God of War is the franchise that marked the taste for video games of many people. I would say that this is one of the first games that worked as a video game for adults where there would not be much censorship. Also, I would say that this is a faithful project that portrays so well the greek mythology at the beginning. The idea of this last feature was exceptional and original if we are talking about the previous generations. Also, this is a great example that those who make brave approaches and decisions are the ones who are going to succeed, and that is what happened to our beloved developer Santa Monica Studio which not only accomplished a great project thanks to the way they show a version of the gods from the Greek and Norse mythologies, but also to how they could adapt very well to the new generations. As I played most of the games from this franchise, I wanted to do a post about this great story they created and see how nowadays everyone knows about their games and the story of the iconic character Kratos.
Mythologies:
The main first three games of God of War are set in Greek mythology as Kratos comes from those lands. Here is where we taste the first impressions of the franchise and they did it very well. While technology keeps advancing, the more details about the culture they could show us. They could show us ancient Greek symbols, writings, clothing, and a good and honest creation of the characters. Also, we learn that Kratos is from Sparta, so we can see also details about this specific mythology in the games and why he fights so well since the beginning. Besides, we can see him using spears and shields, which are the main weapons that the Spartans must learn to use. Another interesting fact is that, in Greek culture, usually they represent important stories about the gods in some objects like a vase. Also, the design of the gods was great because they showed us a more respectful version of the designs which are so different from some movies or series we might have seen before. Here they actually transmit superiority to the point that people must obey them.
Now, talking more about their two last games which are set in Norse mythology, they demonstrate their skills by taking advantage of the advanced new technology and manage to show many cool details about this culture. And what they got is that they could show us more wonderful and awesome designs of places inspired by Norse mythology like the Tyr's Temple or the big creature Jörmundgander for example. Also, I had to say that these could be the most honest character designs we can see. I actually think that Thor and Odin would look that way and not another one because Thor especially is the main image of how an ideal Viking would look like, which would be big, fat, but robust too. And this can be of course because they used to eat a lot of meat (pigs, goats, etc.) and also drink a lot of beer (mead) as both take a relevant place in their culture and they used to do a lot of feasts. On the other hand, we can see too the Norse writings even in some puzzles.
But not just that, the clothing and armors are also well detailed and use the materials like leather too. Also now a new main weapon of Kratos is the leviathan Axe, which can be thrown and go back to the owner as Thor's hammer - Mjölnir, which design is also insane and respectful. As Thor is most known from the comic books version, is normal that people did not get used to this new image, but I like it, it reflects better how actually a Viking god should look like. Also, this Thor is more firm, reckless, and demands toughness (and this is also reflected in the designs of other Greek and Norse gods like Zeus and Hades, or Odin and Baldur). The other Asgardian characters like Odin may not bother a lot to the people and their designs were also respectful but I have to say that it was interesting to see a young version of Heimdall (I think they did it right in that too). I liked that they actually show a link between Odin and the ravens because, in Norse mythology, Odin has two ravens called Huginn and Muninn and they explore the world and collect information for him as they actually symbolize "Thought" and "Memory". Also great another association is of course Atreus (Loki) with the wolves, as in the mythology, Fenrir was actually the son of him and Angrboda.
These games are not just about the gods but also we can see and fight the mythological creatures. Some of the Greek creatures are centaurs, chimeras, cyclopes, minotaurs, cerberus, gorgons, and more. We also have titans like Gaia, Cronos, and more! On the other hand, in the Norse realms, we have the Gulon, Light Elves, Dark Elves, the Draugr (different categories), the Einherjar, Gradungrs, Huntress, Dreki, Nidhodd, Dragons, and, of course, one of the most difficult enemies to beat in the video game history - The Valkyries. Everyone loves to play these games to confront many known creatures of these two mythologies, and as the technology kept advancing, the better designs, fights, and cinematics they could create. The details from their last project which was God of War Ragnarok show us too all the paths they made to reach their success and they also demonstrate to us that they always could make these games with an insane design if they could have used the same technology from nowadays.
I can keep writing and writing about all the cultural and mythological features of these games but I would never end. But I want to also name the important characters from the series:
Greek Mythology:
Ares
Zeus
Poseidon
Hermes
Hades
Hercules
Helios
Athena
Cronos
Gaia
Pandora
Hephaestus
Era
Norse Mythology:
Atreus
Faye
Freya
Mimir
Odin
Thor
Sindri
Brok
Angrboda
Heimdall
Thrud
Sif
Freyr
Tyr
Jörmundgander
Baldur
Magni
Modi
Fenrir
And of course: Kratos!
Gameplay:
Since the beginning, we experience brutal gameplay, where there is no censorship at all. The brutality in the fighting is well expressed in all forms. Also, the awesome thing about these games is that while we go through the story we acquire unique and powerful weapons, most of them were the ones from the gods before they were killed by Kratos. So it is not just that we kill the enemies brutally, we acquire also their special weapons or their abilities if we can. Like for example the brutal death of Helios when Kratos rips off his head and keeps it to use his solar powers!
Some great weapons in Greek mythology that Kratos obtained were the Claws of Hades, The Nemean Cestus (Hercules wore them before), The Blade of Olympus, The Blades of Chaos (Ares give them to Kratos when they were not yet enemies), and so on.
As I said before, they always tried to take advantage of the technology to deliver a good experience and that is why we will always remember the brutal deaths of many gods from God of War 3. As this is a game for adults, we can see the enemy suffering, begging, and seeing how they spill a lot of blood before dying. Some iconic deaths from gods were Hermes, Poseidon, Hercules, Hades, and, as said before, Helios. Also while we fight with Kratos against the creatures and get to defeat them we can see different finishing cinematics where depending on the creature we cut parts of their bodies and we can see the organs and so on. Basically, this was a new and bold proposal and one of the few times that kids were not supposed to play a video game.
God of War 3 trailer:
Years passed and we thought there would not be another game from the God of War franchise but imagine the surprise when the first trailer of the fourth part of the series. We were so glad because not many thought there would be a day where we can see a God of War game with the new technology. But it was not only just that, now the game was open world. They didn't stop to show us their awesome skills in developing video games so they took this opportunity to create a more detailed experience where we could explore the nine realms.
They were not just skilled but also smart in changing to that format and impressing the world with this innovative gameplay with a more elaborated and interesting story. Now the story catches up more of our attention and not just the brutality from their previous games, it is a complete experience now. Their adaptability to the new generations was not a challenge to them and in this open world we can do a lot of things like collecting materials to create new awesome armors with different abilities and statistics depending on what you want. You have also skill trees to unlock more weapon abilities. Also, they knew how to deliver a different challenging experience and the game is more difficult while you advance the story but also there are the secondary missions and activities where you will fight different special and powerful enemies and bosses. Now we also have Atreus as our partner that will help us with his bow. The great success of this project lead them to win the Game of The Year Award in 2018.
God of War 4 trailer:
After that game, we could not wait to see news about its second part and it didn't disappoint when it arrived. The visuals and the cinematics are insane, even better than the previous one. It looked actually like a high-quality movie experience, everyone loved it. We can now visit the realms we couldn't go to in the previous game and explore them too. So we could fight new creatures and enemies too! There were new armors and a new weapon, now we do not only have the Blades of Chaos and the Leviathan Axe but also the Draupnir Spear. In the previous game, we have to use the Blades and Leviathan to solve some puzzles depending on what we needed, ice or fire, now the same goes for the spear. Also in both of them, some specific enemies only have an effect with one of the weapons.
God of War 5 Ragnarok trailer:
Putting all the games together we experienced at the end a high-quality interactive experience where there is a lot of character development.
They took the two most interesting mythologies, cultures, and religions of the world to make one of the best stories and narratives in the gaming industry!!
Topics:
As everyone should know, the main topic at the beginning was vengeance. They combine that with a lot of rage. Kratos just wanted to have vengeance for everything he went through since the death of his family. He was willing to do anything in order to achieve that no matter who was in his way. That format delivers the brutal gaming experience many people loved!
But after that, they were very bold to change that and deliver a new version of Kratos who learned from his mistakes and does not want his son to take the same path he did. The new father-son relationship topic sympathizes a lot with the audience and delivers an interesting story where Kratos teaches everything he knows to Atreus. These last two games communicate to us that Kratos regrets everything he did, and that vengeance blinded him. Seeing how the bond between both was growing captivated the people, so I think this new proposal was of course the right one.
Bold approach since the beginning:
I believe that sometimes these games can make you think a lot in general because many people imagine gods as perfect entities but here they make a lot of mistakes and some of them are not actually good. I do not believe in gods, but I think, if they exist, maybe they would not be as described in the books whether in the aspect or personality. They can be there just observing us without a good or bad purpose too.
What is next?
I liked how God of War Ragnarok ended and maybe it is ok to give it a closure. If they keep bringing new projects to the series, it may make the people just tired. What I would do is just bring a DLC maybe to see how Atreus ends his story and if he and Sindri can make the peace - little things like that.
Conclusion:
God of War would be one of the games that change the gaming industry by bringing bold proposals to a specific segment. Santa Monica Studio gave everything in these projects that people will always remember. These games can also inspire people to learn more about the history of the two cultures and their mythologies. A complete interactive experience!
It was a shame that their best video game which would be Ragnarok have a fierce opponent in the Game Awards of 2022, which it would be Elden Ring, but I think this is something great because it means there is a high level of competition between the studios and that they are many developers that love to bring big and ambitious proposals!
Other God of War games:
God of War: Betrayal (2007): Mobile game set in an alternate version between God of War Ghost of Sparta and God of War II
God of War: Chains Of Olympus (2008): This takes place before God of War when Kratos was still serving the gods.
God of War: Ghost Of Sparta (2010): Takes place between God of War and God of War II
God of War: Ascension (2013): Takes place before God of War - after Kratos kills his family.
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