In God of War, the son Atreus isn't a burden and Kratos' beard hairs are rendered in real time

God of War is about Kratos trying to become less of a jerk, teaching his son how to survive on his own and glorious beards.

As you know, the Kratos of old was an angry man with plenty of rage. But as we previously told you, in the next God of War, he has the opportunity to master this rage, and it's due in part to his son Atreus.

In the game Kratos and his son will work together on their journey. Since he does not speak the regional dialect, his son becomes indispensable when it comes to reading text and conversing with the locals, according to the game’s director Cory Barlog.

"Kratos and his son work together. The kid is not a burden. Kratos doesn't speak the language. His son, the whole game, is translating everything," Barlog told US Gamer. "Anytime you have writing on the wall, he's reading it. Even though the kid speaks the language, he's never been outside of his forest.

"By the end, the kid's not a burden; when he gets better, you feel responsible for that. In other games, you feel like all you're doing is upgrading. In this one, I feel like you're proud of the kid."

In parts of the game, players will control Atreus, helping Kratos in some instances with enemies. As players progress, the son will learn more abilities. According to Kotkau, players will also gain allies which will aid the duo, one of which is a dwarf named Sindri, who forged the hammer of Thor, Mjolnir.

Another interesting fact told to Kotaku, is along with animal fur moving in real time with the environment, so will Kratos' beard.

According to Barlog, lead character artist Raphael Grassetti used some kind of "old school trick," which renders the beard hairs in real-time.

"It’s not like we’re using some new tech," he said. "Grassetti had an idea so the beard now uses the same technology as all the fur and other hair in the game."

It's definitely a departure from previous God of War titles, and sounds like it will be rather interesting.

God of War is due in early 2018 on PlayStation 4.