War Ragnarok is more than a game about violently killing your enemies; it’s a story about a father watching and accepting that his son is growing up and needs to walk his own path, even if that path scares him. As someone’s son, I fully understood Atreus’ journey to find himself. And as a father, I completely relate to Kratos’ need to be there for his son no matter what.
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