MANILA, Philippines — The much-anticipated game by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment is finally here. God of War Ragnarök is the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2018 game God of War, and is the ninth game in the series. It is also the first cross-gen release of the franchise (playable in both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5).
Delayed from its initial 2021 release, the game was nominated for Most Anticipated Game at the 2020 Game Awards and won the 2020 Golden Joystick Award for Most Wanted Game.
Based on Norse Mythology, God of War Ragnarök is set in ancient Scandinavia, three years after the previous installment. The main story follows the adventures of Kratos and his son Atreus as they either prevent or cause Ragnarok, which according to myth, is the end of the world of gods and men.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has partnered with numerous brands and artists in celebration of the game's release last November 9. New Era offers two limited edition cap designs while CASETiFY has released their God of War Ragnarök phone case collection, featuring art from five different artists, including Filipino artist Jappy Agoncillo.
The design depicts main characters Kratos and Atreus through their adventures in the game with a few scattered snowflakes which Agoncillo added deliberately.
"I wanted to show that journey that we are going to go through all these realms, all these experiences in the game with Atreus and Kratos. It's very far from the Philippines, but I tried to make it a little Christmas-y (a well loved-tradition in the country) with the snowflakes," Agoncillo told members of the media during an event celebrating the game's release.
Besides being part of the CASETiFY collection, Agoncillo created a mural of the same design, which may be found along 7th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig until the end of the month.
The mural took four days to make, with Agoncillo painting the design around 12 hours a day, even stretching it to 19 hours the day before the mural's launch. But all the hard work was well worth it for Agoncillo who is a fan of the game and a gamer at heart.
"I've been blessed to do whatever I want with [the] artwork. One of the funnest parts is to create something that shows how much this game means to me as an artist. They're bringing in talent from all over the world and to represent the Philippines in this [launch] campaign is a big honor." added Agoncillo.
Besides Agoncillo, local artist “Art of Maku” was also tapped to create promotional art for the game. His designs also showcase the game's major characters immersing themselves in Filipino culture: riding a jeep, eating bibingka after attending Simbang Gabi, and climbing Mt. Pulag.
Posting his designs on Facebook, he detailed how his final design for the art featuring Mt. Pulag came to be.
"I did a lot of trial and error for this one, especially finding the right angle. Textures and brushes [sic] took a lot of time to finalized. Making a landscape like this is something new to me, I am glad that it all worked out ????," the artist wrote on his Facebook page.
God of War Ragnarök was released worldwide Wednesday, November 9, and is available in both physical stores as well as the PlayStation Store for the PS4 and PS5.