From the Top: God of War (2018)

Just under a year ago, I started my own little Heraclean task of playing through the whole of the God of War series — at least the ones I could get my hands on — all to prepare myself for the soft reboot of the series, God of War (2018). This is a bad habit of mine; I find myself uncomfortable starting a new series in the middle of things and like to take things From the Top. After four titles (and five articles worth of rambling), we’re finally here. So, what is the answer to the ultimate question: “Do I need to play the originals in order to play the reboot?” Stick around and find out! If this is your first time joining me, I recommend reading through the series, as we’ll touch on a few points here and there.

So, first things first, what's the game all about? Well, I won’t go into heavy detail, but there are some spoilers to come. If you do not want key plot points spoiled, stop here. In God of War (2018) we find the ever-angry Kratos in a small hut in the northern wilderness. Things seem to be going as well as one can imagine, as his wife (a new one) has passed and he must now gather wood to build a pyre. Joining the weirdly solemn, and much older, Spartan is Atreus, his son. The two go about the morose business and collect their beloved’s ashes. Apparently, the wife, Faye, wanted her ashes to be spread atop the “highest peak”, which is quite a ways away and little Atreus is a bit sickly, so Daddos begins testing and training the young chatterbox in hunting and survival. What should be a simple trip up a hill is, of course, made difficult by the emergence of Draugr, basically Viking zombies, and other threats, throwing the Spartan and son into a whirlwind of danger of happenstance. During this fateful trip, father and son slowly learn about each other, repairing bonds fractured by Kratos’ “hands-off and miles away” style of parenting.

While there is a lot more to the plot, including some fantastic characters and interactions (Mimir is a blessing), I won’t be getting into it here; instead, I’ll be focusing on how the game calls back to the original trilogy and how important knowing this stuff actually is! To start off, I have no idea how Kratos got up north or who his wife is/was. The ending of God of War III did leave an opening for something like this, as the last we see of the dying destroyer is a blood trail leading off of a cliff. Maybe Faye was there to whisper him away, or maybe they met later, it’s not really significant. While I’d love to know more, the game is very tight-lipped about this relationship, as the focus is more on the whole fatherhood aspect. Knowing Kratos’ history, though, gives this some weight as he was a father once, and has since had parental tendencies toward anyone resembling his lost daughter.

Ah, canoeing, the quintessential father-son activity

The relationship between ex-god and loud son is material for its own series, so I’ll try not to get stuck on that, but my very first reaction to it, having played the series, was confusion: it seems our hulking hero is not able to approach his child and often struggles to show his feelings. While this does match the “new” Kratos we’ve seen so far, it also goes against the fatherly tendencies he had toward other NPCs, such as Pandora or even Orkos. They do make a point of Kratos hiding his divine nature, so that can explain it, but I don’t really buy the whole “I don’t know how to dad” vibe. He doesn’t even scowl anymore, favouring a parental look of disapproval many naughty children will recognise.

When the rival-dad tries to flip your burgers

In any case, much like the Ghost of Sparta himself, the game has taken many steps to obscure any relations to the rest of the franchise: instead of fighting hordes of enemies with whipping blades and over-the-top attacks, we now have a more 1v1-focused battle system designed around stamina management, dodging, and elemental weaknesses. He doesn’t even have his chain swords, opting to use a cool +1 Returning Freezing axe named Leviathan instead. Kratos does still have the ember of rage in him, manifesting in a short burst of knuckle-blooding anger and pain for anyone nearby. Even this familiar feature, however, feels odd and clunky. I’m betting this is intentional, but every time I was swarmed by enemies, I was tearfully recalling the good times when I could juggle a whole stadium’s worth of baddies at one… good times.

Now, where the previous games do come through very well is in how Kratos both acts and speaks. For example, early on the dadnamic duo discuss the Norn (basically the Norse equivalent of the Fates), to which our hero solemnly notes something along the lines of “nothing good comes from messing with fate.” As a line, it’s perfectly fine as is. Not messing with fate or destiny is pretty much a common thought throughout both ancient and contemporary storytelling. However, those familiar with the Spartan’s exploits also know how very poignant the words are coming from the guy that, you know, killed his mythologies renditions and also time traveled. Throughout the beginning of the duo’s journey, this is the extent of any acknowledgement. If Kratos meets another person, the first thing he does is check their divine status. If it’s divine, kick it in the behind is his motto, see. And fate help you if you turn out to be a god as a plot twist. He does NOT take it well.

Time has done little to dull Kratos' killing instinct

The references to the past do ramp up as you go on, with your companions dropping subtle and not-so-subtle hints here and there — Mimir casually dropping the Ghost of Sparta moniker at one point. It seems the further Kratos ventures from the safety of his home and the more power he collects, the more his past comes to haunt him. This all comes to a climax about halfway into the game when the saddo-daddo is forced to venture into the Norse underworld (Kratos going to hell, who could have possibly guessed?), where his current frosty weapon will do little against the icy foes. Bidding his son to hang back for a bit as he takes a very convenient canoe back home, suddenly everything changes.

During this fateful trip down the stream, Kratos is visited by a familiar face… Athena, his erstwhile patron and cause of most of his misfortune. The two have an absolutely amazing talk, discussing how the Spartan is, and will always be a monster, and how he can only be used to kill others. While our hero is mostly quiet, he does get an amazing few lines in, culminating in him going home and digging up a tool enhanced with flames even Helheim should fear… the Blades of Chaos.

A slaying symphony of weapon and wielder

I cannot put into words how much this scene meant to me as a person having played the series so far! Remember how I complained about the combat system feeling clunky and too focused on 1v1 combat? As soon as our hero picks up his past disgrace and shame, it’s like I’m back in God of War III, blazing through the convenient horde of targets that showed up. It honestly felt like Kratos himself was struggling with Leviathan and was now able to let loose as he had done for years of rampage… it’s simply wonderful and amazing and very much made playing up to this point worth it. Trust me. While this is, in itself, absolutely magical — having the answer to their mythological woes be a weapon from another brand of myth is genius — what comes to pass in Helheim proper is even better, if you can believe it!

While the duo travel through hell, they are faced by echoes of themselves and their greatest “failures”. Atreus is faced by his own aggression and feelings of power due to some revelations during their quest, but it seems Kratos is mostly left alone… until a familiar voice comes to them with the crack of thunder! While the details are left ambiguous, it is made clear that Helheim has conjured the shade of Kratos’ lovely father, Zeus. People unaware of the previous games get enough info to fill in the gaps — the Spartan ended the Thunderer’s reign most violently — but for fans, this meeting is a lot more, as there are a lot of questions pertaining to Zeus’ presence. Is it just a manifestation, or has the god found a way to persist, like his Daughter did? The scene also has a bit more weight when Kratos finally comes clean about some of his past and how he has some fears about Atreus continuing the cycle of patricide that is so prominent in the Greek world.

In summary, I had some worries about how gratifying it would actually be to have the whole series history in my mind before diving into God of War (2018). These worries were, thankfully, dashed by the time the blades returned to our hero’s meaty mitts. The game strikes an amazing balance of being focused on the new stuff, but still sprinkling in some titbits for the loyal fans, which also culminates in one of my now favourite moments in videogames. It was a long journey, and there are still some questions left unanswered, but I am nonetheless very happy to have made it this far! And thank you, dear reader, for joining me on this epic journey through five-ish games. I may now rest easy, as my labours are complete.

… What’s that, another game? Recently got a massive update with a lot of callbacks? Even features characters from old games? Oh… uh, well. Like Heracles in his time, it seems I am not quite done. So, join me once more on my (hopefully) final journey into the life of everyone’s favourite anger-management-issue, Kratos, in God of War: Ragnarok!