YMMV / God of War (PS4)

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• Accidental Aesop: The fight between Brok and Sindri creates an unintentional Aesop for both Atreus and the audience. Being nice and sugar-coating your words won't always be the most effective strategy to solve a problem. Sometimes you have to be blunt or aggressive so people can actually understand and listen to you.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Notably, Ragnarok clears up a lot of the uncertainty in this regard.
  • Faye, Kratos' wife and Atreus' mother, is subject to this a lot considering she is dead by the time the game starts, we never see how she was like in life and only hear it from other people. From all accounts, she was an All-Loving Heroine that helped people in need without expecting anything in return and managed to love Kratos despite the horrible things he did in his past. However, the revelation that she was a Giant and she foresaw all the things her husband and child would do in their quest (including Baldur's fight) puts many things into question: was she genuinely nice as she appeared to be, or did she have a sinister side, using her loved ones to get revenge on the Aesir from beyond death? That being said, while she did ask for her ashes to be scattered, she probably wasn't the one who created the prophecy (though she definitely knew about it and engineered the quest to scatter her ashes so they could be aware of it). At the same time, she did know what would happen, and felt Atreus and Kratos needed to bond, and so formed the entire journey in an effort for Kratos to become a genuinely good father, and Atreus becoming a man. Another interpretation as pointed out by Kratos is that Faye did hate the gods, but her vision of Ragnarök was simply fate and not something she was trying to set in motion. The last version is supported by Mimir, who says that Ragnarok was fated, Kratos just moved the date of occurrence sooner. Ragnarok reveals that the initial impression was correct; Faye was a Sheep in Sheep's Clothing who fought against the Ragnarok prophecy (among other things, vandalizing several Jotnar murals depicting it) because she didn't want her husband to die. Her intent in setting them on their journey was to foster Character Development so that they could make a better future for themselves.
  • Odin. Is he really a Well-Intentioned Extremist trying to prevent Ragnarok at any cost, or just a tyrant on a power trip that will do anything to stay in charge? For what it's worth, most characters share the latter opinion of him, and there is a lot of evidence to support it with Mimir's torture, Freya's exile and the Valkyries' corruption. But then again, much like Faye, he doesn't appear in the game despite being alive, unlike Faye, so we can't really tell his motivations. Ragnarok reveals that he is indeed motivated purely by selfishness and a desire to know everything regardless of the cost.
  • A big one and ultimately the point of the game: How valid is Kratos' attempt at redemption? Does making Atreus a worthy and honorable god, and even more important a good person, make up for all the harm he's caused? Is he even worthy of forgiveness, and if so at what point can Kratos earn that? Should Kratos be seen as The Atoner or a Retired Monster? Is he honestly trying not to hurt people unnecessarily, or is he just so devoid of people to hate that he hasn't had a chance to act out his violent tendencies? Athena mocks his attempt at redemption, saying that a teacher, a husband, and a father are all things he could never convincingly be. Kratos actually agrees with her assessment of him being a monster. Kratos however, retorts that he is no longer the Greek Pantheon's monster. The overall implication seems to be one where there are times where "being the monster" is necessary to win on the battlefield, but that raging intensity must be tempered with discipline and self-control. Ragnarok comes down clearly on the side of 'valid'; the moral of the story is that anyone, no matter their past, can be better, and only people incapable of redemption are those who for whatever reason reject it.
  • After losing his immortality thanks to getting hit by Atreus' mistletoe arrowhead dagger, Baldur was overjoyed to finally be able to feel again. After that, he was turning around to face the duo in a seemingly non-hostile manner. Considering that his beef was with Freya and the only reason you are fighting him was to protect her, was he 1) going to thank Kratos and Atreus and then go after his mother, 2) Go for round 2 to feel the sensation of pain once more or 3) Thank the duo but still fight on anyway to feel pain. Too bad Freya in her distress at her son losing his immortality, proceeds to yank Baldur away before a proper response was formed.
  • During their second trip to Helheim, Atreus eventually witnesses, to Kratos' distress, a hallucination of when he beat his father Zeus to death, but when Kratos comments on it to Atreus afterwards, the latter claims he didn't see anything. Was Atreus horrified at what he had seen and wanted to pretend he never saw it? Did he understand enough to acknowledge that it was something shameful of his father's past and he simply wanted to spare him of having to talk about it? Did he realize that his father had also learned the same lessons as Atreus the hard way? Was he just lying to snap Kratos out of a Heroic BSoD? He later suggests he did overhear it when Kratos decides to fully come clean to him.
  • Modi:
    • Is he a Dirty Coward who's too scared to fight anyone stronger than him or is he a pedophile towards Atreus? Some of Modi's dialogue has some pedophilic undertones, which is shown when he asks Magni to let him "get the kid" if they find them^note  They were only meant to capture them at this point and even Magni is repulsed by this. Modi also says how he wants Atreus to be his new brother and he finally dies after making another lewd joke about Faye.
    • When Modi stuns Kratos with lightning, is his rant a result of going through the stages of grief? or is he genuinely furious about being denied the right to prove himself a worthy heir of Mjolnir?.
    • After his father, Thor, had beaten him senseless for Magni's death, did Modi goad Atreus into killing him because he wanted to die after that kind of humiliation, or did he figure he was going to die regardless and wanted to give one more middle finger to Atreus?
  • Is Mimir trustworthy? On one hand he comes off as a friendly and honest man, who is blunt about his own foolishness in serving an evil god like Odin for the sake of his own ambition. On the other, he is heavily implied to be Puck, a fairy whose principle characteristic is causing havoc and discord for his own amusement—which this portrayal of the character admits was true in the past. Considering Kratos's track record of causing chaos wherever he goes, Mimir may see him as someone who can be manipulated into doing the same thing again. He was at Odin's side providing him council during some of Odin's worst atrocities, and Odin eventually turned on Mimir as well. Is he trying to right the wrongs of Odin, or is he manipulating Kratos and Atreus as petty vengeance against the Aesir in spite of the damage it would cause to the world?
    • To Mimir's credit, if one beats Sigrun her claims that he corrupted the Valkyries do back up his assertions that Odin is a pretty terrible person. Ragnarok clears it up; although he isn't completely correct in his interpretations of the Aesir, he's being entirely honest with Kratos and his picture of Odin is spot-on.
  • Is Kratos preparing Atreus to kill him? Kratos knows what he's capable of and fears his temper. Kratos killed his original family and it's not hard to believe that he doesn't want Atreus to hesitate with defending himself from Kratos' blind wrath. Hence why he's being as distant as possible with Atreus.
  • Is Kratos really breaking the Ragnarok prophecy or is he performing his role in the actual prophecy hidden in Jötunheimr? Magni and Modi are the best example of this; they both believed they were destined to survive Ragnarok until Kratos killed Magni, causing Modi to tremble in disbelief and fearfully ask how Kratos was able to do this. In Jötunheimr, both Magni and Modi are shown fighting against Kratos and Atreus (Fárbauti and Loki) on the tapestry which indicates how they will die in the lead-up to Ragnarok. So is Kratos really a chaotic paradox or another pawn in the prophecy? The Norns give this one a proper answer: No, because there's no such thing as fate, Kratos is just really predictable. He does manage to avoid his prophesied death after a game's worth of Character Development, though.
  • Did Thor have noble intentions when he came to the Spirit's house to offer his condolences? Or did he just want to exploit a grieving family for personal gain? The spirit says that Thor indeed came to his house to offer his condolences at first but he outstayed his welcome by getting drunk, where he then killed the Spirit's mother in a fit of drunken rage when she begged him to leave. This story is only told by the vengeful spirit, who has every right to be angry with Thor about what happened, however, until we get a full display of Thor's personality when he's calm then the audience might get a clearer idea of what Thor's like.
• Annoying Video Game Helper: Each time you obtain an important crafting material, the game gives you a notification that needs to be manually dismissed. While it's manageable during a regular playthrough, in New Game Plus this extends to Skap Slag, which you obtain regularly from most sources, such as coffins. This results in the notification popping up on a regular basis, and it still requires you to manually dismiss it every single time.
• Awesome Music: Prior to the game's official reveal at Sony's 2016 E3 press conference they had a live orchestra play the game's main theme. Even better, said orchestra also played a live rendition of the game's background music during the stage demo.
  • Bear McCreary's entire score is powerful with his all his tracks, such as the fights with The Dragon and The Stranger, the emotional scenes around Faye, and Kratos' regret, perfectly fitting and enhancing the game's story.
• Badass Decay: Kratos seems to be going through this. The warrior who lifted and threw Titans and wiped out the entire Greek Pantheon now finds himself winded when put against minor Norse Deities, trolls, and struggling to lift building-sized objects. There is some implication that this is a result of him simply getting old, though Word of God states that it's more of him just becoming complacent over the centuries and being out of practice than having to do with age.
  • Alternatively, many players have interpreted this as Kratos intentionally holding back from what he's truly capable of. Spartan Rage is a glimpse into what it would look like if he stopped restraining himself, Kratos could annihilate his Norse foes if he wanted to. The reason he doesn't is because he fears slipping back into his old ways, and he also wants to set a good example for Atreus.
  • Averted by the time of God of War Ragnarök. Word of God states that Kratos is the strongest he's ever been due to a combination of recovering his old skills during his adventures with his son while also tempering all his sheer power with the wisdom of age and experience. This makes him much more dangerous overall if a little less flashy. Unfortunately, his foes are also the strongest they've ever been, with Odin in particular officially recognized as the most dangerous being Kratos has ever faced.
• Best Boss Ever:
  • Hraezlyr, the dragon, entirely for its presentation and spectacle.
  • Ditto with Modi and Magni. A great Dual Boss with an intense fight against the sons of Thor.
  • Many of the valkyrie bosses, frustrating as they are, DO qualify for this for being a post-game Superboss that feels very rewarding.
  • The third and final encounter with Baldur due to having a beefed up moveset as his first encounter, which is made more awesome than annoying as you are too.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Most people with even a passing knowledge of the more important stories of Norse Mythology will suspect the tattooed Stranger is Baldur the moment he mentions that he can't feel anything and his tattoos glow with light; Atreus makes the connection when you first visit the Lake of Nine. This suspicion is certain to be confirmed the moment Sindri shows the mistletoe arrows, and possibly that the Witch is Freya/Frigg when she reacts extremely negatively to them. To be fair, there are a few differences: 1) Baldur in myth couldn't control fire/ice; 2) had blond hair; 3) he was completely untouchable, not able to come back from any injury; 4) mistletoe killed him instead of removing his invincibility (although this is perhaps debatable since the dart was a lethal hit in myth). But God of War has played loose with godly powers before.
• Catharsis Factor: The part during the final battle where Kratos and Atreus work in perfect unison by taking their turns landing blows on Baldur to swelling music will leave most players shouting "Hell Yeah! at the screen.
• Common Knowledge: If you were to listen to various gaming outlets, it's only with this game that the franchise "grew up" and stopped being about an angry man who does nothing but murder everything non-stop for no good reason. As fans of the previous game were quick to point out, the other games have more than their fair share of Character Development and pathos for Kratos, and he didn't spend every waking moment as just a perpetual singularity of blind rage. Ironically, when the first game was released, it was praised at the time for being an M-rated game that actually deserved the title of "mature" instead of just being a gory shlockfest.
• Common Crossover: Between God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Spider-Man (PS4). Unusual in that, unlike other common crossovers, most of this comes from the creators of the works. Here from Guerilla Studios, Here from Santa Monica Studios, and another from Guerilla.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: A lot of players use only the Blades of Chaos for combat as soon as Kratos recovers them, as well as Atreus's shock arrows instead of the light ones.
• Crossover Ship: Kratos/Aloy has met some love thanks to Guerilla Games making this wonderful piece of art of Aloy bonding with Kratos and his son.
  • Funnily enough, when she appears on-screen in the sequel, Faye bears a passing resemblance to Aloy.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • Revenants are absolutely hated for their mobility, durability and HUGE damage, averting the Squishy Wizard trope. If you even try to hit them, they'll just flee while hitting you with damaging spells that also causes status ailments. Even when you learn to abuse Atreus' arrows to stun them, there's also the durability to take into account. It gets worse when there's two of them. (And taken up to eleven in the Ivaldi's Maze challenge, where you frequently encounter four at a time, along with draugr, wolves, wulvers, or dark elves in the same encounter area, just to make it interesting. And while they spam you with poison attacks, you watch your life timer slowly run down. And then there's the way they just keep laughing all the time...)
  • Dark Elves teeter between this and Goddamned Bats, but Dark Elf Lords are this, full stop. While also very durable and hard hitting, their landmine attack, which they love to spam, blinds you for a time if it connects and deals decent damage without any resistance. Then there is a mandatory part where you have to fight two of these guys at once...
  • Wulvers. Much like another RPG with normal wolves being not-so-bad while werewolves are actual hell, these bastards are way too durable for their damage and speed, with surprisingly good reach. And that's before they become enraged.
• Epileptic Trees: Who summoned Jormungandr in the thunderstorm during the quest to heal Atreus? Just what this small scene even means has lead to wild speculation, since aside from Mimir, the only ones who could speak to Jormungandr would be people he would not like to meet (like Odin). The guesses have ranged from Loki/Atreus from the future, to a surviving giant.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Jörmungandr, the World Serpent. His impressive introduction scene helps revive the grand sense of scale mythological beings often have in this series. Despite his sinister appearance, Jörmungandr aids Kratos and Atreus in their quest multiple times. He even answers Atreus' cry for help during the endgame.
• Even Better Sequel: Not only was it considered by many fans to be arguably the best game in the series, but some even consider it to be the best game on the PlayStation 4 — as of August 2022, there are only four games with better Metacritic scores, two of which (Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us) are actually Updated Rereleases of previous-generation games. The other two (Red Dead Redemption 2 and Persona 5) were highly anticipated sequels, to say the least.
• Fanfic Fuel: Where to start with? This game marks the beginning of a new era and mythology (Norse instead of Greek), while opening up many opportunities for stories to be told. Granted, since the new saga has barely begun, there is a great possibility many of the fan stories will be Jossed in the future sequels. It also helps that it has been more or less confirmed that other pantheons exist in the series besides the already seen Greco-Roman, Persian and Norse (in particular the Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Celtic, and Japanese). There are alot of people wishing for a God of War game set elsewhere (most popular candidates are either Egypt or Japan) after the Norse saga ends. Although it's worth mentioning that Egypt was originally considered by David Jaffe way back in GoW II, and that during the 2018 PS4 game's development, the team was literally split 50/50 between Norse and Egyptian until Cory Balrog stepped in and decided on Norse. However, one piece of concept art shows what this game would have looked like had the developers instead chosen ancient Egypt: [1]◊
• Fan Nickname:
  • Because of the recycled title, fans have come up with new names for the game. The most-often used one is Dad of War, but there's also God of Thor. More conventionally, some fans also call the game God of War 4, due to it still taking place after the third game.
  • Jacksepticeye refers to the game as Dad of Boy, with "boy" being said like Kratos says it early in the game.
  • Kratos has also drawn comparisons to Grog Strongjaw of Critical Role, since both have a similar character design.
  • The Stranger is often referred to as "Conor McGregor" by the fanbase due to his strong physical resemblance, similar clothing (fighting shirtless), and similar attitude.
• Game-Breaker: An exploit with the Talisman of Betrayal allows players to slow time down indefinitely, allowing you to pull off full combos with all your weapons in the time it takes an enemy to perform one attack. This can even be used to make the brutal Superboss, Sigrun, a cakewalk.
  • The Wrath of the Frost Ancient runic attack generates a constant stream of energy toward opponents for a few seconds without interrupting their attacks. This makes it the perfect attack to use against Ancients and Soul Devourers; rather than attacking with an axe, picking up an exploding rock and then throwing it when the Ancient opens its weak point, the player can direct the runic attack straight at the weak point and watch the line bar melt away, ending the fight in typically a single attack, two at most.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Anyone with even a little knowledge of the mythology will recognize the significance of the mistletoe arrows that Sindri gives to Atreus, though none of the characters present have any idea of this until the very end of the game.
  • The in-universe confusion over Freya and Frigg being the same god when Atreus thought they were separate is pretty in-line with real world debate on if the two are the same, since Freya isn't mentioned outside of Scandanavia, only Frigg, and the two gods have a lot of overlapping qualities. The one name being well-known while the other is not is explained by Mimir as Odin trying to Unperson Freya so that a Vanir could not claim credit for her great deeds, and he did so by attributing them to the goddess "Frigg", which was just his pet name for Freya and not a real Aesir.
  • The tensions and eventual conflict between Odin and Tyr play on the fact that scholars believe some early versions of Nordic religion followed Tyr as the leader of the gods, before Odin became more popular.
  • The swords that are seen stuck into snowbanks etc. are from the late Viking age, meaning the setting is late 10th or 11th century Scandinavia.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • Nightmares aren't too hard to kill, but goddamn, will they annoy you with their laser beams.
  • Ditto with the Tatzelwurms, nasty snake-like beasts that can burrow themselves underground and spit venoms and fireballs at you when you least expected it. They can be pretty fast when they're underground and hard to dodge when they lunge at you, and they will occasionally break your combos by biting you when you try to melee them.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Kratos' quote "She would have died to see him live. Only a parent could understand." and stating that he would sacrifice himself for Atreus' survival becomes heartbreaking after the announcement that Kratos' mocap actor, Shad Gaspard, died saving his son from drowning.
  • While gathering boar-healing herbs at the Witch's house, Kratos can have a quick chat with Atreus before grabbing the white flowers where they have a discussion about how friendly and non-threatening she is, especially the fact she didn't immediately try to kill them. Kratos counters that she simply hasn't done so yet. At this point it's simply light-hearted banter between the two, since she ends up being genuinely helpful and kind. But later on she actually does want to kill them, specifically because they killed Baldur, who was her son as Freya, despite how they did it to save her from being killed by him.
  • When Kratos reveals to Atreus that he is a god, Atreus asks if Kratos is sure he can't turn into an animal; Kratos responds "you are welcome to surprise me". In the sequel Ragnarok, Atreus loses control of himself and turns into a bear that attacks Kratos, and Kratos nearly kills his own son without realizing it.
  • All the cracks about Thor being a dimwitted brute become way less funny come Ragnarok, where it's revealed that Odin emotionally abuses Thor by browbeating him into thinking he's little more than an unthinking attack dog to be pointed at his father's enemies.
  • Mimir makes a side comment about if there was an accident that happened to Brok's brain. The next game reveals there was indeed an accident that actually killed him during the construction of the Levaithan Axe, and Sindri went to Alfheim to retrieve his soul. Only, it wasn't complete.
  • At the start of the game, it seems like Baldur is trying to start a fight with Kratos just to be a dick to him. Later on, we learn that Baldur has spent over a century being tortured by his inability to feel anything, and his fight with Kratos was in fact a desperate Hail Mary of a suicide attempt.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Avengers: Infinity War, which came out literally the week after the game, features Thor (a bearded demigod with a scar over his left eye) being crafted a magic axe by Sindri (there referred to by his other name of Eitri).
    • The dev team was apparently aware of the previous point, so they put a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo of the Infinity Gauntlet and the six infinity stones as the best talisman in the game. It's a Joke Item with a Magikarp Power that becomes extremely powerful once fully upgraded and with the right combination of enchantments. Though upgrading it is either Guide Dang It! or paying incredible attention to where Baldur's dragon is headed after being mortally wounded during the second fight with him.
    • And anyone who's watched Avengers: Endgame must have had a good chuckle upon seeing Thor's design for Ragnarok. Seems like rotund is the new "in" look for the god of thunder.
  • Comparisons of the Stranger to Conor Mc Gregor, since McGregor is known to train at the Mjölnir Gym and shares a physical resemblance to the Stranger. It is emphasized further by the Stranger fighting shirtless, when Conor's MMA fights are naturally shirtless, showing their similar physiques. Another guy who gets compared to the Stranger is Dutch pro wrestler Aleister Black, most likely due to their dark, brooding style of speaking.
    • On a similar note, Magni has been compared to Brock Lesnar due to their similar physiques, hairstyles (if you ignore Magni's braids) and menacing personas.
  • The ending reveal that Faye was a giant, making Atreus half-giant as well can be this when you remember the ending to the original God of War. How did Kratos gain the ability to defeat Ares? By Pandora's Box turning him into a giant.
  • In The Simpsons episode "Mona Leaves-a", Homer's mother dies, and requests Homer spread the ashes from the highest peak in Springfield. However, it turns out she was manipulating her son to achieve her goals in death. The game has a nearly identical story to the episode.
  • The fact that Kratos and Atreus spend some time rowing a boat on the river and Kratos calls Atreus "boy" through most of the game becomes pretty funny when one goes on to watch the film Bird Box, where the heroine (a ruthlessly pragmatic survivor of the post-apocalypse) has to make a perilous journey rowing a boat through a river and calls her kids "Boy" and "Girl". Honest Trailers even made reference to this parallel.
  • Just a couple years later, there came another game featuring a dour, beard-bearing god and his strained relationship with a son he usually just addresses as "boy".
  • Due to it being based around ancient mythology, having a wrathful protagonist, and involving killing various deities, cultimating with the Top God of the verse, many considered Asura's Wrath the Japanese God of War. That said, the similarities are even moreso with this game, since Kratos, like Asura, is a family man who, after losing his wife, fights to protect his child from nefarious Physical Gods in an old-world pantheon. That, combined with a somewhat more cinematic focus, makes that less the Japanese God of War, and this more the American Asura's Wrath.
  • Bear Mc Creary composes the soundtrack of a game whose protagonist wiped out the Greek Pantheon. A few years later, he would also do the soundtrack for Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023).
• Hype Backlash: While most agree that it's a good game, many journalistic outlets declared it to be the perfect video game, utterly flawless in every way, dumping all over the previous God of War games in the process, which has caused a fair share of backlash.
• Iron Woobie: Kratos once again, but this game made him a lot more of this: Broken over the death of Faye, struggling to raise and care for Atreus after her death, still showing immense guilt and self-loathing over the chaos he caused in the last games, even showing regret over killing Zeus, and of course, trying to be a better person while instilling the same thing to his own son and to not go on the same path as he went on makes you pity him. Reminder that the game makes one of the most bloodiest and most violent characters in any game out there actually feel sympathy and care for, especially remembering that Kratos wants to so hard to forgive himself and be nothing but a better person and a better father to his son.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Not the game in respect to prior entries in the series obviously, but many have taken issue with the game being an over-the-shoulder, character and story driven game since many other Sony exclusives are like this. The Badass and Child Duo dynamic between Kratos and Atreus was also compared to Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us. They fear that the series has lost its unique identity in favor of Sony homogenizing its game output.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • The Stranger AKA Baldur, who spent a century with sensory deprivation. Ever since his mother removed his ability to feel (including the ability to taste), he actively sought death by someone who could kill him. Meeting Kratos didn't satisfy his need to feel until he punches Atreus while unwittingly removing his invulnerability via mistletoe arrowhead attached to his bow string. Kratos and Atreus were lost for words when they found out after overhearing the illusions of himself and Freya arguing over this dilemma.
  • Freya ruined her son’s life out of over-protectiveness, refused to break the spell when Baldur literally begged her to, and never takes responsibility for her role in Kratos being forced to kill Baldur. She was also subject to extreme abuse during her marriage to Odin, who eventually removed her ability to defend herself and imprisoned her in Midgard (with her home having a window to her home-realm just to rub it in her face even more. Her putting the spell on Baldur was a misguided attempt to prevent her son from dying a fated needless death.
  • Some sympathy has to go to Modi, even though he did nothing to earn it. He's been the outcast of Aesir society ever since he was a kid and he spent his life in his brother's shadow. After witnessing the death of Magni, his anger (born of grief) prevented him from successfully avenging his brother. When he returned to Asgard for reenforcements, he's instead blamed by his own father and publicly disowned after being brutalised by a grieving Thor. After learning what his family truly thought of him; he's left at the mercy of Atreus, whom is drunk with power and in a similarly vengeful mood. All Modi can do is insult Atreus one last time before being stabbed in the neck for all the crap he said about Faye.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • With the announcement the game would involve Norse mythology, fans have naturally joked primarily about Thor and other Asgardians from the Marvel Cinematic Universe freaking out about Kratos coming to kill them too.
  • "Dad of War"
  • The unofficial Fanon name of Kratos's son Atreus is ... "Boy", which seems to have stuck even after his real name was revealed. It's becoming increasingly common to associate the "BOI" meme with this game as well due to Kratos referring mostly to Atreus this way than calling him by his name.
    • A few people have combined the above two memes into "Dad of Boy."
  • A few people have taken to calling the dedicated button to command Atreus the "son button".
  • Thor himself showing up at the end of the game as a Sequel Hook is jokingly interpreted by some fans as him trying to recruit Kratos into the Avengers to fight Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.
  • The reveal that Atreus is Loki, which, according to Norse myth would make the World Serpent his son, has caused many fans to describe the finale of the climax battle (where Atreus asks Jörmungandr to help him and Kratos) as the "Best family moment ever" or "Best grandfather-father-son cooperation ever".
    • Also, joking that Atreus would refer to Jörmungandr as his "BOY".
  • Mimir would like you to know that Baldur is blessed with invulnerability to all threats, physical or magical.
  • Comparing the manner of which Mimir speaks to the World Serpent (particularly his warm-up noises) to a certain blue fish speaking "whale".
  • "Dad Time"/"God Time". The Ksavir amulet is similar to Bayonetta's Witch Time mechanic, where time slows when you execute a perfect dodge.
  • With the option to leap to your doom from the branches of Yggdrasil, many a commented have referenced the very first scene of the very first game.
  Kratos: The Aesir have abandoned me. Now there is no hope.
  And Kratos cast himself from the highest tree in all the Nine Realms.
  • The moment in the Final Boss Fight where Kratos and Atreus deliver an epic father-son beatdown has become a meme, usually set to "Sing for the Moment" by Eminem.
  • I killed many who were deserving and many who were not" ^ExplanationWhen Kratos reveals details of his dark past he expresses some remorse over his remorseless past self that has killed both those who have crossed him and those who were actually just innocent bystanders. Many fans tend to bring up this quote on videos or any media showing his merciless and violent acts in the previous games.
• Misaimed Fandom: Although Christopher Judge's performance as Kratos was widely acclaimed by the playerbase, some were disappointed that his version of the character wasn't the angrier, bloodier, "real" version of Kratos. These players view Greek Kratos as a righteous and badass warrior, while viewing Norse Kratos as a weak old man. Aside from the fact that Greek Kratos was a terrible person and Norse Kratos is still an incredible fighter, Norse Kratos IS the "real" Kratos, as this is arguably the first time we've ever seen him not blinded by his anger, grief, or lust for power. He's not constantly scowling or shouting; he's calm, thoughtful, and a loving father, which is probably what he was like before he met Ares.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • The Leviathan Axe will clang against various distant objects and make a dull smack when it finally returns to Kratos's hand. Very satisfying.
  • Although it is part of a theme instead of a separate sound effect, the trumpet that sounds after a Valkyrie is killed perfectly captures the feeling of relief and satisfaction gained from killing one of the game's toughest bosses.
  • When performing a heavy attack, the Blades of Chaos make a powerful metallic CLANG as they strike the ground. As if players needed any more reason to use them over the axe.
• Narm: The scene where Atreus decides that Sindri is "little people with little problems" is noted for being incredibly out of place. At this point, Atreus has been almost nothing but kind and generous, willing to help people where Kratos finds them as an annoyance. Yet less than an hour after learning he's a god, he's grown so arrogant that his personality has switched 180°. Granted this could have to do with being a young boy to being a man killer less than a day before, but Atreus has shown no arrogance the entire game and has been very insecure. Also of note, is him also shitting on his mom for not being godly when he spent the entire game feeling more attached to her than Kratos. His anger makes sense, his undesired sense of pride and entitlement does not. Then again, it's hard to know how a normal person would react when they learned they were a god, and considering that Atreus was only a child when he learned this, it makes sense he would allow it to go to his head. Furthermore, since the timeline of events that occur is dependent on the player's actions, it's unclear exactly how long Kratos and Atreus were on their journey, so Atreus could have had more time to allow his pride to get to his head than is seemingly portrayed.
• Narm Charm:
  • The very last part of Baldur's final boss battle, after Kratos and Atreus bring him down together, is a short beatdown where Kratos thrashes Baldur as he lies prone on the ground. In theory, this is a call-back to — and reversal of — their very first fight, where Kratos also choke-slammed the god and managed to punch him down through the roof; in practice, it's a very unflattering camera angle of Kratos sitting on his fallen enemy while Baldur lies there, completely unable to fight back, and hitting his quivering body with one ropey, wet-sounding punch after another like an Aesir piñata, until both of them are completely covered in Baldur's blood. It's hardly as dramatic this time, but it is hilarious, and VERY satisfying after the guy's caused you so much grief.
    • The entire purpose of Kratos calling Atreus "boy" is to demonstrate to players how strained their relationship is. But the consistency in which Kratos says it is so frequent that not only is it considered to be hilarious, but it has become a meme.
  • Baldur has a certain voice line that sometimes plays when he's charging a ground pound attack. If you've played the game, you know which one. It's unintentionally hilarious, but given Baldur's psychotic demeanor, his screeching doesn't actually feel all that out of place.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The entire concept of the game featuring Norse Mythology is seen as a bold new idea. However, David Jaffe had expressed interest in making such game in the same universe as far back as God Of War II, which specifically featured a prophecy alluding to the possibility.
  • As this video elaborates, a lot of the plot points this game has, plot points people pointed towards when talking about how more mature the storytelling is, were previously done throughout every game before this (just that this game has all of those together, as opposed to them being spread throughout multiple games).
• Polished Port: The PC version of the game, launched in early 2022, received well-earned praise for how seamless the transition was from console to computer. Playing up to 1440p at 90+ frames per second, DLSS and ultra-wide monitor support, and lots of graphic options certainly helped it. Even then, the shadows and lighting were improved further from the console versions, all with nearly no reported crashes. But it also runs well on lower-end PCs, can be framerate-locked if needed, and the mouse/keyboard controls were also slated as very good.
  • A patch was released for the PS4 Pro that allowed the game to be played in either 4K Resolution at the PS4's standard 30 frames per second or kept at the standard 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second. This patch was updated on the release of the PS5, allowing both the higher framerate and resolution. The game is so gorgeous that it looks at home among next-gen titles, with almost no increase in fidelity between this game on a PS5 and the native PS5 version of the sequel.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: By the end of the Olympian Trilogy, it had become very difficult to root for Kratos due to his selfishness, lack of remorse for his actions, and obsession with revenge even if it meant devastating the world. Here, time and age has mellowed out the once vengeful demigod into a wiser and more reasonable figure who feels genuine regret over his past actions and is trying to redeem himself by acting as a good father for Atreus, relatively speaking, while making an effort to control his infamous rage.
• Salvaged Story:
  • The shift to a new pantheon with more sympathetic and understandable figures, along with Kratos' character development into a harsh but more responsible father figure, provided a much-needed change after he got particularly hard to root for over the previous entries and considered A Lighter Shade of Black compared to the vile Greek gods.
  • The Greek era got criticized for its portrayal of some of its female characters, as aside from Athena and Gaia, most of them were either used for the motivations and arcs of male characters and thus didn't receive much characterization by themselves, such as Pandora and Kratos' family, or were hyper-sexualized to serve as Fanservice or Hot Coffee Minigames for male audiences. In the Norse era, however, there are no such minigames, Freya is a complex and plot-relevant character who is never sexualized and, while a Posthumous Character, Faye gets characterization and agency in the narrative through dialogue.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Upgrading your late-game gear quickly becomes a chore; there's no shortage of types of upgrade materials, but most gear requires specific ones. This becomes particularly frustrating with materials gathered from Muspelheim and Niflheim, as some drops are only found deep within the level. Even if the combat is pretty well executed, having to spend hours just mindlessly massacring enemies and traveling between realms to upgrade something only to then learn it requires even more rare materials from somewhere else, just becomes tiresome after a while.
• Signature Scene:
  • Judging from all the reviews, the moment everyone knew that God of War is back in full force was the first boss fight with The Stranger.
    • Of particular note is when The Stranger demonstrates his strength and effortlessly punches Kratos over his house.
  • Kratos and Atreus awakening the World Serpent.
  • And of course, the scene where Kratos recovers the Blades of Chaos and proceeds to unleash hell with them, just like old times.
  • The final battle against Baldur, and by extension, Baldur's death.
  • The scene of Kratos and Atreus spreading Faye's ashes across Jötunheim.
• Spiritual Adaptation:
  • A Norse mythology setting with an Older and Wiser god on a journey together with younger version of Loki? It's easy to see this game as a video game adaptation of the 2011 run of Marvel Comics' Journey into Mystery (Gillen), with Kratos in place of Thor.
  • In general, God of War (PS4) is seen as a better Thor game than the movie licensed game, and Marvel's Avengers. Ironic, because of the combat designer of God of War (PS4) worked on Avengers.
  • Kratos is a widowed veteran who’s haunted by atrocities he committed in his past. He is trying to live his life and raise his child as best he can, albeit with clear tensions between the two of them, before being thrust into another war by outside forces in order to protect his son. While the settings are completely different, the premise is nearly exactly the same as The Patriot (2000).
• Suspiciously Similar Song: Kratos's new leitmotif utilizes the same rhythm as the 'evil' theme from Pirates of the Caribbean.
• That One Attack:
  • Some of the harder Valkyries have a very nasty attack where they scream "VALHALLA!", launch themselves into the air, and dive-bomb you. You have a very tight window to dodge this, and if you don't you'll get pinned and take a minimum of three stomps to the head, which is enough to kill on the highest difficulty. Worse still, some Valkyries have a unique riff on the attack. For example, Gondul will rain down a fireball, then perform the dive, when you've probably had plenty of practice with the typical timing before fighting her. Others will attempt the dodge three times in a row (or five on New Game Plus). Sigrun can use both those variations and switch mid-combo.
    • In addition to the above: The "VALHALLA!" scream from the lesser Valkyries can actually help you, serving as a handy audio cue to aid in timing your dodge. Sigrun however does not call the attack and can often use it alongside her other combos, or simply at random. This makes it particularly deadly if you happen to lose track of her and don't see the initial launch.
  • The Valkyries also possess an attack where they dash at Kratos and attempt to stab him with their wing. What makes this attack nasty is how incredibly fast the move is, the fact that it is also unblockable and, just like the above move, the timing can change depending on which Valkyrie you're fighting.
  • As mentioned above, the Dark Elf Lord's landmine attacks. If you get hit by one, your visibility will turn near zero for a big while and you will be very vulnerable to attacks from all sides...and this will possibly lead you to getting hit by it again.
  • Geirdriful and Sigrun also have an attack where they hover in the air, look up, and unleash a flash that blinds you for several seconds, leaving you vulnerable to follow-up attacks. None of the usual counters (blocking, dodging, interrupting with an axe throw) work for this attack. The only way to avoid its effects is to turn the camera away so the valkyrie is off-screen. This is the only time you will ever do this in the whole game, so even figuring out the counter can be a major Guide Dang It!, and the window to execute it is extremely brief. Sigrun has no less than six hovering attacks, each of which requires a different counter, and you have a split second to react.
• That One Boss:
  • Round One against The Stranger can be quite brutal, even for a Wake-Up Call Boss; not because he's a Lightning Bruiser that will force you to adapt to the new combat rather quickly, but because he's a Marathon Boss with three phases and you have no real way to heal yourself.
  • Svartáljǫfurr, the Dark Elf King. Remember the Dark Elf Lords mentioned in the Demonic Spiders entry? This guy comes first, and he's all that, plus a truck ton more health and kites you far more often.
  • Gullveig, the Revenant boss in one of the favors, due to being a souped up version of the much hated Revenants.
  • All of the Valkyries are brutal, though optional, superbosses even on the lowest difficulty. But Sigrun stands among them as the absolute worst. Compared to other Valkyries, she has significantly more health, deals more damage, is noticeably faster, lacks the scream that telegraphs the aforementioned dive-bomb attack AND has the combined abilities of almost all other Valkyries, with the exception of Kara's ability to summon Draugr to aid her. It should also be noted that, because of the sheer amount of attacks she possesses, Sigrun is also the only Valkyrie who can, and will, cancel her moves mid-attack to switch to another move.
  • Speaking of which, the above mentioned Kara can be incredibly frustrating, especially on New Game Plus. While she doesn't have Sigrun's health pool or versatile moveset, she is the only Valkyrie who summons Draugr to help her, and if you think you'll just quickly kill the Draugr so you can focus on her, surprise! She just summons more, and subsequent waves will include specialized variants with energized legs or shields, making the fight even more difficult.
• That One Level: The level where you first encounter the Heavy Draugrs that you fight in the pit (aka Atreus screaming "Something's breaking through the wall!"), particularly during the higher difficulties. You don't have many options against them, their attacks will easily break your guard for other Draugrs to pile upon you, and you don't even have the option to parry back against them. Your only option is to basically throw axes at them until they yield except you don't have much room to maneuver and one hit from them and you will be sent back to the continue screen where you have to start the cheesing over again. By the time you re-encounter them again, you have far more space to maneuver and can cheese them thanks to the bridge gap and any other future encounters turn them into just another strong enemy to fight.
• That One Sidequest:
  • The No-Damage Run Challenge (in Muspelheim Trials) is back and is as hard as ever, arguably even more so with the new over-the-shoulder camera style which means your line-of-sight is limited to the right side of the screen and makes you vulnerable to enemies who sneak up on you from the left and the back. The Impossible version of the challenge is arguably the hardest trial in the game, where you'll have to contend with Wulvers and a freaking Soul Devourer at the same time.
  • The quest to free the Valkyries. While a very simplistic "Fight and free 9 Valkyries" quest, every fight with the Valkyries is tough in its own right. It gets worse when it comes time to fight Sigrun. The game recommends end-game level equipment and abilities for when you fight Sigrun and for good reason.
  • Ivaldi's Workshop, an ever-changing maze set in the realm of Niflheim. If the monsters and traps don't kill you outright, the cursed poison mists stand a good chance of doing so, should you wander too far in search of loot to make it back to base in time. (Did we mention that if you die, you lose all your accumulated loot for that run?) The actual curse on the place may be, not from the gods or the dwarfs, but from the players. And one of the Valkyries is somewhere in the maze, so you have to face this quest to finish the other.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Fans of classic God of War have not been nearly as receptive to this game as the influx of newer players for this reason. In particular, the loss of the hyper-violent focus on gameplay that formed so much of the series' identity in favor of a slow-paced, character-driven plot has resulted in shellshock for people who happened to like it the way it was.
  • Much more than that, many older fans feel that this game’s combat is far more simplistic than the older hack-and-slash games. While the franchise was never the most complex in its genre, fans feel disappointed that the combat seems to have taken many steps back in quality, all in favor of its more cinematic approach to storytelling.
• Ugly Cute: The World Serpent can look creepy, but some fans think that it's not that bad when he's in the distant skyline, combined with his slow movements, relaxed nature, and habit of sleeping, it can be almost endearing to return to the Lake of the Nine and see him there same as he ever was. Mimir even points out that the serpent enjoys being called "Jörmi" by his close friends.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • A developer confirmed that the sex mini-games that were viewed as Rated M for Money gimmicks will not be returning.
  • In general, the series' new direction has been well-received, ironically because it's perceived to be more mature than the past games' bloody carnage. While people still love previous God of War games, the newest game has been met with open arms as it sticks to its roots while providing a fresh and new twist to both the gameplay and the story.
  • Dropping the QTEs, with the only exception being present in the final fight with Baldur as opposed to every other boss fight in the game, was met with thunderous approval worldwide.
• The Woobie: Atreus really deserves a hug for the utter hell he goes through, losing his mother, struggling with his newly discovered godhood, trying to bond and be close to his distant father and yet he still tries to be a happy kid. And let's not even add the known knowledge of Loki....

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