The upcoming God of War Ragnarok seems to improve every aspect of the original game, including one of the game’s pillars — combat. In addition to new attacks and abilities to use on the battlefield, Kratos will also get different shields providing him with additional defensive skills.
The sequel’s new director Eric Williams spoke with YouTuber Jon Ford about the additions to Ragnarok’s combat system, highlighting some moments from the reveal footage. Some fans have already noted various retractable shields at the spartan’s disposal, and Williams confirmed this new feature. According to the director, each shield in God of War Ragnarok will come not only with a unique appearance and possible upgrades but with its own defensive attributes and properties.
“I don’t want to go too deep on it, but yes, there are different shields, and they have different defensive options and abilities,” Williams said. “The reason we’re doing this is we really want to open up expressive choice to the way that you build your Kratos, like the equipment and loadout and things like that.”
In God of War (2018) Kratos has only one shield with several skins available that has no impact on the combat itself. You can block enemy attacks and kick them in return with your scute staggering them, and that was pretty much all options. With Ragnarok, the team wanted combat encounters to be more expressive, and your loadouts matter when you set them up. Enemies might know how to respond to your general tactics, forcing you to experiment with new gear and skills throughout the journey.
Previously Williams shed some light on the overall improvements for the combat system in Ragnarok, which will become more diverse and vertical, and tactically demanding. You’ll need to take advantage of your surroundings much more carefully than before, and quickly decide who has to attack the enemy first - Kratos or Atreus.
God of War Ragnarok will end the “Norse Saga” started back in 2018, as Santa Monica Studio didn’t want to stretch out the journey for many years. Hopefully, Ragnarok will top off the story properly sometime in 2022.