Day 27: God of War (2018)
For the next game in this marathon, I'd like to take a moment to talk about Dad of Boy…
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…God of War 2018, a game centered around Norse Mythology, showing that there's more than one mythological pantheon to screw over once you've killed literally all the Gods of Olympus. And on that note let's talk about the story.
Set years after God of War III, Kratos has aged and started a new life in Midgard, even having a wife and a son named Atreus. After the wife dies, however, Kratos and Atreus go on a journey together to fulfill her dying wish on having her ashes spread among the highest peak in the Nine Realms. Along the way, they run into colorful characters like the wise Mimir, the mysterious Freya, and the blacksmith dwarf brothers, the rude Brok and the germophobic Sindri. However, Kratos and Atreus are also being pursued by a stranger who turns out to be the Norse God Baldur, and his minions who happen to be Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, making their simple journey on fulfilling a dying wish…not so simple as this story takes tons of twists and turns going from one realm to the next, and there's even a part where Atreus is near death and Kratos has to find the heart of a Helheim troll to save him.
As you can imagine, this story has moments where the stakes can get pretty high and I absolutely love it.
One thing I find interesting about the story when compared to other games in the series is how relaxed and mellow this game is when compared to the bombastic and ultraviolent nature of its predecessors. This can mainly be shown with Kratos, who clearly has regrets about what he did in past games, and is now trying to make sure his son Atreus doesn't go down the same path. I also really like the relationship Kratos and Atreus have with one another, almost seeming like a mentor-student relationship in a way. I genuinely buy the fact that Kratos cares about his son, it's just that he has trouble connecting with him on an emotional level, but for the most part I'm fully invested on the bond these two share.
Like I said about Brok and Sindri, they're blacksmiths, and as such they're your main source of upgrading your weapons, whether they be your Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, Atreus' Talon Bow (which is an interesting way to solve puzzles and get a little extra fire power in tough boss battles), or new pieces of Armor to aid Kratos on his journey.
You can even equip Pummels to your Leviathan Axe or Blades of Chaos to increase their stats. Talismans and Enchantments are also able to do that too, giving Kratos a load of variety when it comes to weapon and armor customization.
This game also introduces a Skill Tree System which introduces new abilities for Kratos and Atreus' weapons giving you more variety when it comes to the gameplay.
Still on the subject of gameplay is what happens when you engage in a battle. Of course you have Kratos and Atreus weapons at your disposal, but you take advantage of weaknesses and aim for certain parts of the body during quick time events, making this game feel a bit like an RPG. This game even takes a note out of Legend of Zelda's book by giving Kratos a lock-on feature, making the location of your enemy and subsequent hits more precise.
Adding on to the gameplay are brief quests to distract you from the main story, giving God of War (2018) a more open world feeling as well. My favorite side quests are the Valkyrie side quests where you go toe-to-toe with a Valkyrie in an attempt to free them from a curse. These fights are really challenging, yet fun enough where I want to keep trying every time I loose, resulting in a feeling of utter satisfaction when I finally win.
Finally, the graphics are among the best on the PS4. The forests and mountains of Midgard, the fiery hellscape of Muspelheim, the foggy and desolate Niflheim, the haunting nature of Helheim, and others come to life thanks to the graphical presentation of the console.
So, for giving God of War (2018) likable characters (Especially when it comes to Kratos), engaging gameplay, and beautiful presentation, this is definitely a step in the right direction for the series, and I can't wait to see what Santa Monica Games does with the franchise from here.
