PlayStation released a very different sort of God of War Ragnarok ad this week with the help of the unlikely trio of Ben Stiller, John Travolta, and LeBron James alongside their children. The three celebrities and their kids used the story of Kratos and Atreus in God of War (2018) as a jumping point for talking about parenting in general all while Stiller himself is dressed up as Kratos complete with the Leviathan Axe. All this comes just over a week before the game itself is scheduled to release on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
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The ad shown below opens with the six participants in the parenting discussion talking about parenting while referencing the “God of War dynamic” in case it wasn’t clear enough what this ad was about with Stiller dressed as Kratos.
“I mean, the God of War dynamic plays out in every parent-child relationship,” Stiller begins. “When that clicked for me, I picked up my Leviathan Axe and felt truly close to my son for the first time.”
Much longer than one might’ve expected an ad like this would be, the God of War parenting roundtable goes on for just shy of three minutes, but the last few moments of it are devoted to a few snippets of gameplay instead as well as a reminder of the November 9th release date.
“What could real parents learn from the relationship between Kratos and Atreus? Whether you’re a famous celebrity or a troubled god, parenting is always a work in progress,” an overview of the ad said. “Just ask parent support group leader, Ben Stiller, as he explains to LeBron James, John Travolta and their children how the father/son dynamic in God of War Ragnarök can inspire us all to become better parents – especially when wearing the Kratos costume.”
As lighthearted at it is, the ad is true in pointing out that the parent-child dynamic between Kratos and Atreus was a key part in God of War given that Kratos, a character who’d always been a beacon of brutality and harshness, had to go through a monumental change to connect to his son after losing his wife. That relationship was at times the source of more strife than the enemies the duo faced, and given that Atreus is back in God of War, Ragnarok and is even older now, one would expect yet another heavy focus on their relationship in the new game.
God of War Ragnarok is scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles starting on November 9th.
