God of War

[Mr. GOH!]

A statement about an awesome character and a rumination on another character with a prediction and possible spoilers based on basic Norse mythology:

 

Spoiler

Mimir is the coolest.

 

Freya is pretty pissed that Sindri gave Atreus Mistletoe arrows to the extent that she takes them away. This is puzzling to me, since I know that mistletoe is the only thing that can kill Baldr (in Norse mythology every thing in the world promises Frigg (or maybe Odin) that it will not harm Baldr except misteltoe, which Frigg overlooked because it is so innocuous). In the myths, the Aesir take to throwing random objects Baldr for fun (IIRC, he's perfectly cool with it; the Aesir are weird). At one point Loki slips in a spear or arrow made from mistletoe, which one of the other gods throws/shoots at Baldr, killing him. This is what sets off Ragnarok! 

 

So why is Freya both protecting Baldr by destroying the mistletoe (which she must recognize as prophecised to kill Baldr; mistletoe is otherwise not a weapon in Norse myths) and helping Baldr's enemy Kratos? I suspect Freya will betray Kratos and Atreus by game's end and that she's using them for some other purpose at the moment.

[MetalCaveman]

It would be funny/cool if:

 

Spoiler

Atreus is really Loki or something like that.  

 

Just joking there, as I haven't played it, but spoiler tagging just in case.  

[Mr. GOH!]

https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/05/03/god-of-war-sells-over-3-1-million-units-in-3-days-becomes-fastest-selling-ps4-exclusive/

 

Nice. There will definitely be sequels I would guess. I think the director has said as much. The game tells a complete story, but it also very obviously sets up a multi-game overarching narrative.

 

Endgame spoilers:

 

Spoiler

Looks like Caveman read some spoilers even though he hasn't played it!

 

Also, it's kinda crazy the only Norse gods that are killed are Thor's dumb sons and Baldur. Maybe my view is skewed by having just played all of GoW 3 a few weeks ago, but this GoW has relatively little god killing. I do like that Baldur *wants* to be killed and that Baldur and Magni are the only gods Kratos kills, while Atreus kills Modi. 

 

[MetalCaveman]

I was listening to Amon Amarth when I came up with that, seemed fitting, did not actually expect it to be true though.  

 

Spoiler

So then, is it a reveal like "Hey! Your true name is Loki!" or does he use his powers or something?  

 

[CorgiShinobi]

So yeah, 100%! Niflheim is much less grindy when you realize you can sell the maze materials for more Mist Echoes! Unfortunately, I got too greedy and sold all my Aesirbane when I needed at least one for my armor upgrade. Outside of the Workshop chests, you can only get Aesirbane from the miniboss rooms and pray luck is on your side when you open the Legendary Chest. Fortunately, you can just run straight to the minbosses instead of fighting all the enemies.

 

That didn't click until I was on my last run for the material...

 

Then again I didn't necessarily need the upgrade. I had pretty much defeated any true challenging opponent and would say Muspelheim is more about technique and combat expertise instead of just raw power. That realm was definitely a good mix of fun and challenging. Most enemies are fair challenges where perfecting your style of combat is key to victory. Still, Revenant are always a pain to fight. Those and Tatzelwurms because they like to hide half the time.

 

I know there's the complaint that this game doesn't have that many bosses, but honestly I wonder if they don't count Valkyries. Those winged ladies can still kick your butt when you're at their level. Probably the hardest part of the game, aside from finding all the collectibles. Though, get this, I hadn't realized I had the material for my final weapon upgrades sitting in my inventory. I had seen the menu so many times, but after Niflheim it clicked.

 

As for the story and a certain weakness:

 

There's a few variations, but ultimately mistletoe was either overlooked or did not hear the oath to not harm Baldur. Loki finds this out from Frigg (a.k.a. Freya) herself, and so it is either an arrow or spear tipped with mistletoe that Loki gives to the blind god Hodr. Since everything else could not harm Baldur, it was an entertaining game to the Aesir to attempt hurting/killing him. Certainly they didn't expect Hodr to be capable of murdering Baldur, but he did due to Loki trickery. 

In the game, it's implied that Freya/Frigg made Baldur invulnerable (and without a few senses) to protect the only good that came of her marriage to Odin. She loved her son so deeply that she wanted to make sure nothing could harm him. In the myth, it was because Baldur had reoccurring nightmares of his death, so his mother made the oath to prevent his death and put him at ease. In the game, Baldur had hoped Kratos was an exception because Kratos was a foreign god outside the Nine Realms. Unfortunately, even Greek fists and metals were subject to the spell Freya had cast upon him. EDIT: It wasn't his actual goal in the game, but a possible benefit to taking the task.

Now a key point is that certainly Freya knew how to lift the spell, but she desired her son to be safe above even her own life. It's both selfish and selfless to protect, yet also curse your only son with such invulnerability. To not feel the cold nor the heat, let alone any sensation of touch to your person. Maybe in a sense Freya also wanted to prevent Ragnarok with the spell on Baldur, but it was still rooted in her obsession to save the only good from her time with Odin and the Aesir.

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Atomsk88

[Thursday Next]

Story speculation:

 

Spoiler

Did Odin send Baldur after Kratos knowing that Kratos would kill him and set off Ragnarok?

 

There's a story from Mimir at one point about the wolves, Atreus asks why Odin would release the wolves knowing that it would bring about Ragnarok eventually, Mimir says it's all about control. If Odin sets the timetable for Ragnarok, he stands more chance of surviving it. So sending Baldur after Kratos (by saying that Kratos can break the spell) could be another example of Odin controlling the timetable.

 

As to why Freya would help Kratos, so long as she feels confident that there is no mistletoe about, then helping Kratos (and more importantly Loki) is not in opposition to her goal of keeping Baldur alive, it's not a zero sum game.

 

I think the lack of bosses criticism is aimed at the lack of skyscraper sized bosses that are taken apart in gruesome fashion during QTEs. I assume they are keeping their powder dry for future games, you can always escalate. Running out of epic things to kill is a bigger problem.

[Mister Jack]

Spoiler

Odin didn't send Baldur after Kratos. He sent him after Faye, probably because of his absolutely gigantic hate boner for giants and the prophecy that they would lead to his downfall. Kratos just got in Baldur's way.

 

[CorgiShinobi]

What Jack said. It is a bit confusing because even the characters in-game aren't sure of what the actual goal is until the end.

 

Even still,

We're not actually sure what Faye had intended. The idea that maybe Faye only got with Kratos because of the prophecy floated around out there, but I believe that's been dismissed given how kind and just Atreus describes his mother. Not to mention she's actually Laufey the Just, and both Brok and Sindri thought highly of her. After all, they made the Leviathan Axe to aid her against the Aesir, though they see she chose a different path.

[Thursday Next]

Fair point, in any case...

 

Spoiler

Still can question whether Odin sent Baldur off after Faye knowing he would die and start Ragnarok... Maybe Odin saw it as a win win, Baldur succeeds and Ragnarok is averted, Baldur loses and Ragnarok starts when Odin wants it to. *shrug*.

 

[Mister Jack]

Oh good.  I was one artifact away from getting the artifact trophy that I need for the platinum, but as it turns out there's a game breaking glitch that keeps the game from registering that one specific fucking bauble I picked up, which I just happened to save for the very end of my hours and hours of collectible hunting, so now I'm locked out of the platinum.

 

God...damn....it.  

[TheMightyEthan]

Load a previous save?

[deanb]

Is this game meant to have a parry/counter attack? Cos I'm getting my ass kicked by some dudes that clearly glow before attacking, and if I bring my shield up it then kinda pauses/slow-mos as if I'm meant to do something, but I've tried various combinations and nothing happens and eventually I just die cos they're otherwise quite strong.

Also it's getting dull Atreus telling me something is coming through the wall everytime I reload the checkpoint (so I've put in rest mode for now and figure my sleeping brain will work on it)

[TheMightyEthan]

You parry by raising your shield the moment before you get hit. You have to time it just right.

[deanb]

How'd you hit back though? I'll boot it up later, see how I do and if there's issues I'll do a recording.

[TheMightyEthan]

It's been a long time since I played, but IIRC you raise your shield at the last second to parry, it staggers the enemy, and then you attack while they're open.

[deanb]

Turns out it's a skill to unlock. Got past that bit now anyway.
I'm guessing it's a "they're hard enemies now, but you get a skill to neutralise them so they become fodder and other enemies become the hard enemies"

[Mister Jack]

 

Oooh he thicc

[deanb]

honestly I really like it. As folks have been saying in the discourse - most of the "strongest man" competitors are not built like body builders. And I think "Lebowski Thor" in Endgame opened folks up to the "yeah you can have heft but still be strong"

edit - I really need to finish the first one. I'm probably like 10% off the end  It just opened up with the challenges and collection stuff and I get too easily side tracked trying to get all the shiny trinkets.

[TheMightyEthan]

Being cut is really a new thing, look at strong men in movies from like the 70's and earlier, they're big but they don't look muscular the way people now do.

 

I feel like Andre the Giant is the epitome of that:

[MetalCaveman]

Yeah, just look at Eddie Hall (though I think he's lost some weight recently), Zydrunas Savickas, Tarmo Mitt, bunch of dudes from the World's Strongest Men competitions aren't just chiselled mountains of muscle.

[Thursday Next]

7 hours ago, TheMightyEthan said:

Being cut is really a new thing, look at strong men in movies from like the 70's and earlier...

 

Showing your age old man.

 

I know what you mean though, for the last 40 years Arnie et al have have been the epitome of "strength" in entertainment, and they are of the "Mr Universe" muscles-for-show school of thought. See also current "World's Strongest Man" Tom Stoltman (right) and his brother and fellow WSM competitor sporting the "power belly".

 

[TheMightyEthan]

Lol, I meant "new" in like, larger human civilization terms.