Growing up, the God of War franchise was always out of reach to me because I was too young for the games when they came out. I remember watching G4 and thinking, “I can’t wait for the day I can play these games.” Now, with my PlayStation 5, I am currently working on the 2018 installment ahead of the release of the sequel, God of War Ragnarök, and it is so much fun—especially because of my boy.
Previous installments of God of War took place in the lore of Greek mythology with Kratos, a Spartan general turned God of War, slaughtering the pantheon of Greek gods out of revenge for the death of his family members. Now, after the events of 2013’s God of War: Ascension, Kratos lives in the realm of Midgard.
The former God of War has a son named Atreus, and his second wife, Faye, has just passed away. After cremating her body, they are attacked by a strange Norse god. After the battle, and seemingly having killed the Stranger, Kratos and Atreus begin their quest to honor Faye’s last wish—to scatter her ashes at the highest peak in the nine realms.
I’ve had the game for a while, but once the trailer for God of War Ragnarök was released, I knew I had to finish this installment first—not just for how well it integrates Norse mythology, but also because of the relationship between Kratos and Arteus. The two have an emotionally distant relationship. Kratos is a better man than the bloodthirsty figure of the previous series, but this is his second time as a father, and you can tell there is a fear of making that connection. Each time he wants to reach out to his son and can’t just guts me. When Atreus makes his first kill and you, as Kratos, have to give him a pep talk—those are the moments for me, as a gamer, that I live for.
I just got to the part where Kratos is pulled out of the Light of Alfheim by Atreus. The parts where you hear Atreus ask his mom to come back are voice acted so well by Sunny Suljic. When he says that he wishes Kratos had died instead, but instantly takes it back? My heart. Then, there’s the juxtaposition of him saying, through voiceover, that he will try to understand his father better, if Kratos does too, and then Kratos being pulled out and the gut punch of realizing we left our son alone among dark elves for a day.
Back in 2018, the people behind the scenes of God of War said that this was all part of making Kratos feel more human.
“So we are, in a large portion, were responsible for the fact that [Kratos] is the monster at all times, and now we are in turn taking our responsibility to help him balance these things. The journey is that he’s not very good at it in the beginning, and that’s what’s so fascinating, right? That a young kid, a 10- to 12-year-old child, can teach this guy who’s lived for hundreds of years? Who’s ascended to the throne of the pantheon of Greek gods, and been responsible for the downfall of so many of these deities. He has so much learning to do.
Honestly, if that can be taken away, if people look at it and they can see there’s a complexity to being a human being … and also that there’s different ways [to behave], not just the way it’s been done before.”
As a gamer, I love creating bonds in the game itself. What matters to me is getting to build relationships, and getting to see Kratos and Atreus bond is so beautiful. I wanted to finish the game for nostalgia reasons, but this even better. I get to truly enjoy seeing this new version of Kratos. Now, time to play until Ragnarök. Also, this game is even more fun to play once you’ve read Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
(featured image: Santa Monica Studio)
