The recently launched God of War Ragnarok has received plenty of acclaim both from critics and the community alike, lauded for gameplay and storytelling for the latest adventures of Kratos and Atreus. However, it also features plenty of optional content that helps flesh out the Nine Realms, and one of those just so happens to be a touching tribute to a Santa Monica Studio developer who is unfortunately no longer with us.
If you wish to avoid any spoilers about the game, please do not read any further.
The specific sidequest is to do with the story of Jari and Somr, with the Across The Realms Favor tasking players to visit several Realms in order to obtain all the needed cooking ingredients to bring back to the Eternal Campfire located in Midgard.
This might seem like a Norse tale of love, but the inspiration for it came from the real-life Santa Monica Studio couple, Sam Handrick and Jake Snipes. As shared by Handrick on Twitter, God of War Ragnarok afforded the chance to remember his partner in the best way possible and was a move that the team was on board with.
The couple first met when Snipes started working at the studio in 2019. Soon, travels became a constant activity, and the pair also took up baking to feed the folks working on God of War Ragnarok. Eventually, the couple talked “about how much we’d love to leave some symbol of us in Ragnarok. Some indication within this game that had been the reason we’d first met, our first game made together.”
“[Snipes] once suggested simply a heart, with our initials in Norse runes, carved into this world we made. I told Eric [Williams, Ragnarok’s director] and the team about Jake’s suggestion of our initials carved into a heart. And he and the team returned with that and something even more special.”
That became the story of Jari and Somr, “a story of two men who find each other in an often cruel world, and who find a place to belong simply with each other.”
We will be right back after wiping away our tears.
Jake is a full-time trophy hunter and achievement gatherer on consoles, and part-time Steam Sale victim. He has a thing for Batman and awesome statues, and running out of space for both. Send help.
Joey Leong
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