#DEXTER Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 God of War is an action-adventure video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). Released on April 20, 2018, for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) console, it is the eighth installment in the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to 2010's God of War III. Unlike previous games, which were loosely based on Greek mythology, this installment is loosely based on Norse mythology, with the majority of it set in ancient Norway in the realm of Midgard. For the first time in the series, there are two main protagonists: Kratos, the former Greek God of War who remains as the only playable character, and his young son Atreus; at times, the player may passively control him. Following the death of Kratos' second wife and Atreus' mother, they journey to fulfill her promise to spread her ashes at the highest peak of the nine realms. Kratos keeps his troubled past a secret from Atreus, who is unaware of his divine nature. Along their journey, they encounter monsters and gods of the Norse world. Described by creative director Cory Barlog as a reimagining of the franchise, a major gameplay change is that Kratos prominently uses a magical battle axe instead of his signature double-chained blades. God of War also uses an over-the-shoulder free camera, with the game in one shot, as opposed to the fixed cinematic camera of the previous entries. This was the first time a three-dimensional AAA game utilized a one-shot camera. The game also includes role-playing video game elements, and Kratos' son Atreus provides assistance in combat. The majority of the original game's development team worked on God of War and designed it to be accessible and grounded. A separate short text-based game, A Call from the Wilds, was released in February 2018 and follows Atreus on his first adventure. God of War received universal acclaim for its narrative, world design, art direction, music, graphics, characters, and combat system. Many reviewers felt that it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. It received a number of perfect review scores, tying it with the original God of War (2005) as the highest-rated game in the series, as well as one of the highest-rated PlayStation 4 games of all time on review aggregator Metacritic. The game performed well commercially, selling over five million copies within a month of release, also making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games of all time. Among other awards and nominations, God of War was awarded Game of the Year by several media outlets and award shows. A novelization of the game was released in August 2018, followed by a four-issue prequel comic series that was published from November 2018 – February 2019. Gameplay : God of War is a third-person action-adventure video game. It features an over-the-shoulder free camera, a departure from the previous installments, which featured a fixed cinematic camera (with the exception of 2007's two-dimensional side-scroller Betrayal). Cinematographically, the game is presented in a continuous shot, with no camera cuts or loading screens. Although the previous main installment, Ascension (2013), introduced multiplayer to the series, this installment is single-player-only. The game is open, but it is not open world. Due to its openness, players can fast travel to different locations. Swimming, an ability in previous games, was cut, and players instead use a boat to traverse bodies of water. Unlike previous games, which allowed players to freely jump at anytime, jumping can now only be done at designated areas, such as at a rockface or ledge. Throughout the game, players battle Norse mythological foes, such as dark elves, wulvers, draugrs, as well as Gullveig and the revenants, beings warped by seiðr magic, among many others. Valkyries appear as optional boss battles, and among the many side quests, players can free the imprisoned dragons Fáfnir, Otr, and Reginn—dwarfs that were turned into dragons—in addition to battling one called Hræzlyr, a story-based boss battle. The player controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat and puzzle game elements. The gameplay is vastly different from the previous games, as it was rebuilt from the ground up. A major change is that Kratos no longer uses his signature double-chained blades, the Blades of Chaos, as his default weapon. Instead, he uses a magical battle axe, called the Leviathan Axe, which is infused with ice elemental magic. The axe can be thrown at enemies and magically summoned back to his hand (similar to Thor's hammer Mjölnir). Larger enemies have precision targets and throwing the axe at those targets stuns the enemy. The weapon can also be thrown at environmental objects to trigger a damaging explosion and it can freeze objects and some enemies in place for puzzle solving until the axe is summoned back to Kratos' hand. The axe has standard light and heavy attacks, and over time, it can be upgraded with runes to allow for special runic attacks, with one slot being for a light runic attack and the other for heavy. This provides players with a variety of options to cater to their own play style. Another new weapon that Kratos utilizes is the Guardian Shield. When not in use, it folds up and appears like a vambrace on Kratos' left forearm. When summoned, the shield can be used offensively and defensively, similar to the Golden Fleece in previous games. Kratos also utilizes hand-to-hand combat, a feature originally introduced in Ascension. The Blades of Chaos, infused with fire elemental magic, are acquired approximately half way into the game via a plot device and perform similarly as they did in previous installments, but can also be upgraded with light and heavy runic attacks. Pre-release gameplay screenshot of God of War, taken from the trailer shown at E3 2016: Kratos (center) and his son Atreus (right) are battling a troll. Atreus can assist in combat, such as firing lightning arrows on the player's command. Similar to previous games, there is a "Rage" ability called Spartan Rage. Like the previous versions, the Rage ability has a meter that gradually fills during combat. With this ability, Kratos uses powerful bare-handed attacks, as opposed to weapons, to greatly damage enemies. The game also features role-playing video game (RPG) elements. There are crafting resources for the player to find that allow them to create new or upgrade existing armor with better perks. Players also accumulate a currency called Hacksilver, a key component in crafting and purchasing new items. Experience points (XP) are used for learning new combat skills. Throughout the game world, players find chests containing random items, such as Hacksilver and enchantments for improving armor and weapons, as well as two special items, Iðunn's Apples and Horns of Blood Mead, which increase the maximum length of the health and rage meters, respectively. The meters are replenished by green and red orbs, respectively, found throughout the game world and dropped by downed foes. Quick time events have changed from previous games. Enemies display two meters above their heads, one for health (the color of which indicates the enemy's difficulty) and the other for stun. Filling up the stun meter helps to defeat more difficult enemies. When the stun meter is full, a grab-prompt will appear. Depending on the enemy, Kratos may rip it in half or grab them and throw them into other enemies, among other possible outcomes. Although the game is played entirely as Kratos, there are times when the player may choose to passively control Kratos' son, Atreus. One button is dedicated to Atreus and its use depends on the context. For example, if the player needs assistance, they can look at an enemy, press the button, and Atreus will use his Talon Bow to shoot arrows at the enemy. The arrows have little effect on an enemy's health, but do increase the stun meter. Over the course of the game, Atreus helps in combat, traversal, exploration, and puzzle-solving. When facing a large number of enemies, he distracts the weaker ones as Kratos fights the stronger ones. If too many enemies gang up on Atreus, he is knocked out for the remainder of that combat. Just like Kratos, Atreus acquires new skills, armor, special arrows, such as lightning arrows, as well as runic attacks for his Talon Bow, but it only has one slot instead of two. Atreus' runic attacks summon different spectral animals with different abilities. For example, one summons a wolf that attacks enemies, while another summons the squirrel Ratatoskr that will dig up orbs for the aforementioned health and rage meters. About God of War While the first seven games were loosely based on Greek mythology, this installment takes the series to Norse mythology. Six of the nine realms of Norse mythology can be explored. Predating the Vikings, the majority of the game takes place in ancient Norway in the realm of Midgard, inhabited by humans and other creatures and is the same realm that the Greek world had existed in. As more creatures began appearing, many humans fled. Other realms visited as part of the story include Alfheim, the mystical home of the light and dark elves, Helheim, the icy land of the dead, and Jötunheim, the mountainous land of the giants. Optional explorable realms include Niflheim, a realm of poisonous fog with a maze-like structure of rewards, and the fire realm Muspelheim, featuring the six Trials of Muspelheim; completing each trial grants rewards and advances Kratos and Atreus closer to the top of a large volcano. Access to the other three realms—Asgard, home of the Æsir gods, Vanaheim, home of the Vanir gods, and Svartalfheim, home of the dwarves—have been blocked by the ruler of Asgard and the Æsir gods, Odin. At the center of the realms is the mythical tree Yggdrasil, which connects each realm together. Although each realm is a different world, they simultaneously exist in the same space. Travel to and from realms can be done by the use of the Bifröst from a root of Yggdrasil contained within a temple located at the center of the Lake of the Nine. The temple was created by the now dead Týr, a peaceful God of War who had traveled to other lands and learned about their mythologies; Odin had him killed as he believed Týr was secretly aiding the giants and would try to overthrow him. The protagonists of the game are Kratos (voiced by Christopher Judge) and his young son Atreus (Sunny Suljic). Kratos is a warrior originally from Sparta who became the Greek God of War and is a son of Zeus. After ending up in ancient Norway, he met his second and now deceased wife, Laufey (addressed as Faye), and they bore their son, Atreus, who does not know about Kratos' past or his divine nature, but can hear other beings' thoughts. The main antagonist is the Æsir god Baldur (Jeremy Davies), the brother of Thor, whose sons Modi and Magni (Nolan North and Troy Baker, respectively) assist Baldur. His parents are Odin and the Vanir god Freya (Danielle Bisutti). Freya tried leaving Odin, as she did not truly love him, and Odin had her banished to Midgard, after which she became known as the Witch of the Woods. To protect her son from a prophecy that foretold his death, Freya cast a spell of immortality on Baldur, which also caused him to not feel pain or any feeling of pleasure, which he resented her for. The only thing that she could not prevent from breaking the spell was mistletoe, which she kept secret. Other characters include Mímir (Alastair Duncan), who claims to be the smartest man alive, and the Huldra Brothers, Brok (Robert Craighead) and Sindri (Adam J. Harrington), a pair of dwarves who appear at various points in the world and assist Kratos and Atreus with forging new gear. Their weapons, including Thor's hammer Mjölnir, were used by the Æsir gods and they also had forged Kratos' Leviathan Axe, which originally belonged to Faye, who also gifted Kratos his Guardian Shield. The spirit of the Greek goddess Athena (Carole Ruggier) makes a cameo appearance, and Zeus (Corey Burton) appears as an illusion to Kratos in Helheim. GameStory Many years have passed since Kratos took his vengeance against the Olympian gods, and he now lives with his young son Atreus in ancient Norway in the realm of Midgard. The game opens following the death of Kratos' second wife and Atreus' mother, Faye, whose last wish was for her ashes to be spread at the highest peak of the nine realms. Before starting their journey, Kratos is confronted by a mysterious man with godlike powers. After seemingly killing him, Kratos and Atreus begin their journey. Reaching the Lake of the Nine, Kratos and Atreus encounter the friendly World Serpent, Jörmungandr, the last remaining giant. After running into impenetrable black mist which can only be extinguished with the Light of Alfheim, they receive aid from the Witch of the Woods to use the Bifröst in order to travel to Alfheim and secure the Light. Upon vanquishing the mist and reaching Midgard's peak, they overhear a conversation between the mysterious man, revealed to be Baldur, his nephews Modi and Magni, and the imprisoned Mímir. After they leave, Kratos and Atreus confront Mímir, who reveals that their goal is actually in Jötunheim, but travel there has been blocked to keep out Odin and Thor. Mímir, however, knows another passage. He instructs Kratos to cut off his head and have it revived by the Witch of the Woods, revealed to be Freya. Kratos immediately distrusts her, but both Freya and Mímir warn him that he must tell Atreus about his true nature. Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir's head journey to collect needed components to open Jötunheim's portal when they are attacked by Modi and Magni. After Kratos kills Magni, Modi flees, but later returns and ambushes them. Atreus collapses ill, which Mímir and Freya explain is a mental contradiction of a god believing himself to be mortal. She tells Kratos that he must retrieve the heart of the Keeper of the Bridge of the Damned in Helheim, but his Leviathan Axe is useless there. Kratos then returns home to unearth his old weapons, the Blades of Chaos, and is haunted by Athena's spirit, who goads him about his past. After retrieving the heart, he has a haunting vision of Zeus. Atreus is cured and Kratos tells him that he is a god. Atreus then becomes increasingly arrogant on their journey, and he murders a weakened Modi, despite Kratos ordering not to. At Midgard's peak, they are ambushed by Baldur, resulting in Jötunheim's portal being destroyed and the group falling into Helheim. Atreus makes amends with Kratos and they find out about Freya and Baldur's familial relationship. Returning to Midgard, Mímir realizes there is another way to reach Jötunheim, but it requires recovering his missing eye. After obtaining it from Jörmungandr's belly, who had inadvertently swallowed it when he ate a statue of Thor, they are attacked by Baldur again, but Freya intervenes in an attempt to protect her son. During the fight, Baldur is pierced by Atreus' mistletoe arrow, breaking Freya's spell on him. Baldur is defeated, and although Kratos gives him an opportunity to retreat, he instead attempts to strangle Freya, forcing Kratos to kill him. A grieving Freya swears revenge on Kratos and taunts him about hiding his true nature from Atreus. Kratos finally tells Atreus about his past and how he had killed his fellow Greek gods, including his father Zeus. Atreus laments whether all that gods are good for is committing parricide. Kratos tells Atreus that they should both learn from their experiences and not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. A silent Freya leaves with Baldur's corpse and Mímir hopefully suggests that she will eventually move on from the tragedy and that Kratos did the right thing. In Jötunheim, they find a temple with a mural depicting their adventures, showing that the giants had foreseen everything that would happen and vaguely foretold what was to come. In addition, they discover that Faye was a giant who decided to stay behind in Midgard, making Atreus part giant, god, and mortal. Their fight with Baldur was shown, revealing he was actually after Faye the whole time. It is also revealed that Atreus was named Loki by his mother. Wondering if Faye planned this in advance, Kratos and Atreus fulfill their promise and spread her ashes at the peak, overlooking a valley of giants' corpses. Afterwards, Kratos reveals to Atreus that his given name was also the name of a compassionate Spartan comrade. When they return to Midgard, Mímir warns them that the three-year long Fimbulwinter has started, meaning Ragnarök is soon to follow, which was not supposed to occur for another hundred years. In the game's secret ending, Kratos and Atreus return home and slumber. Atreus has a vision that at the end of Fimbulwinter, Thor will arrive at their home to confront them. Development Development on the next God of War began in 2014, which was confirmed by Santa Monica Studio's creative director Cory Barlog at the first annual PlayStation Experience on December 6, 2014. Barlog said that the game was in very early development and that it would not be a prequel, but possibly a reboot. In April 2016, Polygon reported that concept art of the next installment had been leaked. The images showed Kratos in the world of Norse mythology; a concept originally considered by series creator David Jaffe after Kratos eliminated the Greek gods. The game's official announcement came at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) with a gameplay demo that confirmed the concept art to be true. The demo showed a fully bearded Kratos with a son, and Kratos was teaching the boy how to hunt. The pair also battled a troll. The end of the demo showed the title God of War and confirmed it was in development for the PlayStation 4 E3 also confirmed that Barlog had returned to the series as game director for the new installment. Barlog had been a major contributor in the development of the God of War series since the original installment in 2005, with his prior most notable role being game director of God of War II (2007). This new installment was his fifth God of War game. In naming the game, Barlog stated that it was deliberately titled God of War with no numeral or subtitle because although it is a continuation of the series, "we are reimagining everything." Head of Santa Monica Studio, Shannon Studstill, and Barlog said that Sony Interactive Entertainment had to be convinced to do another God of War game as a lot of people at Sony wanted the series to "sleep and rest" due to the lackluster response of the previous game, Ascension. In explaining why Barlog was brought back, Studstill said that he knew the series very well, "and bringing in someone that understands that history is the respect the franchise deserves." Barlog followed up with "You gotta know the rules to break the rules." Series creator David Jaffe was also considered, but was unavailable. In explaining the transition from Greek mythology to Norse mythology, Barlog said: "it's kind of this BC–AD change over kind of thing. We're moving and starting from zero and kind of moving forward on that." Before settling on Norse mythology, Egyptian mythology was also considered. Barlog said that half of the team was for it, but since "there's a lot more about civilization – it's less isolated, less barren", he had to make the decision and decided on the Norse setting because they wanted the focus to stay on Kratos: "Having too much around distracts from that central theme of a stranger in a strange land." In explaining why Kratos was now in the Norse world, Barlog said that different cultures' belief systems coexisted, but they were "separated by geography", suggesting that Kratos traveled from Greece to Norway (Scandinavia) after the conclusion of God of War III; in clarifying the conclusion of that game, Barlog said that Kratos did not destroy what was believed to be the entire world, but only the portion that was ruled over by the Greeks. Barlog said that the new game predates the Vikings; it is the time in which their gods walked the Earth. It was also confirmed that this would not be Kratos' last game. Barlog said that future games could see the series tackling Egyptian or Mayan mythology, and that although this game focuses on Norse mythology, it alludes to the fact that there are other mythologies co-existing in the world. Barlog also said that he liked the idea of having different directors for each game, seen throughout the first seven games, and although he may not direct another God of War, he would still be at Santa Monica to work on future games. Most of the development team that worked on the original God of War worked on the new installment. They claimed that they matched the new gameplay with the same level of accessibility as the previous installments. It was confirmed that the game would not feature any morality system or branching story; all players have the same story experience. The developers also confirmed that some of the more controversial mini-games found in previous entries (such as the sex mini-game) would not return. The enemy count was increased to up to 100 enemies on-screen; God of War III and Ascension could do up to 50. Some gameplay characteristics found in the previous installments were cut, such as jumping, swimming, and instant-death platforming challenges; these were cut due to the camera being closer to Kratos. Although the previous installment, Ascension, introduced multiplayer to the series, the team decided to drop the mode to focus on the single-player experience. In changing the gameplay, Studstill said "I felt like, in order to reinvent, we really needed to turn a lot of things around." In regard to the camera change, Barlog said they wanted a more intimate and player-controlled experience. The entire game was done in a single shot, as in no camera cuts, meaning there are no loading screens or fade-to-black between gameplay and cutscenes. Barlog said that about forty percent of the team did not originally agree with this decision due to the increased work and production to implement the feature, especially since this was the first time that a one-shot technique was being used for a three-dimensional AAA game, meaning Barlog had no examples to show if this would work or was a good idea. (The only other game to fully utilize this technique was the indie game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which also began development in 2014 and was released eight months before God of War.) After the game was finished and the team got to play through it, Barlog said they finally understood his vision and said that it was a feature they should use from now on. Barlog had originally pitched the idea for a one-shot camera while he was at Crystal Dynamics working on 2013's Tomb Raider, but was turned down. Sony, on the other hand, was much more supportive of Barlog's creative ideas. Explaining Kratos' axe, lead gameplay designer Jason McDonald, who had worked on the series since the original game, said the axe was chosen because they wanted a more grounded direction for the game. Initially, they were unsure how to make it unique, like how the double-chained blades were. After they came up with the concept of throwing the axe and having it return to Kratos, "things started to fall into place." McDonald said that combat with the axe is a little slower than the blades, "but it's just as fluid and just as brutal as it's ever been." Barlog took inspiration from Dark Souls (2011), which influenced the game's combat system, particularly its gameplay loop and strategic decision-making, as well as the game's approach to storytelling. In addition, designers Anthony DiMento and Luis Sanchez revealed how God of War's level design and exploration was influenced by Bloodborne (2015), as they wanted to "just have the world breathe a little bit" and expand upon player discovery by including "micro-loops where you're unlocking paths, unlocking shortcuts" that gave purpose. DiMento said that a team dedicated to focusing on the game's exploration was formed. One challenge was creating quests in a world that did not have non-playable characters outside of the core narrative. DiMento said "I set out to create a quest giver that was light-weight, but also flexible enough to be used in multiple locations, while providing a varied suite of quest activities." This resulted in the "wayward spirits" (ghosts with ties to the world) found throughout the game. Having the spirits tell their stories "made [the world] feel more alive". The developers ended up with a four-tiered system for side quests: the top tier quests were from the characters Brok and Sindri, the next level from wayward spirits, then treasure maps and artifacts, and the bottom tier were milestones, such as destroying all of Odin's ravens. Brok and Sindri's quests were made into dungeons while the others were used for exploration. The developers also had to find the reasons that would motivate Kratos to do these quests. For Brok and Sindri, it was to obtain more powerful gear, but for the wayward spirits, it was because of Atreus' naiveté and kind-hearted nature, as well as opportunities for Kratos to teach Atreus a lesson. Unlike the previous games, Santa Monica did not make a demo specifically for public release. Barlog explained that doing so would have delayed the game by a couple of months. He also confirmed that the game was built for the standard PlayStation 4, but the game would "benefit from the power" of the PlayStation 4 Pro; an updated version of the PlayStation 4 that can render games in 4K and was released a few months after God of War was announced. Players with a PS4 Pro have two options to either favor resolution or favor performance when playing the game. Favoring resolution runs the game in 4K with checkerboard rendering at a target frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps), while the performance option runs the game at 1080p and targets 60fps. In late December 2016, Barlog confirmed that the game was playable from start to finish, and later said that the game's story would take 25–35 hours to complete, which is significantly more than the previous four main installments, which each took an average of 10 hours to complete. A new trailer was shown at E3 2017, featuring new gameplay, cinematics, and characters. In the trailer, Kratos was shown using a shield that he could use offensively and defensively. At one point in the trailer, Kratos finds a Greek vase with himself on it, wielding his infamous double-chained blades. During the trailer, an unnamed woman warns Kratos about the Norse gods, as they know what he did to the Greek gods, while a pair of wolves were also shown. The trailer ends with Kratos and Atreus encountering the World Serpent. Atreus was able to translate what it said, which was that it wanted to help the pair. It was confirmed that the game would release in early 2018. Since then until the game's launch, Santa Monica included a section on the God of War website titled "The Lost Pages", detailing some of the lore of God of War's Nordic world. In January 2018, the game's release date was confirmed for April 20, 2018. A trailer was also released that showed that the character Mímir from the mythology would have a role in the game. God of War went gold on March 22. SoundTrack God of War (PlayStation Soundtrack) was released on April 20, 2018 by Sony Classical Records. The soundtrack was composed by Bear McCreary, who is best known for his work on television shows such as Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead. McCreary was called into Santa Monica Studio in November 2014 to meet with music producers Peter Scaturro and Keith Leary to discuss "a secret project"; McCreary had previously collaborated with Scaturro and Leary on 2011's SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. Ideas of folk music, mythology, Nordic ethnic instruments, vocal writing, and classical thematic development were discussed, to which McCreary correctly guessed that the discussions were about a new God of War. He met with Barlog early on, and they discussed Barlog's narrative vision for the game. After meeting with Barlog, McCreary felt that the franchise was in good hands because God of War II, which Barlog also directed, was his favorite installment. During initial discussions, McCreary realized that he needed to compose completely new music for the game and not reuse any previous music from the series. He said that although he loved those games, he "would not describe them as emotionally dynamic." Based on his memory of the previous games' music, however, he was inspired by their sounds, such as "deep choirs, pounding drums, and shrieking brass", and reinvented them for the Nordic setting. In ensuring that the music represented the setting, McCreary spent months researching and listening to folk music of Viking antiquity, which resulted in him using "exotic instrumentation and languages from various Northern European folk traditions." He also wanted the score to be huge and varied, "full of peaks and valleys, tiny incantations and gigantic set pieces." The main Kratos theme in particular features low orchestral instruments, Icelandic choir, deep male vocals, powerful female vocals (in particular Faroese singer Eivør Pálsdóttir), folk percussion, and Nordic stringed instruments, such as the nyckelharpa and hurdy gurdy. The track "Witch of the Woods" uses a renaissance and baroque instrument called a viola da gamba, which is an ancestor of the modern cello. The Stranger's theme, found in the track "Deliverance", uses a Hardanger fiddle. The first theme composed for the game was "Memories of Mother". McCreary said the theme itself was not originally for Atreus' mother Faye, but it was actually for Kratos himself. His initial sketches were different variations of this melancholy tune. After the game went into full production, McCreary and the development team realized it was "too sad and lyrical to represent Kratos." McCreary stepped away from this theme and focused on writing a new one, or what he called the Kratos Theme, which he felt was more representative of the character: "masculine, relentless, and badass". He spent several months working with Barlog, Scaturro, Leary, Sony music director Chuck Doud, and the rest of the development team in making this new theme. McCreary described it as "arguably one of my most structurally satisfying and catchy melodies." After further scoring, McCreary realized that Faye would require a theme, and his original one was "exactly [what] I needed." This melody was woven throughout several scenes and is featured as prominently in the game as Kratos' theme. The three-note Kratos theme is most obviously heard in the title track, "God of War". When it was decided that God of War would be revealed at E3 2016, Sony wanted McCreary to perform his original score with a live orchestra at the press conference. McCreary opened the show with the new main theme before the unveiling of God of War, and performed the gameplay demo's music live during the presentation. On January 13, 2017, a live recording from E3 2016 of God of War's overture was released for free for a limited time. Barlog released the overture as a thank you to fans for God of War's E3 2016 trailer reaching fifteen million views on YouTube. All Game Monsters DRAUGR Mother said that Draugr were warriors who died, but their souls were too stubborn and angry to stop fighting. They’d fight off the Valkyrie that came to collect them, and bring their own dead bodies back to life… warping and twisting their previous form into something else. Now they’re husks of their former selves and fight anybody they can find. She also said they can come back in all different shapes and sizes and that some even have powers that others may not. Draugr fight with dangerous weapons, but they aren’t very skilled with them. Not like Father and his axe. If we watch their movements, it should be easy to dodge or block their attacks. These basic Draugr aren’t very fast or strong. We can dodge or block them and take them down pretty easily. DRAUGR (DUAL WIELD) A Draugr with two weapons is twice as dangerous, right? When they’re with a more defensive enemy, we should consider taking down these dual-wielding Draugr early in the fight an not turn our back on them. These Draugr really know how to use their weapons. We need to be ready for several attacks at once. With two weapons they like to combo their attacks, but we can disrupt their flow by parrying their attacks. DRAUGR (EXPLOSIVE)I’m not sure how they do it, but these Draugr store energy in their bodies, and then explode on contact. But the explosion doesn’t hurt them at all! I wonder if it feels good to them? Anyways, we should attack from a distance when we see that they are fully charged up. We should avoid hitting them with melee attacks when they’re powered up, we’ll be knocked back by an explosion. Farther should throw his axe at them when they’re powered up. They’ll explode and damage all nearby enemies. DRAUGR (POWER WEAPON)As if the undead trying to kill us with sharp objects wasn’t bad enough, some Draugr can channel energy through their arms, charging their weapons and making them even more dangerous. Getting hit with a rusty old sword hurts, but getting hit with a fire-charged sword hurts worse. They power up their weapon attack with a forward moving shockwave. They have a strong attack, but if we dodge to the side we should be okay. DRAUGR (PROJECTILE)These Draugr can shoot fireballs. How do they do that? They like to attack from a distance, which can be really annoying when we’re fighting a bunch of other enemies, but luckily they go down pretty quickly.They can attack from long range, but we should be safe if we dodge or block.He has to create his projective before launching it, if either of us can interrupt his attack, he’ll have to create it again. DRAUGR (SHIELD)I already knew that Draugr weren’t just mindless monsters, but I didn’t think they were smart enough to use a shield. They like using it, too. We’ll have to change up our strategy a bit and see where we can find an opening. Swinging wildly won’t break his guard, but if Father uses his Block Break, he should be able to find an opening (double tap :l1: ). Parrying his attacks can also break his guard. DRAUGR (SPEED) What’s more terrifying than a Draugr? A Draugr that can run at you really fast. Mother said some Draugs had special powers, and these ones are able to shoot fire out their legs and move quickly around the battlefield. We’ll need to be on our toes. These speedy enemies can be hard to hit. Father should wait for them to rush him and parry their attacks. I see them stompg their feet right before they sharge. Should help us spot their incoming attacks. HEAVY DRAUGRThese Draugr seem bigger than the ones we first encountered. They carry heavier, more dangerous weapons. It makes them slower, but they’re a LOT stronger than the regular ones. It takes a beat for him to recover after swinging, if we dodge, he’ll be open to a counter-attack. His attacks are so strong, it makes blocking them really hard. Father should probably just dodge them. FIRE NIGHTMAREThese Nightmares Nightmares shoot fireballs. As if we needed MORE reasons to hate Nightmares. Using the :r2: axe throw will freeze them and bring them down to earth. My arrows can stun them which will allow Father to finish them off. If he grabs them when stunned, he can throw them at other enemies and they’ll explode! FOREST ANCIENTWe ran into an Ancient of the Forest on our way out of Fafnir’s Storeroom. This one was walking around, instead of just hibernating like most of them do. Or maybe we woke it up while we were trying to get inside? These Ancients are kind of beautiful… I wish their hearts weren’t so valuable. ICE ANCIENTAn Ancient in the ice and snow… I wonder if they have thoughts like we do? I can’t hear any. They don’t have mouths or ears… none that I can see, anyways. They’re mostly pretty peaceful, unless we attack first. I’d never say this to Father, but I wish we could just leave them alone. SOUL EATERThey look almost exactly like Ancients, but there’s something… off about them. Mom always called the Soul Eaters, “Dangerous abominations.” She never said a bad word about ANY living creature (even poisonous bugs!), so her saying that always stuck with me. I wish I could tell her Father and I killed one. STONE ANCIENTOne of the Ancients… I can’t believe it! Did Mom know they were still alive? They’re, well… ancient! Supposedly they’re a part of Ymir himself, and they’ve been around since the beginning of time. I thought they were all in Midgard… I wonder why this one is in Alfheim? Seidr BROOD These things are a complete mystery. They always show up in groups, but at least they go down fairly easily. They don’t have weapons, but they can grow their limbs into sharp points that are just as dangerous. They also tend to try and latch onto Father, and use their greater numbers to overwhelm us. They can poison us, and we need to be extra careful of their leaping attack. The Brood explode when they die. We can use this to damage and knock away any nearby enemies. NIGHTMARE Mom used to tell me stories about Nightmares until, well… I started having nightmares. I was embarrassed, but she said they were just another part of life, and that sometimes there was “beauty in the horror.” She always saw the upside to everything, even these creepy little floating eye monsters. They’re named after an older creature, called a Mare, that sits on your chest while you sleep and feeds off your fear. NIGHTMARE PARASITEAs if Nightmares weren’t annoying enough, it looks like this type can actually possess other creatures and make them stronger. Does the possessed creature have any control over their actions, or are they just trapped in some horrific waking nightmare? Not a very nice thought. These Nightmares try their hardest to possess other enemies, making those enemies a lot stronger. If we stun or kill a possessed enemy, it will force the possessing Nightmare out of their body. EXPLODING NIGHTMAREThese Nightmares like to swarm in close and then explode. Why do they sacrifice themselves like this? Maybe they are all part of some kind of hive mind. Whatever the reason, ifs really annoying. As soon as they start charging us, just one hit to their body will blow them up. The explosion hurts other enemies, too! Could be useful when fighting a big group. If they get too close to us, they’ll explode. We need to hit them at range. LEGION Freya always seems to have more and more magic up her sleeve. First she used her roots to try to restrain Father and Baldur, but they were too strong. Then she reanimated Thamur—the Giant Stone Mason! That was incredible, but it still didn’t work. Baldur kept trying to kill Freya, and we couldn’t let that happen. So we kept fighting, and Freya summoned these weird creatures. They kept trying to grab Father to keep him from fighting. Luckily, they go down easily. There sure are a lot of them though… REAVER These were just normal human Reavers once, but they look like they’ve been corrupted by Seidr magic. When did this start happening? Seidr Reavers are able to heal, so if we start attacking one, we should try to finish the job quickly. REVENANT (POISON) Mother once told me that some witches trade little bits of their soul here and there to become more powerful in Seidr magic. Eventually, they lose every part of their humanity and become Revenants. They can disappear in an instant, and these particular Revenants are able to spread poison through touch and breath. Her pestilence powder leaves poison hazards in the environment. If Father steps in them, he’ll be damaged and poisoned. Her fissure attack can move around obstacles to hit us. Father has a better chance of dodging if he waits until it’s closer. REVENANT (SUMMONER)This kind of Revenant can actually summon Nightmares. Does she create them with her Seidr magic, or are they all just squeezed together in her pack? I wonder how so many of them fit in that little pack. She tries to summon Nightmares often, so we need to make sure we interrupt her to avoid being overrun by them. SHADOW These were human Reavers, but now that they’ve embraced the ways of the Seidr, they can throw magic spells at a distance. They only attack after they’ve conjured an explosive Seidr magic spell. We should rush them down before they can throw it, or try and dodge. If they do create their bomb, Father can disrupt them by throwing his axe before they have time to throw it. TRAVELLERThey wear really strong armour, have huge swords, and are one of the toughest enemies we’ve faced. Who are they, and what do they want with us? Mom never mentioned the Travellers. I hope we don’t have to fight too many of them. TRAVELLER CHAMPIONThis Traveller has a huge shield on his back, which makes breaking through his extremely tough armour even tougher. These Travellers must be a paranoid bunch, because they keep a huge shield on their back that will deflect any attempt to back stab him. VIKEN These Seidr Reavers like to use big maces when they fight. Mom always referred to them as “Vikens” for some reason. Beast HRÆZLYRI can’t believe it… Father just killed a dragon! I’ve never seen him fight like that before. I mean, I know he’s really strong and all, but this thing was huge! The dragon’s name was Hræzlyr, which is sort of like the word for “Terror”. It’s an appropriate name too—he’s vicious, ugly, and shoots lightning out of his mouth. Luckily, Father was able to find some Yggdrasil tree sap crystals, and he used them to stun Hræzlyr. Then he stabbed a big crystal into his throat! There was a big explosion, and down went the dragon. I’m still shaking from the excitement, but Father doesn’t even seem fazed. Does he ever get scared? FIERCE OGREThese Ogres are similar in size to the regular ones, but they can cover long distances with a single jump. And… they smell REALLY bad. I wonder if that’s why they’re so angry all the time? If Father can goad an Ogre into using their jump smash, it’ll take them a couple of moments to recover if they miss. I just hope they miss. Getting behind an Ogre is a good opportunity for Father to do some damage. But if they turn and see him, they’ll definitely attack. OGREGiant, powerful, angry, but thankfully not very smart. The Ogre is one of the ugliest enemies we’ve fought. Their huge arms give their attacks good range, and they can hit the ground so hard it creates powerful shock waves. This Ogre has a very quick tell before he attacks. Father can use that to get out of the way. Father is strong enough to block one of his attacks, but it takes some time for him to recover. Smarter to avoid it altogether. POISON WOLFWe’ve seen a lot of aggressive wolves, but these are something else… some other kind of disease. They spit out some kind of poison that we should avoid walking in, and they’re even more aggressive than the rabid ones. I bet we would be doing them a favour by putting them out of their misery. We’ll have to be extra careful not to step in the stuff they vomit up. It’s poisonous. Smells real bad, too. The poison from these wolves makes attacking up close risky. My bow and Father’s axe throw is a safer way to take them down. RABID WOLFI’ve always admired wolves, but the ones we’ve encountered attack us on sight, which means they’re probably rabid. I guess to them, we are food. I know it’s kill or be killed, but still… they’re beautiful in their own way, and killing them makes me a little sad. Good thing Father probably won’t read this. Wolves typically hunt in packs and will try to surround their prey. Father should try to keep them in front of him and let me help draw their attention. When these wolves howl, we should be ready for a strong attack. REGINNReginn was captured by the Dwarf King and forced to act as Sentry of KonUnsgard. He’s not very good at it; there are monsters everywhere. I guess that’s what happens when you force a dragon to stand guard against his will. The Dwarf King must’ve wanted to capture these dragons for a different purpose… TATZELWURMA Tatzelwurm is part lizard, part cat—a Lizard-Cat! Or a Cat-Lizard… or something. Either way, the combination is pretty weird. They like to burrow underground to close the distance between them and their prey. Their claws and teeth are extremely sharp, but it’s that poisonous barb on their tails that we really need to watch out for. When Father throws his axe at a Tatzelwurm as it burrows towards him, it’ll pop them out of the ground. Launching and attacking Tatzelwurms as they dig into the ground will stop them from burrowing for a short time. CURSED TATZELWURMThis Tatzelwurm doesn’t have the poisonous barb, but it does have a sac in its throat that lets it barf poison at us. I know; it’s really gross. The poison is deadly to the touch, so even if we dodge the attack, we still need to be careful not to step in it. Their spit is highly poisonous, even on the ground. Throwing the axe with will freeze them and keep them from burrowing underground. WULVERThey look like wolves, but they stand upright like humans and are a lot smarter. And stronger. And faster. Their fur is so dense, it makes them tough to put down. They remind me a little of those Berserkers that Father put down last summer… but wolves instead of bears. A Wulver’s howl is a sign they are going into a frenzy where they can attack with incredible speed. If Father finds himself caught in the Wulver’s frenzy attack, I may be able to draw the Wulver’s attention with a well placed arrow. FIERCE WULVERThis looks like an even tougher breed of Wulver. They’re smarter, too. Really, really dangerous creatures. Glad my bowstring has some magic in it, otherwise, I’m not sure how we’d bring these stronger ones down. When a Wulver crouches on all fours, they become very difficult to hit. We need to be on our guard and not leave ourselves open to counter attack. The other Wulver gets a lot faster after it starts howling. This one seems to get a lot stronger. We should be really, really careful after this one starts howling. Hel-Walker HEL-BROODThese faceless creatures are very aggressive and don’t hesitate to run straight at us. They clearly have the same kind of ice powers we see from anything that comes from Hel. They fall very easily to Father’s Blades. Their air slam attacks can leave us slowed. If they’re up in the air, steer clear The Brood are extremely weak to Father’s Runic Attacks. HEL-REAVERFirst, it was a human Reaver. Then we killed it. It died in battle, so shouldn’t the Valkyries have taken it to Valhalla? But they didn’t… it just came back as something else. Before she died, I overheard Mother telling Father that, “The Hel-Walkers were returning.” Is this what she was talking about? People rising from the dead? Father doesn’t seem to know (or care) much about it. Since this thing used to be a Reaver, I’ll call them, “Hel-Reavers.” These enemies become enraged and super aggressive when you’re frosted. Father should do his best to avoid their frost blast attack. If these things do manage to freeze us, we should stay on the defensive until it passes. HEL-REAVER GUARDIt’s a Hel-Reaver, but it carries a shield and it knows how to use it. Guess they aren’t completely mindless. Hel-Walkers with shields can block just about anything. Father can use his Block Break skill to break their guard. Father should throw his axe at their feet to get around their shields and trip them up. HEL-REAVER LORDThese must’ve been strong Reavers back when they were alive. Now that they’re dead they are even stronger Hel-Reavers. These enemies will deflect Father’s frost axe attacks. He’ll have to use his fists instead to stun them. Hel-Walkers seem to draw their power from the frost, which makes Father’s axe pretty weak against them. Good thing he’s strong with his fists, too. I wish we had a fire weapon. HEL-REVENANTLike the other Hel-Walkers, the Hel-Revenant attacks with ice that can slow us down. Mother used to tell me bedtime stories about the Revenants, but she never mentioned this kind. Maybe she thought it was too scary for me. Her icy fissure attacks damage and freeze Father. We’ll have to avoid them if we want to be able to take her down. We can either interrupt, outrun, or dodge her ice-breath attack — it can freeze Father and leave him idle and vulnerable to attacks. HEL-SHADOW ARCHERIt’s like one of the Shadows, but it uses Ice magic like a thrown spear. Must be one of the Hel-Walkers. Their projectiles are quick but don’t stun us. If we rush them, we can take them out of the equation early. I should be able to help Father with these enemies. Just like their projectiles disrupt his movements, my bow can disrupt theirs. HEL-SHADOW SCOUTIt acts like a Shadow, but uses ice magic instead of Seidr magic. Definitely a Hel-Walker. They can cast an ice wall as cover. Father can throw the axe when they pop up behind cover, or throw it past them and recall it to hit them from behind. Their ice walls do more than just provide cover: if we get too close, they can detonate it. We should try to deal with them from range. HEL-TRAVELLERI didn’t think the Travellers could get much worse, but it looks like death wasn’t enough to keep this one down. In fact, it’s even MORE aggressive than the other Travellers we’ve seen. I guess even Travellers can become Hel-Walkers. The Undead Travellers are more aggressive than the regular ones. Ranged attacks are tricky, because he sprints right at us. We can whittle down his armour if we stay close and dodge his strikes. But when he charges up his sword for an overhead strike, it’s time to move! HEL-VIKENIt’s a Viken, but a dead one. So, a Hel-Viken? This Hel-Walker is just as strong as its Seidr counterpart. Maybe even stronger. Father can dodge his mace depending on the type of swing. Looks like it’s best to dodge horizontal swings backwards, and the vertical swings sideways. If he misses his overhead attack, his mace gets stuck in the ground and he’s open for an attack. ICE NIGHTMAREThese Nightmares can use the same power of frost that we’ve seen the Hel-Walkers use. These attacks will slow us down if they manage to hit. They’ll look straight up before firing their ice projectile, so we should either get out of the way or hit them with Father’s axe (or my arrows). When Father throws his axe at Nightmares, it knocks them closer to the ground. Then he can use melee attacks to finish them off. Elves DARK ELFUnlike the Light Elves of Alfheim, the Dark Elves prefer dark places. Maybe that’s why they want to cover up the Light? They can fly and seem pretty smart and well-coordinated; more so than most of the enemies we’ve fought so far. Their weapons are useful; effective up close and at a distance. Kind of like Father’s axe! Dark Elves like to attack as a group. When Father lands a heavy hit or parries, it tends to break the swarm. If we can freeze or weaken the Dark Elves, it will prevent them from using air recoveries when launched. DARK ELF LORDBigger, faster, and stronger than any Dark Elf we’ve fought so far. Their attacks are so strong they can blind and deafen us for a bit. They fight a lot like regular Dark Elves, just WAY harder. It’s so strong and has thick armour, but leaves itself open after certain attacks. If we can freeze or weaken it, it won’t be able to recover in the air when launched or knocked out of aerial attacks. SVARTALJQFURRWe just killed the Dark Elf King that’s been harassing us this whole time. I thought I’d feel good about that, but… just before he died, he said the Light Elves were the bad guys. Could that be true? What if we’ve been fighting against the good guys this whole time? The Light Elves don’t SEEM evil, but… if they really were the ones who started this war, then maybe the Dark Elves were just fighting back? So confusing… I guess I see why Father didn’t want to get involved (but I’m not going to tell him that). DARK ELF SUMMONERThis one is able to call in reinforcements, so we should take him down quickly. They should be easy to spot, thanks to the bright glow in their wings. I wonder how many Dark Elves there are in Alfheim? When he spins his weapon, it means he’s about to call in more Dark Elves. We should stop him before he slams it into the ground. He can block axe throws, but if we catch him off guard, Father’s heavy axe throw will freeze him and negate his speed. DARK ELF WARRIORThis type seems stronger than the average Dark Elf. They swing their heavy weapons so hard it creates a shock wave, making their attacks really tough to dodge. We should watch out for their charge attacks. They can cause temporary blindness. It’s hard to fight when you can’t see anything! They are much easier to kill when grounded. Tripping them up seems to be a work pretty well. THE LIGHT ELVESThe Light Elves are back! We freed the Light of Alfheim from whatever the Dark Elves were doing to it, and they all returned to the temple. Everything is beautiful in Alfheim now that the Light shines free. The Light Elves seem nice. They don’t really say anything, but at least they aren’t trying to kill us. Father says I shouldn’t assume anything, but what does he know? He was doing who knows what inside the Light, while I had to take down an entire swarm of Dark Elves by myself. I don’t care what he says… I’m glad we got involved. GLOOM NIGHTMAREThese Nightmares can blind us for a little bit. Just when I thought Nightmares couldn’t get any worse… Father can hit them twice on the same axe throw; once on the throw and again on the recall. Friends ANDVARIAndvari wasn’t very helpful at first, but something about seeing that dead Soul Eater in the Landsuther Mines made him realise he was being kind of a jerk. I think he feels guilty because he and some other Dwarves were experimenting with Ancients there, and they accidentally created Soul Eaters. Glad we didn’t have to fight any more. Anyway, his soul is still trapped in a ring. Brok wanted to melt him down (he can be so mean sometimes!), but I convinced Father to keep him, and now he’s part of our group. Father even uses Andvari’s soul as an Enchantment sometimes. Must be hard being trapped in a piece of jewellery, but Andvari doesn’t complain TOO much. I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring him. BROKWe met this Dwarf on our way to the Mountain, and he’s a blacksmith. A famous blacksmith, apparently. He made the Leviathan Axe! He upgraded it for Father, too. He was a little rude and grouchy, but I kind of like him anyway. I hope we see him again! THE GODDESS FREYAThe Witch of the Woods was the goddess Freya the whole time! No wonder she’s so good at magic. Father got REALLY mad at her when he found out. He always tells me that gods are nothing but trouble, but Freya’s always been nice to us. Maybe not all gods are bad? MIMIRWe found this strange man trapped in a tree at the summit of the Mountain. His name is Mimir, and he calls himself the Smartest Man Alive. Or he did, until Father chopped off his head. The witch of the woods (who was actually the goddess Freya this whole time!) was just able to resurrect him, and now we’re taking him to talk to the World Serpent. Mimir says Jormungandr is the only Giant left in Midgard who knows the secret rune to Jetunheim. It’s kind of weird talking to a reanimated head, but it’s nice to have someone else to talk to. MOTSÒGNIRThe Dwarf King. One of the Sons of Ivaldi. He ruled over humans both in Veithurgard and Konimsgard. He was a good king at first, but then he started having dreams about his people dying. For some reason, he thought forcing them to hunt deadly beasts was the way to save them. He captured three dragons to harvest their “Fury” killed innocent people to harvest their “Screams”, and was then killed by those very same people when they returned as HeI-Walkers. That created “Ultimate Sacrifice”. We can use these three ingredients to create some kind of legendary armour. SINDRISindri’s also a famous blacksmith, but he and his brother are really different. Sindri REALLY doesn’t like dirt and grime. Weird trait for a blacksmith dwarf, but he’s just as talented as his brother. I wonder why they don’t get along? WORLD SERPENTWe just woke up the World Serpent of Midgard! Father thought he was going to try and eat us, but Mother always said Jormungandr was a friendly Giant. He tried speaking to us, but I couldn’t understand him. I wonder if that’s the language all the giants speak? He doesn’t seem very interested in us right now. I wish I could talk to him… I have so many questions! Where did he come from? What does he do all day? What does he eat? Maybe we can find another way to talk to him… Aesir BALDURBaldur… He’s one of the Aesir. Odin’s son, Thor’s brother. He came to our house and fought Father and Father killed him. Or… so we thought. Supposedly he can’t feel pain. And now he’s hunting us with his nephews, but we don’t know why. MAGNIThe older son of Thor. He had a huge sword, could use the power of lightning, and was really mean. Father killed him. MODIThe younger son of Thor, and a relentless creep. He also can shoot lightning, and uses a mace and shield. He ran off after Father killed his brother, Magni, but I bet we haven’t seen the last of him. I’ll kill him next time I see him. Trolls BRENNA DAUDIThis is the second Troll we’ve seen so far. I had no idea they were so close to our house! They’ve never bothered us before… but I guess we never bothered them either. Mother said if I ever saw a Troll, I should run the other way. Guess she never said that to Father. DAUDI KAUPMADRI think the troll we just fought was Daudi Kaupmadr. Mother used to always tell me stories about him to try and scare me if I wandered off too far. I think she’d be proud of me, but Father thinks because I got a little angry that I’m “not ready?’ Whatever. I just helped him kill a troll; I know I’m ready! Mother told me a lot of stories about trolls. This one’s name translates to Death Merchant. With a name like that, I think it’s safe to assume he was pretty evil. I’m glad we killed him. DAUDI MUNRWe killed this one while trying to restore the Jotunheim Tower to the Lake of Nine in all the realms. When the doors opened to Muspelheim, I guess he wanted to see what was happening. Why is every troll’s first and only instinct to attack? GRENDEL OF THE FROSTGrendel of the Frost was the stuff of legend. Even Mother thought he was just a myth. It was said that Grendel was the strongest and most feared among the Stone Troll Tribe. They hold the name “The Frost” in the highest regard, and only give it to someone who is to be honoured and revered. And now he’s dead. Serves him right for trying to kill us! GRENDEL OF THE ASHESThis must have been the other Grendel’s brother? Or maybe “The Ashes” is a different kind of title that the Fire Trolls use to honour their kind. There’s so much we don’t know about trolls… but I guess the most important thing to know is that they are all trying to kill us, so we have to kill them first. That’s what Father would say, anyways. JÁRN FÓTRMother said this troll lived in the Heart of the Mountain with the Giants, but there was a falling out one day and they cast him out. Makes sense to me; I wouldn’t want to live with a troll. Guess he moved back in when they left. MÁTTUGR HELSONMáttugr Nelson, known as Helheim’s son and bridge keeper. Apparently, he was actually born and raised in Hel. Growing up in a troll tribe can’t be an easy life, but growing up in Hel must be even worse. STONEBEARD KINGMother said Stonebeard King earned his title “King” simply because no one could take it from him. If you are arrogant enough to call yourself a king, you better be able to back it up, and Stonebeard could. He never lost a fight… until now. Enemies Odin Odin appeared in heroic literature as the protector of heroes; fallen warriors joined him in Valhalla. He had a mythical horse called Sleipnir, who had eight legs, teeth inscribed with runes, and the ability to gallop through the air and over the sea. Odin was one of the greatest wizards among the gods and was associated with runes. He was also the God of Poets. His outward appearance he was an old man, with flowing beard and only one eye (the other he gave in exchange for wisdom). He was usually depicted wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying his spear Gungnir. Baldur Most legends about him concern his death. After he and Frigg had a dream in which they saw his death (with dreams being prophetic in Norse mythology), Frigg asked everything in creation to promise to not harm Baldr, only forgetting to ask mistletoe, as she thought it was "too young" to swear an oath. Icelandic stories tell how the gods amused themselves by throwing objects at him (knowing that he was immune from harm). The blind god Höd, (Baldr’s twin brother) deceived by Loki, killed Baldr by hurling mistletoe, the only thing that could hurt him. Magni Magni's father is Thor and his mother is the giant named Járnsaxa while his brother Móði's father is Thor and his mother is Sif. Both brothers have the same father but different mothers making them half-brothers. The two brothers are mentioned among the survivors of Ragnarök in the Poetic Edda Vafþrúðnismál. In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Magni plays a role in the myth of Thor's battle with the giant Hrungnir. During the battle of Ragnarök when Magni and Modi's father Thor kills the world serpent Jörmungandr their father dies from its venom. After the death of their father, both Magni and Modi became the new owners Mjölnir. Modi Modi is the demigod son of Thor and his wife Sif. He is the grandson of Odin, the nephew of Baldur, and the younger half-brother of Thor’s first son, Magni. God of War (PS4) Developer: SIE Santa Monica Studio Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Released: April 20, 2018 MSRP: $59.99 REVIEW FROM MULTI RESOURCE 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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