Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
With the huge levels of success of God of War Ragnarok released in late 2022 and aside from the announcement of an upcoming new game plus mode, the question of future plans for Kratos and Atreus remains on fans' lips. As the conclusion of Ragnarok ended the Norse saga and also fulfilled both Kratos and Atreus' character arcs and journey as father and son, many have called for a DLC surrounding Atreus' new journey or a standalone title that would focus on Atreus shifting away from players controlling Kratos.
While this could be a huge decision from Santa Monica Studio to form the franchise around Atreus as the main character, it would not be a surprise if fans opened up to this considering the level of development in both God of War (2018) and Ragnarok. Just as fans followed Kratos' journey all the way from the first ever God of War title, there are numerous things that could help expand Atreus' character and story even further.
5 Dangerous Villain
As players were able to get a feel for Atreus' gameplay and combat capabilities for the first time, they were able to get a sense that Kratos' son was competent in the aspect of holding his own. Throughout the various transitions away from controlling Kratos to Atreus, there was a sense of recklessness with his decision-making, but the discipline and training from his father make up for it all.
While this is definitely the case in Ragnarok, whenever Atreus would stumble across the likes of Freya or Thor, it was easy to note the potential danger he was in. This is completely understandable when realizing that Atreus is still within a stage of growth, but leading into a new God of War title supposing that there will be one focused on this character with a jump in time, ensuring that there is a villain that is a great threat would be a great addition to see how far the character has come in terms of his capabilities against mightier enemies.
4 New Weapons/Abilities
Since God of War Ragnarok is the first title between the recent two which allowed players to play as Atreus, many wondered how his combat would expand as the story progressed. In the same way, players could expand Kratos' arsenal in terms of his attacks and the new Draupnir Spear, Atreus could also have his own special attacks upgraded and unlocked especially once obtaining the new magical weapon Ingrid.
This was most certainly pleasing to see, but some fans expected Ingrid to be used as a melee weapon to replace the attacks with the bow which would be a little more aligned with his father's fighting style. In the case of a DLC or standalone title, expanding Atreus' weapon choices will not only give players a variety to choose from, but it would also push the character closer toward the expected potential of becoming stronger than Kratos.
3 Timeskip
One of the more expected changes fans could see in the light of an Atreus-focused title receiving a green light is an eventual time skip. Considering the current age and maturing of Sunny Suljic (Atreus' voice and motion capture actor), Santa Monica Studio had to adjust the actor's voice to fit in line with Ragnarok's predecessor and depending on when production would start for a new title, this will be beneficial for developers to capture an older and more mature Atreus.
While the jump may not be as significant as many would expect, it would open up the door to a far more ferocious and dangerous Atreus and one who has more control over his emotions and shape-shifting capabilities.
2 Companion
For the most part of Atreus' journey in Ragnarok, his companions are either Thor, Angrboda, Thrud, or Sindri. While it is clear at the end of Ragnarok that Atreus' journey to finding the giants will be on his own to forge his own path, it does not completely rule out a companion or one of the two potential love interests between Angrboda and Thrud having a reunion with him.
While it is likely for this to play a part in a potential Atreus title in the future and help build relationships with new interactions for the character, Santa Monica Studio would do right to make sure that this is not too similar to the companion gameplay like it is with Kratos or Thor with Atreus. It would be crucial to maintain the idea that the game is to showcase Atreus' growth and the idea of him not having to rely on his father or any other strong character to protect him.
1 Experiencing A Betrayal
One of the biggest contributors to Kratos going on his path of vengeance in the original God of War trilogy was the betrayal and lies of his own father Zeus. While this is most certainly not an arc for Atreus to experience with the dynamic he and his father now share, seeing this happen with another character that Atreus may have grown to trust would be interesting to see in terms of how this would affect him.
Part of his growth in both God of War (2018) and Ragnarok, was learning to control his anger and avoid the path that Kratos once took. Now that this has been addressed, seeing how a supposedly mature and experienced Atreus would deal with being betrayed or wronged would be beneficial to further character development possibly drawing fans even closer to him.
God of War Ragnarok is now available on PlayStation 5 and 4.
