A Necessary Journey.

I first bought God of War (2018) sometime in 2021, and I had been aware of the game for some time, seeing clips on YouTube of boss fights and some of the storyline. I had some interest in the franchise before, as I had played God of War Ascension on my dad’s PlayStation 3. It had been a few years since the game first came out. I believe I first started it in the latter half of the pandemic, so I technically had all the time in the world to immerse myself.

When I first opened the game, I was immediately enticed by the score and the scenery. The story first starts with the main character, Kratos, collecting wood and preparing for a funeral pyre for his deceased spouse with his son, Atreus, famously called ¨Boy¨ by Kratos and posthumously tasked to spread her ashes in the Nordic realm of Jotumheim. I do not want to spoil the story, but Kratos is forced to navigate the burdens of fatherhood and his environment. Atreus asks intrusive questions of Kratos, struggles with tasks that seem simple to adults, and grows emotional with confrontation, all to Kratos´s anger and frustration, which accelerates the divide between them.

The tension reaches a breaking point when Atreus learns of something that boosts his ego. Without guidance, that knowledge intoxicates him. He grows arrogant and careless, treating others as lesser and ignoring Kratos´s warnings. It eventually backfires heavily on Atreus, and Kratos learns as a parent to instill a path of knowledge and understanding with timing and guidance, which serves better as protection compared to withholding the truth.

Kratos eventually opens up about his past. Instead of leading with anger, he chooses his words carefully, revealing his history as a man with a broken and violent past, as a warning rather than a confession. He does not excuse his actions, nor does he glorify. By waiting for the right moment, Kratos gives Atreus the chance to learn from his mistakes rather than inherit them, where his fatherhood overtakes his fear.

By the end of the game, Kratos hasn´t mastered patience, but he´s learned of its value. He listens more than commanding. He allows Atreus to walk ahead, make choices, and simply be a child rather than a mini-me. The storyline reframes itself over time, not as a quest to scatter his wife’s ashes, but as a slow education in parenthood, showing that a child isn´t something to make strong, but to guide into something better than you will ever be.

“Still A God” by AndrewCull is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

“Atreus” by AndrewCull is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.