Support NeoGAF

[Ullus]

Seriously, someone explain to me how Norse mythology is overused.

Using a couple of Norse names in random JRPGs does not count.

 

[Sesha]

I expect they did. I wouldn't have expected them to have considered Mesopotamia, Japan, Polynesia or Mesoamerica.

I'm not too familiar with mythology chronology. After Norse, is it still possible to go do Egyptian (Edit: Of course it's always possible to reboot it any which way, I'm just wondering if the timelines would make sense), or was Egyptian in an era before Norse mythology? Both sound rad though. I'd still like to see a dark Egyptian setting, whether it's God of War, or a different series.

Myths are always ahistorical, and take place in a "time before time" so to speak, when the world is in a more primordial or "Golden Age" state, so it's impossible to do a chronology. Historically, Ancient Egypt and Egyptian polytheism was the oldest, followed by Ancient Greek, then Norse.

It should be noted that the events of Greek and Norse legends and the Norse sagas, on the other hand, all have a "historical" dimension, meaning they take place during "history", in a time when the world, where the places, the geology and political geography, resembles the one the people of those cultures actually lived in.

It definitely would've been cool to have it in a non-white culture for a change.

Ancient Greece was not a "white" culture, per se. I blame this on European culture and in later years Hollywood. Ancient Greece was a diverse mixing pot of various ethnicities, and the ancient Greek religion, if you can call it that, was a hodgepodge of various cults and sects existing under the banner of the Hellenic/Athenian/Olympian gods. The gods were usually considered whatever skin color the people that believed in them or heard the myths thought they looked like. God of War is definitely whitewashed.

 

[xKilltheMx]

God dammit why not Barlog!?
Is there a glut for egyptian games or something?

It definitely would've been cool to have it in a non-white culture for a change.

Also this.

 

[vpance]

Hope they revisit Ancient Greece, even in a flashback or something. Would be a shame not to see it again with next gen visuals.

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

I'll allow it but only after Kratos eradicated all the gods in Valhalla.

 

[Arkeband]

The best part about Egypt is that Kratos could get into some biblical knock-down drag-out with Moses.

Actually, considering the original trajectory of the series, pissing off the Judeo-Christian God would be the way the series would finally cliffhanger.

 

[El_Chino]

They really should've chose Egypt in my opinion.

 

[Zaventem]

Fuck that, Norse is so much better and there have been so little games with Norse mythology. Im glad they decided for the best choice

sarcasm?

 

[Doomshroom]

Well if he start killing gods then Ragnarok is upon us. So i guess it starts with a 3 year winter not so bad but after that mountains will crumble and the wolf of Fenriz is free and Jörmungandr will rise from the depths.

Shit breaks lose and the sky get cut in half, moon and sun gets eaten and Hel will sail on a ship made of human nails. The world is set on fire and falls into Ginnunagap.

thx Dad of war

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

The thing is, Egyptian mythology doesn't even need Kratos. There are enough interesting stories to be told just straight adapting local legends there.

The story of Osris, Horus, Isis and Set alone would make a great game.

 

[jett]

Either would've been a good choice.

AssCreed is doing Egypt next year apparently, although probably not mythology, but still for the best that we don't get two games that take place in the same location.

Why, just why. Nordic is so overused, they should've kept Egypt.

All these Norse games, why can't I hold them!?

Wait, I'm not holding shit.

 

[scitek]

I am not well versed in these mythologies. What do we have in Egypt versus Norse? Thor vs. Gods of Egypt?

Thor vs. Stargate

 

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

They should've gone all out and used aztec mythology.

Kratos is so killing happy that he might even become good buddies with Huitzilopochtli.

 

[Reset]

Should have gone with Egypt.

 

[Liamario]

Wouldn't there be chronological problems with using Egypt?

 

[GamingOblivion]

At least it would have looked less like The Last of Us, Horizon, and Days Gone this way.

Funny I didn't realize that those games had giant Norse Gods trying to kill you

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Go there next pls!

I'm glad they went to Norse this time around. Been getting into Norse and Viking mythology as of late

 

[Turbowaffles]

Say they do go to Egypt next... what comes AFTER that? Greek, Norse, Egyptian Mythology.... are there any other "well known" mythologies?

 

[Gr1mLock]

They made the right choice.

 

[Jakartalado]

I don't think anything is more rad than fighting Odin

Anubis

God.... I miss zone of the enders.

 

[vpance]

Say they do go to Egypt next... what comes AFTER that? Greek, Norse, Egyptian Mythology.... are there any other "well known" mythologies?

Egypt next, then modern day. He can fight ISIS and other religious fanatics.

 

[dr_rus]

Both are meh, would prefer them to reboot in Greece again.

 

[4Tran]

From a commercial point of view, Norse Mythology seems more familiar and so is more likely to resonate with the general public. I think that the Egyptian pantheon would have been generally a more interesting choice, but it would have required more work to educate gamers on what Egypt was and how their gods factor into things. Other pantheons would also have been really interesting, but those would be the top two in terms of accessibility. Something like Aztec Mythology probably wouldn't work simply because the gods are so unfamiliar and their names look so hard to pronounce.

Egypt from what I know (and I know nth about Norse, lol) is a bit more gruesome and strange. But that may be because I often associate Norse with Santa Claus and Trolls. :")

Odin rides the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Sleipnir is the son of Loki - Loki is the mother. Norse mythology isn't considered strange because the general public is only exposed to the sanitized version. It's just that lots of the goofy and strange stories don't get told. Other things like Dwarfs, Elves, and Dark Elves all come from Norse Mythology.

 

[KiefbladeMaster]

I'm personally looking forward to their take on the Jörmungandr.

I read this so many times as a kid:

This and Fenrir are why I prefer the Norse setting instead of Egyptian. Gonna be tight!

 

[Alucrid]

you know who had a beard and was in egypt? moses. kratos is moses.

 

[kittoo]

Japanese Gods, Aztech, hell even Indian would be interesting.

Kratos vs. All the Mythologies would be interesting. And when Kratos runs out of Gods they can all be revived and then he must fight every single one of them at once.

The problem with Indian Gods would be that the religion is still pretty alive and kicking. While Hindus are kinda nonchalant in general, you can't have Kratos fighting and killing Gods of 1 billion people.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

I love both mythologies. I would have been happy with either.

Kratos does make a damn good bearded axe wielding maniac though.

Personally I feel Kratos stature suits the Norse mythos better. For some reason I feel like a new character would suit the Egyptian mythos better. Someone more lean and agile. Someone more cunning and less brutish.

 

[Memento]

It is a win/win situation in any case. Their enemy design is fucking fantastic in this btw

 

[Death Metalist]

I hope it's next because I am really looking forward to Egyptian Mythology.

 

[4Tran]

The problem with Indian Gods would be that the religion is still pretty alive and kicking. While Hindus are kinda nonchalant in general, you can't have Kratos fighting and killing Gods of 1 billion people.

Yeah, you don't really want to do that with extant religions, especially if it's meant to be a game for a mass audience. And it's ridiculously easy to screw up with religions as complex as Hinduism - just look at Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

 

[HellofaMouse]

theyre saving that for the sceond reboot

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Would've preferred Egypt to be honest. Its never really be done justice, especially not lately with that PoS Gods of Egypt film.

 

[Buba Big Guns]

Really wanted Egyptian mythology, but I'm sure they'll make great games with Norse

 

[ISee]

Egypt actually sounds a tiny bit better.

 

[The Last Wizard]

The hell is this? lol

The new Sony has no gamez

 

[ThatStupidLion]

awesome these were the two settings that i was hoping for them to use. I'm guessing they'll do egypt in some way shape or form eventually.

 

[papo]

It would have been awesome but I am all for the Nordic gods.

And for f* sake how can you say the setting look just like TLOU when it is probably set in a Nordic country, not North America. When was the last time you saw runes in the US?

I think the TLOU comment came from the cameras angles and movement.

 

[Respect]

If this new direction they are going with GoW 4 works out well....Egypt would be a great place to go for GoW 5.

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

Now we know the next Pantheon

 

[Wollan]

You made the right choice. Valhalla <3

 

[tskeeve]

I preferred Egypt initially, but honestly, after thinking about it, we haven't really had a lot of Norse mythology in games either (besides a few names or stereotypes of vikings here and there).

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is that mythological Egypt would probably be too reminiscent of mythological Greece, given that they are both Mediterranean cultures. The Norse setting is a large enough departure to be interesting from an environmental art perspective, and thematically Kratos seems to fit nicely as well.

 

[xorx]

I don't think anything is more rad than fighting Odin

I dont know... Anubis is a pretty rad god.

 

[YoRHa No.2 Type B]

Only the greates fucking gods evaaar!!!

Why that if you can have fucking Valkyries! Valkyries in a god of war setting.

They may even more awesome design than Lahkesis

Spoiler

 

[MegaSackman]

I preferred Egypt initially, but honestly, after thinking about it, we haven't really had a lot of Norse mythology in games either (besides a few names or stereotypes of vikings here and there).

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is that mythological Egypt would probably be too reminiscent of mythological Greece, given that they are both Mediterranean cultures. The Norse setting is a large enough departure to be interesting from an environmental art perspective, and thematically Kratos seems to fit nicely as well.

There are a lot of minor RPGs and PC games with norse mythology, but not many of them were blockbuster titles with a massive budget so I really think that we need something like this, I want something big with norse mythology.

 

[geordiemp]

According to the original script by David Jaffe and Cory Barlog the series is supposed to take place in all 3 regions: Greece, Egypt and Scandinavia. If they still follow it, the next part of the saga will be set in Egypt after Kratos is finished in Scandinavia. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter if Scandinavia is before Egypt.

Yeah, whynotboth,gif

 

[Dominator]

I would have preferred Egyption over Norse, but the possibility is still there down the line.

 

[Jean Valjean]

Next should be the Judaic-Christian mythology

 

[Mista Koo]

Have they said the "big bad" would be Odin? Otherwise the norse god of war is Týr.

So Týr vs Anhur:

I have to go with Egypt on this one.

Spoiler

. . based on their Smite renditions at least.

Can we get Kratos vs the Aztec Gods of Fitness and Gains instead? Would be the dopest crossover yet

 

[Malice215]

I'm sure the design of either mythology would be fantastic. I just feel like a different character with a different set of motives would have been a better fit than slapping Kratos with a beard and a kid to raise into Norse mythology while hanging on to parts from the previous series.

Would have been cool to see Kratos fight Anubis, but I'm sure Norse mythology resonates more with the general audience, and is far enough a departure from what we saw in the previous games than Egypt would be given it's proximity to Greece.

Add a kid and some feels, and you have an instant hit.

 

[Vaga]

Thanks to whoever chose the Norse way, hundred times better than egyptian setting.