Awesome / God of War (PS4)

WARNING: Spoilers Off applies to Awesome Moments pages.

"Leave! MY! HOME!"

Kratos might no longer be the Greek God of War, but he hasn't quite lost all of his touch yet.

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• The E3 2016 reveal, it starts off with a live orchestra — conducted by the game's composer Bear McCreary — playing what will be the main theme for the game to set the mood. Then the curtain raises to introduce Atreus, playing with his toys before being called into the house, when inside the man steps out of the shadows to the cheers of the audience, it's Kratos with a beard and a scar from where he had pierced the Blade of Olympus into himself. The scene changes to live gameplay by Cory Barlog himself controlling Kratos in a modified version of the first stage of the actual game, while the live orchestra plays along to the scenes shown. The end of the demo shows a wide shot of the world they will travel in, with a dragon flying over them to end it and reveal the title card. It has been considered one of the greatest game reveals ever.
  Kratos: Now you are ready.
  Atreus: For what?
  Kratos: A new beginning.
• The first boss fight, between Kratos and the Stranger (revealed later to be the Norse god Baldur). It's one of the few times that Kratos faces an enemy that can match him blow for blow. Heck, the ENTIRE fight between the Spartan and the Stranger is a CMOA in its entirety.
  • The introduction of the Stranger himself. A reed-thin, tattoo-covered nobody standing about a full foot shorter than Kratos, and giving shades of just being some guy looking for a fight. He punches Kratos after being warned before Kratos punches him back. He buckles down, seemingly out. Then, after regaining himself, he uppercuts Kratos so hard he launches the Spartan several dozen feet into the sky. It's at this point that the player realizes that the Stranger isn't just some cocky Norseman punching above his weight class, but rather, a dangerous foe capable of not only matching Kratos, but damn near beating him.
    The Stranger: Fine… My turn.
  • Kratos himself also gets a moment of awesome for, shockingly enough, NOT being violent for once. As he's trying to conquer his own personal issues and move on, he brushes off the Stranger's initial insults and even a slap to the face, whereas in the past he likely would have tried to immediately pound the man to paste. Of course, once Kratos's button has been pushed and he's had enough, he delivers an absolutely chilling line. One which the Stranger passes on in favor of doubling down on his intent to fight the Spartan:
    Kratos: Leave... My... Home.
    The Stranger: You... are going to have to kill me for that to happen.
  • Even after getting launched clear across his house and then smashed into his own roof, when Kratos realizes the Stranger might target Atreus, he quickly reverses the situation, pinning the man down and proceeding to reiterate his previous warning in between hard strikes to his opponent's face.
    Kratos: LEAVE. MY. HOME!
  • Right after this, after caving in a section of the roof, the Stranger quickly retaliates by delivering a suplex to Kratos, then kicking him in the stomach hard enough to knock him several meters away and through tree trunks, all while remaining his assured, cocky self.
    The Stranger: Struck a nerve, did I?
  • Kratos doesn't even turn to face him after getting up from this attack, instead, he grabs a fallen tree trunk and uses it like a massive bat to smack the Stranger back the way he came before proceeding to make a running lunge that plows through another tree trunk and into the side of a cliff.
  • Finally, after all that punishment and still not getting the answer he wants, the Stranger knocks Kratos down and then shows off his impressive Healing Factor that restores him to full working order in no time.
    The Stranger: So... Care to try again?
  • Kratos gets up again and lands a few solid hits before the Stranger strafes around in front of him, lands several small, rapid strikes directly to the Spartan's face, and then slams into him with his shoulder, and carves a tunnel in the solid rock with Kratos' body from the impact.
  • One of the highlights of the fight, though, is when the Stranger again taunts Kratos about going back to look for Atreus inside the house. This prompts a new meter under the health bar to begin gradually filling up. And once it does, both the Stranger and we, the audience realize that Kratos has finally stopped holding back.
    Spartan Rage Available
  • Upon giving into his infamous, god-slaying rage, Kratos forces his way out of the cliff, lands a solid right hook right to the Stranger's face that sends him flying into a far-off tree, then pins him to said tree before punching him again, which destroys the entire section of trunk behind his head before ripping the rest of the tree down and using it as a battering ram to shove the Stranger all the way through the rest of the cliff to the other side.
  • After thinking that he's defeated his opponent by dropping a massive obelisk on him, Kratos doesn't walk very far before the Stranger tosses the large structure directly at him. Then they engage in the brawler lock depicted above, the force of their mutual godly might causing the landscape around to crack and shake under an earthquake. And in the midst of it, the Stranger shows how much of an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight Determinator he is.
    The Stranger: When Odin sent me here, I just needed answers. But you!... You had to act all proud. Throw whatever you have at me, I'll keep coming. That old body will give out. But before I end this... I want you to know one thing. I can't feel... any of this.
  • Once he breaks the brawler lock, the Stranger lands an uppercut on Kratos hard enough to send him several stories high in the air. And if you look closely enough, you'll see the screen get very foggy for a brief moment. He hit the Spartan hard enough that Kratos was sent into the layer of clouds in the sky.
  • The second fight against Baldur, which is Kratos going full Papa Wolf while fighting across a dragon's back in flight:
    Kratos (as he's beating the shit out of the Stranger): STAY! AWAY! FROM! MY! SON!
  • The final battle is noteworthy, as it has Kratos and Atreus in perfect union as a badass father-and-son fighting duo collectively giving the guy a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of epic proportions.
    • Special mention goes to Atreus several times during the battle, while in the air or during mid-fall, firing arrows into Baldur with perfect control. At one point Kratos throws Atreus in the air with the latter readjusting himself mid-air to fire another arrow at Baldur. Keep in mind this was the boy who, at the very beginning of the game, struggled to hit a huge deer with his bow from a standstill position. By the end of the game he could give Robin Hood a run for his money.
• Though funny how about the fact that Sindri in his first meeting with Kratos outright THREATENS THE GOD OF WAR TO HIS FACE, and giving the way he's shaking he knows exactly how outclassed he is and still does it.
  • The fact that Sindri lives after threatening the God of War shows just how far Kratos's character development has come. He lets the threat slide.
  • Doubly awesome is also Sindri's reason for doing this, "I am... Well... Quite fond of her. And I would be somewhat... displeased if you did anything to her." Good gods, that is dedication there.
  • The reunion of the Huldra Brothers is another moment for Sindri: He takes the initiative to reunite with Brok, coincidentally arriving to explain just how to build the key Kratos and Atreus need for Tyr's temple. Brok is dismissive, asking Sindri where they can find the skap slag they would need. Sindri, who had been looking for the material earlier in the story, pulls a fist-sized chunk from his satchel, explaining to a surprised Brok that he "had to get his hands dirty." Brok is impressed enough to team up with Sindri again.
• The introduction of Mimir into the game is one in and of itself for the titular sage. All others of his station in previous God of War entries have been little more than sacrificial lambs, mewling and sobbing for freedom or death to be released from their torment. Not Mimir. While he's not keen on sticking around in this tree for Odin's next torture session, he won't let that stop him from being so casually dismissive of the Stranger when the latter comes sniffing around to dig info out of him, with the sons of Thor as additional muscle:
  The Stranger: Tell me what I want to know, and I'll talk to Odin...
  Mimir: Your father won't let me go, Baldur, and he won't let you kill me. You have nothing to offer me. So take your questions, take your threats, take these two worthless wankers, and piss off.
  • It gets even better. If you pay attention to what Mimir is telling the Stranger before the above line, you'll realize he's straight-up roasting him over his inability to feel!
    Mimir: Well well well, it's the drunken raider who can't actually get drunk. How're you feelin' these days, lad? ...Oh sorry, touchy subject... Well then, enjoy any good meals lately? No? How about some truly depraved whoring? Surely, you've had some fun rolling around under the skins with a nice, buxom lass! ...Oh hey, what season is it? Is it getting colder? Hard to tell when you're embedded in a tree. Tell me, are the chill winds blowing in from the east yet?
  • Adding to it, while he fails to convince him to reveal the truth to Atreus, Mimir does convince Kratos that going to Jotunheim is the duo's best bet to complete their quest, since it's the one place Baldur won't follow them. Appealing to Kratos' Spartan sensibilities is what moves the old god of war to ask what to do.
• The fight against Hræzlyr is pretty awesome too. Hræzlyr is a giant lightning breathing dragon whose fight is an awesome reminder of Kratos' previous monster-slaying adventures. Several highlights include Kratos plunging into Hræzlyr's mouth and hacking at its tongue, and the awesome finisher the god inflicts on the monster.
  • And as mentioned on the Heartwarming page, saving Sindri from Hræzlyr is the first genuinely heroic thing Kratos has ever done - there's no negative consequences, and nobody innocent dies.
  • Even more interesting is that Hræzlyr has no obvious weakpoints in his hide to strike at. So how does Kratos kill him? Make weakpoints by throwing highly explosive crystallized Yddrasil sap at the dragon's head.
• Atreus has an Offscreen Moment of Awesome that proves he's worthy of his lineage. After Kratos returns from the pillar of light, it turns out that he was gone far longer than a few moments. During that time, Atreus killed a veritable army of Dark Elves, the platform littered with their bodies.
  • Atreus's progress is astounding. At the very beginning, he plays Annoying Arrows straight, just dealing enough to distract enemies so Kratos can get a blow in. With certain choices in his skill tree, he can be killing low level enemies on your way up the first mountain.
• Jormungandr's first appearance. Kratos just realized his axe won't come back to his hand, and there's a honest-to-God Kaiju spitting it in the boat. The characters could be held within its eye. Maybe it doesn't reach its mythic height, but truly the creature doesn't shame its nickname of World-Serpent.
  • Oh, and Mimir explains the World Serpent exists in the present because it fought so intensely with Thor at Ragnarök, Time itself was shattered and sent the beast to the past. Kratos killed his entire pantheon, but his grandson made physics itself his bitch!
  • His Big Damn Heroes moment against the giant corpse about to freeze Kratos and Atreus solid. You wouldn't believe such a huge beast could move so quickly.
  • What's more, according to Mimir, the World Serpent being sent back in time is what allows him to grow to his massive size for his battle with Thor. Kratos may have kick started Ragnarok ahead of schedule, but it's entirely possible that Jormungandr is still growing (either at a steady pace or in bursts) and could potentially get even bigger.
• The return of The Blades of Chaos is appropriately amazing as Kratos has shown that even though he prefers the Leviathan Axe, he can still use these things to kill those that dare to threaten his family.
  • Watching the body language of Kratos adds another layer onto it. Kratos is clearly scared by what he's about to do. But he's going to do it anyway because he loves his son.
  • As Kratos is wrapping the Blades' chains on his arms, who should show up but Athena, to taunt him about how futile Kratos' chance at redemption is. Athena mocks Kratos with a Hannibal Lecture. Kratos will have none of it.
    Athena: There's nowhere you can hide, Spartan. Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want, it changes nothing. Pretend to be everything you are not: teacher, husband, father. ...But there is one unavoidable truth you will never escape: You cannot change. You will always be... a monster.
    Kratos: I know... but I am your monster no longer.
    (Kratos strides through the doorway as the Blades of Chaos flare to life once more, not as the God he was in the past, not as the father he wanted to be, but as something... better, and banishes Athena's spirit)
  • Throughout the speech, Kratos is trying to ignore Athena's taunts as she calls him a fraud as a husband and teacher, but the moment she implies he is not even a real father, Kratos instantly glares daggers at her.
    • It's left unclear as to whether this is really Athena's spirit or simply Kratos' inner turmoil and doubt manifesting as her. Credit where it's due if it's the former, however, as it's been... what... several hundred years and she's still lingering on after death, if only as a figment. Only Kratos has, so far, managed that.
  • The best thing about the Blades of Chaos? They use the same moveset from the previous games, like Kratos never lost a step.
    • Props to the game developers for managing to retain the feel of wielding the Blades of Chaos across entirely different combat systems.
• The World Serpent speaks an ancient, long dead tongue predating most of mankind that only ONE other person Mimir, the smartest man in the world and also a god even knows how to speak - and Mimir can only do it fluently while drunk. By the end of the game, after only a few limited exchanges, Atreus has picked up enough of this long-dead language to talk to the World Serpent and ask him to save them from a reanimated Frost Giant being controlled by Freya himself!
  • Kratos' reaction deserves a mention too. When Atreus says he has an idea and suddenly starts talking the Ancient Tongue, Kratos confusedly says "Boy?" at this, when he realizes his son just spoke to the World Serpent that results in the snake lunging in to help them, to which Kratos can only give a stunned "Well done, boy!"
  • What's more awesome is that it literally shows up from out of nowhere and lunges at the reanimated frost giant hard enough to take its head off. Remember, the World Serpent had taken a beating from Baldur just before this battle began, but the second Atreus call for help, he darted in to help quickly in spite of it.
  • Even more awesome is that after the revelation at the end, you find out that Atreus is Loki. The world serpent is his son from the future, so it was a 3-generation team-up.
  • Notice how Atreus's eyes starts glowing for a few seconds as he calls for The World Serpent.
• Sure, it might be gutwrenching, but Christopher Judge manages to get the old Kratos's bloodlust and rage obsession perfectly for the two lines and screams during the torments of Helheim, given his portrayal of Kratos the rest of the time being that of the calmer, restrained father.
• Atreus' willingness to call his own father out when he feels he deserves it. He respects the man and does as he's told, but he sure as hell doesn't fear him.
  Atreus: (in a comically deep voice) Boy, read this! Boy, what's that say? (normal voice) Only time you want to talk to me is when you need someth-
  Kratos: Do you want to tell me something?
  Atreus: I said the only time you care to talk to me is when you need me to translate for you!
  • And despite Kratos snapping back at him for it, a few moments later he clearly attempts to apologize, even calling him by his name.
• Atreus spends the midpoint of the game slowly turning into an arrogant, selfish, cruel and surly brat after learning he is a god... and it culminates in a fight with Baldur that not only destroys the gateway to Jötunheim, but also strands him, Mimir and his father in Helheim. Kratos, who is at this point exhausted, nursing wounds from Baldur AND Atreus, rightfully pissed off and completely sick of his son's shit, drags Atreus out of a pile of rubble and proceeds to berate him in the most epic, satisfying way. As a result, it is hard not to feel satisfied at his well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and it is finally what snaps Atreus out of it.
  Kratos: You will listen to me and not speak a word. I am your father, and you, boy, are not yourself. You are too quick to temper. You are rash, insubordinate, and OUT OF CONTROL. This will not stand. You will honor your mother and abandon this path you have chosen. It is not too late.
  (Kratos drags Atreus to his feet)
  Kratos: This discussion is far from over. We are here because of you, boy. Never forget that.
• Any time you defeated a Valkyrie, with each one of them could be considered That One Boss if you do not know the pattern or do not react quick enough to their attacks. Especially if you defeated all of them and gets to fight Queen Sigrun herself, the toughest boss in the game, who will put your skills to the ultimate test as she rains hell on you with all the attacks of every previous Valkyrie you have fought. Finally defeating her at long last (and you'll have to earn that victory) will make you feel like a true God of War, even on lowest difficulty.
  • The Valkyries themselves also deserve props because they're fighting Kratos, the man who single-handedly tore down the Greek pantheon, and yet every single one of them is more than capable of making the Ghost of Sparta fight for his life.
• Kratos and Atreus defeat a dragon, which topples down to it's death - it's open mouth lands either side of Kratos, which Kratos just stood there as if to say "Land on me, I dare you". The God of War still has it, despite being about 300 now!
  • As the dragon falls, Kratos moves slightly to the left as to not let the dragon's mouth crush him. It's a nice Call-Back as he learned his lesson following his fight with the Colossus of Rhodes.
    • A subtle detail adding to this is how Kratos steadily cranks his neck and head. If fighting Baldur was a rude awakening after centuries of inactivity, this was a warm up or workout to finally get his body loose.
• Kratos flipping the entire Upside-Down Temple on it's axis so that they can enter the place. The sheer scale of the temple when you see it rotating to the other side is a nice reminder of just how strong Kratos really is when he was not under Gameplay and Story Segregation and is indeed the same person who brute forced his way out of getting crushed by the Titans particularly Cronos. Word of God even stated that the reason why he is so strong during the cinematics and the quick time events and yet struggle to open the chests was that if they applied his actual strength to the gameplay, there wouldn't be much of a game outside of the bosses.
• Magni and Móði's boss fight, while not as epic as The Stranger's or Hræzlyr's. They still prove their worth as a boss fight since Kratos and Atreus have to fight both of them at the same time and beat the remaining brother before the incapacitated one finishes regenerating. The Snowblind is also awesome since you have to be back-to-back with Atreus while keeping an eye out for Magni and Móði, who will start doing fake-outs during the second phase to catch you off guard. The music is bombastic and their strategies become more frantic and electric with each phase.
  • Extra points go to Magni for the intro to the fight, as he effortlessly fights an Ogre and throws its corpse aside into the chasm.
  • During the second Snowblind, Mimir gets a pretty good one. This also doubles as a funny moment:
    Magni: The Sons of Thor are willing to destroy you.
    Mímir: The Sons of Thor are welcome to try!
    Kratos: HEAD!
    Mímir: Sorry. Overstepped, yeah?
  • Kratos killing Magni isn't just a satisfying fatality. The fact of the matter is that Magni was actually meant to survive Ragnarok. You know, the End of the World as We Know It? Kratos just goes right ahead and spits on the son of Thor's literal fate by putting that axe between his eyes.
• In the final fight, Atreus shows he is definitely his father's son by improvising. At one point he falls and Kratos catches him by the foot, so Atreus uses that position to aim a shot, which then gets him thrown into the air so that he can aim and shoot another. Then when his father and Baldur fall, he leaps after and uses the height to shoot several arrows into Baldur.
• The Word of God reveal that throughout the entire game, Kratos has in fact been holding back as so to properly protect and guide his son, and so that no battle is too easy. From this, one can infer that if Kratos was really allowed to let loose, not even the Valkyries would stand a chance!
• The secret ending of the game. Not so much that it was ending but that it was hinting at who Kratos will be fighting in the next game.
  Kratos: Who are you?! (Cue the figure revealing a VERY familiar hammer)
  • Throughout the game details about Tyr’s journey are revealed and give hints about the possible future of the franchise like interactions with the Egyptian, Shinto, Celtic, and Aztec gods.
• The teaser trailer for the sequel. It's ominous, and chilling, and epic all at once. Ragnarök is coming.
• When Kratos sees Zeus in Helheim, notice how the latter’s eyes still crackle with lightning. Even as a hallucination in the underworld realm of a far away land, it looks like the King of the Olympians can barely contain his own power within his body.