BOSS: THOR
Note about bosses: From this point on, it could be said that the "traditional" style bosses begin, with less cinematics and interruptions. But that doesn't mean they aren't as spectacular and dynamic as they deserve to be.
The truth is that the two final bosses of GoW Ragnarök have been somewhat dull and anticlimactic. Especially the last fight with Thor. And even more so in comparison with others that have been in this and previous games; or even with respect to the first confrontation with him at the beginning of the story. The clearest reference is in any of the encounters with Baldur in the previous installment, with its appropriate stage changes and shifts (the first one against "The Stranger" in Kratos's house itself is a great example... Please! They end up breaking the floor!).
In short, looking at those bosses I've mentioned, the key is for them to have a combat designs with dramatic changes of location and environment (although it’s true that almost every boss in this game lack this aspect).
Keeping the continuity of the One-Shot sequence, the camera suddenly follows Kratos who appears in scene, flying over the teenagers. Swept away by Thor with his hammer (similar to how this same final fight against the god of thunder begins in the game).
But, in my mind, this battle should take place on a much larger scale than the original. Divided into multiple arenas or sections that unfold with short cinematics connecting them. Cutscenes where both fighting gods aimlessly destroy buildings and leave craters wherever they go.
However, the last arena of the confrontation would be the same as in the game: in front of the main building, The Great Lodge. There, the fight would end in a similar way to the game, but with some modifications. On one hand, Thor would crack the ground with his hammer creating uneven terrain at a certain point of the combat (in the game Odin did the same thing in that very stage). On the other hand, already in the final phase of the fight in which Thor gets more serious and sparks lightning everywhere with glowing eyes, it would also begin raining and thunderbolts would drop from the sky.
And last, instead of Kratos using the knife to stab Thor's hand before Thor snaps his fingers to call Mjölnir (a scene that I find extremely confusing, poorly posed and even somewhat ridiculous... and so I would at least show that hand gesture shot in a more evident way), what he uses is the Draupnir spear.
So it draws a parallel to the cutscene in the fight with Heimdall where he loses his arm. Only this time, when he goes to slam the spear into the ground to make it explode, he stops and ends up releasing his hand.
As the identical conversation to the game about "stop being destroyers" and "be better" happens that finally closes the circle of god-killers.
Suddenly, far from being dead, Odin would reappear opening the door of his own house. As if he had always been in there all that time. He would begin to scold Thor in the same way as in the game. But in this case, a little before the All-Father skewered his son, Thrúd and Atreus would arrive. The latter, surprised to see him perfectly healthy, would exclaim "H-how...?! Fenrir had killed you! I saw it with my own eyes!". Odin would reply by saying "Oh, an old impersonation trick... poor Munnin suffered the consequences. Don't believe everything your eyes see, Loki. You should have learned that by now." Perching on his shoulder only one of the ravens, while making a hand gesture (magic trick style) and a feather appearing on it.
Note: If the player had looked closely previously, at the end of the scene in which Vidar kills Fenrir and the dead body of Odin drops from his jaws, it could be observed very subtly how the corpse is covered with black feathers. As a clue that the body was actually one of the ravens used as a decoy through magic.
Then Odin turns again to Thor, who refuses to follow his orders and drops the hammer, so his father executes him. And Thrúd, desperate and furious, tries to attack her grandfather but he throws her away with a powerful spell.
Note: Thor's death is one of the few things that, even though I'm not satisfied with it for being somewhat anticlimactic and rushed, I'll leave as it is. On one side because, at that point, I admit that I can't think of any other way it could happen. And on the other side, I don't understand his sudden and fleeting fading away when he passes away (which doesn't happen with any other relevant character in the Norse saga who dies, and I'm not convinced by any theory), but perhaps there's some narrative intentionality to it. So, for this time, I'll respect the authors' decision.
Taking advantage of the situation, Kratos instinctively grabs Mjölnir and succeeds in delivering a hammer blow to Odin's chin, which knocks him into and back into his Hall, shattering the door.
Father and son go inside the house after Odin. Now Kratos has a new weapon in his arsenal: the hammer of the God of Thunder.

Comments (0)
See all