[ENG] God of War (2018) - Review

(Minor spoilers ahead, any bigger will be marked)

(I think I don't have to tell this but - review contains my feelings and thoughts about the game, and after reading this - reader should decide for himself if the game sounds cool to him or not really)

God of War (also called God of War 4 / God of War (2018))is the reboot of a famous, PlayStation exclusive franchise called (no surprise here) God of War. It was released in the first half of 2018 (on 20th of April to be precise) exclusively on PlayStation 4 and almost instantly earned the praise and gratitude in the whole gaming community. Earning maximum ratings from various magazines and forums, with 94/100 on Metacritic.
Produced by Santa Monica Studio and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the God of War series, since it's latest release in 2013 - God of War: Ascension on PlayStation 3 - awaited for the return of Kratos and... Holy Ancient Greece, the return in 2018 took a beautiful and truly unexpected twist...

Kratos, after killing practically everything from the Greek Mythology escaped to the North, far, far into the North - seeking peace and trying to escape from his past. He finds love, a woman called Faye, both of them have a son - Atreus. Kratos hides his true nature [that he is a God] and the past from both his wife and son. The game begins when Faye passes away and Kratos determined to fulfill her final wish - spread her ashes from the highest peak of all nine worlds [more about it in a second]. Throughout the whole game, Kratos and Atreus will meet many representations from Norse Mythology - Odin, Thor, Freya, Jörmungandr, Skadi and much, much more. Change of the mythology and the whole mechanics of the game itself was more than a brilliant idea. But the game wasn't critically acclaimed solely by the fresh look on the God of War series or new mythology (although it was a strong factor), but there is one thing that makes God of War the game everyone should play at some point...

The relation between Kratos and Atreus, father and son. It is a pure masterpiece - throughout the game, the bond between the two slowly gets stronger, with many obstacles along the way - at the start, Atreus is weak, he barely knows how to hunt as Kratos rarely was at home and he trained under the keen eye of his mother, Faye. During the first few hours, Kratos always tells Atreus to do better, to aim better, to be more precise etc. - he tells it after every single enemy encounter. But as the game progresses, Kratos starts to appreciate Atreus, telling him that he's done a good job, that he's getting better etc. For a really long time, it truly looks that Kratos doesn't care about Atreus - but many points in the story show that it's not true. Kratos teaches Atreus how to control his rage, how to become a steady, powerful warrior. There is one small thing - Kratos never calls his son 'son', he always calls him as 'Atreus' or 'Boi' (which became a huge meme back in the day). It also looks like Atreus hates his father - but certain point in the game also indicates that it's not true. I... This relation cannot be expressed enough in words, trust me - it's a experience, one has to see for him/herself. Kratos hates Gods, at the same time being one. Relation between Kratos and Atreus isn't the only parent-child relation in the game, but I promised minor spoilers and telling anything more would be a huge one...

The game is set in Realm of Midgard, one of the nine worlds in the Norse Mythology - and most of the time will be spent here, but - I said most, not all. Throughout the story, we will visit several other worlds - Alfheim (The Realm of Light); Niflheim (The Realm of Fog); Muspelheim (The Realm of Fire); Helheim (The Realm of the Dead) - each one of them presents new set of challenges and obstacles, new skills and enemies etc. Although only Alfheim and Helheim and accessible by story, Muspelheim and Niflheim have to be accessed by finding 4 Pieces of Rune Codes from each language, those pieces and be found in rare, Purple Chests hidden within the Realms. (Although, if you want to experience the best boss fight in the game in my opinion, you better visit all of these worlds and sometimes return to them later).
Other Realms can be accessed by using the Yggdrasill, the famous world tree from the Norse Mythology, placed in middle of the Lake of Nine in Midgard (you will be visiting Lake of Nine really, really often)...

I want to tell a brief word about sound design. The music is beautiful - it catches the God of War climate perfectly - but the sound design isn't about music only. I played half of the game in Polish dubbing and other half in English - both of them are phenomenal, filled with emotions and powerful words, many small stories (told after certain point in the game by the sage) and occasional jokes. There is one thing that I love about this game - no loading screens, once you load the game - you don't have to wait anymore...

One of the biggest changes is the whole combat system and Kratos' weaponry. Instead of being pure slasher like previous entries, combat here is more... Dark Souls-like, with parries, methodical fight and dodges. Variety of enemies makes fighting much more interesting, some of the tougher enemies need a bit of tactic and smart use of mechanics to conquer. The main weapon however changes - it's not Blades of Chaos anymore, since the first minutes of the game Kratos wields Leviathan, an axe that is powerful, plus Kratos can throw it and call it back. After certain point in the game, Kratos is forced to uncover the echoes of his past and reach for the Blades again, although Leviathan is better in many situations. He also wields a shield in his left hand, allowing him to block and parry incoming attacks. Duh, if you want you can fight with your fists which isn't as stupid as it initially seems. In the game, runes can be found and mounted into weapons - they unlock special, really powerful attacks that can be used once every several seconds. Leveling system has also been changed, Kratos' level scales with the equipment he is using. New equipment can be found or forged at dwarven blacksmiths - mounting runes and upgrading armor slowly boosts the level of Kratos. Although the biggest change in fighting system is Atreus, he can shoot arrows at enemies, jump on them and hold them steady and draw attention from the enemies, and you will be using his bow really often as it's free boost to overall damage. The fights give you experience, which can be spent on new skills - it's a bit confusing that experience here doesn't equal leveling, but you can get used to it pretty quickly...

Boss fights are mostly interesting and creative (except repetitive ones like The Ancients or The Trolls), but I have to give the credit to Valkyries. Valkyries are the hidden bosses that can be accessed after certain point in the game, they are incredibly strong and will very often decimate Kratos on the first meeting. Each has different attacks and mechanics to learn and sometimes use against them, Although... The Queen of the Valkyries becomes by favorite boss in newest God of War, the whole fight is intense (and Queen's health bar is frickin' gargantuan) and requires incredible reflex and knowledge of the combat system from you (although, I don't understand one thing - many people told how hard she is etc. and I conquered her on my fourth encounter... Maybe it was my luck, or maybe I learned how to counter most of her attacks quickly but I loved the fight nonetheless). The fight itself is very rewarding and beautifully finishes the Valkyries' storyline...

In the game world there are many environmental puzzles that often require either help of Atreus or clever usage of Leviathan (or occasionally both) to pass through, sometimes they are required to progress through the story, but mostly they lead to hidden chests or other rewards. There are also Nornir Chests that contain either Health Upgrade fragments or Rage Upgrade fragments (There are 9 fragments of each upgrade, split into 3 upgrades, long story short - 3 times 3 fragments, after each time you get a small upgrade), but to unlock them you have to either ring three hidden bells in quick succession or destroy three stone seals. Even the simplest collectibles that in most games are annoying, have a smal stories that expand your knowledge about Norse Mythology.
The journal contains all small information, bosses, enemies, tips etc. But the journal is written by Atreus, who often gives a small comment about it underneath the text or writes something like 'He can be stunned by father's axe or my arrow' - it's a small thing, but looking at the relation of father and son - that small thing is amazing...

[HEAVY SPOILER ZONE! - EXPLAINING LAST HOUR OF THE STORY, READ ONLY IF YOU COMPLETED THE GAME/YOU KNOW HOW IT ENDS]

The last fight with Baldur is an amazing display of skill and beautiful showcase of how Kratos and Atreus' bond have evolved through the game. The fight itself is truly intense, finishing the long story of Baldur trying to hunt down Kratos and Boi, it's split into three fazes, with each one being an unique fighting experience and test of your knowledge about the combat system. Freya having the Stockholm Syndrome tries to stop you both, but then Baldur tries to kill her. Kratos rescues her, and yet - she curses him for eternity, hating him, telling him that he's a wild monster. Kratos reveals to Atreus that he killed his own father, Zeus; that he has killed many innocent people; that he comes from a land far far away called Sparta... Beautiful moment, a true showcase of how Kratos bonded with Atreus...

After they arrive at Jotunheim, at the highest peak, when they begin to spill Faye's ashes - Atreus gives the ashes to Kratos, to which he responds that they will do it together. And... For the first time in the whole game, Kratos doesn't call Atreus by his name, nor by Boi. He calls him son - I literally cried here, it was so powerful, heartwarming moment at the end...

At the very end, when the credits start to roll - it's revealed that Faye wanted to call Atreus 'Loki' (although it's a bit conflicting with Norse Mythology so it should be taken with a grain of salt). We also finally get to know the meaning behind the name Atreus - Kratos tells that it's after Atreus of Sparta, a warrior that was always smiling, his smile was reminding the Spartans that despite being forced to fight, they have humanity in themselves. Kratos brought the dead Atreus of Sparta home, and his memory was accompanying him during the hard times - beautiful story about Boi's name...

[END OF SPOILER ZONE!]

God of War (2018) is a beautiful game, presenting an amazing relation and bond between father and son. One of the best exclusives available on PlayStation 4, and with the title being moved to PlayStation Hits series on PlayStation Store - you can get this amazing experience for a really low price. I truly recommend for everyone to play (or if you don't want to spend money on PlayStation 4 to play only this one game - to watch the entire game and observe the beautiful relation of Kratos and Atreus). I knew that this title was really critically acclaimed, but only now I was able to see and understand why. This is one of the best, if not the best reboot I have ever seen. The change of mythology, weaponry and combat system of God of War was in my opinion a risky take, but it was executed really well. If another God of War will be released on the upcoming PlayStation 5, and if I will own aforementioned console - I already know what game I will buy and play as the first. 

Kind Regards,

Wing.