Aging God of War Atreus for his own game would have one huge advantage

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Major spoilers ahead God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ragnarok ends with a bang. Odin, Thor, and Heimdall are all dead, along with Brok, who was killed by Odin while he was impersonating Tyr, who also happens to be dead. This bombastic and gory ending ends with a moment of peace and ultimately combat therapy given to Kratos through the medium Valhalla DLC.

The circumstances of this ending, which is rather definitive for Kratos, have led many to believe that the next game will focus on Atreus leaving the Nordic realms in search of the remaining giants. This potential game plan clearly has a lot of moving parts, not the least of which is the basis for Atreus' solo adventure: he's left with no major conflict. God of War Ragnarok's finale, so it's hard to say what tribulations Atreus will face. This, along with other factors like Atreus' parentage, could be addressed with a time jump that would give events in the game's world time to breathe and change. However, this comes with some downsides, as it would mean missing out on crucial chapters in Kratos' development as a Norse god of war and Atreus' journey as a young adult on his own for the first time.

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Despite the challenges, the time jump would help in the fight of God of War led by Atreus

Concerns about Atreus' combat abilities in solo play

Atreus is mentioned in God of War Ragnarok as a surprising playable character, but he doesn't feel that different from Kratos in handling. As you might expect, he focuses more on ranged combat and magic, but the particular mix of melee, ranged attacks, summons, and special abilities on cooldown is definitely derived from his father's approach to combat. Atreus has a few extra bells and whistles, but he doesn't really feel like he can lead his own game yet, at least not when it comes to his combat abilities.

Then there's the matter of Atreus' weaponry, which is quite pared down compared to Kratos. He pretty much only uses his bow, even for melee combat, and doesn't seem to have much, if any, experience with other types of weaponry. Kratos has the advantage of being a lifelong warrior with a vast knowledge of weapons, so there's no need to explain why he's so skilled with his Leviathan Ax or Draupnir Spear once he's got them. Atreus doesn't have that luxury and will probably have to spend some time training if he wants to use other combat tools.

A time jump would give Atreus the combat prowess needed to lead his own game

Considering all of the above, there's no reason to say that Atreus wouldn't be able to expand his arsenal of weapons, set of spells, and kill combat skills over the course of, say, three to five years. Kratos needed to use multiple weapons, both in the Norse and Greek sagas, so it would make sense for Atreus to be similarly versatile. But as mentioned before, it won't happen overnight.

And nothing forces such a time jump before the start of the game. The first few hours of the game led by Atreus could take place right after it ends God of War Ragnarokand then, after a certain story beat, the story could jump ahead a few years and have the player “skip” the training Atreus would need for a new weapon or type of magic. Naturally, there are risks and downsides to such an approach, but it could work, at least in theory.

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