We need to talk about Thor. SPOILERS Ahead!
Thor is probably my favorite character in this game, and I talked to a bunch of friends that played the game and they all also loved Thor's character. We grew fond of him, we cared for him. And I think that the main reason for this is that: Thor was presented to us in a manner different from everything else we've seen of him in the media.
I don't know about you guys but I have only seen two types of Thor portrayed by the media: the cocky champion god who would only kill, drink and eat and the blonde, blue eyed sex appeal that Marvel portrays, who also acts as a champion of Asgard and proteector of Midgard.
In 2018 we are first introduced to Thor through the stories, and we hear how he alone decimated the giants, and how he rid Asgard of Jormungundr's threat by sending him back in time (Im not gonna discuss this here). And by the end of the game we get our first contact with Thor and the way it ends we are truly caught by the thought of "Holy shit..."
Then, finally Ragnarok came and we finally got to see Thor and... He's... Just a tired, depressed, underappreciated (by his father) and underestimated (by himself) middle aged guy? I think what made Thor so likeable is that despite the fact that he is a god, the champion of the gods, the giant slayer... He is kind of human in this game. He's a guy living off of past glories and a father mourning the loss of his two sons. His father, the All-Fucker just uses him as a killing machine, so he himself don't have to get in trouble.
When both Atreus and Kratos convinced him that he do not need to be what people expect him to be, it was too late and we know how it ended. He wanted to make amends with Thrúd and Sif, he wanted to be a better father and a better husband, and heck, I do believe that if he stayed alive, this would be the point where he would become the protector of Midgard.