Aging Up God of War’s Atreus for His Own Game Would Have One Huge Benefit

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 4, 2025 7 Views 6 Min Read
Aging Up God of War's Atreus for His Own Game Would Have One Huge Benefit



Major spoilers ahead for God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ragnarok ends with a bang. Odin, Thor, and Heimdall are all dead, alongside Brok, who was killed by Odin while the latter was impersonating Tyr, who also happens to be dead. This bombastic and bloody ending concludes with a moment of peace, and eventually the post-fight therapy afforded to Kratos via the Valhalla DLC.

The circumstances of this ending, which is rather definitive for Kratos, have led many to assume that the next game will center on Atreus, who leaves the Norse realms in search of the remaining Giants. There are obviously a lot of moving parts to this potential game plan, not the least of which being the basis for Atreus’ solo adventure: there’s no major conflict remaining after God of War Ragnarok‘s finale, so it’s hard to say what tribulations Atreus will face. This, alongside other factors like Atreus’ parenthood, could be addressed through a time jump, which would give the events of the game’s world time to breathe and change. This comes with some downsides, though, as it would mean missing crucial chapters of Kratos’ development as the Norse God of War, and of Atreus’ journey as a young adult on his own for the first time.

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Despite Challenges, a Time Skip Would Help an Atreus-Led God of War’s Combat

Concerns About Atreus’ Combat Abilities in a Solo Game

Atreus is featured in God of War Ragnarok as a surprise playable character, but he doesn’t feel all that different from Kratos to control. As one would expect, he has a greater focus on ranged combat and magic, but the particular blend of close-quarters melee, ranged attacks, summons, and special abilities on a cooldown is definitely derivative of his father’s approach to fighting. Atreus has a few extra bells and whistles, but he doesn’t really feel like he can lead his own game just yet, at least not when it comes to his combat abilities.

Then there’s the issue of Atreus’ weapons arsenal, which is severely truncated in comparison to Kratos’. He essentially only uses his bow, even for close-combat encounters, and he doesn’t appear to have much, if any, experience with other sorts of armaments. Kratos has the benefit of being a lifetime warrior with vast weapon proficiency, so there’s no need to explain why he is so skilled with his Leviathan Axe or Draupnir Spear once they are acquired. Atreus doesn’t have such a luxury, and would likely need to spend some time training if he wished to use any other combat tools.

A Time Skip Would Give Atreus the Combat Prowess Needed to Lead His Own Game

Keeping all the above in mind, there’s no reason to say that Atreus wouldn’t be able to expand his weapons arsenal, spell set, and slew of combat abilities over the course of, say, three to five years. Kratos needed to make use of several weapons, both in the Norse and Greek sagas, so it would only make sense for Atreus to need to be similarly versatile. But as previously mentioned, this isn’t going to happen overnight.

And there’s nothing forcing such a time jump to occur before the game starts. Perhaps the first several hours of the Atreus-led game could take place right after the end of God of War Ragnarok, and then, after a specific story beat, the narrative could skip ahead a few years, letting players “skip” the training that Atreus would need for a new weapon or type of magic. Naturally, there are risks and downsides associated with an approach like this, but it could work, at least in theory.

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