God Of War (2018)

“The Cycle ends here. We must be better than this.”

A personal favorite of mine will always be God of War. In 2018, it was first released as a Playstation Exclusive by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Four years later, the PC release followed in early 2022. The Action-Adventure singleplayer was developed by SCE Santa Monica Studios as well as Jetpack Interactive who brought Norse Mythology back to life.

Although Kratos, our protagonist, is known from Greek Mythology, the player dives deeper into nordic legends and absorbs every detail about Giants and Gods while roaming through the unknown realms.

But Kratos does not wander these realms alone. By his side, you can always find his son Atreus. After their wife and mother Faye, known as Laufey in Norse Mythology, passed away, it was their top priority to travel to Jotunheim to scatter their loved one's ashes in the realm of the frost giants.

Despite their plan being thought through, the execution was not meant to be easy. On their way, they encounter several obstacles whether it being people or creatures trying to stop them from reaching their destination. Through the game, the player masters Norse Mythology and finds himself immersed into the old legends and tales from the nordic lands.

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Mastering Norse Mythology and all of its legends is only possible due to the Codex menu. Its amazing organization by dividing it into Bestiary and Lore offers the player an opportunity to fathom any details about creatures they encounter or prophecies that characterize Norse Mythology to this day. Therefore, the player manages to keep track of various Gods and Giants and also their relationships throughout the game. Additionally, the Codex allows the player to read back on enemies' weaknesses which makes the combat more feasible.

Besides, not only the Codex creates a learning experience but also the great storytelling itself. Due to various dialogues and cut scenes, the player dives into the story and is informed of all knowledgable facts about our protagonists and their companions which brings the story to life. Especially in a game like this, interesting characters and main quests are crucial for a noble storytelling and to provoke the player's interest to progress further. Even though the main story contains around 21 hours of content, the pace is just enough to hook the player during gaming and leaving him rooting for more. And if you catch yourself hoping for more after the end, side quests and several other secrets are left for you to discover.

Keeping the story in mind, it is worth talking about our protagonists in depth.

Based on Kratos' title as the God of War, it is quite obvious that he will not be the most heartfelt person that ever walked on Midgard. However, his facade deceives, because while coming across as strict, he makes it noticeable how much he cares for his son. He would never let his son be in dangerous situations that would compromise his safety and security. After the mother's death, it was solely Kratos' job to care for Atreus and even when their relationship is not always easy, Kratos deeply loves him and always takes anything bad upon himself.

Speaking of which, many situations cause a conflict between Atreus and his father. Atreus, being so young, does not understand his father's rules and worries and believes he is not loved. Unfortunately, he is under the impression that only his mother loves him which results in tantrums and fights. Nonetheless, both characters are loveable and deserve to be understood.

Whilst praising the good, it is also important to criticize games in order to give an honest review to the readers. The critique in God of War solely concentrates onto the Combat. Boss fights are supposed to challenge the player but not annoy him throughout. Playing this game on normal difficulty, as I did, will not allow the player to enjoy boss fights but rather lose their mind. Do not get me wrong, eventually you will learn patterns and combinations that will make the experience smoother and more achievable. But camera movements and animations cause fights to be tougher than necessary. This is why, I would recommend for you to play on 'easy' whenever a fight seems to be impossible in order to not lose any interest in completing it.

To frankly sum up my review, God of War was definitely a wonderful experience to me that I will carry with me forever. It awakened my undying love for Norse Mythology and inspired me to learn all about the nordic Gods and Giants as well as the nine realms. I am writing this a year after its release for PC and I am still thinking about it everyday. So you should hop onto it, too!

And if you already explored God of War and hope for more, you can check out its sequel God of War: Ragnarok on Playstation.

- A

All provided pictures are screenshots from my own gameplay.