By Gerassimos Digaletos

God Of War

(20 years together)

       Since 22Mar/2025 one of the tensest and combat-involved storyline videogame franchise, God of War, has officially proudly become 20 years old!!. So, I believe it is worth taking a deep dive to the whole story of this wonderful franchise. Our main protagonist is Kratos, a spartan warrior full of strength and will for vengeance firstly connected only on Greek mythology, but then in Nordic? Without further ado, lets dive in Kratos’ story.(this article will be split in two following categories)

Greek Era

This era consists of 3 game God of War 1, 2 and 3 (creative names) taking place in Greek Mythology. In these we learn Kratos was an ex-Spartan warrior and in an unfortunate fight with the barbarians he offers his soul and freedom to Ares provided that he will save him and his people. He eventually saves him, gives him the blades of chaos and makes him a slave. ^{(G.O.W 1)} However Ares didn’t want a pal, he wanted a controllable warrior, so he drives Kratos in a state of madness, in order to kill his wife and daughter, something that will haunt him forever (moral of the story, don’t give your souls to Greek Gods). So, without letting Ares get away with that, Kratos becomes the little helper of the Gods who help him gear up to destroy the sarcastic, psychotic killer named Ares. Something worth to be noted is that Kratos is not the happiest or most enthusiastic character, on the contrary, he is rough, tough and angry. After around 5 hours of gameplay, he gets to pandora’s box and takes his vengeance although without getting his memories erased. Just as he is ready to jump from Mount Olympus, he becomes the God of War as a reward, yippee!

 ^{(G.O.W 2)} But wait, there is more, after Kratos becomes an uncontrollable and too strong God, some dozens of years later (in the games timeline), Zeus decides to make him a mortal again and he would be dead if not for the Titans who also want revenge from the Pantheon. So, he does little missions and goes to the sisters of fate to become a God again and now we are stopped because there is another game that needs to be produced

^{(G.O.W 3)} Third time is the charm they say, and I very much agree, now Kratos full of rage starts to destroy every god that comes in his way without always wanting though to do so. But everything starts to change when he meets a child, Pandora, which if he wants to destroy Zeus once and for all must be sacrificed. But Kratos won’t let it happen as he now has feelings for her. Unfortunately, she does it herself and gives Kratos all the power to destroy Zeus, heartbroken by a woman twice, and given the biggest power that he didn’t understand, as he thought her sacrifice went into nothing. It takes time but he finally understands the power of hope and uses it to put an end to the cycle once and for all by killing his father (that’s when we learn Zeus is his father). After talking with the only surviving Pantheon God, Athena, he understands that the day he opened the box to get revenge from Ares he took only the good-hearted powers and the evil ones got to Zeus, that’s why he was a little aggressive. Athina wants the power Kratos holds, proving all Gods are a little selfish but he stabs himself and gives his power to the ancient Greeks.

Nordic Era

^{(G.O.W. 2018)} It has been almost 7 years, its 2018 and Sony Santa Monica, the studio, gives us back Kratos who left his home country to find redemption, this time in Norse Mythology, getting married and having a son named after his Spartan co-warrior, “Atreus”.  The game starts with his wife’s tragic death, yeah, I think he has a curse or something. The creators now have a different approach for Kratos with him   becoming a father finally in a peaceful state but without getting rid of his rough personality. The whole story is about spreading his wife’s ashes from the top of the largest mountain which will get him know his son and forgive himself for everything after again killing a dangerous messenger-God full of hatred sent by Odin.

God of War Ragnarok, finally a creative name! Here After Kratos’ son learns he is Greek and a demi God he tries to understand who he is with the help of his father while also preventing a world destroying event that will turn them all into Swiss cheese. Odin who was introduced before by the previous game, who is a cheap knock-off of Zeus, the father of Gods makes a comeback. He is like an enthusiastic learner, he wants answers without considering the cost. Using Thor, the god of thunder he wants to take out Kratos but Thor, after getting harassed by Odin, becomes an Ally to Kratos for the shake of his daughter and Atreus. Odin is taken down and Kratos the ex-destroyer finally finds peace and becomes the God of Hope.

To Sum up, God of War isn’t just a game that gets us boys through various emotions, although it does, but an epic “poem” teaching us about forgiveness redemption and the importance of life being spent with becoming something better. Proving that no one is made only in one way and that the pathway of self-forgiveness is hard but worth it. It is certainly a wonderful story and you know for sure I am tuned in to play the upcoming sequel, which is supposed to be in Egypt, which I also believe will lead them back to Greece, but it is too early for assumptions.

Sources used for this article

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_(franchise)
• https://www.playstation.com/en-gr/editorial/the-playstation-guide-to-god-of-war/
• https://www.techradar.com/news/god-of-war-review
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/God-of-War