God of War: Ragnarok getting roguelite DLC soon

As a surprise – that turned out to be the most interesting thing revealed for PlayStation during a rather lackluster Game Awards 2023 ceremony – Sony’s Santa Monica Studio announced something truly unexpected: DLC content for last year’s God of War Ragnarok (it’s worth noting that not a single God of War game has ever received DLC before). This “gift to the community”, as the company referred to it, is called God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla and it does sound different than what extra content of this type usually offers.

It is an expansion of the main story – it works as an “epilogue” of sorts – that presents Kratos with a number of combat challenges of steadily increasing difficulty and complexity. According to Santa Monica Studio: “Set after the decisive battle against Odin and Atreus’ departure, Kratos has seen a path for himself that he never thought possible before. Brought to the mysterious shores of Valhalla accompanied only by Mimir, Kratos will enter its unknown depths to overcome trials within himself and face echoes of his past”.

The element that makes a difference here: the whole thing is structured in roguelite fashion, meaning that each time Kratos dies he will be returning to the beginning – the gates of Valhalla, as it were – in order to face similar, but not the exact same, challenges. This obviously boosts the replayability of what would otherwise be an entertaining but brief experience to considerable heights. According to Santa Monica Studio:

At the gates of Valhalla Kratos must cast off his armor and equipment, and instead build towards both per-attempt and permanent rewards. He will have access to all his weapons and fully-upgraded skill trees at all times, but must commit to a shield and path of Spartan Rage for each attempt. As players overcome the trials of Valhalla and explore its depths, they will have to make choices between temporary Glyphs for which Stats to upgrade, which Perks to select, which Runic Attacks to wield, and more. Wise preparation, adaptability to the challenge at hand, and command of Kratos’ abilities will be the keys to mastery.

In essence, each attempt at this DLC will play out differently based on the rewards each player chooses, so there’s a certain element of strategy involved in the selection process. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will offer five difficulty settings that have been specially crafted and tuned to the unique gameplay of this content. According to Santa Monica Studio “each difficulty setting increases the rewards players gain from battle and they’ll be able to swap freely among them between attempts”. The company states that this DLC “is a separate experience from God of War Ragnarok, so players don’t need to worry about going in without certain upgrades, equipment, or story progress”, but it also notes that “for players concerned about narrative or gameplay spoilers, we do recommend that they finish God of War Ragnarok first”.

The best news regarding God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, though? It’s completely free for every PlayStation4 and PlayStation5 owner of the original game and it’s coming in just a few days’ time, on December 12th. In other words it really is a Christmas gift, of sorts, to more than 15 million consumers who have purchased the game since it launched back in November 2022. Not bad, not bad at all.