Topic: SPOILERS | God of War SPOILERS Thread of SPOILERS

I really like the game and the ending. This is not what I would have expected from a GOW game so this game is not satisfying as a GOW one but it is great in its own way. I really love it and I am really happy about how Kratos changed because despite I like a lot older GOW games too I never liked how Kratos was back then. Those changes are very welcome for me. When it comes to gameplay and the pace of the game I prefer the "old school" but the fact that I like so much this new one despite the fact I'm not a fan of this modern approach really shows how good the game is I think.

I would say my favourite parts of the game are everything except when Freya is around (I really don't like her), except when Atreus becomes an a**hole (for a brief time fortunately) and except the elves realm (I don't like it nor the elves). I also don't like Baldur but since you fight him everytime he is onscreen it does not feel that bad, at least unless the sequence becomes too long (like the first time you encounter him, it really becomes boring after some time... it looked like a fight from an episode of Dragon Ball at some point :/ )

I expecially liked the ending thinking about all the things I still had to do (I skipped most of the side quests)... Kratos and his son became so rehearsed as a team during the main quest that it felt really awesome to think that so many adventures were still awaiting in the post endgame for them. It felt really good

@KratosMD I think it depends on the point of view. There is so much pain and suffering in the world that for me it would be a blessing. As long as you are invulnerable, of course, because otherwise you could even die because of that (as unpleasant as it is pain can be useful when you are in danger) but anyway I just don't like him and the way he behaves it is not because of his motives it's just his personality. Same goes for Freya, she is just rather annoying for me, I don't really care about what she did I'm not judging her choice only her personality. Also it seemed somewhat "fake" the way she began to help Kratos and Atreus, she had no reason to get involved that much with them. It felt rather weird. I wouldn't have noticed if I liked her more probably but it just felt weird.

@KratosMD There are many moments, I also like the moment when Kratos is alone riding the boat back to his home, he finally understands that he will be always the God of War, that he killed so many gods and people, nothing will change that. Then appears he getting the Blade of Chaos again. Still, he will do everything for Atreus not follow his path.

During the Tyr's vault, when Kratos and Atreus are checking the treasures of another realms, Mimir mentioned a distant land in the middle of the desert with another gods. Do you think Kratos and Atreus could visit Egypt too? That would be so epic. Also, there are four symbols of different God of Wars, I believe it was mentioned on that moment too, Im not sure. Kratos and Tyr are these gods on their respective realms, right? Looks like that Egypt was mentioned, what it could be the other mythology? And what are the Travelers? Are they from another country? It looks a totally different gear compared to the Viking era. PS: Sorry about my English, not my first language :3

@PS_Nation Both the Eye of Horus (on the lore board) and a Scarab beetle (interact option in the main room) indicates that Tyr at least has been to Egypt. The two symbols at the bottom though are also 'interesting' as they represent Celt and North American Indian cultures. There are actually 5 symbols as Tyrs 'rune' symbol is above the figure and then you have the Egyptian and Greek symbols at the top corners with the Celt and NA Indian symbols at the bottom.

Egypt may well be a bit 'close' to Greece for Kratos after destroying all of the Greek gods. If he was looking to get away, settle down with his 'family', you can see why he travelled North. Of course it was later revealed that his 'wife' was a Giant and his son was (almost) called Loki but its not established as to where he met her. Did he meet her because he went North or was she the reason he ended up settling up there?

Egypt is certainly interesting but its also been done before. Most recently, Assassin's Creed: Origins of course. Norse mythology hasn't really been done and most people's knowledge of it comes from Marvel these days. I don't think we would see Kratos up against the Hindu gods though as that is still a 'current' religion and could be seen as insulting. Who knows where Kratos could end up - there is still a lot more to explore within Norse mythology yet and whether there is still a 'God of War' game in 10yrs time or not. All that this game does is allude to the fact that these ancient cultures with their 'Gods' existed together. It alludes that Tyr certainly travelled to these other places and 'likely' met these other Gods too. It could also mean that Kratos and Tyr are one and the same - especially with 'time travel' also a thing in Norse mythology. Kratos becomes/is Tyr

I have read theories that Kratos could turn into somebody else, and they seem much more convincing than the serpent.

@BAMozzy Thanks for the explanation, I didn't know that it was Celt and NA native symbols, that's really interesting.

Finished the game, beat a bunch of Valkyries, and all that's left to do is Niflheim and another four Valkyries. So I feel safe coming in here lol. I know there's probably one secret left for me to find after defeating all the Valkyries, but it's probably another battle against the queen.

Anyway, interesting read so far. I've watched a few spoilercasts with Cory, and from the sounds of it, there's no DLC planned, so I wouldn't get my hopes up for one. And to be honest, I don't think I'd even want DLC for this game. Focus on the sequel, because that's going to be way more interesting that some side story DLC.

During one of the spoilercasts, Cory explained that he worked at LucasArts for a while where he learned that George Lucas originally wrote several dozens of episodes before he even got to work on the first Star Wars film. His idea behind it was that he could pull bits from other episodes and reference them if he already had an idea of what's to come next. Cory explained that he did the same. So episode 2 and 3 (and 4?) are probably already written down to some extent. He explained that this way they don't have to make stuff up as they go, and the end result will feel a lot more coherent. I think this is already apparent in this game. If you know a bit of Norse mythology, there's a lot of foreshadowing.

When Kratos learned Baldur had a weakness, I knew it was going to be mistletoe, because Baldur gets killed by a spear made of mistletoe in the mythology. Now, at first I was thinking that we were getting a third weapon (makes sense: a blue axe, red chains, and a green spear), but then I recalled Freya telling Atreus about how wicked and evil the green arrows were. I then knew that those were made of mistletoe, though I didn't expect Baldur getting killed by that tiny fragment, I expected we had to retrieve the arrows at some point, so that was a welcome twist!

The light scene in Alfheim is pretty interesting too. If you re-watch it now, you can clearly see that it reveals the entire story. You start out at home, then it takes you to a beach on the Lake of Nine, followed by climbing the mountain, then another scene of you going back home (to get the Blades of Chaos), the boat sequence in Helheim, and the very last sequence is you walking on the bridge in Jotunheim!

The Atreus/Loki twist is another one I did not see coming, but which makes a lot more sense in hindsight. Though I did see the name Loki written in old Norse on the mural in Jotunheim before Kratos revealed it. But like others have already pointed out, Loki kills Baldr in Norse mythology. And it also explains why the World Serpent recognises Atreus. And of course Loki asking if he could transform into an animal is a clear reference to Loki being able to transform into all kinds of shapes and forms.

Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see where they will take this story next. Cory admitted that he always envisioned the first game ending in the Fimbulwinter, so I expect the next game to be about that, the struggles of a three-year-long winter. Followed by a third game about Ragnarok. There's a lot of characters left too. I'm certain we'll see Thor in the next game, but then there's Odin, Heimdall, Surtr, Fenrir, Nidhogg, Sköll, Hati, Hel herself, Hermod, Tyr, the stags of Yggdrasil, the unnamed eagle and Eikthyrnir in Valhalla, etc.

And there are clear references to the next game in this game too. The Dark Elf telling Kratos that killing him was a mistake, I'm sure that will be more relevant some time. Then there's that giant bird in Helheim... I'm not entirely sure what it is or what it's doing there...!

@0ld_boy Regarding the Kratos = Tyr hypothesis, you're right that the mural said something else. I'm glad I grabbed a screenshot when I saw that lol, the link is down below. It says ''FARBAUTI''. A bit of an unknown character in Norse mythology, but he's a Jotunn, and is the father of Loki and the husband of Laufey (or Faye in the game). He is said to be the personification of wildfire, so that's rather fitting.

https://preview.ibb.co/cXfgon/God_of_War_20180502190448.jpg

@Octane that giant bird remind me of a landscape seen in God of war 2, near the end I think (it's been a while since the last time I played it)

@Octane
While refreshing my memories I read up some stuff about Norse mythology and stumbled upon a theory (although a rather divisive interpretation), that Tyr is more comparable to Zeus than to Ares.
But, I think it'd be a great friction (narrative-wise) to be explored in a sequel, if Jotun and Vanir (and Atreus) would learn, that Kratos actually killed their most honoured/respected Aesir, the only one capable to counter Odin and bring peace to Gods and Giants.
Also I'm intrigued how they will continue with that Fimbulwinter. Cause the interference/involvement of Kratos, certainly caused this to happen much earlier than prophesized.

@LuckyLand
Yeah, thought so myself. Remembered me of a scene from the Underworld, from one of the earlier titles.
Maybe it's Hel him-/herself?
Though, like Jörmungandr, Hel is Spawn of Loki and shouldn't exist at this point in time... then again, together with Fenris, these 3 are the world-fiends and essential figures in the Ragnarök-Prophecy...
Can't wait for the sequel to sort it out...

Has anyone beaten the Valkyrie Queen yet? It seems like it's impossible, even at the lowest difficulty. I can't upgrade my gear anymore because I need Perfect Asgardian Steel, but I already killed all of the Valkyries.

@Octane Anyone with the platinum trophy has beaten her...

I provided a few 'tips' on how I beat her in the GoW thread under the spoiler blocks.

@BAMozzy As per usual, I managed to get it done after I ask about it online!

I'll look at the tips though, to find out what I possibly did wrong the first time around!

@BAMozzy Well, I beat her in a similar fashion! Luck definitely played a big role. I got her down to 10-20% easily, but then she killed me. I also learned that if you get killed by a finishing move, you cannot use the resurrect stone. If I could, I'm certain I would've beat her sooner. Anyway, I managed to do it with level 7 armour, but I needed to lower the difficulty to the easiest setting. I don't regret it though, I'm done with those valkyries lol.

I may go back and do the first challenge from the second round in Muspelheim, seeing how that's the only thing I need to do to get the platinum. I don't really care about that, but if I'm in the mood for some more God of War this weekend, I think I'll try that challenge.

@Octane I doubt you did anything 'wrong' as you got there in the end. It took me quite a number of tries and each fight seemed 'different' - ie she would use more aerial attacks, leaping, swooping, blinding etc and others more ground attacks throwing stuff, using her wings to stab/slash/shield and sometimes a mix of everything. Keeping close seemed to work for me, stopped her using aerial attacks and quite so many 'red' attacks which were easily dodged and then I was close enough to lay into her with the Axe. Quite a few times she would appear to be 1-2 hits from finishing the fight and then 'go mad' and wipe me out with near full health in seconds.

I do think an element of luck played into the time I did beat her, she never used the fire attacks and almost got stuck in a loop of the three slash attacks followed by an unblockable stab which I had got timed well by then. This enabled me to lay into her until she blocked but then you can break her block and stun her to lay into her some more. She seemed locked into this - along with the occasional 3 swoops and jump slams, but barely used the throwing attacks (like Ice) and never used the fire attack that leaves pools of fire on the floor. It was more reminiscent of the first Valkyrie rather than the combination of all she normally was - so I do feel I got a bit 'lucky' - maybe by keeping so close, she didn't launch the other attacks but I haven't retried the fight to know for definite if my tactic was the reason.

EDIT: Just seen you have added a second comment...

As for Muspelheim, that first Arena for the second round was a proverbial pain in the backside! I hated it!! Not taking any damage at all and the first enemies have fire that your shield doesn't block either. In the end I predominantly just kept my shield up and used Atreus to kill most things. I used the Axe with 'area' based rune attacks - the Heavy one left a 'freezing' circle on the ground which slowed/froze enemies if they entered. I only threw my axe at the start of waves to take their health down or when Atreus stunned the Werewolves into position (as they will dodge otherwise). I left the Ancient to last and only threw the Axe when he uncrossed his arms and immediately brought the shield up again. I think Atreus actually 'killed' the majority of enemies though - maybe even 90-95%. The rest were easy after that though...

@BAMozzy I see. Well, I kept my distance, and it also worked out. I waited for her to get close so I could unleash all my four runic attacks on her in succession. They seemed to do more damage than regular attacks anyway. I used spartan rage once, and I had to wait three or four times for the cooldown on the runic attacks, all I had to do was dodge her attacks and keep moving, because I couldn't always tell when she would do that swoop-in-from-above attack. I'm not sure how much effect the arrows had during the fight, but I used them whenever I could.

@KratosMD I prefer the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages - with the 'right' enchantments and when fully upgraded...