God of War Ragnarok is getting a roguelike mode in its Valhalla expansion on December 12, and fans are noticing some major Greek saga vibes.
The DLC — which was announced at The Game Awards on December 7 as a free add-on to the beloved 2022 sequel — lets players travel between different environments to take on new enemies in the new Valhalla mode.
Several God of War fans have taken to social media to point out similarities between Valhalla and the original games in the franchise, which were set in Greek mythology before the 2018 reboot brought Kratos to Norse myth.
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Reddit user Spoona101 highlighted one deep cut reference that seemingly links back to the God of War 2 novelisation. In the Valhalla key art, Kratos can be seen standing in front of the entrance of a great fortress while holding his Blades of Chaos in the exact same pose as he is on the novel, where he stands in front of a Greek palace.
A cyclops also caught the attention of fans as a creature of Greek mythology, and Ay-hem on Reddit went a step further by pointing out its similarities to the cyclops in the PlayStation Portable’s Ghost of Sparta.
The trailer’s music was even familiar, with HughJaenis noting that it used the original God of War theme. It’s not clear what all these references mean, or if there will be story elements in the roguelike mode that link back to the original games, but fans won’t have too long to wait before finding out.
In IGN’s 10/10 review of the base game, we said: “God of War Ragnarok is an almighty achievement and creates a new high that makes many of its peers look mortal by comparison.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.