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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're looking at some of our favorite easter eggs across
00:08 the God of War series that players may have missed.
00:18 Before we begin, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:22 the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:26 Secret Messages - God of War If you've ever wondered what it might be
00:35 like to have an actual conversation with Kratos, these secret messages have the answer.
00:40 By completing the first game on God Mode, the hardest difficulty, you'd unlock Secret
00:44 Message 1 in the Treasures menu.
00:46 The phone number it gives leads to a recording of Kratos praising your talents for completing
00:51 the mode and revealing a hidden chamber in which he keeps Ares' soul.
00:55 Secret Message 2 can be obtained by destroying the two statues in Kratos' throne room.
00:59 Descrambling this phone number also leads to a recording of Kratos, though this time
01:04 he's interrupted by director David Jaffe.
01:06 Hilariously, Kratos kills Jaffe after he insults the God of War's pasty white skin.
01:18 Indeed, God of War This easter egg probably went over the heads
01:25 of most players, unless they also happened to be fans of Stargate SG-1.
01:29 When you make it to the mountain's base for the first time, Atreus remarks on its
01:33 beauty, understanding why his mother wanted her ashes scattered there.
01:36 Kratos agrees with a simple "Indeed."
01:44 That might sound like nothing, but it's actually the catchword of Teal'c, Christopher
01:48 Judge's character on Stargate.
01:52 Judge confirmed it was a knowing nod to his other most famous role, as the developers
01:56 got a nice chuckle from getting him to say it during the 2018 game's production.
02:01 Atreus' true identity, God of War.
02:11 Atreus' real name came as a pretty shocking twist at the end of the game, but if anyone
02:15 had thoroughly studied the first area, and we do mean thoroughly, they would have seen
02:20 it coming.
02:21 Similar to how the developers placed a damaged Jotunheim mural in the first fight with Baldur,
02:26 they also hid Atreus' true identity in Kratos' home.
02:29 Inside, you can find four runes that, when translated and put in the right order, spell
02:34 Loki.
02:35 As the game tells us, this is the name Fae, or Laufey, wanted to give her son before she
02:40 and Kratos agreed on a Greek name.
02:42 This grand twist made for some interesting story beats in the sequel, considering Loki's
02:46 role in Ragnarok.
02:47 Kratos' giant name, God of War.
03:04 Similar to how the giants had a name for Atreus, they also had a specific name for Kratos,
03:09 but which is never spoken out loud.
03:11 On the same mural in Jotunheim, the Norse word next to an image of Kratos can be translated
03:16 to Farbalti.
03:17 Not only is that a real figure in Norse mythology, but he's naturally the father Laufey the
03:22 giantess had Loki with.
03:23 It's a simple easter egg, though one that shows the studio's commitment to the historic
03:27 tales and characters it's adapting.
03:29 Farbalti also consists of the noun far, which means hostility or danger, and the verb balta,
03:36 which means to strike.
03:37 So we'd say it fits Kratos to a T.
03:47 The 999,999 hit combo, God of War 2.
03:58 It sounds ridiculous, but tweaking the rules in the arena mode can let you get this insanely
04:02 high combo.
04:03 And once you reach that number, the URL islandofroads.org will briefly appear on the screen.
04:09 Initially all that could be seen by visiting the site was a countdown, and when it reached
04:14 zero, players discovered its own secret that led to the game's hidden HD mode.
04:19 By following the site's instructions, you'd be able to play in high res.
04:23 The mode was so deeply hidden as it was apparently tough to implement, with the last bug getting
04:28 fixed on the final day of production.
04:30 In this case, the process of figuring out the secret was much more interesting than
04:34 what it turned out to be.
04:36 Spartan's Stand Tall, God of War 3.
04:44 Despite the lackluster payoff of the hidden URL in God of War 2, the developers decided
04:48 to hide another one in the sequel.
04:50 But this time, the site actually led to a cool tease, and was likely more obtainable
04:55 by a wider array of players.
04:57 By getting the game's platinum trophy, you'd be shown Spartan's Stand Tall.com.
05:01 At first, it only showed a Spartan shield with a meter around it set against a rainy
05:05 backdrop.
05:06 But, over time, the meter filled, revealing the full picture.
05:10 Kratos looking at his younger self in a massive puddle.
05:13 The site was teasing Ghost of Sparta, a PSP spin-off set in between the first two games.
05:18 Hiding its reveal within the third entry was a great way to build hype.
05:22 Sindri's Painting, God of War Ragnarok.
05:30 Within both Norse games, there are multiple references to Egypt and its pantheon, lending
05:34 credence to the theory that that's where God of War will head next.
05:37 However, one of the biggest ones is staring you straight in the face.
05:42 Sindri.
05:43 Inside Sindri's house in Ragnarok is a painting of a sailboat as it heads towards a beach.
05:47 But wait, that isn't a normal beach, is it?
05:50 No, the massive sand dunes have convinced many that this is Egypt, and that Sindri has
05:55 been there before.
05:56 If you go back to the 2018 game, during the scene where Sindri searches his magic bag
06:00 for a reward for Kratos for rescuing him from a dragon, one of the items he pulls out is
06:05 an Egyptian sickle.
06:13 Sindri's favorite glassware, God of War Ragnarok.
06:21 There's another fantastic easter egg in Sindri's house, also in plain sight, but
06:26 so small that many of us didn't notice.
06:28 In both games, Kratos can collect a group of artifacts from each major area, which earns
06:32 players XP.
06:34 In the 2018 game, you could also sell these artifacts to the Holdra brothers, and they
06:38 would then be displayed inside the Tyr's Temple shop.
06:41 One of those groups of artifacts were cups and goblets found in the mountain area.
06:46 In Ragnarok, your artifacts go on display in Sindri's house.
06:49 However, if you pay close attention to scenes where characters are sharing a meal, you can
06:54 notice they're drinking from that same group of cups Kratos collected in the first Norse
06:58 game.
07:03 Surrender Kratos, God of War.
07:13 In the original game, after Kratos makes it to the Temple of the Oracle for the first
07:17 time, players can discover a hidden message from the gods.
07:21 And naturally, it isn't a very positive one.
07:23 First, you must click R2 on the left side of the temple, past the save point, and near
07:28 a hidden chest.
07:29 Then, you must press R2 on the largest mound of dirt next to the grave digger.
07:33 Finally, click R2 one more time, in between the two torches that lead to the temple.
07:38 If you've done everything correctly, a message reading "Surrender Kratos" will be written
07:43 across the night sky.
07:44 Now I am become death, God of War 2.
07:52 Surrender Kratos is a pretty cool easter egg, but for the sequel, they did one better.
07:57 After Kratos' fight with Perseus, you can backtrack a bit through the Hall of Atropos
08:00 and find three stars on the ground.
08:03 One by the exit to the balcony, a second under the window outside, and a third by the two
08:08 trees near the giant horses.
08:10 Pressing R1 on each of them quickly enough will cause a ton of red orbs to pour out of
08:14 the trees.
08:16 And another message will appear in the sky, this time reading "Now I am become death,
08:20 the destroyer of worlds."
08:22 It comes from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, and was popularized by J. Robert Oppenheimer
08:27 after he created the atomic bomb.
08:29 But there's no arguing, it fits Kratos incredibly well.
08:33 Odin's Deception, God of War Ragnarok.
08:43 Ragnarok delivered a huge twist that most of us never saw coming, in that Tyr, the peaceful
08:48 Norse God of War, was really Odin in disguise all along.
08:51 Naturally, going back for a second playthrough, you'll notice all kinds of hints to the
08:55 twist.
08:56 He manipulates the situation by preaching to the group against going to war, as well
09:00 as stirring the pot between Kratos and Atreus.
09:03 But there are also more specific details, like how he calls Freya Frigg, Odin's pet
09:08 name for her.
09:09 When Kratos and Atreus first meet him, Tyr is restrained by a noose around his neck.
09:14 Odin famously hung himself from Yggdrasil for nine days to learn knowledge of other
09:18 realms.
09:19 Additionally, Tyr's name is meant to have an accent mark over the Y.
09:23 Every time the imposter is on screen, the subtitles leave it out, but when you find
09:27 the real him post-game, the accent mark is there.
09:30 The real Tyr is also found in a prison, with bodies of other people Odin impersonated,
09:35 including a dwarf you can spot in Svartalfheim.
09:38 Charlie the Tortoise, God of War.
09:46 When Kratos' first Norse game was revealed at E3 2016, fan hype went through the roof.
09:52 Everyone was talking about this new era of the series, including GameSpot.
09:57 The publication covered the reveal like many others, but strangely referred to Atreus as
10:01 Charlie since his name had not yet been revealed.
10:04 Why Charlie?
10:05 We have no idea, but it gave director Cory Barlog a laugh and so he included a reference
10:10 to it in the final game.
10:12 As most of you remember, Freya's home in Midgard resides under a giant tortoise.
10:17 During one interaction, Atreus refers to the tortoise as Charlie, with a less modern spelling,
10:22 which confuses Kratos.
10:24 It's a fun joke for those who pay attention to gaming news outlets.
10:27 Hildisfini the Boar, God of War.
10:34 Speaking of Freya's animal companions, the father-son duo first meet her while hunting,
10:38 when Atreus shoots her boar friend.
10:41 The next step in the story is fixing their mistake, and afterwards she gives them access
10:45 to the secret passageways underneath her house.
10:48 However if you choose to turn around instead of heading forward, you'll get a secret
10:52 scene where Freya explains the boar, including that his name is Hildisfini.
10:57 That itself is an easter egg, but it goes deeper.
11:00 In Norse mythology, Hildisfini is indeed the shape-shifting protege of Freya, who takes
11:05 on the form of a boar.
11:07 However at this point in the game, Kratos, Atreus, and the player are unaware the witch
11:12 is Freya.
11:13 There was a hint about her true identity hiding right in her opening scenes.
11:22 Yari and Somr, God of War Ragnarok
11:31 One late game quest in Ragnarok sees Kratos tracking the touching romance of Yari and
11:36 Somr.
11:37 It begins in Midgard, on the frozen Lake of Nine, where you can find a recipe book that
11:41 starts the quest.
11:42 Kratos then has to collect different ingredients from different realms, all the while hearing
11:46 tales of Yari and Somr from Mimir.
11:49 It's an extremely sweet story and earns you the meal of comfort, which increases all of
11:52 Kratos' stats by 5.
11:54 The quest isn't hard to find, but the true meaning of it is lost if you don't dig deeper.
11:59 It's actually a tribute to Jake Snipes, one of the game's programmers who passed
12:02 away in 2020.
12:04 It was put in by the team at the request of Sam Handrick, another programmer whom Snipes
12:08 was in a relationship with.
12:10 The Three Wise Men, God of War 2
12:23 In the second game, Kratos travels to the Temple of Fates, where he finds three murals.
12:28 The third clearly depicts the three wise men of Christianity following the North Star,
12:32 which leads them to the newborn Jesus.
12:35 It's a neat easter egg, though not hard to find.
12:37 What many may not have realized is that this was the intended end to the series.
12:42 For the original vision of the third game, before it was drastically altered, creator
12:46 David Jaffe wanted Zeus to die in the opening act.
12:49 Norse and Egyptian gods would have then been brought in for an all-out war, with Kratos
12:54 and his counterparts from those pantheons becoming the wise men after killing all the
12:58 rest.
12:59 The First Fight, God of War Ragnarok
13:02 The first boss fight against Thor is a standout moment in Ragnarok, but by the sound of things,
13:07 the God of Thunder's clash against Faye was far more destructive.
13:11 Kratos learns much later in the game that his late love once squared off against Thor
13:15 in Vanaheim.
13:16 Not only did this fight cause a ton of damage to the land, it similarly resulted in a frozen
13:22 lightning bolt when Mjolnir collided with the Leviathan Axe, just like our own fight
13:26 with Thor.
13:27 In fact, after that happens, Thor remarks that it feels familiar, but when Kratos questions
13:33 him about it, he says it doesn't matter.
13:35 It's a nice hint towards Faye's more confrontational past.
13:39 The Amber Stone, God of War Ragnarok Valhalla
13:50 The Valhalla DLC was full of references to Kratos' Greek era, though not all of them
13:54 were spelled out for the player.
13:56 At a certain point, Kratos finds what looks to be a piece of amber, which Helios refers
14:00 to as symbolic of his shame.
14:02 This likely means nothing to players who didn't try the spin-offs, but this references the
14:06 plot of 2013's Ascension.
14:08 The prequel shows Kratos fighting the Furies, who captured him after he broke his oath with
14:12 Ares.
14:14 This piece of amber is actually a physical representation of that oath, which is held
14:18 by Ares' son Orkos.
14:20 Considering Kratos' vow to Ares led to the murder of his family, shame is putting it
14:24 lightly.
14:26 Tribute of Trolls, God of War Ragnarok
14:29 Within the realm of Vanaheim, inside Noaten's Garden, Kratos can fight two trolls, Golrab
14:34 of the Frost and Golrab of the Flame.
14:37 It's similar to the dual troll fight in the 2018 game, and many probably thought that
14:41 Golrab was just the type of silly troll name to expect.
14:45 In actuality, Golrab is Barlog backwards.
14:48 Cory Barlog, of course, has been with the franchise since the beginning, serving as
14:52 lead director on God of War 2 and the 2018 game.
14:56 Why the team chose to honor him as a pair of trolls is unknown to us, but it's a fun
15:00 easter egg regardless.
15:02 The Cistern Painting, God of War Ascension
15:12 This 2013 prequel houses one of the most fascinating teases in the series.
15:16 During the Cistern chapter, Kratos comes upon a mysterious painting of what looks to be
15:20 Olympus.
15:21 A message from Aletheia warns of a terrible prophecy and lists jumbled letters.
15:27 But if you descrambled the letters and solved the subsequent puzzle, the painting would
15:31 change to Earth, clearly showing the supercontinent Pangaea.
15:34 The message also changed to read "When the Earth stops, the journey begins."
15:39 The painting puzzled fans for years, but it was likely a tease for the future of the series.
15:44 Pangaea explains how Kratos could go from the world of Greek myth to Norse, and the
15:48 main quest in the 2018 game is called "The Journey."
15:59 The Boat Captain, Varius
16:07 This poor guy.
16:09 What first seemed like a very minor character has popped up multiple times throughout the
16:13 series.
16:14 In the first game, he gets swallowed up by the Hydra and ends up in the underworld, with
16:19 Kratos leaving him for dead in both instances.
16:22 In the second game, he's one of the souls summoned during the fight with the Barbarian
16:26 King.
16:27 In the third game, you can find a letter from him in the underworld that curses Kratos'
16:31 existence.
16:32 He's even referenced in the Norse world.
16:34 One of the many treasure maps you can find on the Lake of Nine comes from one of the
16:38 Captain's crewmen.
16:40 Following it leads you to part of a destroyed ship, the very same one where Kratos began
16:43 his journey all those years ago.
16:46 Even Valhalla refuses to let Kratos forget this NPC, as it's one of his many shortcomings
16:51 the DLC touches on.
16:53 Know of any other well-hidden God of War easter eggs?
17:01 Share them with us in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays for more great
17:05 gaming videos every day.
17:07 Thanks for watching.