God of War Ragnarok is about the end of the world (and being a good parent!)

“Be wary of shortcuts to knowledge,” Kratos, the titular God of War, tells his son Atreus in the award-winning God of War Ragnarok, out now on PC and the Epic Games Store. A lot has changed since we first met the duo at the beginning of 2018’s God of War. The pair face a new threat, dealing with the vengeful parent of a deity who was killed in the previous game, but Atreus has also grown into a young man with his own secrets (and a terrible destiny from which there may not be any escape).

Not every young man or aging father struggles with the repercussions and responsibilities of being a god, but just about every child and parent will likely see some part of themselves in the story of these two headstrong characters. God of War Ragnarok spins an almost-universal tale about how we often believe we have it all figured out when we’re growing up, and how we often fall into a similar trap of feeling too sure of our own wisdom when raising children of our own.

Once I realized just how relatable the story is to my day-to-day life—as both the child of my parents and the father of my children—I fell in love with God of War Ragnarok all over again.

Because if there’s one thing every parent would love to offer their children? It’s a shortcut to knowledge.
 

We learn about parenting from imperfect teachers

The previous God of War told the story of Kratos and Atreus learning to make peace with each other as human beings with their own strengths and flaws, focusing on a father who is emotionally bottled up after both the death of his wife and a lengthy history of enacting violence on anyone who gets in his way. Kratos was a man who hadn’t yet put his past to rest, and his inability to talk about or share his struggles leads to many of the game’s biggest battles. God of War also ended by hinting at a very dark path ahead for both characters.

God of War Ragnarok tackles the stress that is introduced in families when children begin to grow up and choose their own path—especially when parents don’t always agree with their decisions. Both Kratos and Atreus want the best things possible for each other, themselves, and the world they’re trying to improve. But their good intentions are often the first things sacrificed, as they keep secrets from each other and struggle to say what’s in their hearts.

This isn’t an adventure, it’s a tragedy, and I often found myself yelling at the screen, begging them both to just talk to each other. But that’s why the tension is so thick throughout most of the game. The other gods certainly have their own agendas, but Atreus and Kratos tend to get in their own way much more often than anyone else does.

They’re limited by their lack of trust in each other more than any external obstacles—which makes perfect sense. As children grow into young adults, they need to explore their own world, enjoy some new freedoms, and inevitably make mistakes. In some cases that means crashing the family car and dealing with the consequences. In God of War Ragnarok, it means dealing with a young man who has to process his emotions in a healthier way, rather than turning into a literal animal whenever he loses control of his temper.

Fighting was once Kratos’s favorite solution to his problems as well, but it’s grown clear that violence is also the source of so many of those problems. Worse, his son sees him more as a living weapon than a man who has made mistakes and now understands the limitations of punching his way through every argument.

Of course Kratos is frustrated—no matter how he adjusts his approach, he can never quite become the parent that circumstances need him to be. Though he tries his best, the past continues to relentlessly chase both of them.

On the other side of the coin, Atreus is dealing with the emergence of his own powers, which include an intense closeness to animals, the ability to understand many languages, and strength that may in time grow greater than his father’s. Atreus is also much more interested in what others are thinking and feeling, though. His way of navigating the world includes much more empathy, stillness, and wisdom than the brute force that his father is used to.

Atreus wants to find a different path from his father, but also deals with insecurity over not being as strong as Kratos. The game’s designers tackle this tension directly in the sections of the game where the player takes control of Atreus—a first for the series. The young man is much more nimble than Kratos, but no less deadly in practice.

While both characters would say they’re more different than alike, Kratos is more open to his emotions than he’d like to admit, and Atreus finds himself to be a more capable fighter than he feared. The player is entrusted with a secret that neither character is ready to believe for most of the game: They’re much more alike than they are different, despite their unique approaches to getting things done.
 

We don’t all have to save the world, but we all want to save our families

What’s striking about the father-son dynamic in God of War Ragnarok is that it’s so easy to see yourself in both characters if you’ve ever had a complicated relationship with a parent—and just about every relationship between a parent and a child is going to be complicated. Kratos wishes that Atreus would listen to him and learn from his mistakes, while Atreus wants to figure out his own path through the world. They’re both right, in their own way.

We all find more distance between ourselves and our children as they grow older and spread their wings in the world, and we’ve all been children who sometimes feel trapped by the expectations of our parents. I know what it’s like to want to make my own mistakes and become the person I was meant to be. At the same time, I’ve lived long enough to wish my own children would listen to some of my hardest-learned lessons and avoid the pain I’ve gone through.

“Be wary of shortcuts to knowledge,” Kratos growls, but it’s advice he needs to learn to take before he can give. Isn’t parenting itself the hope that our children will learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them? There is nothing more human than hoping those we care about can be given a shortcut to knowledge, bypassing the scars we’ve picked up.

But it never works—the lessons we learn in our own lives stick with us because of the scars, and until our children live their own lives and earn their own scars they’ll never be able to find the wisdom we wish for them. We know that we grew due to the hardship, but we hope to pave the way for our children so they won’t have the same struggles in their journey. But not only is that task impossible, what will our kids learn if they are never forced to make decisions when facing adversity?

Kratos wants Atreus to display wisdom before experience, which is impossible. And Atreus wants freedom without consequence, without realizing that consequence is literally the price of freedom. If only he would listen to his father. If only Kratos could find the words.

If only there was a shortcut to knowledge.

God of War Ragnarok is out now on the Epic Games Store.