The first few hours of Sony Santa Monica’s newest God of War sport had me anxious. I really like the originals, and performed by the trilogy within the fortnight main as much as the discharge of this new installment to verify I wasn’t viewing these video games by rose-tinted glasses. Certainly, within the case of the sequels, I wasn’t. They’re nonetheless fantastic, the fight controls nonetheless present thrilling, responsive motion, and the spectacle – the boss fights, the unbelievable set items, and gorgeous vistas – all maintain up towards trendy video games.
I used to be anxious as a result of Kratos himself – a much less lean, extra burly, bearded viking to suit the brand new Nordic setting – gave the impression to be the one factor tying the video games collectively. It reeked of typical Sony triple-A sport – a post-The Last of Us hall plagued by cinematic sequences. A really fairly hall, certain, however maybe with no character of its personal.
Fast ahead twenty-odd hours, and I’m sat right here pondering this new God of War may truly be a masterpiece – an distinctive entry within the sequence and a standout sport of the technology. It can also be a sport that reframes your complete sequence.
It’s no secret that the unique trilogy is peppered with problematic moments. Big Krates shagged and murdered his manner by Greece for little greater than the titillation of the sixteen 12 months previous enjoying the factor. Thematically, nonetheless, there was extra to Kratos than QTE violence and urgent X to bone. The character was designed as a cipher for pure, blind rage. Anger, made flesh. Every side of him, from his weapons to his angular, pointed look and even the way in which fight works is designed to make you’re feeling like an out-of-control power of nature, pushed by a single-minded aim. The Blades of Chaos – fiery swords connected to chains burned into Kratos’s pores and skin – had been indiscriminate: a blazing whirlwind of dying.
No matter the fee, Kratos needed revenge. And price it did, in additional methods than simply the character’s story arc – the violence and semi-pornographic QTEs led to the God of War video games getting a foul fame for being merchandise ‘of their time’, tarnishing their legacy because the stable motion video games they had been. A tender reboot was wanted.
When most video games try a sequence reboot like the brand new God of War, they pay somewhat lip service to the unique video games to maintain the nerds completely happy after which transfer on. The builders are nicely conscious {that a} good share of individuals (as a result of consistently increasing nature of the online game business) are experiencing their sequence for the primary time and couldn’t give a shit about what precisely Kratos bought as much as in Rhodes again in 2007.
I wouldn’t blame Sony Santa Monica if it needed to maneuver previous a few of the violence and misogyny, given the present local weather, however as an alternative Cory Barlog and his workforce had different concepts. They embraced Kratos’s historical past – a historical past they wrote – and used it as a base to maneuver the character, and sequence, ahead.
Kratos finds himself having to take accountability for his actions right here. Not just for his previous, which he hides from his son, Atreus, but in addition for Atreus himself – his future. He’s conscious of the price of his violence, is aware of he’ll by no means really be free from it, however doesn’t need his son to inherit his legacy. He is aware of he must get his shit collectively, mainly, and he’s been avoiding confronting the reality by consistently fucking off out on looking journeys, till the dying of his spouse forces motion.
Unfortunately, getting his shit collectively might imply a scrap with the Norse pantheon, so you may see why he’s not precisely forthcoming. He’s seen what can occur, even when he wins. This manifests itself in Kratos’s character with him being stoic and standoffish along with his son, telling him often to maintain his feelings in examine, although they’re each grieving. A notable level is when he tells Atreus, after taking his first life, to “close his heart off to it”.
This isn’t simply indicated by the narrative, nonetheless. Anyone can watch a cutscene and be spoon-fed what to really feel. God of War makes use of comparable mechanical methods to the Blades of Chaos and the way in which they emphasised Kratos’s rage to carry you nearer to the scenario. Hell (Hel?), is it a coincidence that as an alternative of these fiery blades, the baldy butcher now makes use of an ice axe – or is it a logo of him cooling off within the years after punching his dad to dying?
Atreus is supplied with a bow and arrow that you could hearth off throughout fight, damaging and gorgeous enemies, permitting you to squeeze in some assaults of your personal and even interrupt them from a giant, telegraphed assault. Your nimble son will mechanically hearth on occasion and ultimately even rush enemies and dive on them, doing harm and taking them out of the fray quickly – all abilities you may improve by the extra detailed RPG-esque system this new God of War has.
Encounter problem quickly ramps up and you could enhance the facility and talents of father and son to face them. It all comes collectively completely, to the purpose the place you end up counting on Atreus. He turns into a key a part of each encounter, and the primary time you hit sq. to have him hearth an arrow that saves your otherwise-absolutely-dead arse from an boss enemy, you’re feeling extra connected to him there than throughout any cutscene. He is ineffective initially, hiding through the very first scrap, however he turns into the explanation you didn’t need to restart that tough encounter.
Kratos doesn’t discuss his feelings a lot (one other poisonous masculinity touchpoint the sport makes use of and builds upon), and he needs to maintain his historical past secret from Atreus, however by fight and journey he turns into nearer along with his boy. Boy! And so do you. His capacity to learn runes and open some shortcuts are one factor, however he’s integral to your moveset, an extension of Kratos himself.
It’s one thing I’ve all the time appreciated in video games. It’s high quality in one thing like Firewatch or Gone Home – video games which might be solely narrative – however I discover myself changing into much more concerned in what a sport is attempting to say when the builders weave the mechanics into the message, somewhat than some one-note cutscene telling me how I ought to really feel.
Games akin to Papers, Please, Far Cry 2 and – imagine it or not – Donkey Kong’s Jungle Beat all use their mechanics to carry up the story and themes, from the monotony of labor to what it’d be prefer to cave somebody’s head in as an ape. I’ll take that over the on-rails, albeit emotional intro to The Last of Us.
I gained’t lie, I didn’t suppose Sony Santa Monica would have the ability to sq. away Kratos’s historical past. I believed the writers would bottle it, hoping that individuals would conveniently overlook. Instead, they’ve embraced it – warts and all – to create a plausible character with actual flaws.
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