God of War

God of War is not a series I would have thought absolutely needed to be rebooted, let alone a series that needs to come back at all. God of War was a consistent series but not in the best ways, combat was repetitive, story was predictable and not at all interesting, but the set pieces were by far the best part of that series from game to game. Each area felt different and new, breaking up the monotony that is furiously pressing triangle and square to bash through enemies until you get to the next area. Years later and watching a YouTube livestream of E3, seeing Sony Santa Monica reveal a trailer with Kratos armed with an axe instead of his trusty Blades of Chaos and a young boy fighting enemies in a snowy setting that I was not familiar with.

This was the breath of fresh air this series needed.

God of War (2018) is a revitalization of what this series has been known for, while adding modern mechanics from the past five years that the series has been absent to give the player a sense of adventure, rather than the linear experience that we have had in past entries. While a completely new entry in the series, this one takes place in Norse Mythology rather than Kratos's homeland of Greek Mythology that we have become so accustomed to, adding with it new characters, locale, and enemies that most were not familiar with. Every change felt necessary, this was clearly a new God of War and Sony Santa Monica wanted everybody to know it

The story drops you off in the middle of Kratos and Atreus (the young boy) gathering firewood for their wife and mother who has died and her last wish was to have her ashes spread on the highest peak of the nine realms. The whole game revolves around this quest which reminds me of Breath of the Wild where your first quest is to simply, defeat Gannon, a quest that many will not see foreseeable until many hours into the game. God of War feels the same way. Even though there will be obstacles along the way and quests that will push you away from this objective, there is only one goal and Kratos is determined he will see it through. As you begin your quest, you will encounter a variety of personalities while traveling through you hub area, Midgard, and traveling through the Norse realms to complete your task; Characters such as Freya, the woman of the woods, and everybody's favorite friendly world serpent, Jörmungandr, as they aid you on your adventure. Many of the story beats act as a catalyst to learning new abilities and unlocking new areas as they intertwine perfectly to help navigate Kratos to his next destination instead of just tossing it away until you complete the main quest. This is what kept me pushing to do the main story, the need to know what will happen next. The overall story is fascinating, even if you have never played a God of War game before, everything from those games is subtly revealed while not banging it over your head for fans of the series. A nice little nod here and there is all you really needed, and it worked beautifully. This God of War has by far the most interesting story with certain emotions and dynamics working in its favor the way past Sony exclusives like The Last of Us has, movie-like and engaging. The twist and turns of the story kept me playing for hours with the drive to know how the journey will affect Kratos and Atreus' father and son relationship, while staying focused on the objective at hand.

The combat is fast, furious, and one of the most entertaining times I've had with hand to hand combat. The leviathan axe that Kratos wields is dynamic and serves to always keep the battles interesting and varied. The axe's strong and light attacks, along with the ability to throw and call back your axe, breaks the monotony combat that the previous installments kept me from having a great time with. It's different and with the help of the over the shoulder view, gives it that Dark Souls vibe when you encounter enemies. Strategizing is important in the new God of War as I learned early on, merely hitting enemies with the light attack won't make you last long during huge battles. Parrying with Kratos's shield, dodging, and rolling all play a critical factor in surviving these encounters, especially with boss fights and swarms of enemies that all attack at once.

The inclusion of special attacks that you can equip to your axe adds another layer to the already varied combat, giving you extra advantage against the onslaught of enemies. You can equip two special attacks (runes) to the leviathan axe, one for light attacks and one for heavy attacks. Each rune has stats whether you want a special attack with damage, frost, or stun or a combination of any of those three to cater a play style that is right for you. I constantly changed runes and upgraded them periodically throughout the game to get a sense of how each stat affects the draugr ( the common enemies in the game), there's not one perfect rune but there were a couple of sets that I kept equipped for a longer part of the game just because I've gotten so use to how good it feels.

The weapons are not the only equipment that can be upgraded and customized in God of War, you can also equip armor on to Kratos as well as Atreus to boast better stats and other abilities throughout the game from your chest all the way to your axe pommel. Most pieces of armor will also have enchantment slots that you can equip to boost certain stats or abilities even farther than just simply buying or upgrading equipment. The better equipment you have, the higher your stats level goes up and the more you'll be able to use experience points on the skill tree that require certain stats in order to gain that ability. Kratos's overall level doesn't really have any effect other than being a guide that shows you that you are upgrading and purchasing better equipment.

While the world is only semi-open it's still full of life and plenty of places to explore during the main quest and even post game. Midgard is a pretty big place but its more split into quadrants that the main quest will take you through than some expanse of land like Fallout, there are some caves and islands that have side quests along with chests and other collectibles that you'll only get if you take the time to explore these little piece of lands. Exploring by boat is also part of the fun as you engage conversations with Atreus and Mimir (a talking head you collect about 10 hours into the game) that will discuss the Norse gods and certain lore that will be added to your journal so you can read it at any point. The voice acting is above superb and definitely makes God of War even more cinematic and keeping me engaged with not only the story, but with the characters in it.

The new God of War was not a game that I would think to have enjoyed, let alone be one of my favorite games so far this year. The redesigned combat that has plagued the series for years, kept me interested and strategizing almost every moment in every fight. The environments and locale have never been more beautiful, everywhere I turn, I was in awe of the water and forestry among all of the environments that surrounded Kratos. God of War was one of the first games that tempted me to get a PS4 Pro just to see how much more beautiful the environments would be in 4k resolution, but none the less it's still a beautiful game whether you have a standard or a Pro. The dynamic of Kratos and Atreus's relationship while sometimes on the nose, felt realistic and unearthed my own feelings of fatherhood whenever that will occur. Will I be distance and unwilling to participate in my own children's life, like my own father? Or a teacher, a mentor, somebody who wants to be involved? or a hybrid of both like Kratos and risk having the frustration that Atreus feels cause his father doesn't reciprocate his feelings the same way he does. With sequels already planned and many of its mechanics and story beats being considered spoilers, I will just leave that God of War is considered one of the best reboots in recent memory, up there with Wolfenstein, for the way it hooks you back in with complex characters and a combat system that makes swarms of enemies look like a party cause I'm enjoying the fighting just that much. I have gladly sunk forty or so hours already into God of War and I would gladly spend forty more hours, just to extend the play-ability and complete everything.

God of War is just that damn awesome and I would gladly recommend it to anybody who loves action and adventure. This game is very much a system seller and I don't say that lightly.