The Reinvention of God of War - 5 Years Later (Retrospective)

um [Music] 2018's God of War is four years old well it's almost five when writing this with slap bang in the middle here I'll probably call this video four years later then change it to five years later when that comes around because it'll help the video in the algorithm and it's not really fast just allow it God of War rocked the games industry in 2018 in every way imaginable a large majority of course adored God of War however a lot of people also didn't felt it was pretentious that it strayed too far from its roots and that's definitely something I know all too well it's also a topic I want to touch on in this video because although yes God of War 2018 strayed it strayed in the best way you can stray other than you know and with my tendency to cover every possible base in my videos as to never be able to make another video on the same game twice I'd say making the third God of War video forget it I think it's best we start at the beginning because although God of War 2018 was this revolutionary game-changing Beast to the video game it would be nothing without God of War 2005. and the God of War released in 2005 after a three-ish-year development cycle at Sony Santa Monica to critical Acclaim praise across the board a very quickly Kratos became the poster boy for PlayStation as a brand oh wow that just popped right off with the landscape of gaming rapidly changing at that period of time after the loss of Sega in the console space solely success with PlayStation and Microsoft getting involved with Xbox gaining a new mascot for PlayStation to rival Master Chief was important and Kratos filled that spot a lot of people especially after 2018 right off the original god of war and its sequels but my God that's such a mistake these games are brilliant and in my opinion experiencing them only enhances God of War 2018 because of how the story uses the history of the brand in a beautiful way God of War was hack and slash people can sometimes see that as mindless empty maybe even easy but that's not true especially of God of War the combats in these original games is crafted in such a way that the game consistently provides new challenges across the entire runtime but also new opportunities as well be it in the form of abilities or weapons that enhance Kratos and create variation in playstyle to always keep things fresh couple this with the insane amount of combos you can learn and perform the Stellar boss fights enemy variety and the raising of stakes across the trilogy you end up with a series of games that capture exactly the intent of the developer's vision and the attention of the audience alongside this thoughtful intense and often grotesque combat system was a story that deeply gave a [ __ ] about Kratos and the Mythos it was exploring as well as acknowledging the player has a brain and is able to join the dots and remember key elements without the need to force feed Exposition constantly it told a story that was worth investing yourself in Kratos was more than just a simple mascot he was a character that we felt something for his journey was our journey and each game continued to add depth to that while not losing sight of the intent behind the narrative too it was cohesive it was wonderful and these games deserve every bit as much praise as 2018 in my opinion God of War continued to push itself in a way that continued to Garner critical Acclaim and love God of War's original trilogy is possibly Sony's best franchise in terms of its consistent quality and depth but also fan reception and love but in ending one story that opens the door for another how do you take God of War retain God of War but also change God of War God of War had to change and that's not because it got stale it's not because the old formula is bad or outdated or any of that usual nonsense it's because to retain a sense of creativity from a development team that cares this much about the brand you need to reinvigorate that with something else give them room to stretch their legs there are franchises that over the years have changed themselves beyond recognition and I've been someone suggesting that those changes are bad look at my recent video on Saints Row it's a whole video about how change ruined the brand that I loved but that's not a simple sweeping statement I'm not saying change in all cases is bad or change in all cases is good in this video and then being hypocritical it's so much more nuanced where brand identity is concerned and more so than ever with video games because of the interactive element let's look at Assassin's Creed oh why did it change well Unity flopped Ubisoft panicked they needed to switch things up they copied a very popular game The Witcher 3 without understanding why that game worked they disregarded core gameplay and storytelling pillars like social stealth complex parkour and meaningful philosophy and from 2017 to 2022 twisted their franchise into something completely different now had Assassin's Creed become stale yes it sucked for a long time was the original formula itself bad no Ubisoft just made terrible games with it change was needed but not the change we got it was a change to mimic popularity not a change to serve the brand they were working on in the best way possible and so that's my best attempt to articulate the difference here because yes God of War changed itself but it didn't do what Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed did or what Saints Row did it changed in a way that retains all the core gameplay and storytelling pillars that made God of War 2005-2010 what it was which is how now Santa Monica took God of War changed God of War yet retained God of War and if you're one of the God of War 2018 detractors and you're not yet on board with me maybe over the course of the video I can convince you they nailed it or I won't I don't know stick around foreign [Music] God of War is such Artistry not just visually but in how it navigates narrative and identity God of War 2 and 3 began with Recaps of the previous games story was Central and they wanted you clued in for the story to come 2018 flips that but in a way that doesn't dismiss the past we open on a different Kratos we don't learn how he got there we aren't told why the game just establishes this is the status quo but upon chopping down a tree with his new weapon the Leviathan acts he reaches down to lift it and when he does foreign Kratos wavers his past is so important it's the first thing we learn about him about the character even before the introduction of atreus moments later the first thing we learn about God of War 2018 is that this is not a total reboot but a sequel and walks a fine line between the two so much so that you can be brand new to God of War or you can be a veteran and the game experience will differ yet retain great emotional power Kratos turns away as atreus comes into shots introducing our second protagonist which is how the game manages to be for two different audiences at once if you know kratos's history great you'll get a different level of added depth to huge parts of this game but if you don't know Kratos yet you're learning who he is almost Through The Eyes Of atreus Because atreus Is Yet To Learn who his father is the audience can be yet to learn and this breeds an interesting dichotomy for the story to come but this opening does another thing to as well as reinforcing the importance of history in the past it also pushes the door open in another direction as well this style and tone differs from what came before although it tells you the past is important it also tells you they will be doing something different as well which is where people can feel the game betrayed their love of God of War it leaned too heavily into being artsy the opening is after all a slow walk through the woods carrying a log to a cabin deeper in the forest and well there was never anything like this in the original games no down time no room for deep calm but that was for good reason I don't see either version as Superior the difference is Stark but so is the contrast in character Kratos in the original trilogy was angry he was fueled by rage and a Lust For Revenge because of what had happened to him his deal with Ares the loss of his family the trauma he experienced because of his dealings with the Greek pantheon there was never room for introspection no room for calm but there was always room for depth depth is what we are now allowed to explore deeper at this point in kratos's life a depth that was always there we always saw it if you were a fan of the original God of War Games odds are you scoffed it anytime someone described Kratos as simply being one note a murdering badass or whatever because you know he's so much more God of War 2018 finally allows time to explore that Kratos beat the Greek gods he won his fight ended and in that so did his anger the tone and pace of the older games frames The Narrative as it does here a walk through the woods as Kratos the god of war is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire game because it's directly just opposed with the ending of God of War 3. the game doesn't tell us what happened in between it simply implies and once implied it begins to build a sense of character and tone through camera work through music through performance and through game design a walk through the woods is the perfect start to the journey of this game after taking the time to establish these two characters through body language their distance from one another in the frame and very minimal dialogue the two set out after The Cremation of atreus's mother kratos's wife did they get married do people get get married in God of War I guess so right in Googling this though I stumbled upon the wiki under aliases it's got like mother Faye The Last Guardian of the yotna and then just whole lie you push out from their home in the woods and make your way through a dense forest to test atreus's ability to hunt the environment is dense and the atmosphere is brimming with energy this is a masterfully designed Video Game World and this is only the most basic area of the game pushing onwards of the game begins to establish its core gameplay the first of which being World navigation replaying this really highlights the design choices behind a lot of the gameplay it starts very basic follow a different path to find a chest behind some trees you can throw your ax to break down barricades blocking your path but works gently to reinforce the idea of exploring and thinking outside the box so that later you start to work carefully outside of your comfort zone the introduction of puzzles and roadblocks gives you calls to start using your brain using your abilities in conjunction with the environment to progress the second thing it does is to establish its combat and the combat you find at the very start is hugely different to how you'll be playing when you reach the end game it's truly marvelous the way they Pace the power creep and unlocking of tool abilities the combat begins as heavy attacks and light attacks along with your shield for blocking and parrying stringing moves together to keep the enemy staggered so that you can do the most damage along with building their stun meter to use brutal finishing moves and ultimately defeat them as well of course the ax throws which have a heavy and light variant for different situations and recalling the ACT is so incredibly satisfying I just throw around the ax all the time when I'm waiting for things I throw I just throw that I'm not the only one right it's a simple system but one that is built on over the course of the game until the credits roll adding depth in a plethora of ways core to the original God of War experience was this idea of building continuously building never stopping until the game ended and 2018's God of War takes this to a level that is unparalleled in a lot of video games it's terrifically integrated and endlessly fun but just like God of War I don't want to talk about it all at once we'll come back to combat and exploration throughout the video as more is added by the game I'll add more to the script which hopefully will work to illustrate and poetically mirror how God of War handles this concept of building upon itself wait for my mark relax do not think of it as an animal it is simply a Target clear your mind [Music] I got it good it's still alive finish what you started I can't foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you for us the first boss encounter is this large troll this boss was used a lot in the promotional material for the game and is a really fun first fight it forces you to use all of the skills you've learned thus far it's got a sense of scale to it it's formidable and well structured the problem is how often they use this fight across the game there are 10 of these fights in total and they make up a majority of the boss encounters which is bad they're not all the exact same fight their moves change they're sometimes imbued with varying elements like Fire and Ice and they do well to vary them but given these are 85 of the main story boss fights that's not an exact percentage just an estimate it's probably one of the weakest parts of the whole game it becomes very noticeable on a replay and coming out of the original trilogy that has so many varied and unique bosses it's kind of rough that's not to say this game doesn't have some incredibly memorable bosses it sure does but not as many as we've seen in the past and these repeated trolls just don't cut it every time I saw another one I was like oh fancy seeing you here Corey barlog has said they weren't intended to be bosses the reason the health bar is at the bottom is because they're too big to fit above and so they're technically just normal fights but like you gave them a name they're the only fights that drop items that upgrade your main weapons they act as these gates to level up at poignant moments between major story beats they act as bosses so I don't know if I by that excuse It's not a huge issue though either way I'm not about to say the whole game is ruined because of this but you'll start to notice as the video goes on I'm gonna Point them all out because I like to be annoying that said this first troll fight does integrate nicely and works as quite a good establishing moment for atreus after just coming out of his first kill finishing off the deer after great reluctance it's understandable he feels a bit torn up inside atreus is a very very compassionate person something Kratos can't understand which is one of the core traits that drives a wedge between them to begin with but is also the one thing that begins to draw them together in the end in this moment we see atreus's emotional confusion erupt boy [Applause] boy Kratos sees in atreus and anger and rage that he once held when he still holds deep down that he feels ashamed of and believes could continue the cycle of death and betrayal that began with Chronos and his father threw to Zeus Kratos and finally atreus Kratos is simply scared and he expresses that the only way he knows how are not ready what are you serious I found the deer proved myself how am I not ready we are going home [Music] I haven't been sick in a long time I can do this you are not ready foreign this disconnect he has from atreus there's confusion on how to be a father is genuinely sad as he sends atreus inside the house Kratos returns to the pie where Faye's body is finally turned to ashes Kratos collects the ash in a pouch and the look on his face says it all he feels alone he misses Faye and he doesn't know what to do without her he's uncertain maybe the first time we've been allowed to see that side of him but it's only ever when he's alone the way the camera isolates him with its continuous shot we're seeing aside to him that we were never allowed to see before and this sequence perfectly carries us into what comes next foreign this scene and so much of the game feels recontextualized on a replay knowing Boulder is looking for Faye he has no clue who Kratos is there's a fundamental misunderstanding in this conversation but one that a first-time player wouldn't see it's written so well to mask the true meaning that it gives added depth when you run through a second time also can we just talk about Jeremy Davey's performance as Boulder it's absolutely Stellar like totally a standout of the game every scene he's in he just commands your attention in the best way and his introduction here is absolutely no exception beautiful just beautiful you would not listen no no no no no no no fine might [Music] how incredibly disappointing this sequence while not being the absolute most mechanically complex is a Showcase of just wonderful cinematic game design it allows you to play what feels like a choreographed fight sequence from the destruction of the trees to the changing of Arenas to the animation work it's tremendous and it's our first taste of Kratos doing what Kratos does best fighting Gods like I said this isn't an incredibly mechanically complex fight but what it does do is make you feel in control of the events as they play out you never feel like you're just watching it keeps it tense and keeps you thinking and acts as a display of what they can do with their set pieces Kratos is strong but Boulder appears to be stronger Kratos hasn't fought a foe like this and that's when they use gameplay narrative and character history to open another piece of gameplay you won't talk I'm fine maybe whoever it is you've got stashed in that house will spot and rage a key component of who Kratos is as a God allows for another level of gameplay I adore that they hold off on this until it's needed in the story until this point it's been clear Kratos is holding back hiding his true nature until Boulder threatens atreus and he snaps tapping into his Greek godhood and using it to unleash everything on this stranger and on top of that it shows his care for atreyus he does love his son he just struggles with showing it struggles with connecting and of course for good reason given his own past the fight rages on and as it does Boulder delivers one of the best lines I feel in the whole game I want you to know one thing I can't feel any of this the realization that you've been wailing on this guy for the past however long and he's not felt a single thing you've done he is completely unscathed is terrifying there's something so chilling about that especially on a first time run when you don't even know who this guy is I think it does a great job to get you interested in the Norse mythology too it doesn't over explain itself or beat you over the head with any of it it just integrates the mythology naturally into the fictional plot they're telling I say fictional like Norse mythology isn't also fictional you know what I mean of course if you do look into Norse mythology you'd likely be more confused than not by Boulder in this scene but that's just another part of the wonderful Genius of God of War storytelling with the fight concluded Boulder defeated for now Kratos returns to atreus with a sense of urgency the two set out on a journey Faye wanted them to take to the highest peak in all of the nine Realms to scatter her ashes as they gather their things the camera pans to the hole that atreus was hiding in it lingers for a moment on a blanket that holds the blades of chaos yet another little thing that a first-time player couldn't possibly have noticed but something that adds depth on a second playthrough Kratos briefly considers them but he's not ready he feels shame for them and for his past he sees the only way to survive is to move forward and to dismiss the past and this small moment Works to characterize that in him but it's a moment of characterization that only really hits you on a second run through and what it shows to me is that they deeply understand their character not everything that's happening on screen is something the player is supposed to pick up on it's just something that the character does because that's who they are Kratos considering the blades of chaos isn't something a first-time player is supposed to even notice because they couldn't know that the blades were there but it happens because it makes sense that Kratos would do that and on a second run through it's something you might notice it's just brilliant writing moving out from the house the game really begins to expand all the elements previously mentioned before become deeper and larger in scale more winding optional Parts hidden areas to explore puzzles that require more thought from the player and additional use of atreus and the ax to solve along with the movement from Kratos to correctly position yourself the skill tree begins to open up allowing for you to upgrade particular elements of gameplay to suit your playstyle such as allowing for better flow in combat by enabling attacks from a Sprint more options for weaving in your Shield moves to knock enemies off balance and increasing the power of atreus's bow which you can use to stun enemies at a short notice the more you level your ax the more the skill tree will open up to you and your act is upgraded through the blacksmith's Brock and syndry two dwarves from Norse mythology who crafted weapons such as Thor's mjolnir and also happened to be the pair that crafted the Leviathan ax itself originally for Fey but now held by Craig Kratos over the course of the game you'll encounter the two Smiths at separate points and they'll imbue your acts with upgrades to increase magic and strength you can also upgrade it yourself further by using Frozen Flames gathered from large boss enemies mainly trolls which by the way there's another one upgrading it increases the level and changes the look adding gold accents to the blade and handle these upgrades are what allow you to access further down the skill tree it's all gated by main story progression and curated by well-paced placement of Frozen Flames all of these elements together are what make the power creep of Kratos in this game so satisfying the game is perfectly crafted to make it feel natural while never feeling totally railroaded your level is determined by your gear and the better your armor the stronger you're going to be these things can be upgraded no matter your point in the story major skill upgrades gained from weapon levels are gated by the story so there's this sense of push and pull where you have free reins and level Kratos within certain story boundaries pushing past that story boundary allows for more freedom and so on it's a system that feels balanced in a way that not many games can truly achieve honestly I'd wager it's the best I've played and I think it's one of the core elements that makes God of War such a strong experience I mentioned Brock and syndrome before and those are two core characters we meet the relationship is a broken one they can't get along they stopped working together and they never seem to have anything nice to say about the other family is a Core theme of God of War and using these two as a parallel or potential projection of how family can end up is an interesting narrative tool they work to almost give Kratos and atreus a window into a future for the two of them but Brock and syndrie aren't the only two characters it will be really weird if they were the only two characters in the whole game we also meet others who again mirror Kratos and atreus the strongest of course being freyja and her relationship to Boulder her son a thread that we'll touch upon later on but for now the introduction of Freya acts as a way to prompt kratos's introspection about the truth he's been keeping from atreus his godhood he doesn't know does he about your true nature or his own Freya is a mother she understands how difficult a relationship with your child can be and the way she speaks with the trius is endearing there's a Warmness to her a kindness and it's the first real kindness we experience in this game her area of the woods is luscious and colorful and I love her Turtle so much that thing is absolutely the best character the characters in God of War all serve a purpose they all work in tandem with Kratos and atreus's Ark while having an ark wall of their own it's masterfully written and something I admire about the game it knows its themes it's confident in its narrative and it explores that to the greatest extent it can using its full cast and the mythology that it set itself within and to talk of exploring leaving freya's house opens up a new world of possibilities and something that changes the structuring of the game entirely after hopping into a boat and riding through some caves the duo come out into a large lake with a thick fog hanging in the air this is the Lake of the nine we get treated to the scene of the world serpent jormunganda rising from the water and spitting out kratos's ax which have been cast into the lake after which the water is sunk and more of the lake becomes visible the Lake of the Nile should I say Lake of the eight currently [Laughter] it waited pretty much within the center of midgard and in Norse mythology midgard is like the realm of men but in God of War I'd assume the realm of men also includes like Greece right so is the Lake of the nine the center of the Earth or just the center of the north bit like are we even in Norway because Kratos comes from Sparta like it's real and stuff and there's people and then the gods just are sort of separate in Olympus but it feels like the rules of the 2018 game are different because Mig guard itself feels soaked in myth and Legend doubly so the planet must function completely differently to our own I found this interesting Forum post while I was researching from a majestic ferret four years ago bear in mind this is his interpretation of something Corey barlocks sort of alluded to in the interview he says basically gods in the God of War verse are not planetary governing beings the Greek slash Roman gods ruled over their respective lands while gods of other lands rule over their respective lands so in the God of War verse there are multiple afterlifes that you go to depending on where you're from and what God's whole dominion over your land multiple gods of the sea with I presume select see God's ruling over parts of the ocean closest to themselves Etc basically all Kratos did to get to Scandinavia is that he left Greece and traveled across Europe until he came into lands ruled by the Norse gods midgard and the land where Kratos came from are from the same planet we never actually see the scope of Destruction in God of War 3 outside of the immediate vicinity of Athens and around Mount Olympus and most mythologies aren't told from a perspective of the World At Large but only the limited geographical scope of the people who wrote the myths this means all Kratos would have had to do to encounter the Egyptian gods is travel to Egypt and to encounter the Shinto Gods he would simply need to travel to Japan this makes things a bit more underwhelming but killing the Greek pantheon didn't throw the entire planet into an apocalypse only the land of Greece the lands governed by other gods weren't thrown into chaos as they have their own afterlife sun god sea god Etc now this is an interesting point of view but it does also raise another question one raised by an answer car a bit further down in the thread who states it makes practical sense but mythologically it doesn't like in Greece Apollo's Chariot is pulling the sun across the sky but at the same time a giant Norse wolf is chasing it trying to eat it to start Ragnarok if what the director says is true there would have to be overlap points and we have seen none and true we have seen none although I'm not really sure how we would see an overlap it feels like something that would be difficult to actually observe maybe in this weird world the different lands have different Suns and moons and tides and things I can't really find anything concrete about this online and I've just totally confused myself to be honest if you have any theories let me know in the comments because this is a really weird one for me to wrap my head around back to the lake though this acts as a central hub for you to sort of spring out from and go exploring surrounding the lake of various Shores on which you'll find puzzles fights hidden Pathways all of which lead to different areas for you to engage with the Great thing about this is not just going from place to place and Ticking it off it's the idea of actually exploring and absorbing your surroundings you might come across a type of thorns that you can't get rid of and you'll make a mental note to come back later or a door that you can't yet access and again you'll make a mental note doing this allows you to become pretty well versed with the areas you can visit and it makes navigation really fun because you start to become incredibly familiar with everything around you upon gaining new abilities you can return to places previously locked away and progressed to solve a puzzle that before you couldn't or gather some rare loot that was just out of reach it makes the act of exploring more than just a checklist and allows the recontextualization of specific areas the more you unlock as Kratos and I just think that's really fun but that's not all there is more depth to it but at this point in the game that's yet to be seen because it doesn't throw everything at you from the get-go like everything else in this game it takes its time giving you bits and pieces as you progress at the center of the lake is tears Temple housing the realm travel room a masterful bit of game design what I love about this is the unexpectedness of How It's introduced I didn't watch a great deal of God of War coverage or interviews I knew it was probably going to be good so I just sat back and waited for release when I got up to that point in the mountain where you can't progress and Freya comes to help it really came out of their field I genuinely thought the whole game was about reaching the top of that mountain I thought it was just that simple which in hindsight is kind of dumb but entering to his Temple blew me away and honestly it still does because I remember that initial feeling realizing this game is so much bigger than I had anticipated locking in the bifrost and traveling to a tote of the new realm was just Stella is so Stellar the moment you leave the realm travel room and have moved into a completely new location with a different atmosphere lore new inhabitants and enemies is the closest video game experience to an episode of Doctor Who tier's Temple is your Tardis and the leviathanax is your Sonic Screwdriver I love it goal in alphaim is to gather the pure light of our time to be able to get past the black breath to continue our journey up the mountain alfheim is mostly linear with a few little areas to explore as most of the game allows for it's not a huge winding space like the Lake of the nine but there are a few Shores and things to find as well as areas yet to be accessed until later with abilities unlocked and items gained which makes alfheim valuable too although you only come here once for story reasons there are plenty of reasons to return and upon doing so you learn more about the realm and what's happened since your last visit it's pretty cool how they do that it feels like every realm has its own thing going on even when you're not there which makes the world you're moving through feel all the more alive this area like I said introduces a new enemy type for a start the dark elves these guys mainly fly around being [ __ ] pests and do actually force you to alter how you fight a lot more often you're going to be parrying and blocking as well as dodging to maneuver around your foes with drauga you can mostly just go mental at them and take them down Dark Elves are a little more tricky and I do enjoy that aspect of them although because my hand eye coordination is troubled these days they [ __ ] piss me off to a great day all the little buggers this area also adds new puzzles like these weird fleshy root things that you have to hit all at the same time by getting your ax thrown in just the right position oh that hits the spot oh yes this realm is gorgeously designed it has some really fun boss fights I love the dark elf boy whose name is um swathfur [Music] I think oh and also we fight our first ancient here I think there's six of them in total this one is Stone they're all essentially the same fight really they're just like as predictable as the trolls they just keep copy and pasting them across the game it's not like egregious or anything but in a game that is otherwise incredibly varied and interesting I could have maybe done without these guys being the same you know varied a little maybe and it's not even really about the fact that they're not varied enemy types it's more that they're not so mechanically complex because you fight nine Valkyries in the game and people love those I love those and they all look very similar the thing is they're all mechanical complex in different ways but we'll talk a bit more about the Valkyries later on the most important narrative beat however of alphaim is when Kratos steps into the light of alfheim itself because it's the first time we're sort of allowed into his psyche also I I stopped recording to go grab a drink before this bit and then I I forgot to click record again so I've lost that bit so you're gonna have to watch this footage that I ripped from YouTube that probably looks a bit worse than the rest of the footage so sorry about that link in the description to the person whose footage I've swollen first off we see the pouch of Ashes fly away from Kratos as the melody that has so far been tied to the loss of fey plays in the background seemingly hummed by Faye herself gently the pouch guides Kratos through the woods near their home as we hear the voiceover from atreus you have to come back you left me here alone waitress along with him he always leaves he's never here he doesn't want me he never will it's not clear if this is really something atreyus ever said at this point or whether it's paranoia and anxiety from Kratos manifesting as it's not explicitly stated right now although the later dialogue does suggest it's something atreus actually said he goes on to say how Kratos doesn't try he doesn't understand him he deeply misses his mother and it's quite heart-wrenching to hear these words atreus feels alone and he doesn't know his path forward there's again a sense of uncertainty an uncertainty that is all too relatable for Kratos this is a moment that allows a subtle and subconscious emotional connection to form between the two without the need for them sitting down and speaking openly to each other in a totally out of character sequence we don't really know exactly how the light of Alpine works but we do know that time flows differently within the light as Kratos walks along the bridge to the peaks of jotenheim somewhere we don't even know is going to be our destination at this stage atreus pulls him out wait come back no no what have you done why did you do that you wouldn't come out so I pulled You Out Boy I was gone only moments no You've Been Gone [Music] what to do you love me here again why don't you care that's impossible we get to see atreus cough again here something that's been present at other points in the story thus far an indication of his godhood being suppressed a truth yet to be learned with the light now being ours atreus can act as special Arrows imbued with the light of alfheim they can be used to restore the light to crystals and create Bridges mainly in Alpine but they also appear in midgard too meaning new areas are accessible that were not previously as well as new law tablets that could be activated by the way of light arrows cluing you in on all the law of this interpretation of Norse mythology leaving alfheim you can now return to the point in the mountain that we were blocked at in doing so the light allows you to dispel the black breath and continue up in the insides of the mountain through plenty of old mine shafts created by the dwarves into a large Cavern which is the Way to the Top issue here is atreus breaks the thing I know I think the Rope stuck under that rock and so it's up to us to solve the puzzle fix the machine and Ferry ourselves to the top oh yeah and there's another troll fight here that makes three so far I hope you're counting actually doesn't matter I'm counting but this is only the precursor to an incredible fight to come heading up the elevator and fighting off enemies leads us to the lair of a dragon this fight is epic in scale and feels just like a classic God of War Boss the beginning is simple when there's an opening attack the claws of the Dragon planted into the wood of the elevator while making sure to avoid any attacks he throws you away something that I didn't uh do once enough damage is dealt you'll find yourself hurtling through a cinematic sequence in which the two find themselves Safe With the Dragon nowhere to be seen moving onwards through the tunnels the game begins to teach you about shatter crystals across the game we've seen various Pathways and chests covered in what we now learn is red world tree sap this can only be destroyed by combining a shatter Crystal with electric energy because the dragon uses electric magic the cavern is bruining with it but this teaches an important lesson you can use the crystals in conjunction with electric magic to destroy world tree sap another tool to navigate the world with coming out of this cave we find sinjri pinned down by the dragon and this is the first instance in which Kratos and atreus actively work together for the first time after the vision in the light of alfheim Kratos chooses now to believe in his son and allows him to play a part in their victory over the dragon the smile that atreus gives him shows him his gratitude as well as the fact that he says thank thank you thank you it's a nice moment that begins to build a bond between them only small so far but a bond nonetheless it's a foundation as Kratos though you dive onto the dragon attacking the Beast climbing inside its jaws and using your ax to deal damage from inside as much as you can before being thrown onto the battle arena to face the Beast for real I do enjoy this fight because while the mechanics are simple it allows you to start to use the tools you've just learned in that of the shatter crystals alongside the moves you're already familiar with you have to avoid the electrical attack to the dragon will cast and when he charges up a big one throw a shatter Crystal to deal damage once done you can begin wailing on him with the ax to deal more damage the boss begins to get more complex in his second phase after dealing enough damage it will switch sides this time combining ranged magical attacks with physical attacks ground pounds blockable by the shield with claw strikes you need to actively Dodge but these also provide a small opening to deal ax damage once again though using the shatter crystals when he's primed for an electrical attack to deal more damage stun him and getting close to attack with the ax it's not really a complex located fight by any means but it's not a fight that you can win with Brute Force either you have to think about what you're doing and that is a large part of all of the fighting God of War plus the scale of the fight against a goddamn dragon is just exciting in of itself once you've dealt enough damage Kratos says he has a plan to use a nearby Crane and for a trace to lower it once he gives the signal after more damage has been done the signal is given and Kratos begins using the crane in the most Kratos way possible to Lodge a large shatter crystal in the neck of the Dragon so that when it tries to fire its magic it'll be destroyed from the inside out and as it falls Kratos stands victorious in between its jaws such a terrific set piece fighting Boulder is one thing fighting trolls is another and another and another but fighting and killing a dragon is something else and although sparing across the game these set pieces are always great when they happen a strong combination of gameplay and cinematics to keep you on the edge of your seat during a live action sequence it's superbly directed this also leads us into another important story sequence atreus gaining the mistletoe arrows these were arrows that in the original Norse mythology killed Boulder freya's Son by the way of Loki being a mischievous little but of course in this altered Norse law Loki isn't around Boulder didn't die and so the events are of course different to suit this fictional story again Norse mythology is fictional it is interesting how they still tie mistletoe arrows back in though I do feel kinda on the fence in terms of how the solution to the boulder problem just slides into the lap by pure coincidence they literally wouldn't have been able to defeat Boulder unless this very specific set of coincidences happened gaining the mistletoe arrows from Century's magical bag atreus is strap breaking Kratos using those specific arrows to mend it Freya not noticing it atrey is standing up to Boulder and the arrow lodging itself in his hand I think I can shrug it off because one the whole game is so good and well written but more importantly two Norse mythology is all about about Destiny and fate and the world lines already being written out and stuff so I think it's reasonable that in this game there is an ounce of coincidence that is less coincidence and more fate the idea that no matter what changes Loki's still in a roundabout way kills Boulder using mistletoe arrows in another story I would call it contrived but I think in God of War it lends itself to this sort of writing technique but we're getting way ahead of ourselves atreus also gains electric arrows which is a huge help both in combat and in World exploration opening up new possibilities in both Avenues and then the pair push on progressing through the mountain there's a moment I wanted to highlight because it's so minor yet works as such a cheap tension building trick and I mean that in the best way around the game you find different types of loot one of these are these Stone coffins 99.9 of the time you open a coffin grab the loot and move on but this one time some [ __ ] jumps out and initiates combat now I'm not sure if there are multiple of these sprinkled across the game and that's the the best part you don't know you feel your muscles tense up every single time you open one of these coffins from this point on because that jump scare could be coming I never encountered another in my 30 hours with the game this was the only time but regardless of that I felt on edge every time I opened a chest it's a pretty powerful bit of design that is so simple yet Works flawlessly reaching the peak of the mountain Kratos fixes atreus's quiver strap with the mistletoe Arrow like we mentioned already and then they head onward treated to a gorgeous view of these snow peaked mountains something about this short walk along this Mountain Ridge could be my favorite view in the whole game it's not the most complex or visually interesting but there's something so special about it I think it works to illustrate a calm before the storm as this feels like the end of the journey although you soon learn that is of course not the case at all you've got company this time must be important to the sons of Thor they integrates me with their presence tell me you two still tripping over yourselves to impress Daddy tattooed man tracks show he now Travels With A Child where would they go next why would I know that you help me I help you tell me where they are and I'll talk to Odin your father won't let me go balder and he won't let you kill me you have nothing to offer me so take your questions take your threats take these two worthless wankers and piss off this introduces the third main character who joins the main Duo over the rest of the game mamir in Norse mythology he's a wise character who gives Council to Odin after being beheaded Odin just sort of has him around spouting knowledge at random intervals which is pretty much what happens here prior however mimir imparts important information this peak is not the peak they're looking for the peak they're looking for is in yotenheim the last Gateway being this one right here so that's the new quest to gather a couple of mcguffins that mamir knows the location of so that we can travel to jotenheim and spread Faye's ashes but mere also warns Kratos that keeping his true nature from atreus will only harm him in the long term something mentioned by Freya something we've seen manifest in his cough and something reinforced Here Again by mamir tension is building around the treas and his godhood it feels like only a matter of time before the pop bubbles over we take ramir to Freya she reanimates the head gets mad at the mistletoe arrows I wonder why there's one right there woman can you seriously not see that and then we head back out we get this moment with the world serpent Julius what is it nothing to be concerned about I wonder what that could mean it couldn't possibly be a plot thread to be later explored potentially in Ragnarok could it hmm point where the exploration really opens up and I like how they frame it wait look the water is dropped even further you can see more of the realm towers and statues I haven't seen new places to explore along the shore where is this chisel find me a boat and we'll go from there atreus is the one who wants to go off explore see new things help people he's pretty much the voice of the player in the situation Kratos however just wants to get better gear it's a soldier's efficiency but the way it contextualizes this exploration I think does wonders for that of Kratos and atreus's development together atreyus is able to teach Kratos the compassion and kindness are valuable too it's sometimes worth going out of your way to help another and there can be joy in seeing new things and having unique experiences even if it's not what you initially set out to do and this builds over the course of the game taking time to explore the Lake of the nine is sort of integral not only does it build story but it builds your gear set your abilities your level you want to become more powerful as you play and while you can become powerful enough just by playing through the main story there is a certain level of satisfaction you gain from bringing your boat onto a or exploring an area gaining HP increases through apples finding new gear getting rare items to sell or craft with learning important Lord tidbits from these panels and hearing added pieces of information both from stories atreus learned from Faye and stories topped by mamir while rowing the boat across the large lake and the smaller rivers of the world they do a superb job to really flesh out the Norse law and this particular interpretation of it you'd be forgiven for thinking this was all directly taken from Norse literature when in fact a lot of it is changed and altered sometimes in small ways and sometimes in larger ways but it never drops the ball and feels boring or shallow it feels well realized and works to add depth to kratos's journey across the game alongside puzzles and lore you've got locations such as the imprisoned dragons unique environments with fights and puzzles to overcome in order to release an imprisoned Dragon learning at the same time pieces of a grander story about their history Everything feels valuable in these locations in particular are incredibly well realized and designed with the growing world we also find a growing gameplay to be tested harder fights you'll discover through the realm tears dotted around the world defeating which granted special loot to be used at blacksmiths the addition of light and heavy runic attacks changed the way you view combat it feels more like using your basic moves to create openings in the defense of an enemy to then retaliate with a runic attack whether a light or heavy variation to deal the most damage some work as area of effect others like a single strike but combining them with your already present moveset allows for some incredible displays of Combos and a flow that is unmatched you feel like a God as you tear through drauga at the later stages of the game with some truly terrific runic attack the combat at this point I feel is complex enough to rival that of the original games and when you watch people who've truly mastered this system it's a joy to observe and wish that you could replicate and then fail miserably that said it's a wonderfully intuitive system that boasts mechanical depth and cinematic choreography in Tandem and let's not forget about the integration of atreus using his summons you unlock several across the game and they work as a way to quickly get you out of a tight spot distract and stun enemies or deal damage to a large crowd at once from charging Bulls to a murder of crows a pack of wolves and many more they offer different stats with particular pros and cons for each encounter all of these abilities and skills are of course upgraded within the skill tree at this stage a racks will be around level 4 meaning it's pretty powerful and the skill tree is almost entirely revealed there are so many different abilities on offer allowing for things that completely switch up your method of play abilities that allow for starts changes mid combo towards the way you follow up attacks for different kinds of damage output the holding down of either light or heavy moves for a variation on those attacks a heavy cleave being one of my personal favorite finishing moves on some of the weaker enemies and upgrades to Spartan rage allowing for a more versatile move set when using the rage mode to increase what you can do in fights I don't want to sit here and simply describe it all to you because that would become incredibly mundane but the variation in combat at this stage is already Night and Day from the start of the game and it only increases this is an end game not even close and it's pretty wild how they managed to retain their sense of progression and Discovery for many hours yet to come back on the hunt for our macguffins Kratos atreus mamir travel to the Mason's channel to reach the corpse of farmer a yotun who was killed by Thor during a war between the Giants and the Acer he fell upon his own chisel which lodged itself in his head his fall also froze and destroyed an entire Village who worshiped the vanity God Nord which Mamiya States is just a happy coincidence for Thor in time I fell crushed a Charming Place fiend for worshiping the bunny of God New York people are always took credit for planning that one because the sweaty ball bag just got lucky the group need damo's chisel an item that allows for the opening of several secret doors across the Realms but most importantly for their quest to go and Hunt to carve the room in the gate in this snowy region is also where we encounter the wolver enemies they're a type of werewolf but not one that was actually ever human at any point their Fierce quick to attack and to evade you at half Health they enter a berserk phase which increases their damage and makes them far more aggressive if you get lucky enough to land a finisher on these guys Kratos will grab its jaw force it open and rip it off exposing its inner organs which is pretty [ __ ] but also pretty sick this area is one of my favorites the scale of thamor and his hammer the icy cold surroundings that aren't like anything we've yet explored do a wonderful job of conveying the other worldliness of midgard in God of War and the composition of scenery and lighting is tremendous throughout this portion of the game the Chisel tip is beneath a thick layer of ice so thick Vermeer states that even Thor couldn't break through but of course Kratos is 4. on our way to the top of the hammer we encounter I think for the first time a traveler enemy it doesn't really matter if it's the first actual time or not this is the first time mentioning him I love fighting these guys I don't really know why but something about their look versus their interesting moves that makes these feel like mini bosses every time I honestly find them more fun to fight than the troll enemies that are supposed to be mini bosses or I guess Cory Brock said they're not but their moves will keep you on your toes with their combination of lights and heavy attacks as well as charged up Magic based ones too using all of your skills to best them is completely necessary as well as that they've got armor if you didn't notice that which has to be chipped away to do more damage to the man inside the armored suit and they really make the most of it backing towards you with their Shield to avoid damage defeating one of these boys always just feels rewarding and you get some nice loot to boot climbing and fighting your way to the top kratos's plan starts to take form pushing the hammer away from the top of the structure and then riding it down to crash through the ice a plan that sounds absolutely ludicrous but if we know anything about Kratos it's that he has a whole lot of luck on his side I guess he sort of is like Master Chief in that way but you had something they didn't something no one saw but me can you guess luck see I'm bringing it all back around remember when I said Kratos was PlayStation's ass that answered Master Chief I there you go all that's up now reaching the hammer Kratos calls over atreus and they both push ready dig in and push with everything yes sir to Oscar trius but there's something about the fact that he does that shows their bond is growing we know there's no reality where Kratos needs help here but he wants atreyus to help to grow his son's experience but also to make atreus feel wanted it's subtle and it's really nice pushing the hammer the two grab hold and what ensues is an intense battle to stay aboard to defy gravity's every attempt to shake the two off and send them crashing to an early grave although maybe not because they God so I don't know they can just sort of brush it off I don't think they take full damage do they Kratos grabs atreyas as they're sent hurtling through the air using his own body to Shield him as they land he then uses his strength to stop the hammer from falling any farther that's right you know that now all that's left is continue onto the Chisel tip to gain what they need oh [ __ ] not another one of you along the way to the Chisel tip we hear the voices of magni and Modi Troy Baker and Nolan North pair attempt to stay hidden in eavesdrop and just as they think they're home free these two are the sons of Thor demigods so not full-on Gods but like Acer nonetheless both of these guys are imbued with the same power as Thor electrokinesis at least that's what the wiki calls it I don't know if that's like the official name I wouldn't have used that particular word but that's what on using and they Channel it through their weapons being magnes massive chunky Final Fantasy sword and modi's mace this fight is oh [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] this fight is a really cool one sort of a taste of what a fight with Thor could feel like although much smaller scale I'd imagine these guys aren't the most complex as single Fighters but the fun in this battle comes from fighting both at once of course you have atreyas to balance it out a bit but you feel like you're more protecting him than anything else which I think is one of the elements that makes the fight tense you have to switch your attention from one to the other so Australia doesn't get completely done in but that's not to say he's totally useless he'll fight for himself and of course fire arrows on your command too at a certain Health level each opponent will become stunned and I think this is probably the part that drags the fight down a considerable bit because as soon as one is stunned and you switch your focus to the other you realize just how basic their individual moveset is as you're dealing with both it feels challenging intense but when it's just one it feels mundane and shallow you're dodging slow attacks parrying with plenty of warning there's no substance here when it's just a one-on-one fight the reason this happens is of course because there's a gated set piece between Health barriers and both opponents need to reach that barrier before it'll trigger but it doesn't help the fighter great tale this is a great time when they're both active but when they aren't it can become a bit of a drag when the Gated set piece is achieved magni will strike modi's Shield using his lightning magic to stun Kratos in atreus and shroud the arena in fog Kratos notreus regroup in the center of the arena and turn in a circle listening for the voices of the demigods hiding behind the fog this is a fun little mini game which I imagine is harder without headphones but I can't know because I I do use the headphones but listening out you slowly pivot to face where the sound is coming from and as they charge you at the right time you block deflecting their attacks doing it enough times puts you back into the regular Arena and then it's rinse and repeat until the end a big song oh yeah I got my first God of War glitch here it's always weird seeing glitches in PlayStation games because they're usually so well polished like I feel we're so used to getting glitches in most third-party games that it becomes annoying but getting a glitch in a PlayStation game is like how it used to be when you were a kid it's just funny because you know it's not a constant thing and it's just this dumb one-off bug atreyus just standing here acting super aggressive it was funny but as they threaten atreyos Kratos has to act and he does what he knows best no the fear on modi's face as Kratos walks towards him is palpable magni is kratos's first Norse kill while Kratos has no intention of killing Modi 2 atreus here becomes a deep reflection of the original trilogy Kratos sickness fever has returned no boy the coffin the blood the boy's sick he needs Flair no steady I'll be all right there you go live fine see in his rage his sickness Returns the coughing Kratos knows at this point exactly what that means yet he can't bring himself to teletreus the truth he calms him and from the look on his face feels unsure about what to do but keeps that tightly guarded but with the Chisel gained the magical seal doors are now able to be opened with a quick stab in the right place when the controller goes they open they open up and let you through now we can carve the Rune we just need to find the black Rune within tears Vault heading out there's a nice piece of dialogue I wanted to highlight of the pair reflecting on their Journey thus far it's just a really wholesome moment and we just did come a long way thanks I like this scene especially given what follows the story next entering tears Temple is when everything changes we get this wonderful moment where atreus wants to share something with Kratos teaching him to read the runes thatreus has been using to solve the puzzle since the very start of the game Kratos leans down and wants to learn after everything they've been through and the bond that has been formed this moment acts as a solidification solidification is that a [ __ ] word oh it means it means the process in which atoms are converted into an ordered solid state from a liquid disordered state it doesn't mean well the way I've used it here oh we'll keep it though the moment acts to solidify that they do love each other it's really well placed in the story and works the leaders perfectly into what comes next Modi Wants Revenge he overpowers Kratos initially likely because Kratos is holding back atreya stands to defend his father when Modi pushes him over the edge we get what the game has been building to for a long time atreus unlocks his God Powers but without the knowledge of them without knowing what he's doing it becomes too much and knocks him out this is when Kratos snaps he won't tolerate someone interfering with his family he uses Spartan rage to overpower Modi and send him flying into a nearby pillar Modi cow was away in fear but atreus is hurt overcome by the sickness caused by living as a god without the knowledge that he is one Kratos rushes atreus to Freya in hopes that she can restore him the sky is dark and clouded shrouding a deep red within the atmosphere is totally shifted from what it was just mere moments ago it captures the anger the fear the uncertainty that's been a looming Shadow over the entire game since the beginning and makes the journey to freyja all the more chilling Freya agrees to help but informs Kratos of what he already knows the boy cannot be be lied to anymore otherwise he risks losing him forever this is no ordinary illness the boy's true nature your true nature fights within him there's a rare ingredient in hellheim the keeper that protects the bridge of the Damned she needs its heart your Frost ax will be useless you'll need to find something else the look on kratos's face here says it all he looks down to his forearms placing his hand upon it in killing a god it has led him back to his past that he swore would stay buried there's a line here from Freya which is a wonderful illustration of the truth Kratos is afraid to confront who you were before it doesn't matter this boy is not your past he is your son and he needs his father Kratos sees the idea of atreus learning his godhood as the potential to see his son lost in the same way he was and him to succumbed to the curse of his family line for atreus to overthrow him like he did to Zeus like Zeus did to Kronos and like Kronos did to Uranus as Kratos is heading home the sky is more tumultuous than ever really being a reflection of all that is happening and as the track Echoes of an old life begins to play Kratos truly delves into his past as Athena appears before him Athena Athena is of course not really here she's a mere illusion conjured by kratos's insecurities and anxiety about his past she's a manifestation of his guilt pain and suffering she goes Kratos criticizing him and pointing at his flaws as a man who will always succumb to chaos and destruction until Kratos finally confronts his past head-on he reveals the blades of chaos his weapons from the very first game bestowed upon Him by Aries a symbol of everything that caused him every bit of pain he still carries with him picking these weapons back up while a terrifically executed moment of fan service patiently waited on until the midpoint of the game it also serves as a brilliantly crafted character moment where Kratos directly confronts his past and says no more the guilt the anxiety the fear he's not beholden to it and his past will never again hold sway over him there's nowhere you can hide Spartan put as much distance between here when the truth as you want it changes nothing pretend to be everything you are not teacher husband father there is one avoidable truth you will never Escape you cannot change you will always be a monster I know but I am your monster no longer the line I am your monster no longer is a sign that freya's words made it through to him his past who he was the things he did made him who he is now but he isn't chained to it he's free to continue forward on his own path without feeling weighed down by who he once was and the weapons that once kept him bound can now be the weapons to free his son and in turn his own soul from the anguish that he's dealt with for so many years yes Kratos may always be a monster a killer but he's now in control of that path of himself and he's going to use it to save his son God of War 2018 is about change it's one of the core themes to say that no matter what you've done how many people you've wronged or hurt everybody has the right to change whether that's technically correct or not I don't think matters in this instance because applying it to Kratos I think we can all agree that he has been through a lot his change is warranted and this is one of the most major parts of that character Arc stepping out of the house we now have the blades of chaos as an alternate weapon switching between the blades and the ax using the d-pad allows for versatility within combat using different weapons for different enemies and stringing together combos from both weapon sets to maximize damage output particularly against the harder boss type enemies and Valkyries the fact that even in this late stage of the game we're still getting new things to play with is pretty mental this is sort of when it really hit me on the first playthrough that they just weren't done adding things the game Builds on itself and just snowballs until the end the blades are a much longer range weapon that functions similarly to the original games bouncer chains Kratos can swing them around and take out multiple enemies at once as well as hitting enemies at Great distances he can also pull enemies in close for a shield bash plus they inflict fire damage and so are great to use against ice-based enemies and also the Ideal tool for heading into hellheim heading back to the realm travel room Kratos uses the hellheim travel Rune provide by Freya to access the realm of the Dead the atmosphere is a sickly bluish green and the dead aimlessly wander the realm heading for the bridge of the Damned our destination with the blades we can now access areas once covered by these Thorns I think they're Thorns anyway the fire can burn them away opening yet more possibilities back in midgard for Loot and new Pathways time in hellheim also runs slightly differently as mamira explains the leak of souls feels faster than Alpine time but hell is much slower than midgard sorry I'm sure that's confusing if we will be back to my son all the sooner that is good an important tidbit that means we can actually return to atreya sooner than we would have otherwise reaching the bridge of the Damned we find the keep oh [ __ ] you again although it is a troll the fight itself is probably the most unique of the trolls his moveset includes teleporting in a particular pattern which is Handy to learn and bashing you with his giant pillar thing and sending out large shock waves at particular Health gates to slow you down that you need to block to avoid and reach his position to deal more damage he can also summon dead people to fight but they're as easy as cutting through butter it's a decently fun fight and I think again plays into the whole concept of thinking and using your brain when in combat during God of War 2018. after depleting his health we're treated to a killer finishing animation from Kratos and then it's time to grab what we came for the heart of the keeper I love the way this is framed Kratos above us the actual Act of tearing out the heart just out of frame after tearing his chest open we see Kratos covered in blood rooting around for the heart of this creature so that he can save of his son as he finally looks upon the heart the camera pans back and then Kratos puts his hand against the chest of the troll almost to say sorry he had no choice something we've never really seen from Kratos before there's not a reluctance to kill but there is a regret which makes sense he'd be this way after just confronting his past and saying he isn't bound to it any longer he just has to prove it to himself this kill was out of a necessity not a lust or joy you also acquire the ability to grab the Winds of hell with your Blades of chaos hold on to it and then redistribute it in other places they act as puzzles to locked doors or hidden chests another thing we've encountered before in midgard opening up even more possibilities for exploration again with the heart Kratos can return to freyja but before he can we're treated to an awfully foreboding scene crazy so Zeus [Music] my father your father was this well that explains a lot an illusion of Zeus from kratos's past comes at just the right time after having uncovered his own past picking up the blades once again and confronting that he's now being tested visions of Athena are now visions of Zeus if Kratos is to complete his journey he will need to come face to face with who he once was accept it and overcome it and a part of that means allowing atreus to know the truth too which in turn creates a mirror for which Kratos can see the path he once walked through his son returning to Freya sets these events in motion she once again pleads with Kratos that atreus needs to know the truth of who he is and in this moment tells him of her own struggles her son who was born in the future foretold he would die a needless death Freya did all she could to prevent that and in doing so pushed her son away and made him cruel and emotionally unstable of course on a second playthrough we know this child to be bolder Freya says of course everything she did was in reality for herself because of her own anxiety she hurt her son without knowing what she had done this directly reflects Kratos another relationship like Brock and syndrie showing a broken family another possible outcome for Kratos and atreus have faith in him I know the truth isn't simple but nothing is when it involves your child it is a curse a boy has been cursed it's not clear whether kratos's reference to a curse is his view on godhood in general or whether he means the cycle of patricide cursed to his bloodline from Uranus kratos's great grandfather it could mean both however and I like that it's ambiguous take from that line what you will with atreyas healed we can see the relief on kratos's face Kratos at this point wants to be compassionate but he can't it's not who he is and he almost feels ashamed of this sees it as a weakness and defaults back to being harsh and cold and stubborn making their way to the boat it's atreus who makes the first move you said I was cursed you think I'm weak because I'm not like you I know it was never what you wanted but after all this I thought maybe things were different I do not know everything boy no but at least I know the truth now Kratos doesn't turn around he stays facing the camera and In This Moment he makes the decision to just say it to tell his son the truth I'm a God boy from another land far from here when I came to these Shores I chose to live as a matter what the truth is I was born a god and so were you I cried us almost braces himself for atreus's reaction expecting something visceral and emotional a thing that scared him all this time but instead um can I turn into an animal to an animal this honest and innocent reaction does everything to put Kratos at ease he did the right thing and now with that weight of his shoulders he's able to focus his fatherhood on making sure his son doesn't repeat his own mistakes she was a God too no she was Mortal but she knew my true nature why did you wait so long to tell me [Music] I had hoped to spare you being a god it can be a lifetime of Anguish and tragedy that is the curse but as one way is lifted another begins to become placed no longer does Kratos need to worry about atreus not knowing the truth now comes the journey atreus must go on after discovering the truth which tips the scales of balance in their relationship hey you don't have to go right back as well really I mean we're God we can do whatever we want right what do you really feel like doing right now I will show you betrayus does have a point though this is definitely a great point to head off and do some exploring with blades of chaos comes a whole new skill tree to fill out giving the blades a much more varied move set secondary stances heavy attacks more opportunity at range and those all-important runic attacks with which to dominate your foes at any given opportunity the blades also have upgraded the same as the ax as well by gathering chaos Flames you'll level up the base stats and by acquiring different blades pommels you can get additional Buffs similar to the handle of the ax which I just realized I didn't mention you can do that as well so yeah yep while exploring I stumbled upon one of the Valkyries which had just scattered and hidden throughout the world until their own story at my current level I found it difficult enough and to be honest I didn't try too hard I'd already plan to do these post main story and so I gave up and left it for later on more on the Valkyries later though although if you're interested in their history within god of war and Norse mythology check out this well researched and put together video by one of my mates Mario 5380 he does a wonderful job of going over each Valkyrie and their lore I'd recommend it as I'm going to talk a bit more about their functionality mechanically rather than diving into the law in God of War and mythology so it's in the description if you want to give it a watch something I don't think people give God of War enough credit for is its side stories while they are all similar in approach being a ghost that gives you a task the running story thread throughout them is always incredibly thematically appropriate to the main story they act as companion pieces for the main narrative in a way that only works to accentuate character development I could go through them all but I think one of the best examples is afternoon storeroom given to you by Century pretty early on in the game but one I didn't tackle until this later point that we're at now because I'm forgetful or maybe I'm bad at the game or maybe it's because it has greater narrative significance after learning a freya's son and seeing the connection of broken family being played out in two different instances already we may never know this Quest takes you to the store in the fafnir because that's what it's called he was a Dwarven Smith and cindery wants a whetstone to do some crafting and whatever that bit doesn't really matter there's the usual back and forth between Kratos and atreus they're sort of at odds with how they want to navigate this particular dungeon area atreus being hopeful they'll find the Whetstone and Kratos trying to suggest that you should always expect this appointment if you expect appointment then you can never really get disappointed come on great minds you know they're the same they're similar what am I what am I doing the important part however comes from when you meet one of the reavers at the end of the dungeon we're looking for a wet stone have you seen it ah Sun sharpened his dagger on it right right what my crew I was hard on him sure guess I shouldn't be surprised I did the same thing to my dad when I was his age killed his own father atreus is shocked at this news but Kratos just stares and changes the subject yet another reflection of what the two protagonists can become if they tread the wrong path yet another thing fueling Kratos is anxiety across the game upon finding the wet stone we get yet another insight into how these two view the tale of father and son this is the Sun that ghost son how do you know this sigil it matches the dagger we found in his father's back he stood his ground but it was not enough maybe trade him the trail begets betrayal my guess young one muddling his dad didn't sit well with the others he thought himself ready to lead cost him his life this again reflects kratos's past his dealings with the Greek pantheon and his regret for some of those actions seeing this as an opportunity to teach his son a little something it's not huge and it's not obvious but it does manage to subtly convey core themes and Concepts that play into the main narrative at hand and in doing so elevates itself above being a mere side quest for side quests sake returning the Whetstone of course Nets rewards too since you will give you a legendary ax pommel that grants a chance of Health burst on Ax hit which is pretty neat these Side Stories and the stories within the main narrative are twisted and altered versions of Norse mythology the way Santa Monica have altered things to suit Their Own Story aren't for the sake of it the one change regarding Loki Alters the whole course of events but in a way that they have then shaped around the main themes of the story being told a story of family and self-discovery and change it's incredible how much care went into that aspect of God of War and it's much much deeper than I could ever hope to cover in this video if you haven't already go and check out the video untangling God of War which I will link in the description too it's a video solely on this aspect of God of War how the changes to the original Norse myths affect the events moving forward and it gave me a deeper appreciation of this game's story and lore talking about law across the game you can find these travel room pieces some for muscleheim and some for nivalheim and finding four of each allows you to travel to that realm which on a first playthrough is pretty men tool the fact that there are these Realms that are totally optional side Realms is a marvelous way of integrating more of the Norse lore into the game now how these Realms are used is interesting because they don't function like regular Realms or the rest of the Realms that we visit in the game they don't even really feel like Realms if that makes sense and I think from a gameplay perspective they offer some really cool stuff and I love that about them but I also do think in the same way they detract from the World building that the game thus far has established let's look at muswellheim first the realm of fire visually really nice breathtaking even I love the lava the molten rocks the mountains in the distance it's wonderful in terms of its atmosphere but what this realm acts as is a set of combat challenges they're framed as the trials of certa six Arenas with medium and hard challenges in each they'll test your ability to adapt to combat situations your stamina when fighting large amounts of enemies or how well you fight under the pressure of a timer the trials themselves are fun offer great rewards and feel satisfying to complete but in terms of building out a realm it feels like a video game which while mechanically is quite fun the lore aspects and the World building aspects fall a little flat which is a shame given the strength of every other aspect of the game balancing these things in tandem niflheim is similar in this regard the realm of fog works as a roguelike arena with rooms that change every time you enter them you essentially work your way through rooms of enemies with different layouts and gather loot as you go having to escape the Mist to collect the Echoes which you use to craft armor that specifically helps the nippleheim challenges this is maybe worse than muskmelheim it boils down to grinding enemy fights over and over again to gather missed Echoes to craft the armor that you want and the armor also happens to be some of the best in the whole game which is a bit of a piss take sure there's a lot of loot in the center but gaining enough Echoes to open some of it is pretty obscene and I wasn't about to waste my time doing it I do think that while it's really cool to discover these realm travel runes naturally as you explore midgard making them optional areas I feel like if you were going to include them maybe you needed to switch up how they functioned because while yes the combat challenges are fun and the roguelike dungeon can have its merits it doesn't feel quite good enough to justify its existence within the world itself these modes could just as easily have been accessible from the main menu as a totally separate thing like Arkham's challenge Maps maybe even give it a leaderboard to compare against your friends it could have added some more depth and not taken away from the World building aspect of God of War I just feel the way they're accessed and presented only work to harm the game's immersion and the sense of World building I wish they didn't feel this way but I can't shake that and so it's a big fat elf on muswellheimerheim in my books although I do believe Ragnarok is sex I what although I do believe Ragnarok is set to fix that issue I don't know come back in a few days and let me know if I was right in the comments it'll help me in the algorithm returning to tears Vault though after Gathering gear and loot and XP we find ourselves back where we were quite a while ago heading down into the Vault itself beneath the Lake of the nine we get some questionable dialogue from atreus I wish I'd known I was a garden Alpha I wouldn't have felt so bad about killing so many elves well I'm not sure that's the lesson Petraeus is getting absorbed in his newly discovered godhood I do think this feels slightly out of place maybe against his actual character but here's my devil advocate to myself atreus is someone who is deeply compassionate he lost his mother he's only linked to that compassion and has been pushed on a journey with his father who he doesn't entirely get along with he's felt inadequate weak small feeble sick and in discovering the truth that he is in fact a god something he himself despite his father's teachings looks up to as a symbol of power and reverence he finally feels he's worth something in his father's eyes and he tries desperately to live up to that maybe even stubbornly against his own feelings he thinks he finally understands why his father is the way he is and tries to mimic that but misunderstanding while doing so the fundamentals of his father's moral philosophies which begins an arc that allows then Kratos to see into his own past through his son playing into this idea is the vase with the painting of Kratos on the side another reminder of how he is remembered by the Greek people a God of War of death and of blood although he has faced his past and told atreus the truth about himself he still continues to hide who he is as a person from his son yet to complete his own personal journey of self-acceptance and letting go there is a moment in which atreus loses his mother's knife in order to save his father from a trap where he otherwise would have died this moment symbolizes the switch in atreus's mindset going from someone devoted to his mother and her ideals to the polar opposite of his father's mindset or what he believes his father's mindset is which is again reinforced when Kratos gives atreus another knife on the day you were born mixing metals from my home and for this land for myself and when you were ready one for you today is that day Kratos continues to try and instill in atreus the gravity that comes from being a God and how that should be used by the god themself I give no we are not men we are more than that the responsibility is far greater than you must be better than me understand say it or you will be better I think In This Moment the true message of kratos's words become lost for atreus he believes Kratos is suggesting atreus needs to be more powerful what up until this point his father has deemed as strength however what atreus fails to understand is that on this journey Kratos has learned from atreus that compassion is a strength Kratos is appealing to atreus's strong sense of morality here but atreus is too far absorbed by what he's learned over the course of the game that along with discovering his godhood leads him to become even more confused than he was blank wait [Music] oh [ __ ] [ __ ] as you progress back up the mountain atreus descends deeper into his confusion getting mad at sindri we're sick of hearing about Little People's little problems who becomes deeply upset and looking down on his own mother too why did you speak to the dwarf like that aren't you sick of hearing about him and his brother of course but it serves nothing to make an enemy of him you should know the truth even if it hurts it was needless and unkind truth is more important than kindness your mother would disagree she wasn't a god atreus at this point has lost who he is very similar to what happened to Kratos in the original trilogy and this all comes to a head with Modi did to magnet my own father looks like he did more than that move it we'll pick up where he left off atreya stabs Modi even after Kratos said not to what are you doing this is a much better knife than mothers again reinforcing the knife Motif suggesting your knife is better than mothers is to say that kratos's way of dealing with situations as seen Through The Eyes of atreus is better than his mother's way of compassion and mercy haven't you been teaching me to kill I've been teaching you to survive so I teach you yes but in defense of yourself never has an Indulgence nobody cared about him anyways what's the difference there are consequences to killing a God why how do you know kratos's words about killing Gods is one of the best moments in the game not just because it calls back to the original trilogy but because it feels like he's talking to himself right at this moment he sees in atreyas what he once was and he's trying to convey his current line of thought but it just doesn't go in atreus won't take it at this point he's confused filled with rage emotionally torn up and uncertain of who he is it's a lesson he has to learn himself the culmination of this occurs at the top of the mountain back to the gate to yotenheim as Kratos begins to finally carve the Rune they're interrupted by Boulder Runway across the bridge no no in threatening to take atreus Kratos destroys the gate to yotenheim no longer is getting through this way an option this in turn angers atreus which is why In This Moment he finds it so easy to fire on his own father and here I thought my family was [ __ ] up hold this for me thank you Boulder takes atreus and flees this begins an epic set piece Chase in which Kratos jumps from the mountain to land on Boulder's Dragon the two battling it out the Power Balance fluctuating as they fight the scale and Stakes of this sequence are higher the music only acting to up the ante of events landing on the realm travel Bridge Kratos darts for the realm travel room which has been activated by Boulder who's planning to open the doors to Asgard the seat of power for the acid gods and when the bridge opens the forward of ask will come crashing down on you but before he can Kratos throws his bride Frost into the machine to open the door and where does it open but hellhon sucking the three out of the temple and sending them flying across the room [Music] foreign to helheim begins what I'd consider to be the final Act of the game I suppose that technically begins with Boulder interrupting them at the yotenheim gate but this is my video so I'm making the damn rules within the next hour or so all the pieces that have been explored thus far seem to fall into place ready for the finale of the game with Kratos and atreus's relationship truly tested this is the point where both have to confront that but first of all on a gameplay front this sequence Taps into everything you've learned and gained thus far I need to stop saying thus far I won't I want I refuse I will keep saying it the puzzles are harder navigation requires more patience and combat really tests what you've picked up it's a sequence that says look how far you've come and come a long way we have the goal in Hell after atreus royally [ __ ] everything up is to reach a boat that will take us close enough to tears Temple to get back to midgard however being on the other side of the bridge of the Damned means there's a lot to face before we ever get back the same way earlier we saw revision of Zeus we start to see things again first of all the trash sees back to the moment he killed Modi [Music] not dwell on those thoughts not here [Music] we must keep moving treya seems shocked he says it wasn't me which is interesting it suggests that upon learning he was a God he lost himself for a Time unaware of what he was even doing which is an interesting concept although I feel underexplored because it acts more as a way to revert atreus back to his happy-go-lucky self with a few life lessons to make him seem more mature but without needing to directly confront what he did in a way that changes his mind and puts him back on the right track he's already on the right track he just doesn't remember doing the bad things so while yes the concept that he lost himself in his own rage is a good one and it plays directly into kratos's Zone Arc I don't think the game lingers on or explores it enough to say that it's a good development for atreus I think what it does more so is act as a means for atreus to begin questioning who he is there's a little conversation after that sort of highlights this I'm not gonna let it bother like you said mimir it was just an illusion but it is who you have become of late you will follow orders but maybe that's not who I am it had better be it takes another chance to reinforce the treas genuinely doesn't remember he thinks it was just a vision meant to make him feel uneasy it comes across as if he honestly doesn't remember killing Modi which is a really odd route to take narratively especially if you aren't going to delve into that any deeper of course Ragnarok could but I feel like the game thinks it's given an explanation not that it needs to add more depth in the future moving on though we catch up with Boulder and slowly climbing around one of these hellheim structures we listen in on his conversation something that illuminates a plot Point that's been lingering over the game since the very start every right I am your mother who had no right rich can't taste I can't smell I can't even feel the temperature of this room feasting feasting drinking women death has no power over you now you would rather die again Freya is the mother of Boulder of course in this video I've been speaking like we already knew that but this is the moment it's revealed to our characters which explains a lot of course the reason he can't feel is because Freya is trying to protect him the story she told Kratos about wronging her son for selfish reasons it all falls into place and this segment sets up the finale to come a confrontation between a mother and son a reflection of the fractured relationship between Kratos and atreus a reflection they need to avoid becoming do it dude come on [Music] where the Visions are meant to torment the inhabitants of hell like they have done with Kratos and atreus here they seem to torment Boulder in another way he's re-watching something he did not with regret that it happened but with regret that he didn't go further that he didn't kill his mother Freya which again sets up that finale to come he wants to kill her now more than ever and this sequence reinforces that finally we have the all-important sequence on the boat itself a viking longship which Kratos intends to flight at his Temple by lighting fires under the sails which is pretty damn cool the combat section here is ridiculously long and also incredibly tense as you're flipping between both fires to stop the ice boys from putting them out I [ __ ] up a couple times because it's genuinely quite challenging or I suck [ __ ] off but the most important section comes from when we close in on tears Temple we overhear the wonderful voice of Corey Burton who funnily enough plays Zeus in Kingdom Hearts 3. I swear to you ladies when I get out of it which is even funnier when you realize his Zeus voice from kh3 doesn't sound like Jesus voice from God of War yet his voice for both Yen Sid and ansem the wise characters from Kingdom Hearts resemble that of Zeus from God of War at last we are all assembled I just thought that was funny it is time look around at what you have done we see Zeus from the end of God of War 3. this is a deep memory for Kratos a formative one the moment he killed his father and to son has to witness it this is the moment where after the whole game Kratos has to come face to face with his past and truly acknowledge it there's no more running or hiding it's right there clear as day for everybody to see the framing of this is also absolutely [ __ ] Exquisite in God of War 3 as Kratos begins punching the ever living [ __ ] out of Zeus the camera is from his perspective a first person view in 2018 we see it from a third person view however we also don't because the camera at the end becomes situated in a first person view from 2018 Kratos it mirrors that scene we get to see Kratos killing Zeus but from the first person perspective of modern day Kratos and instead of seeing Zeus through those eyes we see kratos's Son atreus run through the vision to help his father it's a wonderful parallel and not just one for the sake of it one that works to greatly drive home the idea of Kratos and atreus being or Desiring to be different from the gods who have come before the entire game is about breaking that cycle about being better about change and this scene to me how it's framed is trying to suggest that right now as of this moment they are different and things won't turn out like they did with Zeus and Kratos you sir there's no time look and with that they managed to escape atreus taking the lead for them to do so you're both tracked before they head back to midgard though they walk through another part of Tears Vault and come across something that has huge implications for the God of War Universe tier as we know visited other lands we see the symbols in the corners of this panel different cultures Egypt Greek Japanese and Celtic the interesting part is why this panel was dedicated to this information specifically although laying underneath when accessed with vermeer's Oya by first Crystal reveals secret plans plans the team can use to get to jotenheim it's not yet Out Of Reach entirely but in order to restore the yotenheim tower they first have to find the unity Stone which they have to get by flipping tears Temple which they can only access by forging tier's key which requires the help of a particular pair of dwarves after being at odds with one another for the whole game broken syndrome come together to help Kratos and atreyus Forge tier's key restoring their brotherly Bond and their branding downright unsettling it's just nice to see you together now the run on your own something what broke the two brothers Show an example of a family bond being restored and fixed it can be done even though over the course of the game they've had nothing but bad words to say to one another it's very clear at the end and across the game itself that what they're saying they don't really mean and that even when a family is torn apart it can come back together not every family that breaks has to remain broken and it can be avoided an important lesson at this climactic point for our main characters the themes of family that felt so set in stone at the start have shifted and warped over the length and we reach a point where there is no certainty another Core theme uncertainty but this time not in a negative light uncertainty in a hopeful way flipping the themes of the game to be viewed in A New Perspective speaking of flipping we have some work to do accessing the underside of the realm travel room using tier's key to open the large door Kratos determines what must be done we have to flip the realm travel room by breaking the chains on either side after solving some complex deadly puzzles fighting some tough enemies and grabbing some loot both chains are broken and the temple can be flipped oh standing on the day that brute force is the answer I'll be quite happy to be on your side see that mimir nobody could do all this alone all these obstacles or just chances to prove are the ones who can beat them we may argue me and father you and Freya Brock and Cindy but when we all work together we do make a good team and that's tears test what's that mean means you means you speak wisely atreus and that is good to hear atreus has found his equilibrium although like I said before his development from rightful child to God to tempered adolescents isn't quite explored to the depth that I would like the fact that they at least acknowledge atreus's change for the better is a positive his experiences have molded him into what he is now and that bodes well for what's to come acquiring the unity Stone it allows us to stray from the path in the realm between Realms to reach the Lost jotenheim Tower which by the way is absolutely stunning I mean holy [ __ ] look at this lighting heading inside the team are forced to deal with waves of enemies from each of the Realms we visited thus far also mamir does an MCU joke what happens now no idea about that but after that fall I'm sure we're past the worst of it [Music] for a game where the writing is so good including the comedy this joke feels just kind of really dumb like they needed a funny moment but couldn't think of a natural piece of Comedy so they just reverted to the most basic and boring type of Comedy there is which in itself is funny but not for the reasons that they intended just because in a meta textual way it got me tickled My Funny Bone after chipping through the waves of enemies at another [ __ ] point of view the openheim tower has been returned to its rifle place which means theoretically realm travel to yotenheim is entirely possible now however it's not because there's no travel Crystal mamir suggests tyr used his own eyes to refract the energy which means if we were to find mamir's other eye we could finally get to jotenheim so I guess we're on another McGuffin hunt I honestly never realized the first time through how many times the game goes but actually you need to do another thing and then you do that thing and it goes well actually there's one more thing you need to do and and then you you do that thing and then it goes actually it's pulled off well though not often do games just roadblock you constantly in a way that you can say is beneficial to the experience some of the stuff you spend the game collecting ends up being completely useless like the Chisel tip and the travel room because the gate gets destroyed which makes all that time spent useless except it doesn't because not only do those objects have other benefits it was never about collecting the items or gathering rooms it was about the journey itself the game is about Kratos and atreus not about what they're doing and because that writing is so strong it's why this structuring works talking to Brock and syndru we discover amir's second eye was hidden in a statue of Thor that that one that statue in in his stomach now which means we need to find our way inside him mamir has an odd remark about this being a point of no return well ads I don't know what lies ahead but now would be a good time to make sure your gear is ready for the worst anything you need to do which couldn't possibly mean anything of note right and we go off to speak to human Gander the big old snake says we can root around in his stomach which is awfully nice of him all things considered he could have honestly said no and that would have been perfectly reasonable but hey we're in luck this section is really fun I just enjoy how they designed the inside of the snake and sorry I I just wanted to see what would happen nothing apparently moving around through stomach acid we come across plenty of different things eaten by the world serpents some of which contain loot unharmed loot so that's a plus solving a mini puzzle which honestly is kind of hilarious inside of a giant snake's stomach we find them restore mamiya's eye which means everything is set we can get to yotenheim nothing could possibly go wrong see I can do MCU humor too being thrown from the world Serpent's mouth the two are separated as they hurtle through the air before falling down near the corpse of thamor the location we visited earlier to get the tip of the Chisel the world serpent comes crashing down seemingly knocked out while seemingly dead but I know we know he's not dead if you've played the game before so he's knocked out and it's pretty obvious by who also it's interesting that atreus is totally fine after the fall which I guess is his godhood in action although does that mean that as a kid if he ever fell like I don't know climbing a tree that he just wasn't hurt or his God powers only work when he knows about them or would he fallen out of the tree and then coughed and passed out I don't really know also to be fair he could have fallen in a pile of snow because he does jump off and brush it off it doesn't really matter though I just like being thorough Freya flies in and transforms which is pretty damn cool and the two become a little on edge after what they've just learned in hell they can still trust her right until we know for certain keep a distance Freya tells her she's looking for her son the Kratos and atreyas helped her to see things more clearly which is interesting meaning the two actually seem to change freya's mind she wants to mend the relationship with her son after seeing the two together almost an opposite of what the game is doing for the player for the majority of the runtime we see broken relationships and from that want the best for our protagonists Freya seeds are protagonists and it Alters how she views the broken relationship between her and her own son atreus and Kratos back away and Freya seems confused as to why they're so skittish but before they can discuss anything Boulder appears from the ice cold Waters again reinforcing he cannot feel a thing I had a feeling hurting the big snake would bring the two of you out in the open do you have any idea any idea and now the climax of this relationship we've only seen in bits and pieces across the game freyja and Boulder meet again and after what we saw in Hell we can guess his intentions to kill his mother Kratos will not allow it however it's about the work vengeance you will find no peace I know Kratos Now using his past as a tool tries to reason with Boulder Kratos genuinely wants to stop this from happening again he's finally at the culmination of his Arc across the game from learning from his son from confronting his past in Athena the blades of chaos Zeus and his experience with atreus's turn he's confident in his goals rather than fighting against who he once was he is now using who he once was to fight against another turning down the same path but Bolder won't listen he's filled with rage and determination kratos's attempts to reach him are futile and it leads to the final fight of the game the music swells as we enter gameplay and the battle begins a fight with the Catalyst for the story a reflection of who Kratos was and who atreus could become this is the perfect thematic culmination of the events in the story leading to this point it's a retreat of the first fight at the beginning in a way but this time neither holding anything back leads to a larger spectacle as well as Kratos now having his full arsenal there's a lot more depth to the actual fight itself the first phase is similar to the original fight with Boulder he will Dart around in the battle arena and Kratos will have to Parry and retaliate all the while freyja will be using her magic to bind the pair stopping them from fighting out of fear that her son could die at a point when Boulder's Health dips a bit it'll initiate a cutscene Kratos is bound atreus desperately tries to help Boulder Dodges freya's magic and throws a giant rock at her to stun her so that he is able to land the blow on Kratos but atreya steps in the way ready to take the hit to protect his father it's a moment where atreus's Arc of learning how to be stronger and finding something to care for again after his mother died and his father is now complete atreya stands completely still as Baldo launches an attack which sends atreus flying backward into his father's arms unable to breathe and covered in blood Kratos panics the care he now has for his son is on Full display a total switch from the beginning of the game but as atreus regains his breath we soon realize that the fight is about to change entirely my blood what is still toe Arrow Boulders one weakness based on the original Norse myths yet altered to suit this new narrative Boulder is weakened vulnerable for the first time in a long time like I said before this is a sort of total coincidence I won't go over it again but I do feel usually that writing style is weak that the protagonists win based on pure luck not Ingenuity but it being Norse mythology I feel the fact the mistletoe arrow is still what ultimately leads to Boulder's downfall is quite meaningful in a meta textual sense and so I can forgive it here and so Begins the real fight Freya reanimate starmor so he Towers over the battle arena being grabbed by his giant hand Kratos and atreus find themselves moved to a new Arena one that is equipped with far more mechanics luckily and as Boulder appears again the boss battle can begin Boulder has similar attacks zipping across the battlefield in a pattern that will eventually land a punch on you which can be parried with the correct timing although now he's much quicker than he was in the original fight or even just moments to Go Boulder will also Channel different elements Fire and Ice meaning you have to utilize both weapons the Leviathan ax and the blades of chaos to deal with these different states when he's in his ice states he will pound the ground and create spikes that will smash through the ground to deal damage to Kratos these can be dodged or blocked or they can simply hit you every time if you're me and you suck he will also win the ice State sometimes use an unblockable area of effect attack which will emit a sphere of ice in all directions to deal damage to anyone within the radius it gives you enough warning to get the hell out of there when you see him winding up he'll usually follow it up with a ranged ice ball attack I guess kind of a snowball which can be blocked and sent back if you have that skill all of his regular attacks will also be imbued with ice damage so that's something added to look out for when he's in this state after dealing enough damage he'll initiate another cutscene where Kratos pulls off a mental move and Freya intervenes with far More's reanimated corpse using a handy red Crystal it knocks everyone back and sends Kratos and Boulder hurtling into yet another battle arena Boulder smashes through the Rubble to continue the fight this time using his fire state in which his attacks changed to deal fire damage and his move search changes to incorporate new attacks and skills he'll still do his fast Dodges to land physical attacks the same as both phases prior but this time he will often create a large fire attack on impact and if you don't Parry it can deal a decent bit of damage to Kratos there are similar attacks to his ice form such as the area of effect attack that can be dodged and Fireballs that can be deflected back with the right timing he'll also throw himself into the air and try to land on Kratos if he does he'll create an area of small explosions around the landing side to do even more damage during all of this Freya will also send droga into battle which is just another element to contend with things can get out of hand if you have poor spatial awareness during the fight and you can easily become overwhelmed I think ads and bosses can sometimes be irritating but here I think it just helps to keep you far more aware of what's going on around you and adds to The lethality of Boulder's moveset once at a certain Health threshold Freya will command thermal to throw his chisel into the floor Wilder quickly uses it to climb up with Kratos and atreus following clothes behind this starts a great set piece sequence in which you are raised into the air on the side of the Chisel with atreyus firing arrows and craters dodging attacks and Landing his own in return it's a perfect execution of teamwork between the two who have grown so close across the game and their skills now work in tandem to fend off Boulder atreyus also does this sick [ __ ] flip thing and it's really badass falling from the Chisel atreus follows and fires arrows into Boulder as Kratos holds him still in free fall before slamming him into the ground Boulder holds Kratos down and atreus attempts to stop him and as Boulder grabs atreus by the throat it again triggers Kratos to activate Spartan rage something that has been consistent across the game it almost signifies his fatherly instincts kicking in to protect his son which is something I really like this sends us into the final phase of the fight where Boulder will use all of the skills from across the fight in one single phase he's Relentless he's aggressive and fast this phase keeps you on your toes deals a lot of damage and I think is the Perfect finale to a fight that is incredibly well paced the fight on hold demonstrates The Cinematic and Grand scale of God of War 2018 while also being mechanically dense offering lots of different movesets to learn plenty to consider while playing and the need to rely on every tool you've picked up across the game from switching weapons to Parry and deflecting rage attacks using runic attacks to deal large damage at openings having atreus stun him when he's too quick to land attacks on and so much more this fight really illustrates how far you've come how much you've picked up and how complex the fights can be when they lay into every mechanic of the game's disposal and I absolutely adore that about it I'd say this is probably a perfect example of a boss fight that has great story significance while also being an engaging challenge to tackle it just screams god of war finally getting Boulder's Health to zero which reached This Magnificent sequence where Kratos and atreyas team up to deal the final blows resulting in Kratos wailing on him both of them covered in Boulder's blood with no signs of Kratos giving in Freya sends an icy win to knock them back atreus quickly seems to tap into his God powers to call upon the world serpent responding to the call he protects the pair and takes down funnel sending them once again flying into the air to land where the confrontation began Kratos launches himself at Boulder ready to finish the job when atreya speaks the words Kratos spoke to him earlier in the game he's being father not a threat it's a moment that again shows atreus's growth and also that of Kratos that he listens to his son let's go and is ready to leave as Kratos and atreus walk away Boulder gets back up and makes his way towards freyja no matter what what I do or say it won't it won't stop interfering in my life I was just trying to protect you I even though Boulder has what he wants he's been worked up about Freya for so long he can't leave until she's dead and so he attempts to do just that Freya wants to rebuild their relationship she obviously loves her son but he's too far gone and she just couldn't see that here [Music] be better than this and as Boulder falls down his life ebbing away it concludes the entire story arc Boulder is a symbol of all of the core themes of the story as well as the instigator for the journey itself a symbol of kratos's past a cycle of killing that he fears so much as well as a symbol of what atreus could become and Kratos now at peace with his past kills that symbol in the hopes of doing what was right but in doing so he perhaps creates another battle one with Freya I will rain down every violation imaginable upon you I will parade your cold body from every corner of every realm and feed your soul to the vilest filth in hell that is promise he's saved your life and robbed me of everything and then in her despair she says something something that triggers Kratos to do what he should have done a long time ago and lay out everything for atreus in the hopes that they can forge a better future she says you were just an animal passing on your cruelty and rage you will never change to which Kratos responds and you do not know me then freyja finally responds I know enough foreign Kratos finally tells atreus who he is what he did and why they need to be better boy listen close I'm from a land called Sparta I made a deal with the god that cost me my soul I killed many who were deserving and many who were not foreign I killed my father that was your father in hell that's what it is to be a god is that it always ends Sun's killing their mothers their fathers no we will be the gods we choose to be not those who have been who I was not who you'll be we must be better Kratos proves in this moment to himself to atreyus and probably to Freya that he has changed Kratos finally trusts atreus he tells him all of this because Kratos believes that atreus can be better at the start of the game he kept it also secret out of fear that it would cause a trace to become the thing he was afraid of but in going on this journey and seeing Boulder and Freya Brock and syndrie and seeing the multiple side stories that play on these same themes Kratos believes in his son that together with the truth they can both be better gods and not follow in the footsteps of those that were it's a beautiful moment that brings together all of the core story themes together for dialogue that feels earned and conclusive to a narrative that had so much to say it will always feel satisfying also this is really funny I don't know what it is I just find it funny when Freya stands there with her dead son just staring at them and then like just wanders off I know it's supposed to convey the pure Devastation she feels and I I get that but it just reminds me of something out of the office the shaky Cam and everything I'm sorry I mean to ruin that nice moment we should finish this journey while I still have strength God of War is not about the destination whether reaching the peak of the highest mountain in midgard finding a magic chisel or travel Rune or the I ever severed head inside a giant serpent God of War is about the journey the satisfaction of reaching yothenheim doesn't come from finally reaching gotenheim it comes from the journey the characters went on to reach that point jotenheim serves as a Locale to cap off the character arcs that have propelled The Narrative since the very start of the game a Kratos that began the game tightly guarded running and hiding from his past now stands openly on the mountains in yotenheim freed from the shackles that he formed around himself he takes off his braces and allows the bandages to fly off into the wind removing bandages of course acts as a symbol of someone who's finished healing Kratos has accepted who he is who he was and is ready to move forward from this point it's a terrific Arc that is well written and satisfyingly concluded at the start of the game Kratos did not believe he could that inner anxiety is voiced Out Loud by the manifestation of Athena but by the end of the game Kratos has learned he has proved to himself in fact he can change and and he's ready to move forward it's in this moment that Kratos hands over the ashes of fey to his son so that he can carry her the rest of the way over the course of the game atreus has asked repeatedly if he can carry her ashes and every time Kratos says no it's only now after kratos's journey of self-discovery in a tracer's adventure and experience does Kratos hand over the ashes and allows atreus to carry his mother's remains to the peak of the yotenheim mountains it's a wonderful moment that after capping off kratos's Ark caps off atreus's Arc II and is one of the carefully crafted few heartwarming moments between the two heading through one of the caverns we see statues of What Must Be Giants who Escape midgard but the room is eerily silent atreus makes remarks that he should feel them but doesn't which begs the question why did Faye send them here the Giants are all dead jotenheim is dead one question is answered and two more tickets Place walking through an exit to the outside atreus touches the wall and in doing so activates some sort of power similar to something we see him do before with the stone in tears Vault the magic reveals the seemingly bare wolves are covered in murals but not just any murals murals of the journey we've just been on all these drawings this is our story [Music] your story this reveals yet another question Faye knew what was going to happen she sent them on this journey for a reason and masked these murals with magic that only atreus could uncover why she sent us here knowing we would find this is also where we discover Boulder was actually tracking Fey and not Kratos which obviously I've been talking about as if we already knew to better analyze the story but this is the moment the characters find that out and it completely re-contextualizes everything that they've been through but it also begs the question what does Odin want all questions posed to of course be answered in the sequel before leaving the room Kratos lingers for a moment on a mural that was covered by a curtain a mural that could potentially depict many things some believe it to be kratos's death at the hand to betrayus perhaps his death and atreus morning perhaps the man pictured is not Kratos at all and it's a misdirect but whatever the answer the bigger question is why did Faye want them to see this one also it's the only mural in the room that doesn't depict their journey across the game it depicts something yet to come or perhaps something that is yet to come for Kratos and atreus but that actually happened a long time ago Norse mythology can get a bit wibbly wobbly when it comes to timelines these questions are of course all to be explored in rag Rock you'd expect anyway I could of course be totally wrong on that front and they never answer them at all but that would be bad I could sit here all day and speculate but instead I think I'll point you over to my mate Eddie's new God of War Channel Linked In the description he's been really grinding out some great content focused on the law and world of God of War and his knowledge on this stuff far outweighs my own I'd really recommend his stuff it's high quality well researched and absolutely entertaining heading out we finally reached the peak of the mountain the destination of this story although the arcs are complete and plenty of questions have been asked there's still one more thing for us to do and I think with all the Talking I've done during this video this scene should be allowed to speak for itself [Music] foreign [Music] no we do it together son 10 minutes [Music] [Applause] [Music] my friends [Music] goodbye I love you this scene works as such a wonderful ending to the game the two have become so close and together Father and Son stand together and spread the ashes of someone they both loved deeply a love that they now feel for each other Kratos finally calls atreya's son and the gorgeous soundtrack from bear McCreery plays as the camera pans out and shows the ashes scattering in Faye's home of yotenheim but there is room for one more reveal before we leave a reveal that has all the pieces aligned in the most magnificent way I guess there's just one thing I don't understand my name on the wall the Giants called me Loki thank you atreus the son of Faye and Kratos is Loki the god of Mischief but with this new and altered take on Norse myths it changes a whole lot of things and finally reveals why things were different and why Loki was absent for the entire story the truth is that he wasn't he was right here the whole time like I said before there is so much more depth to this particular analysis an untangling God of War is the video for that Miri trading it would simply never do it justice with the reveal of the name Faye wanted for atreus Loki Kratos explains where the name atreus came from the first time in the game where Kratos tells a story a story of something significant for him from his home as they leave the home of his wife Kratos talks about how atreus of Sparta was a fierce Warrior but someone who was revered and respected by the Spartan soldiers atreus of Sparta inspired the men to hope when he died his sacrifice saved countless others and turned the tired in their favor atreus of Sparta is clearly someone crater looks up to and a lot of the qualities Kratos values in him we also find in his son does this story mean more though does it foreshadow potential future events is there some sort of deeper meaning laced within the story of atreus of Sparta who knows we could speculate on this all day but in a game where there is meaning to everything written it wouldn't be a stretch to assume this story means something deeper too only time will truly tell and with that the pair head back through the gate back to midgard but things are not quite as they seem foreign to the realm travel room we reunite with Vermeer who's been waiting for some time while Kratos and atreus were only there for around 15 minutes the time that has passed in midgard is a lot longer Vermeer states that the snow that began when Boulder was killed has progressed into something else Brock and syndria are arguing Brock seems pretty confident it's the signs of thimblew winter in Norse mythology a winter that spans three Summers and proceeds Ragnarok which makes sense given the next game is called God of War Ragnarok or maybe it's just a strange coincidence that it's called that snow lots more snow and then the end of the bloody World in that approximate order what I really like about the post game world is that the world feels tangibly different of course you have the snow and the color grading things feel colder winter is clearly upon us it's as if the game is gearing up for the sequel we finish the game but even then you you don't stop oh my God I'm playing any of the yet to complete side content in this state really does get you hyped up for Ragnarok not the catastrophic world ending event though the video game coming soon in November now the game isn't over Upon returning from beyondheim of course you can still go and complete all the side activities but one set that I feel is important to any playthrough is that of the Valkyries the Valkyries are a set of secret bosses that are now visible on your map upon completing the game we ran into one earlier but now you can actively seek them out there are eight scattered around midgard and the other Realms waiting to be fought the story behind them is that they've been corrupted by who you're not sure defeating them in battle and removing their helmets freeze them so they can return to Valhalla this curse is revealed to have been cast by Odin out of pure malice sigurun the standing Queen of the Valkyries after Freya yep that Freya lost her place states that nothing she ever did please the all father and so he cursed her and her sisters at a pure animosity the curse forces the Valkyries to remain in the unnatural state of the physical form remaining in a physical form drives the Valkyries mad the only way to free them is to defeat them in a fight and remove their helmet destroying their physical bodies because the Valkyries in their corrupted form were so dangerous sigurang was forced to seal them away which are the locations that we discover them in vaults hidden beneath midgard and the other Realms and because they were sealed away they were unable to accompany the dead de Valhalla meaning hell overflowed which is something we witness upon visiting helheim in God of War once freed the Valkyries will thank the team for freeing them willing them to go forth and save the rest like I said before if you want more lore points on both the original Norse myths and the God of War lore check out the video from Mario 5380 on the history of the Valkyries it's really interesting stuff Valkyries themselves act as secret bosses or super bosses they range in difficulty from Level 4 to level 7 Each of which posing different moves which require different tactics some being more range based some obscuring Vision with moves that cause the screen to flash white some enemies dealing fire-based attacks are others that will be a lot more defensive requiring Kratos to break defense with his shield all of them offer different challenges that compose a real threat learning their attack pattern utilizing your skills coupled with the best gear is the only way to chip your way through them they're fights that definitely work to Showcase God of War's combat depth and I believe they are up there with some of the all-time great boss fights I really want to see something like this in God of War Ragnarok and differently from the trolls even though the Valkyries are similar looking enemies the way each has a totally different moveset really works to set them apart and the fact they deal so much damage means you have to remain on your toes against them at all times upon defeating or late you're not done you take the eight helmets you've collected and placed them on Thrones surrounding the counts of the Valkyries in midgard and when you do so a realm tear appears in the center of the Arena we all know what that means this boss is terrific she is insanely challenging and the exact thing you expect from a God of War battle her moves are made up of every move that the previous Valkyries use so while you'll be familiar with some of the attacks she is a lot more powerful faster and mixes them up quite frequently so you have a lot to memorize if you hope to beat her I streamed for four hours and still couldn't take her down yes man [ __ ] this I can't be [ __ ] bothered that stupid Ice Beam is useless at the end of the fight so I end up without the like with like without one runic attack the Vaude is linked in the description by the way the worst part is she gets harder towards the end once you get her down to three blocks of Health remaining she'll become even faster more Relentless and devastating with her damage output all the while boosting her own shielding too this is what threw me off specifically every time I could Master the fight and get her down to those three Health blocks but then she goes [ __ ] mental and ruins my whole day finally though after enough practice I managed to take her down however I wasn't recording that bit so here's the stream clip yes let's go let's [ __ ] go how long we've been live for 23 minutes dude I was right it's gonna be a 20 minute stream let's [ __ ] go nice oh my god oh it's over I wasn't recording overall though sigrone is one of the greats in terms of boss fights both mechanically and Visually just a magnificent fight for taking down all the Valkyries you get special Valkyrie armor which is pretty cool as well as some other cool valkyrie-based loot definitely something to take with you into a new game plus and with the Valkyries defeated and any side content wrapped up the only thing left is to head home for a well-earned rest time to rest I'm gonna sleep through winter okay this'll do sleep way ahead of you the ball foreign [Music] foreign this sequence of course sets up the sequel Ragnarok a confrontation with Thor years that have passed and a new story to tackle who really knows what's in store for us but in just a few weeks or days we'll be finding out there's every chance you're watching this video after the release of Ragnarok in which case perhaps you already know but I'm deeply excited to find out God of War Ragnarok has been an elusive game only recently has marketing ramped up and even then it's trying as hard as it can to be mysterious it seems like Sony are taking no risks when it comes to letting the story slip out for this one and I love it for that they were so uptight about marketing that I even had a whole video written out for how worried I was that there was something going on internally and the game might suffer for it yeah how wrong I was it seems the game is doing just fine and all of this was a calculated move of course we can't know for sure and everything I'm saying my age like milk but then again when do I say something that doesn't age like milk it's sort of my job at this point Ragnarok is said to be the conclusion of the north Saga meaning there is no Trilogy this time around which I don't think is a major issue God of War 3 essentially works as an extended ending to God of War 2 anyway for that I'm glad Tighter and more condensed stories are hard to come by in the AAA gaming landscape these days and I'm happy that they don't feel pressured to force out three games if two is ample we'll get more time to explore who atreus is hopefully tackle a lot of the Norse pantheon and get inclusion to this storyline everything we've seen in the trailers I'm sure barely scratches the surface of God of War Ragnarok and that is incredibly invigorating I will of course be taking the deepest of dives into Ragnarok when it comes out so if you liked this video so far I'll be doing one for Ragnarok in a similar vein although they do take a while to make so don't expect that one probably until early 2023 but subscribe and then you won't miss out like I said during the video check out untangling God of War as well as both of my mates Eddie and Mario for their content covering god of war and Ragnarok if you're a big God of War fan they're two up-and-coming channels for God of War that deserve as much love as you can give revisiting god of war with the knowledge of Ragnarok honestly makes it pretty clear how these games were conceived in tandem there are so many little pointers and hints to Ragnarok and what's to come next that it gets me very very excited they knew what direction they were going in they knew they needed to be lingering Mysteries to pick up in the sequel and the way the game is written just extinuates that God of War is clearly made with the knowledge of a sequel and that's is remarkably exciting for what's to come God of War is a game that manages to stand out without sticking out it takes what made the original trilogy work and translates it to a new genre of game that works to represent the core story themes in a way that is so complementary this game is Art in every sense of the word from the single camera shots not the first of its kind but an element that elevates the deeply personal narrative being told the gameplay that has mechanics with enough depth to keep you learning more until the credits roll exploration of a space that not only feels meaningful from a contextual point of view but a meta textual one too the world is adorned by law around every corner in the most meaningful of ways that not only work to make the world feel convincing but to build on the characters we have using the Norse myths we all know so well in using the gameplay and exploration in tandem you create an experience that keeps you guessing always learning new skills always being able to come back to areas you thought exhausted to find more collect more and grow as a character and as a player the use of nostalgia but only in the right places and ever for overly gratuitous fan service always in the service of character building nothing is done without reason and depth to every reason all of these elements and so many more work together to craft a narrative that is one of the best the medium has ever seen using tropes and familiar techniques in new ways to combine contrast and create something truly truly special I would indeed say that God of War is a masterpiece no Ark can ever be perfect that's what makes art interesting gives it character but if I ever had to use the adjective of perfect I think God of War 2018 earns that use thanks for watching sounds good always [Music] [Music] foreign thank you all so much for watching this video on God of War I started work on this a while ago um but things got away from me stuff happened it just I ended up taking way longer than I expected ended up being way longer than I expected as well like a double the length I was anticipating for this one so it just sort of happened but I am glad that I got it out before Ragnarok which is coming out in just a matter of days while I'm recording this and when the video comes out even sooner is won't it be yeah like I did say in the video I will be making a deep dive video a critical analysis video critique thing on Ragnarok when it comes out so subscribe for that to come I feel like this outro is a bit scuffed like my my shelf still that is a thing of the mess we've got this weird wide angles not normal like I I'm sorry I don't know I'm just [Music] this video has nearly killed me but I think it's really good thank you so much to everybody over on patreon if you do want to support me in making stuff like this and with all future projects patreon's the best place to do it uh 2023 is going to get a bit of an overhaul but we'll talk more about that when it happens this doesn't matter it doesn't matter right now in terms of plans for the rest of the year I've obviously got the Advent calendar coming up in December which if you don't know is something I do every single December where I upload every single day it won't be stuff like this every single day but it I I it's fun I think it's fun I like it and it's something like my core Community really enjoys so I'm looking forward to that other projects I did want to have out uh are the ac1 retrospective but I genuinely think that's going to be a next year thing now and God of War Ragnarok of course that's going to take me a bit to work on because the game is only coming out mid-november I it probably I reckon January I might be able to get out of the Ragnarok one February ac1 retrospective and then we'll [ __ ] move from there there's a lot of things happening next year it's going to be a lot but I'm gonna try and Pace myself and I'm gonna try not to put too much pressure on myself I kind of just want to also live my life too I've spent a long time putting so much pressure on myself in terms of like YouTube videos and content and I think I just need to stop doing it so much um but when I do do it put my all into it and try and make something I can be really proud of hopefully that is a viable option route to take for me I don't know thank you for watching though I won't keep you any longer though I'm very much looking forward to Ragnarok and I can't wait to see what I think of it to play it and then to get a video out like this on that because after making this oh boy I'm just so deep balls deep in God of War I cannot wait for Ragnarok and if you're watching this after Ragnarok was it good did you like it was any good what am I doing big thank you again though and I'll see you soon for Summit no for some future projects and we'll do bits and Bobs and pieces and of course a little bit of Gaming thank you everybody and I'll see you soon bye-bye

Channel: LazerzZ

Views: 901,801

Keywords: video essays, LazerzZ, gaming, god of war, ragnarok, 4 years later, 5 years later, god of war retrospective, god of war 5 years later, god of war 2018, god of war 4, god of war 2, god of war 3, kratos, atreus, loki, norse, thor, god of war ending, god of war story, god of war best game, game of a generation, mjolnir, blades of chaos, athena, analysis, critique, review

Id: cRaU8gkeiZY

Length: 140min 57sec (8457 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2022