Here we are six months later from my initial discussion on the complete depravity that is Kratos as a protagonist, I took some time off from the franchise to play some other games with less morally bankrupt characters and preferably fewer oceans of blood. I am now back and ready to complete this trilogy and explore if redemption for Kratos is possible, or will this game fall further into the endless vacuum of carnage.
(Side Note: the game I played just before this was Life is Strange and it’s a really fucking weird coincidence that they have the exact same ending, having the main character trapped in a black void plagued with visions of all the disasters that befell them across previous instalments.)
I should properly begin by saying I don’t just play these games because I’m some kind of masochist who engages in media he despises for the sake of complaining, frankly I don’t have the time or energy for something like that. Truth be told and never let it be said I deny it, I play through these games because they’re fun. God of War is a franchise built on entertaining and adrenaline boosting gameplay, particularly with the third game boasting the grandest scale the series has ever seen that’s a true treat for the audience to be able to climb a mountain sized enemy and them rip them to pieces. Mechanically speaking God of War III much like its predecessors is a rip-roarin good time. But I’m not here to discuss gameplay, it’s not my area of expertise and my analysis can barely go deeper than “It’s fun” - Though I will draw attention to it every so often when it’s relevant - I’m here to discuss story and themes because that’s what I do around here and this series will always fascinate me on how they got away with some of their choices, so let’s talk about it.
*Spoilers for God of War III ahead*
It appears this game was determined to be even more graphic and vicious than prior instalments as if it had a point to prove. The opening boss fight sees Kratos take on Poseidon with the final kill being done in 1st person perspective on the side of Poseidon, so you as the player can feel the same fear and panic he does as Kratos rips his skull open. This is a technique the game would use later on but this time from the perspective of Kratos as you get to beat Zeus to death by hand until your screen is drenched in blood (Parellels?). Though the upgraded hardware allowed for the game to go grander in scale, it also allowed them the ability to show even more blood and body parts being torn apart as your enemies thrash in pain as you murder them. There are also multiple examples of Kratos needlessly killing civilians as well as even allies such as Peirithous, whom the game decides in order to gain his weapon (That he willingly offers to you!) you must burn him alive, because simply earning it through an objective isn’t enough, innocent people must suffer for your benefit.
That being said there is one example of Kratos nearly showing mercy, that being with the character of Hercules. After being introduced and trying to goad Kratos into a fight, our “hero” actually offers him the chance to walk away, claiming his fight is not with him. Hercules of course doesn’t listen, overwhelmed with jealousy for his half-brother, he starts a fight and you of course horrifically kill him by turning his skull into mashed potatoes. Yet I couldn’t help but take note of this moment, Kratos offering someone the chance to walk away? Someone who is actively trying to agitate him? My mind raced with what reasoning could lead to this? Could it be that Kratos empathised with Hercules? The two of them being sons of Zeus who have been manipulated and suffered at his hands? As Kratos knows killing Zeus would not only free himself but also others like him? He sees so much of himself in Hercules, or even worse what he could have become that he is capable of showing pity? Naturally none of this is expressed in the game, this is all my interpretation, but still, considering Kratos has murdered people for daring to be in the same post code as him, nearly showing mercy to someone trying to fight him is something we have never seen before and it would have been fascinating to explore it.
None of these are new problems of course, they are issues I discussed in my earlier post about the series, but they are certainly more extreme in this case. It almost feels as though Santa Monica Studios received plenty of criticism for these elements and decided to double down for the conclusion of the trilogy as a final screw you to their critics. Nowhere is this more obvious than with Aphrodite…oh boy. I’ve discussed before a large portion of the appeal of these games and gaming in general is the idea of wish-fulfilment, to give the player an escapist fantasy where they’re the best at everything. I’ve also been heavily critical of the way God of War presents this, both for its obsession with violence and also its unhealthy portrayal of sex, one because of the out of character nature that Kratos would be interested in having sex with random strangers when he has a one track mind that only involves killing anything with a pulse. A fact by the way made even worse that in the middle of an apocalypse, where the world around them is crumbling and Kratos will stop at nothing to kill the gods…you’re given the option to stop and have a shag with Aphrodite, the god of love. A scene that treats her purely as a literal sex object from the perspective of two envious onlookers who want more than anything to have sex with Kratos now, I.E. you the player. At best this moment could be considered indulgent and immature, at worst it is not only illogical to occur in the story, but offensively malignant and enforces this trend in the series of treating all of its female characters as objects to either fuck, kill, or abuse in any shape or form.
Speaking of, let’s discuss the other female characters in the story and the role they play. Starting with Gaia, whom you may recall at the end of the last game teamed up with Kratos and the other Titans to start a revolution against the gods of Olympus, and in near the very beginning of this game they toss each other aside, admitting that they had no interest in each other’s goals, they only used them as a pawn for their own objective…even though they have the exact same objective: to kill Zeus. Yet the game decided they must now be rivals for contrite reasons. However, an even bigger character shift is that of Athena, who comes back as a ghost…somehow, none of the other gods seem capable of this and we kind of destroy the underworld in this game (Wasn’t enough to destroy one plane of existence) and now she has become your ally. Despite spending the last game trying to sway you from your ceaseless destruction and even sacrificed herself to save Zeus, she is now all gung-ho about killing Zeus for the greater good. Her reasoning and actions are so confused that by the end of the game while overlooking the literal apocalypse you have caused; she speaks the line “You have done well Kratos” HOW. How is any of this him doing well!? His bloodlust has brought upon Armageddon!
This is honestly where the bigger issues of God of War III lie as a narrative. While I can criticise the game’s use of violence and women, an issue more substantially isolated to this game over the previous ones is simply the illogicality of its storytelling. God of War II ending on a climax left this game in a precarious position, where its opening is actually an ending, so the game throws you into Hades and robs you of all your upgrades forcing you to start from step one, making the events of the last game useless and to just stall you for 6 hours so it doesn’t feel like a retread of God Of War II. This repetition even infects the gameplay mechanics, 3 out of 4 weapons you unlock are basically reskins of each other, knives attached to chains that function the exact same way making their gathering arbitrary and useless.
The game introduces a new character called Pandora, who you may remember Kratos opening her box in the first game to gain god killing powers. Apparently, that action lead to unleashing a plethora of evil plaguing the world, including the gods themselves who are now paranoid with fear. These side effects and Pandora’s backstory are of course explained to us through exposition dumps despite the fact this is still a visual medium and breaks the cardinal rule of show don’t tell, made even worse considering this retconning is an attempt to make the Greek Gods seem somewhat bad when the franchise has made no attempt to vilify the antagonists but Santa Monica have become at least somewhat self-aware that the hero shows more evil traits than those we’re meant to kill.
Pandora is meant to draw parallels between Kratos and his original daughter, as if saving her would in someway work as a redemption for his past sins. Though she is mentioned early on, her actual introduction is not until 2/3rds through the game and no attempt is made to actually establish a connection between the two. Kratos should have no reason to care for her when his clear disregard for life is blatant, and Pandora should have no reason to believe there is any good in Kratos when all she’s bore witness too is his incessant killing. There an incredibly hilarious irony that during a scene where Pandora claims that Kratos is a good person despite him currently holding the decapitated head of a god he murdered earlier that day. Pandora is a burden, someone who cowers and screams, only needing to be rescued and provides no benefits mechanically. Also, the fact that Kratos murdered her dad is never brought up, probably because that would be incredibly awkward and shatter the already fragile relationship that they try and present.
She goes on to introduce the main theme of the game, that being the idea of Fear Vs Hope. Zeus is corrupted due to him succumbing to his fears, which supposedly has made him paranoid and aggressive, and the only true way to combat him and indeed this overwhelming sense of fear, is to believe in hope, as Pandora puts it, hope is the last thing we have to fight with when everything else is lost. Again, this claim of Zeus surrendering to fear is all expository as we the audience have no frame of reference for what Zeus or any of the gods were like before the opening of Pandora’s Box. More so is using Kratos as a carrier of this theme, as if there was this constant inner struggle within him between the two settings, fear and hope. This is despite the fact at no point has Kratos shown signs of being fearful or hopeful, just anger. Unfiltered, unthinking, remorseless anger. To kill, destroy and fight his way through until his goal is achieved. By the end of the game Kratos supposedly embracing the idea of hope, again which is unearned as he’s never once wavered from his goal, but he requires that last minute power up and saying the true power was inside of him all along is easier than giving him any tangible power, like say, perhaps the weapon that Hephaestus gave him that claimed would be his most powerful weapon that could kill Zeus…maybe that should have played a role! Plus Pandora died anyway in an empty sacrifice. So to summarise Kratos never receives redemption or comeuppance for the death of his family, he fails to portray either mindsets presented through the theme, he receives a deus ex machina upgrade last minute and let the avatar of his humanity die in a pointless death because he was so desperate to continue punching Zeus in the face that it was worth her demise.
I have heavily criticized God of War 1 & 2 for their portrayals of violence, morality and decency, but for nothing else I can at least say they were competent narratives that made sense. God of War III is a dumpster fire. It carries over the grotesque nature, yet its attempts at telling an emotional story with actual themes fails miserably. Furthermore its complete reset of both plot progression and gameplay abilities basically tells me there was no point in this game existing as it repeats most of what came before but worse, as most of the upgrades are useless and it always feels like it’s stalling for time. The first two games mainly baffled me with their lack of ethics, this game simply angers me. It is a failure mechanically, emotionally and narratively, the best it has to boast is that it is bigger and prettier than the rest and that should show just how hollow this trilogy has been, but this game has the gall to actually be proud of that.
In case you’re curious, I’m not going to play the spin-off games or prequels, I’ve given this story enough of my attention and I refuse to entertain it anymore. I will someday return to replay the 2018 God of War game because fucking hell has my respect for that game shot through the roof now that I know what pits of despair it was birthed from and I’m curious to see how it plays given this new context. Sadly that won’t be for a while from now as I’d rather not have to think about Kratos anytime soon. I’m off to play something else, but before that I need a drink and a shower.
-Danny
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