Recent leaks had prompted many to speculate that at The Game Awards 2023, we’d be seeing the announcement of either a new expansion for God of War Ragnarok, or perhaps even a standalone sequel. And though that’s not exactly what we got, we did nonetheless get the reveal of a new, exciting DLC in the form of God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla. In fact, not only did Valhalla get announced, it’s also releasing in just a few days’ time. So as we count the days down to its release, here, we’re going to take a look at a few key details that you should know about it.
WHAT EVEN IS IT?
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla isn’t the story-focused expansion that some were expecting. It is, indeed, a roguelite mode that will see players stepping into the shoes of Kratos once again. Developer Sony Santa Monica says Valhalla will “celebrate the combat you know and love from” the base game and inject it with new and experimental roguelite elements. Players will face “new combinations of enemies”, along with some “surprises”, as the developer puts it, all of which will challenge you to fully master Kratos’ arsenal.
STORY DETAILS
Though Valhalla isn’t a new narrative chapter, it will still have some important story elements. In fact, Sony Santa Monica has also confirmed that Valhalla will serve as an epilogue to the base game’s events, being set after the titular Ragnarok at the end of the base game. As per the developer, the DLC will be a “a deeply personal and reflective journey” for Kratos, who is mysteriously brought to the shores of Valhalla with Mimir in his company. Not only will Kratos be facing plenty of combat challenges, he will also cross paths with, as Santa Monica Studio puts it, “echoes of his past”. Speaking of which…
GREEK ERA CONNECTIONS
God of War’s Norse era games have generally kept themselves pretty separate from the series’ original Greek era, though it seems the two will intersect in much more prevalent fashion in the upcoming roguelite DLC. Towards the end of its announcement trailer, not only do we see a cyclops – a distinctly Greek mythological creature that Kratos has had plenty of run ins with in his distant past – we also hear the very recognizable and iconic main motif of the original God of War games. That, combined with the promise of Kratos facing “echoes of his past”, certainly seems to suggest we’ll be seeing a lot of God of War’s Greek DNA in the Norse adventure.
PERMANENT PROGRESSION
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla is, as mentioned earlier, supposed to be a roguelite experience, and while that obviously means that progression from run to run will be temporary, there will also be an overarching system that will include permanent upgrades. Each time you die, you will wake up again outside the doors of Valhalla, but as per Sony Santa Monica, with each run you’ll also gain more knowledge and resources, using which you can unlock permanent upgrades that will make it progressively easier for Kratos to progress further and, ultimately, make it to the heart of the mysteries within Valhalla’s halls.
TEMPORARY PROGRESSION
And what about the temporary progression mechanics in the roguelite mode? All of your weapons and unlocked skills will fall under the permanent category, but at the beginning of each run, you’ll be asked to pick a shield as well as a Spartan Rage path, and you’ll have to stick to both of those choices until the run ends, whether that’s in success or failure. Meanwhile, during the course of every run, you will also unlock temporary Glyphs to upgrade your stats, while the Perks and Runic Attacks you equip (among other things) Kratos will also be run-specific choices rather than overarching, permanent ones.
COSMETICS
How you want to build your Kratos and what gear, attacks, and upgrades you want to equip him with will obviously be crucial to making decent progress in God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, but there will also be cosmetic options on offer. Curiously, all armor in the roguelite mode will be purely cosmetic and won’t effect your stats or build in any way, which means you can mix and match and wear whatever you want without having to worry about what it will do to your build. And yes, Photo Mode will be available in Valhalla as well, which means you can snap as many pictures of Kratos wearing all sorts of armour and armour combinations as you want.
DIFFICULTY OPTIONS
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will also have multiple difficulty levels on offer for players to choose between. In total, there will be five options (same as the base game), with the highest one being Give Me Mastery (which is not what the base game’s hardest difficulty is called, interestingly). Between runs, players will be able to swap between the difficulty levels without restrictions, and the higher difficulty you play the mode at, the better rewards you will receive. Sony Santa Monic has also confirmed that God of War Ragnarok’s array of accessibility options will also be present in Valhalla. Whether all of those options will be available or only a selection of them remains to be seen, with the developer having said that the DLC will “continue God of War Ragnarok’s standard for accessibility settings.”
SEPARATE FROM THE BASE GAME
So how much of God of War Ragnarok will you need to have played to be able to play Valhalla? Well, none of it. It’s been confirmed by Santa Monica Studio that the roguelite mode is entirely separate from the base game, and requires no equipment or gear unlocks or story progress in Ragnarok itself. But though you can play Valhalla anytime you want, the developer does recommend that you hold of on playing it until you’ve finished the base game – if you care about spoilers, that is – which makes sense. It is, after all, an epilogue.
“If you are concerned about narrative or gameplay spoilers, we do recommend that you finish God of War Ragnarok first as God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla serves as an epilogue to the story of the base game,” Sony Santa Monica wrote in a PlayStation Blog post.
LAUNCH DETAILS
And when exactly will God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla launch? It’s closer than you would think. Sony has confirmed that the roguelite DLC will launch for PS5 and PS4 midway through next week, on December 13. On top of that, it’s also been confirmed that it will be a free upate for everyone who already owns the base game.
