The God of War series is one of the biggest hits and, at the same time, one of the most beloved PlayStation consoles exclusives.
It began in 2005 with the release of God of War on PlayStation 2. So far, it has had five main instalments, with the latest one — God of War: Ragnarök — released on PlayStation 5 in 2022.
However, soon God of War will no longer be an exclusive title for consoles! The release of the latest instalment on PC is scheduled for September 19th, 2024, and all PC gamers are eagerly awaiting it!
Hidden Secrets in PlayStation Exclusive Games
It’s long been known that game developers love to include references to other popular games and works of pop culture in their titles. Every PlayStation fan knows that PS exclusives are packed with such Easter Eggs and hidden secrets referring to other Sony console games!
Examples include the ability to play Crash Bandicoot as Nate in Uncharted 4; O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub from The Last of Us, which was identical to the one from the opening of Uncharted 3 (and its name refers to the Sullivan character); or gear from Death Stranding that can be found in Horizon Zero Dawn near the dead bodies AND Alloy’s hologram in Death Stranding — suggesting those two games share the same universe.
The God of War series is also full of interesting Easter Eggs and references — to other PS games, well-known movies, and even real people! Here are some of the most exciting God of War Ragnarök secrets!
God of War Ragnarök Secrets ans Easter Eggs
Poems About Other Worlds
The God of War series is full of various collectibles, and Ragnarök is no exception. Some of the most intriguing are the Poems of Kvasir. At first glance, they seem like ordinary pieces of poetry, but each of the 14 poems you can find is an Easter Egg and reference to other PlayStation exclusive games.
They are very subtle and cleverly hidden, but there’s no way the poem titled “We Who Remain, Part The Second” — about a bearded father, a surrogate daughter, and a disease that attacks the brain, causing aggression and destroying the body — doesn’t reference the adventures of Joel and Ellie.
Moreover, after selling the volumes of Poems of Kvasir to the Dwarven brothers, you can find them in Sindri’s House, resting on one of the shelves. The covers speak for themselves!
RaeB – BeaR
Svartalfheim, the land of the Dwarves, is full of secrets, and one of them is hidden in plain sight. When visiting the tavern, you’ll meet a Dwarven bard — Raeb — who entertains guests with his music. Raeb is quite an important character, as he gives you hints about the main quest and assigns one of the first side missions in the game.
What makes him so special? Raeb is none other than Bear McCreary himself — a musician and composer who created soundtracks for films, TV shows, and games, including many instalments of the God of War series. Bear lent his face to this character, and his name — well… Read “Bear” backwards. 😉
MARVELous Sally!
This is one of the very subtle God of War Ragnarök secrets, that many might have missed. Right after discovering that Kratos’ son, Atreus, is actually Loki — the god of mischief — a short conversation takes place between him and his father after one of the battles, where the boy quips: “Puny troll!”. Sound familiar?
Of course, it does! If you’ve seen The Avengers from 2012, you surely remember the scene where, annoyed by Loki’s behaviour, Hulk repeatedly smashes the mischievous god into the floor, saying, “Puny god…”. Well, the big green mutant who loves smashing somewhat resembles the trolls from God of War, doesn’t he?
Hidden Love Story
After completing the main campaign of God of War: Ragnarök, you can return to Midgard to complete a few more side missions. One of them is located near the King’s Grave on a high peak known as “The Eternal Campfire” and involves finding ingredients needed to prepare a meal.
Near each of these ingredients, you’ll find an interesting drawing — a heart with runes inside. This entire side quest is a tribute to a couple of developers from Sony Santa Monica Studio who met and fell in love while working on the game. Sadly, one of them passed away… The couple shared an amazing hobby — they both loved travelling and cooking.
Kratos, Where Have You Been?
This is another intriguing Easter Egg that might go unnoticed if you’re not paying close attention to the conversations in the game. During one of these casual dialogues between Mimir and Kratos, the horned head asks the God of War about “a tournament featuring beasts, scoundrels, princesses, the undead, automatons, and history’s greatest musician.”
Does that ring a bell? Well, it could be a reference to several things, as Kratos was a playable character in both the ninth instalment of Mortal Kombat (though only on consoles) and in PlayStation All-Stars.
Captain, My Captain…
Kratos has a codex, a journal where he notes down important information about characters he meets and places he visits. After completing the mission related to the Lyngbakr whale-island, you can find an entry in his codex: “To perform an act so heartless and to put it out of one’s mind, to never speak of it… It reminds me of a boat captain I wronged long ago. He too was robbed of his freedom and suffered because of who I was and the choices I made”.
This is an obvious reference to a character who has appeared in the God of War series from the very beginning. In the first game, Kratos had the chance to save him, but he was only interested in the Captain’s key, so he let him die. When Kratos ended up in the underworld, he once again let the Captain fall into the abyss.
This character appeared again in subsequent parts — he was summoned from the afterlife to fight, we had the chance to find his remains on a boat, and we even read a note expressing his anger and disappointment that Kratos let him die. Well, at least now, after many years, the God of War has softened and understood what he did wrong…
Conclusion
And that brings us to the end of our short list! Have you had the chance to find any of these God of War Ragnarök secrets, or perhaps you didn’t notice them before? Don’t worry, with the upcoming PC release, you’ll have the chance to play this remarkable game again (or maybe for the first time?), and you’ll surely catch and experience these brilliantly hidden Easter Eggs.
Are you worried now, that after reading about them, there won’t be any surprises left? We assure you — we’ve only listed a few of the many secrets and references hidden in the game. More than once, while playing Ragnarök, you’ll find yourself feeling like that iconic Leo DiCaprio from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meme!