After such a stellar reboot of the God of War franchise with its 2018 outing that brought Kratos out of the sunny shores of Greece and into the snow-capped mountain realm of Norse mythology, it's to be expected that its upcoming sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, is currently one of the most highly-anticipated games, not just as a PlayStation exclusive, but for gaming as a whole. It's coming out next year, but we already know that it'll be the last of the series to be set in the Norse lands.

Why is God of War Ragnarok the last one set in Norse mythology?

In an interview with God of War content creator Kaptain Kuba on YouTube, God of War 2018 director Cory Barlog explained why Kratos and Atreus' story would be told over just two games, instead of the industry's common standard of letting things play out in trilogies. He said:

“I think one of the most important reasons is the first game took five years. The second game, I don't know how long it's going to take but I'm just going to throw out that it's going to take a close to a similar time. Then if you think a third one in that same, we're talking a span of close to fifteen years of a single story and I feel like that's just too stretched out. I feel like we're asking too much to say the actual completion of that story taking that long… it just feels too long. Given where the team was at and where Eric was at with what he wanted to do, I was like ‘Look I think we can actually do this in the second story because most of what we were trying to do from the beginning was to tell something about Kratos and Atreus that the core of the story's engine is really the relationship between these two characters'.”

Additionally, he also likened the target experience to be akin to watching the Lord of the Rings box set for the first time – being able to watch all three films back-to-back in one twelve to thirteen-hour sitting. He said he wanted to be able to say “Hey man, you could probably start God of War 2018 and then play God of War: Ragnarok and feel like you're getting the entirety of the story'. I kind of want that to happen before my kid is in college.”

Considering the prevalence of drawn-out franchises both in video games and movies nowadays, hearing this is a little surprising, but it is a welcome sentiment. God of War 2018 was an impeccably polished and well-paced experience, that, unlike a lot of games that come out in recent years, actually knew when to end before it lost its own steam. To know that the sequel will probably operate under the same thought process is heartening to hear.

However, God of War: Ragnarok being the end of the “Norse Saga” implies that this might not be the end of the series as a whole. There are certain theories floating around that we might be changing main characters, with Atreus taking up the mantle of the protagonist from his father, Kratos. We might also see the franchise move on to another new setting, perhaps ancient Egypt, to complete the Greek-Norse-Egypt trilogy that most multi-part properties that use western mythologies as an inspiration? Well, we won't know until the game actually comes out, so, see you all in the God of War: Ragnarok waiting room.