There are not many games that come close to the level of detail that can be found in God of War Ragnarök. The constant stream of entertaining chaos with an engaging storyline and well-written characters makes this a true contender for Game of the Year. But what makes this game stand out so well? Whilst the gameplay is exciting, it is not really anything new. We love anything where we can play as a God. But what about when the game makes the God entertaining in a dry, deadpan way? Combining this with the awkward, witty and genuinely funny allies of Kratos makes this game stand out in the best way possible. With so many compilations on YouTube on funny God of War moments.
These are a few of my absolute favourite moments in God of War Ragnarök. But why is comedy important in a game like God of War? Let us get into it.
The Validation of Atreus in the Eyes of Kratos
As we play through the game as Kratos, we have breaks between the chaos and storyline to follow the path of Atreus as he wanders off on his own adventure. Often in the company of Sindri, the blacksmith dwarf. The relationship between Atreus and Sindri is wholesome and a refreshing break from the continuous action of God of War. We see glimpses into Atreus’s attempt at becoming his father, Kratos. The friendship between Atreus and Sindri is a breath of fresh air and very much needed to experience as players. It truly highlights Atreus’s age and natural immaturity. Throwing snowballs at Sindri when he is not looking. Imitating Kratos’s voice with the awareness that his father often disagrees with his ideas.
The Funniest Moment of Atreus
Clearly in awe of his father’s power and overwhelming strength, Atreus tries to replicate this when opening chests and iced-shut giant doors. We see him struggle to copy Kratos as he is not strong enough to complete any of the tasks that Kratos can do with ease. In response to Atreus’s physical failures, Sindri chimes in to give his two cents. The funniest God of War moment with Atreus is the visual added touch of Atreus’s hand almost snapping in half as he attempts to open a chest with his bare hand. It is excellent attention to detail and one that shows the audience just how much Atreus wants to be as smart and as strong as his father. It is hilarious and shows Atreus for what he truly is; a boy trying to be his father.
The Brotherly Relationship of Atreus and Sindri
Atreus clearly seeks his fathers approval in everything he does. He is bound to make mistakes. Believing the prophecy surrounds his heroism, acting with his heart and not his head. But you see the respect and validation between the actions of Atreus and Sindri. The dwarf is often seen helping out Atreus with upgrading his weapons for free and the favour is returned by Atreus holding Sindri’s darkest secrets. Like how he cannot have his brother, Brok know that he swears or that he has fallen into the arms of Atreus because he could not drop down off a cliff side by himself. The bond between the pair is great. With Atreus being the naïve child and Sindri being refreshing comedic relief that is never overused.
The Funniest Moment of Sindri
Their relationship is perfect, so well thought-out and brilliantly written. The next funny God of War moment is between Kratos, Atreus and Sindri is when we enter Sindri and Brok’s home for the first time. Sindri waits patiently, asking for us to wipe our feet at the door. Unsurprisingly, Kratos does not care to do so. The lack of care from Kratos combined with Sindri’s awkwardness as he plays house host is brilliant for its well-timed pauses between the dialogue and the mannerisms of Sindri.
The Awkwardness of Kratos
Being the God of War, you would think that Kratos would be someone without a funny bone in his body. Now, whilst that appears to be the case as you play through the game normally, there are many hidden dialogue lines that can be found through a bit of exploration. Depending on how much curiosity you have as a gamer, Kratos can appear as the driest, most child-like character in the entire game. There are moments of brilliance that I want to highlight in Ragnarök.
Funny God of War Moments with Kratos
- “I wanted to see the Wolves again.” Kratos on a quest with Freya can briefly summon Wolves via the a form of glass harp. You can repeatedly interact with this object, bringing out multiple awkward interactions between Freya, Kratos and Mimir. With every time you interact with the bowl, Freya grows increasingly more frustrated. Like a child being told not to touch something, Kratos returns over and over until Mimir has to break the awkward silence, asking if Freya has read any good books lately.
- When asked what food he misses by Mimir who speaks of his cravings for black pudding, haggis and neeps (can you tell he is Scottish?) and Freya who misses porridge and honey. Kratos, deadpan as always, answers with “olives.” The awkward silence fills the icy wind until Mimir finally asks, “the hell’s an olive?”
- Throwing the axe repeatedly at the chimes next to Ratatoskr will lead to an outraged squirrel who yells at Kratos to stop playing with the chimes.
- The brief moment of Kratos trying to do something wholesome for Atreus is when he tries to return to Norns. Claiming that he thought Atreus “would like the Horse.”
These moments highlight the awkwardness and general childish characteristics of Kratos. For the God of War, it is a necessary addition to his overall deadpan and one note personality. Whilst Kratos is not aware that his behaviour is funny, being a man that says whatever he wants no matter how awkward the conversation becomes, brings on many funny moments for the players to enjoy.
The Conditioning of Týr
After being taken prison by Odin, Týr became conditioned to the terrible living conditions. Used to living in solitary confinement and sleeping on the floor, when offered a small chair, Týr lies down. When Sindri suggests that he would need to make a bed for a Giant his size, Týr asks to sleep in the broom closet. He then asks for hardtack biscuit, solidifying Týr’s mental and physical state of the condition he was used to living in. In his eyes, this was a luxury. This moment is completed when the group eat food at the dinner table. That even with all the conditioning, through living in the worst ways a person could, Týr still hated Brok’s food. Specifically saying “I remember food tasting better.”
It is great and such a funny God of War moment that is wholesome, for seeing Kratos settle down with his family to have dinner. But, also tells us that Brok is a god awful cook that even a Giant condemned to spending eternity eating food worse than hardtacks and in complete isolation would rather skip a meal at that dinner table.
The Sisyphus Reference
There are so many brilliant and funny God of War Ragnarök moments. Many including the interaction between Kratos and Mimir. What stayed with me however, are the moments of repeated interactions. From returning to a scene to interact with a side character or to interact with the same object over and over. Santa Monica Studio truly cares about comedy and the deliver of lines. Timing is key in making a joke land, especially in a video game. For this reason, one of the best moments in the game is only experienced by regularly revisiting the character, Skjöldr.
We find him attempting to pull a coin from a boulder. The initial interaction is awkward. With Skjöldr being an awkward character in the presence of Kratos. Trying to play it off cool after failing to remove the coin from the boulder, Skjöldr tries to distract Freya and Kratos with random conversations. But as time goes on, with every visit, Skjöldr struggles to hide the fact that he cannot move the coin. His pride stops him from giving up on the task. We can approach Skjöldr at the same boulder on 4 separate occasions.
After your third interaction, Mimir says to Kratos, “I’d like to imagine he’ll be a great king someday, and we can say we knew him when he was an idiot.” In the final interaction, Kratos makes a reference to Skjöldr acting like Sisyphus who had to push a boulder up a hill for eternity as his punishment from Hades for cheating death. Saying that “I hope your fate is happier than his.”
The Importance of Comedy
Whilst many people do not appreciate a lot of dialogue lines in a game, in my personal opinion this can push a game from A to S-Tier. Well timed jokes, appropriately placed awkward silences and attention to detail are important parts of a video game, just as much as watching a film or reading a book. Games such as God of War require this attention to detail, especially with the addition of comedy. It is a rare instance of comedy being done correctly, where in 2022, our limit appears to be at the mediocre humour seen in Marvel movies.
Why Dialogue is an Important Part in Video Games
Another example I can make to excellent dialogue is Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us II. A controversial pick for most but I bring this up specifically because of its dark concept and overall melancholy nature of the game. Dialogue added a sense of humanity into the characters we saw on the screen. Moving them from something completely two dimensional into the realm of possibility that this character could indeed exist in the real world. In an hopeless and apocalyptic Seattle, similar to that of the seriousness found in God of War’s story. The title literally is about the end of the world. Whilst the entire game itself is highly entertaining, with great combat and excellent level design. The dialogue between the characters is much needed. Especially comedy.
We need more well-written dialogue with in-depth characters that we can attach ourselves to. It is rare nowadays that I become attached to characters in a video game. I need to have that to fully immerse myself into the world on the screen. I blame this on the lack of dialogue between our protagonist and the surrounding characters. More games need to be like God of War in the future. We have not seen dialogue done like this since the level of detail in the dialogue of games such as Battlefield: Bad Company, Night in the Woods and the Uncharted franchise.
