Tyr’s Temple sits at the centre of the Lake of Nine — the hub of God of War 2018 — and contains an enormous vault door covered in runes from every pantheon in the game. Throughout the main story, you open sections of this vault to access the Realm Travel Room. The entire door, however, is never fully opened.
Data miners found that the door has 12 separate unlockable sections, of which the main story opens 6. The remaining 6 require completing every Favor, every Nornir Chest, every Raven hunt, and multiple side questlines that the game presents as optional. When all 12 are unlocked, the vault opens fully.
Inside the fully opened vault is a chamber that Kratos and Atreus remark on briefly, then leave — it contains a mural depicting the fate of the Norse gods in Ragnarok, with one figure standing alone at the end. The figure’s identity is debated. Some interpretations suggest it is Fimbulwinter’s lone survivor. Others suggest it depicts the game’s own events from a perspective outside time.
The chamber requires a minimum of 25 hours of side content to access in addition to completing the main story. It is the most completionist-gated lore in the game. Santa Monica Studio embedded the foreshadowing for an entire sequel behind a requirement that the majority of players never meet.
The detail work the devs put into areas most players never visit is what separates great games from good ones.
I’ve put 200 hours into this game and never caught this. The developers really reward the obsessive players.