Did you play all the God of War games before this one?
Yes? Then this is the game for you.
No? Then this is the perfect jumping point!
Let's get something out of the way, this is the eighth-game on the "God of War" franchise. However, you don't need to have played a single one to understand the story of the new one.
God of War (2018) was released on the 20th of April of 2018 and serves as a soft reboot to the series. The game was announced in June of 2016 on Sony's E3 panel. I was watching it live and I lost my mind on how good the game looked but more surprised that Kratos, the main character, now had a son, Atreus.
Games are like onions, they have layers.
In various interviews, the game director, Cory Barlog (insert geek dad joke about The Lord of the Rings' Balrog here), stated that when developing the game, the Santa Monica Studios team had always in mind three pillars: Combat, Exploration and the Father/Son relationship. If something didn't go according to the pillars they would shelve it.
I will go in-depth into all of these because I fell that actually deconstructing the game in these three main points is the best way to appreciate everything that has been done to improve on an already great series.
“You will never be entirely comfortable. This is the truth behind the champion – he is always fighting something. To do otherwise is to settle.” - Julien Smith
Combat, in God of War, feels like a natural evolution for Kratos. While, in previous games, just beating the old "Square-Square-Triangle" combo would kill almost every wave of enemies and bosses, in this new instalment you have to calculate your movements carefully.
Let's talk, first, about Leviathan, the ice axe. Changing the main weapon of Kratos in this game seems like something small but it isn't. The developers took a huge risk on this one. The blades of Chaos (or some variant) are iconic weapons in gaming! They are present in all previous games, as the main weapon, since the start and some people never used anything else. Being one of those people, I was casually optimistic about the change. All my worries were put to shame when 5 minutes after starting the game I was fighting waves of enemies and still felt the same badass I used to feel when I was a teenager burning everything in sight (like in previous games).
Keeping in mind that the old weapons were burning blades and this one is an ice axe we can clearly see a parallel between the weapon of choice and Kratos own personality. When, in the old days, he was a hot-head character with only destruction and death in sight, he now is a cooled down dad that has to make every decision with his son and considering both their survivals at all time. All of this, while trying to establish some kind of connection with Atreus. Yes, this is the level of genius work we are dealing with in here, even the weapons explore deep themes.
Changing focus to Atreus, now. Do you like companion AIs? They suck, right? Most of them anyway... Some say that some of the best in gaming history were Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite and Ellie from The Last of Us. Well, best until now. Atreus is such a welcoming addition to God of War in a mechanical standpoint. The boy can fight, explore, give hints, help you in combat (even when you don't give him orders) and very rarely you have to worry about him getting in danger. With the simple press of the square button, you can control the arrows he shots, and you can chose in which direction and speed. At some point in the game, he gets access to magical arrows and some rune attacks and the boy becomes a beast! Throwing a pack of light-wolfs to enemies is something I never knew I wanted in a God of War game.
This is crazy smart when you take into consideration that in different times of the game the boy will act differently according to what he is feeling. This isn't just a journey to get from point A to point B, it's a journey of ever-evolving mechanics that very few games managed to do.
There's also the option to fight empty handed or with the help of a shield. This serves as the main way to stun enemies and the means to defend from incoming attacks. In previous games, there was the option to parry attacks and to defend yourself but you rarely ever used them because there was no need. This being a difficult and complex game you will need it and you will have to master it to defeat the most challenging of enemies.
Most of your movements and damage received fill up a rage meter that when full you can unleash Kratos' Spartan Rage on his enemies. Each attack you do is unbreakable and gives extra damage, meaning that during a set period of time you are almost invincible while dealing tons of damage.
Ok, that was a huge amount of details just to make you understand that the development team took the time to make the combat fun and relevant to the story and its themes while making it accessible for every play style. Oh, and before I forget: There's another weapon in the game... Not going to reveal it due to spoiler reasons.
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
It's remarkable that Santa Monica Studios was able to create a world worth exploring and doing side content on, when most non-playable characters (NPC) are trying to kill, already dead or are part of the main plot. On top of that, you have to consider that Kratos did almost no side quests in all previous games and most levels were corridors with very little to explore and discover besides the path to advance the plot.
How did they get Kratos to explore the most broader world in the series, so far, while helping others and maintaining the engagement of the player while doing so?
The solution to the first was using lost souls that needed to finish their unfinished business, in order to travel to the Norse Underworld. Is super believable because the game relies on the Norse Myth as its main setting.
The other quest givers are the two dwarfs blacksmiths with the excuse to make the arsenal of the game better.
The main reason for both of them to work, in my opinion, is because of Atreus being so naive. He's eager to help everyone and Kratos, more often than not, uses his son eagerness to teach him a lesson. The dynamic this creates is astonishing and working together perfectly with another pilar: The father/son relationship.
But why do we, the players, feel engaged in helping others that even if interesting and have a pay off mean very little to the general plot of the game?
Because of the genius design of the game. This time the team chooses that the best way to go was an over-the-shoulder third person camera and, using this to their advantage, they used it to make the game feel like it was filmed all in one take. This is a technic I have seen in movies a couple of times (Birdman, being probably the most famous example) but never in a video game. This was a beautifully made choice as it leads us to appreciate more the world has to offer in terms of scenery and world building.
Most of the places you visit in this semi-open world game are ruins. Each ruin has a part of Norse mythology attached to it. The story behind it is normally explained in three ways: Lore Marker's, Mimir's exposition or/and character dialogue about what you're seeing. Tying to the lack of NPCs in the world: most of the world population is dead. You always feel like it might be the last time you visit a place because you are always on edge due to the fact that the world around you is crumbling as you move.
You might be wondering: "But who the hell is Mimir?", since I referred to him in the last paragraph. He serves as the ultimate exposition tool of the game. In Lore he is known as "The Smartest Man Alive" and serves as a character that is with Kratos in order to help him achieve the goal he set out when he left home with his son. His tone is usually cheerfully grim, talking with melancholy about the misdeeds of the gods but usually, the dialogue steers for a joke or two.
The exploration is always interesting because you always have something to find. Lore, weapons, collectibles etc... You never feel like that part of the game is just there to fill empty space. Each area earns its place because it improves the game.
Fathers and Sons.
I'm about to get a little bit personal here so if you don't care about it skip this part. Just know that the Father/Son relationship is the center stage of the game.
All my life I grew up resenting my father. I'm the youngest of five, three of us are my much older sisters and then I have a brother just a year and a half older than me. I grew up knowing I wasn't wanted. My mom cried for weeks after knowing she was pregnant and even considered interrupting her pregnancy. Back in the day, before me and my brother, my father was a dirtbag. This is not just my opinion, it is his too.
He was in jail during my sisters' childhood and when he got out he would drink with his friends during the afternoon and cheat on my mom in the evenings. That all changed when my brother was born. Something changed in him and he actually became a decent human being. Money was really short and they all lived in a shed (before me) and only my father was working as my mom was raising the kids. Then, after a while, when she found out she was pregnant with me things went from bad to worst.
Eventually, I was born and then growing up I would constantly hear them say that they didn't want me and that my mom went to the abortion clinic twice but didn't have the courage to go through with it. A beautiful way for a kid to grow up, right?
My brother was strong and into sports, on the other hand, I was skinny and sentimental. He would get my father's attention and I would be left alone in my room playing with toys and blankets.
Two and a half years ago, my mom died from cancer. I was devastated because of the things she wouldn't see me do, in the back of my mind I always wanted to prove to them that the “unwanted kid” could reach places they never could. But my mom will never see me getting to those places or achieving my goals and she is already missed so much... but I'm digressing.
When she died, I was left to live with my father and my nephew. Three men that didn't had a clue how to cook, clean or wash laundry, had to survive by themselves now. That forced me to actually talk with my dad in ways that I never could before and with time passing by I understood him better.
You see, my grandad would beat up my dad pretty hard. He would beat my grandma in front of him almost every day, as well, and he would get drunk and insult my dad... So my father didn't know how to be a father when the kids started to show up. Talking with my brother was easy for him, they had topics like football and other sports, but talking to me about superheroes and video games was complicated.
The story of Kratos and Atreus, in God of War, touched me in a very personal level because it was someone strong, Kratos, who was able to lift entire buildings, but not able to simply touch his son's shoulder to comfort him. Kratos having to struggle in order to maintain a conversation with his son made me realise so many things that I missed when looking at my own father.
The reason why they ended up opening up to each other more is the same reason I got to sit down with my father more often: the loss of someone very dear.
God of War didn't bring me and my father closer but made me understand him better. Well, a little bit better.
“There is only one time that is important: NOW! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.” - Leo Tolstoy
I finished God of War with tears in my eyes for personal reasons and because a work this magnificent deserves tears.
The way the game was designed had me gawking at everything around me. Everything fits perfectly together, making it an enjoyable ride from the start to finish. Moreover, its main focus, the story, was as profound as it was structured, making you wonder for days on what everything means and what will come next. But, it also leaves you with a sense of closure because you can overcome anything.
God of War is available for the PlayStation 4
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