God Of War Ragnarök Almost Featured A Very Different Journey For Kratos According To The Narrative Director

Early drafts of God of War Ragnarök saw protagonist Kratos go down a much darker and more grim road, according to Narrative Director Matt Sophos.

Talking with MinnMax alongside Story Lead Richard Gaubert, Sophos pulled back the curtain on an early draft that’s drastically different from what we ended up getting with Ragnarök. According to Sophos, the first fight with Thor, taking place about an hour or so into the game, originally ended with Kratos succumbing to Mjolnir and dying.

“The earliest, earliest draft of an outline that we had come up with that we took to Eric [Williams], Sophos explains, …Kratos died in the Thor fight at the very beginning of the game.”

While Kratos does have a moment with the reaper during that fight, Thor ultimately chooses to defibrillate him with his hammer, allowing the godly battle to resume. Despite meeting a grizzly fate, this wouldn’t have been the end for Kratos, as Sophos elaborates, saying, “It wasn’t a permanent death. What was going to happen…he would get pulled out of Hel, essentially, by Atreus, but it’s now been like 20 years have passed.”

This is a huge departure from what we ultimately got in the final game, and it’s a change that would’ve reshaped the entire narrative. Sophos explains that Eric Williams, the game’s Director, didn’t want to pursue this version of the story, an opinion that Sophos and the rest of the team eventually agreed with.

If you want to watch the full MinnMax interview, you can do so here:

We loved the latest God of War title, saying in our review that “Ragnarök chooses iteration over innovation, but continues to operate in a league of its own in terms of its nuanced gameplay and otherworldly technical execution. This is the new posterchild for what the PS5 is capable of, and the passionate product of a development outfit that can seemingly do no wrong.” We gave Ragnarök a 9.

Would you like to have seen this version of events play out? What do you think about Ragnarök’s story? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.

Shoutouts to MinnMax and VGC.