Summary
God of Waris in a little bit of a contentious position right now not having revealed yet what its future will look like. The only certain detail is that Kratos and Atreus will be separated in the next entry, at least for a single game, but it is unsure where Atreus is headed or what exactly Kratos will be busy with in Midgard. There are quite a few branching paths the franchise could take and obviously the idea of it being beyond its Norse saga is intriguing, butwith Kratos still in the Norse mythology settingit seems like even that premise is up in the air. However, recent rumors shed light on the franchise’s future in a divisive way.
It’s essentially been confirmed through environmental storytelling inGod of Warthat the next game or saga in the series will feature a new pantheon of gods in a diverse setting, whether that’s in Japan, Egypt, or someplace else. This could potentiallygiveGod of WaranAssassin’s Creedatmospherewith new installments featuring new settings and mythologies. Either way, with Atreus seemingly receiving his own entry inGod of Warwithout Kratos being involved, there are rumors thatGod of Warcould have a “half-sequel” similar toMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles MoralesorUncharted: The Lost Legacy.
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‘Half-Sequels’ Suggest Some Games Are Lesser Due to Being Decidedly Shorter
Unfortunately, whilethe premise of aMiles MoralesorTheLost Legacy-like gameis fantastic forGod of War, it threatens to cheapen how fans might perceive these kinds of titles. It’s true thatMiles MoralesandThe Lost Legacyaren’t intended to be dedicated sequels with as much attention and production put toward them as a main installment, thus encouraging fans to find some other sort of classification for them other than simply labeling them as sequels, but these experiences are as impactful if not more so than main entries in the franchises they come from.
Labeling them as half-sequels is fine on its own, too, though the connotation then suggests that these games are merely expansions of their predecessors or gratuitous DLC, let alone a part of the franchise that can be skipped without consequence. Some fans had gripes withthe length ofMiles Moralesbeing relatively short, or at least much shorter thanMarvel’s Spider-Man, and while it was never supposed to match the scale of its predecessor it still features a terrific story and great side content in that small handful of hours.
The term ‘spin-off’ might also be thrown around for these titles, and yet they are fairly integral to the overall narrative in their respective franchises. If Miles remarks upon Phin orwhen the Prowler inevitably appears inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, for example, it will leave a blind spot for anyone who hasn’t playedMiles Morales.
It’s then doubtful that an Atreus standalone entry would be considered a half-sequel considering how much of an impact that could have forGod of War. Games shouldn’t have their quality defined by their length regardless, but that is a fate these half-sequels and theGod of Warfranchise might end up fulfilling if fans continue to treat them as non-essential experiences if not games that aren’t as important or great as feature-length games.
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