After being shown the opening 20 minutes of God of War Laufey, it's clear that the next game in the series is more closely tied to the previous two than anyone was expecting. Despite that, Santa Monica has said you don't need to be caught up on the Norse saga to play it.

The team behind the God of War games has been very active on X this week, responding to a laundry list of questions about God of War Laufey. One of the latest queries thrown Santa Monica's way was whether you need to have played God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok before Laufey gets here.

Deborah Ann Woll Fans Can Dive Directly Into Laufey

"You can play God of War Laufey without having played the previous installments," Santa Monica posted in response to someone who hasn't played the prior two games asking if that's going to be a problem. "However, background in the previous games will greatly enhance your experience."

The OP is a Deborah Ann Woll fan who clearly wants to watch and play anything she's a part of. Someone should probably let them know that she's in the other games, too, although not nearly as much.

It's an interesting, maybe even slightly confusing, response from Santa Monica considering the confirmation we got from Cory Barlog on when exactly Laufey falls on the God of War timeline. It's not a prequel, nor is it a sequel. The events of the game take place parallel to the ones we have already seen in the Norse God of War games.

You Can't Tell Newcomers They Need To Play Through A Whole Series

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It's a tricky line for Santa Monica to tread, and it's far from the first studio to try and walk it. The question came directly from someone who hasn't played a God of War game before. If it were to answer that yes, you do need to have played the last two games, then that might turn them off from buying and playing Laufey.

After that, word begins to spread. Not only do people who haven't played prior God of War games give up on Laufey before it's even released, but those who might not have enjoyed the last two games might also assume it's not for them.

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Square Enix took a similar approach. Despite being the second part of the same trilogy, it reassured newcomers that they didn't necessarily need to go back and play Final Fantasy 7 Remake before playing Rebirth. As Santa Monica notes in its tweet, even though it isn't necessary, between the references to the older games and the lines being drawn between them, even though you don't have to have played God of War and Ragnarok, you're going to get a lot more out of Laufey if you have.

God of War Laufey Like Follow Followed Action Adventure Hack and Slash RPG Systems Developer(s) Santa Monica Studio Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment Prequel(s) God of War, God of War Ragnarok Franchise God of War Number of Players Single-player 9 Images Close
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Genre(s) Action, Adventure, Hack and Slash, RPG Powered by Expand Collapse