Why does God of War (2018) Matter?

Why does a game about killing Greek and Norse gods, fighting all manner of creatures and dragging along a little kid for a ride matter?

Each of these matter to the narrative of God of War (2018), the reboot to the story we all knew too well. 

Recently, I was asked why I enjoyed video games. Was it the gameplay, narrative, or something else? After thinking about it, I decided it was a mixture of all of these. A good, cohesive game must have good gameplay mechanics, a story to justify why you are doing what you are. 

Right now I am replaying God of War (2018) and I am diving back into the story of Kratos and Atreus. 

So, why does God of War matter?

It shows the importance of dealing with your past, instead of ignoring it.

Yes, okay, before you click away, hear me out. We all know the Joel’s of the recent video games, the tight-lipped father figure with some history and an (either surrogate or actual) child and they have a journey ahead of them. Although The Last of Us was not the first to do the protector troupe, it is one of the most well-known of the bunch. 

God of War 3 is the obvious choice for Kratos dealing with his past –– rather directly –– but God of War brings an emotional depth of Kratos that he lacked in the previous games, and not from the fault of the games or the developers, but rather it is Kratos who grows from his previous experiences and matures rather than acting in his own selfish desires and revenge.

Kratos is now forced to deal with his past and that is one of the major themes of the game. The idea that “which one do you care more about: your child or your past?” was mentioned multiple times from different characters within the game — memorably by Mimir who says “you value your privacy more than your son?”

An ode to dealing with trauma and everything it affects, God of War grapples with the idea of godhood to an unbeknownst character, the son to Kratos. Throughout the story, Kratos withholds the information that he himself is a god and that his son is one as well. This comes to a head when Atreus has a grievous illness caused by his father’s nature. In the toughest moment between the two characters, Kratos tells his son that he is a god and the boy responds “so… can I turn into a wolf?”

God of War shows the depth and the extent of storytelling within video games and does so in a beautiful and skillful manner. It pushes the boundaries of a hack-and-slash franchise to pulling at players heartstrings at the same time. So, why does God of War matter? It matters because if you can tell a story and pull characterization out of a deeply beloved franchise such as God of War while having old players and new players alike rave that this is the greatest game of it’s console generation, then such a game should matter, to players and non-players alike.