God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla DLC announced, free next week

As announced at The Game Awards 2023, Kratos is back, in the new God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla DLC. And what’s more, is that it is coming for free! Set after the events of the main game, Valhalla is a roguelike mode that follows Kratos on a personal journey to reflect. You can jump in any time for this DLC without worrying about upgrades or story progress. However, if you care about narrative or gameplay spoilers, it is recommended that you finish the main game first.

Each death is a chance to learn and grow, getting you closer to unlocking the mysteries that lie within Valhalla, while also earning permanent upgrades that will affect Kratos and the world. According to a blog post released alongside the trailer, “You will have full access to your weapons and fully upgraded skill trees, you must commit to a shield and a path of Spartan Rage for each attempt”. This is in contrast to Kratos not having his armour or equipment at the start of each run through Valhalla. This will allow the player to craft their build to suit the challenges thrown at them, with adaptability and the command of their abilities being key to success.

Valhalla comes with five difficulty settings that can be swapped between at any time increasing or decreasing the rewards given.

Kratos’ voice actor Christopher Judge was also present at The Game Awards, giving the award for Best Performance to Neil Newbon, Astarion’s Voice Actor in Baldur’s Gate 3. Judge took the time to make fun of his 8-minute speech given at last year’s event, while also having a dig at Call of Duty, suggesting that the speech was longer than the campaign in this year’s release.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla releases at 9 am December 12 PST / 4 am December 13 AEDT for PlayStation 5.