Kratos fought Zeus and the entire Greek pantheon in the previous God of War games. In the new God of War for the PS4, he will face against monsters and deities from Norse mythology. Some people have been wondering why the studio decided to change the setting from Greek to Norse. According to game director Cory Barlog, the game could easily have featured Egyptian or Mayan mythology instead.
Speaking to finder, Barlog revealed that he “looked at everything” for inspiration on what mythology to feature in God of War. During the first year of development, he was researching every mythology to “find the spark.” He said on whether we would ever see Kratos ripping the wings off Quetzalcoatl: “For example, the Aztec/Mayan mythology would be fantastic. It’s so interesting but I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Later in development, the studio ended up with choosing either Norse or Egyptian mythology. Barlog said: “The Egyptian and Norse [mythologies] ended up being the top two and we had this back and forth trying to figure out which had the best story to tell.” With Assassin’s Creed Origins still fresh on the minds of many, the decision to stick with Norse was definitely a good one, to avoid comparisons with Ubisoft’s game.
Interestingly, Barlog clarified that the final decision to use Norse mythology was because of geographical reasons. He said: “He [Kratos] has a pretty bad history in Greece, he’s going to want to put a lot of distance between himself and his past. Scandinavia allowed for that distance and really put him as a stranger in a strange land. That fish out of water idea.”
The decision was also influenced by Barlog’s own experiences in Scandinavia. He explained: “When I went to Scandinavia and I was surrounded by people that spoke Swedish, I was so lost. I think that sense of being lost is a fantastic power switch. To take this character that’s been so well-known for being a power fantasy and putting him in a situation where power can’t solve the problem but intellect can, was fascinating. Intellect is what this nine-year-old kid has.”
So there you have it, folks. Those reasons are as good as any for the change in setting for God of War. It seems that the Norse setting is a good fit for Kratos and his son, seeing as the game has been receiving glowing reviews all around. We gave God of War a perfect rating of 5 out of 5, which you can check out here. In other related news, God of War almost featured Kratos without his son, which Barlog says would still work albeit being a different game.
