Whether you’ve played the game or not, the question is where the story goes from here. Where will Kratos go next? What could serve as the next game’s setting? Which deities will he run afoul of? Before discussing that, it’s important to note the aftermath of Ragnarok. Major spoilers follow for the ending, so beware.

After defeating Odin, an out-of-control Surtr – who becomes Ragnarok with the help of Kratos and his Blades of Chaos – destroys Asgard. Kratos, Atreus, Freya, Angrboda, Fenrir and Mimir flee while Freyr stays behind, seemingly sacrificing himself to give the group a chance to escape. Afterwards, Atreus and Kratos are shown a mural which Faye destroyed, thus allowing them to create their own fate. Upon further investigation, Kratos discovers a mural depicting him as a peaceful god, which some speculate heralds his ascension as the new All-Father of the Nine Realms.

Atreus and Angrboda embark on a journey to find the other Giants (after their spirits were transferred to spirit stones to prevent total annihilation at the hands of Odin and Thor). The surviving Aesir relocate to Vanaheim and are at peace with the Vanir. Afterwards, Kratos, Freya and Mimir venture through the Realms to bring peace. There are a fair number of threats, from dragons and the Berserkers to Gna, the Valkyrie Queen who seeks vengeance.

It’s also worth noting that Tyr, the Norse god of war that stuck with Kratos and company throughout the story, wasn’t really Tyr. Instead, it was Odin in disguise, and he kills Brok before escaping, leading to Sindri abandoning the group. He does help out in the final battle against Asgard, using a Sonic device to destroy its walls. Other than that, his whereabouts are unknown.

Thankfully, the real Tyr is still out there, and Kratos and Freya manage to free him from his prison in Niflheim. He knows about Kratos but is content to wander Niflheim and the other Realms.

With all this in mind, one would think that Kratos and company would settle down peacefully. The threats to the Nine Realms have been dealt with, after all. The developer also noted many times that this is the end of the Norse saga. However, some other settings and pantheons could potentially become involved down the line.

Before traveling to Midgard, Kratos went to Ancient Egypt after the events of God of War 3. As revealed in Dark Horse Comics God of War: Fallen God, Kratos attempts to rid himself of the Blades of Chaos fail, but the weapon finds its way back to him every time.

Throughout his travels, he also meets a man that recognizes him as the Greek god of war and speaks of destiny. This person would appear in various forms, telling Kratos that he can’t escape destiny. It notes that destiny is the “destination you reach, no matter what direction you travel. At your journey’s end, you find that you are exactly where you belong.” After this, Kratos stops running from his “destiny” and ventures to Midgard, taking the Blades of Chaos with him.

All said and done, it’s a pretty terrible comic book series that does little more than establish that Kratos is alive and still has the Blades of Chaos. However, some theorize that the mysterious entity is an Egyptian deity. Why would they constantly hound him, reminding Kratos of destiny? There are many potential reasons.

The first is that this entity could be Thoth, the Egyptian god of the moon. He was also the god of reckoning, the creator of all languages, and, most importantly, an adviser of the gods, representing the Sun God Ra. He’s depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or baboon, two forms the comic’s mysterious entity used to appear in front of Kratos. Not only does he lead the Ogdoad, a pantheon of primordial deities, but also arbitrates disputes between the gods. He appears in many tales as a counselor and was even equated to Hermes by the Greeks.

It’s more than likely that Thoth knew everything about Kratos, from his past to the imminent future. He knew that Kratos was a threat following the destruction of the Greek pantheon and steered him towards the Norse gods instead. While this may have been to protect Egypt from the godslayer’s next rampage, there may have been a bigger game at play.

It’s possible that Thoth knew of Ragnarok and foresaw a result that would end with Odin’s demise and a marginally happier ending for all involved, one that saw Kratos as the new All-Father. Based on what we know about the real-world myths of Thoth, it’s unlikely that he’s manipulating Kratos. Instead, he likely knows his role in the grand design and is simply playing it whenever required.

What could the potential grand design be? It could be gods from other pantheons that come after Kratos, potentially attacking Midgard after they hear of Odin’s fate. After all, he’s already rewritten history in several different ways. Fimbulwinter occurred far sooner due to Baldur’s death. Surtr and Sinmara were both destined to become Ragnarok, but thanks to Kratos, it was only the former, with the latter still alive and grieving in Niflheim. Perhaps the other deities are becoming antsy that Kratos could rewrite their status quo if left unchecked.

This opens up the opportunity for Kratos to visit various other settings in addition to Egypt, like Japan, China, the Maya Region, and much more. Perhaps he could battle against Guan Yu, China’s god of war, or run afoul of Hachiman, a Shinto deity and god of war for Japan. There are all manner of possibilities that would further expand on the scope that the previous games have established.

How established characters like Atreus, Angrboda, Tyr, Mimir and Freya would factor in remains to be seen. It wouldn’t be strange for Kratos and his son to cross paths again, with the latter being older. Perhaps if Kratos were to fight against Raijin and Fuujin, Thrud could arrive with Mjolnir to back him up as the new Norse god of thunder. The possibilities are endless.

It’s anyone’s guess what the overarching story would be for the next God of War, especially with the Norse saga over and done. Who knows? All this may have been foreseen by Thoth. Perhaps the other major deities like Amaterasu Omikami or Ra are also aware, and simply playing this giant cosmic Game of Thrones, waiting to see where the chips may fall. Kratos could rewrite more major mythological events. Everything could end with his demise, or his legacy could carry on, perhaps with Atreus in a starring role.

A new God of War will happen at some point, whether it’s with or without Kratos in a starring role. Whatever the case, with how critically and commercially acclaimed God of War Ragnarok has been, fans aren’t tired of its brand of story-telling and action.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Last week’s chart-topper was God of War Ragnarok, which has fallen to fourth place. Sales are also down by 73 percent week-on-week. Sonic Frontiers also dropped by 64 percent in sales, going from fourth to tenth place. The other new release last week was The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me at 16th place, though it performed slightly better than House of Ashes.

Pricing changes from retailers caused several PlayStation titles to re-enter the charts. The Last of Us Part 2 was in 18th place; Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales ranked 26th due to a 292 percent sales increase; Gran Turismo 7 was in 30th place with sales up by 228 percent; The Last of Us Part 1 placed 38th with sales up by 454 percent. Check out the full top-ten rankings below.

Probably one of the biggest launches of April, the grand return of God of War on April 20 has fans foaming at the mouth for even the smallest piece of news about the game. Between tidbits shared by game director Corey Barlog on Twitter and an accidental embargo break by Spanish website GameIt, we have lots of new information.

Firstly, Barlog was answering fan questions over Twitter, which can be found below the story. Barlog would speak to his hopes that his team and himself were able to outdo his previous effort in the series, which is a tall order since God of War II is largely considered to be the fan favourite of the series. In a new feature for the series, Barlog also shared that players can backtrack after the end of the game to “revisit most places”. This should be a welcome addition for trophy hunters.

Unfortunately, the leaked screenshots don’t really day anything. Though we’ve chosen to share them below the story for completeness. Are you going to pick up the game? Let us know in the comments below.

Not at all! You can revist most places in thr game when you finish.

— golrab of the frost (@corybarlog) March 14, 2018

IT FEELS AWESOME!!!!! I really hope I top myself.I love God of War 2, but I (and everyone on the team at SMS) put everything into this game. Then I can try to top that one in 11 years.

— golrab of the frost (@corybarlog) March 14, 2018

In patch 1.04 players will be able to raise their allegiance level cap from 30 to 40. These 10 levels are identified as ‘Elite Levels’. “With the addition of 10 levels for every God allegiance, we are introducing a new item, two new relics, and an ultimate magic for every allegiance,” said Sony.

This update will let players access their achievements in battles from the main menu, show your progress in Trial of the Gods, display your death/kills ratios and win percentages for your competitive combat.

As for the Shard and unlock requirement bugs, Sony stated,  “We are addressing the shard issue preventing players from attaining the Spear of Destiny and Barbarian Hammer in version 1.04 (possibly sooner), and have made additional tuning changes, namely on weapon shard drops for some of the rarer weapons, as well as unlock requirements for certain armor pieces, weapon stats, and magics.”

The release date is not known yet, but Sony is saying that the update will be coming “soon”

Sony also teases players with a imminent announcement of a DLC pack – “We are also on the cusp of our first DLC pack announcements. We’ve got some brutal new toys coming to assist you on the battlefield.”

Update 1.04 was released on March 26th, the patch balanced out the difficulty level of God of War: Ascension’s ‘Trial of Archimedes’ level.