Going through God of War 1-3 again by watching a streamer play them for the first time ever as he prepares for Dad of War.
And I have to say, my past memories of the series was HEAVILY
HEAVILY tinted by rose tinted glasses. Kratos is an absolute bastard that deserves to die and refuses to take responsibility for his own actions. He killed Ares, despite Ares saving his life and allowing him to continue to kill men, women, and children. Everything Kratos wished for.
However, when two of the deaths ended up being his wife and child, suddenly it's all about Ares taking advantage of him and forcing him to do things. WTF? Up until Kratos saw who it was, he was quite happy to have killed the woman and child in that temple. !?!?!?!?!?!
And it only just gets worse and worse with a narcissistic villain as the player character. You would think that if he didn't want the Gods telling him what to do, he'd stop asking the God's to help him and make him more powerful. And to take away his memories of what he's done? And punish them when they don't? When it was he himself that voluntarily did all of it? How many hundreds or thousands of women and children had he killed before his wife and child? Is there even any regret for killing women and children other than his wife and child? Nope, he just keeps on killing women, although thankfully they don't show him killing any more children.
I think Kratos is the only main character I wish would just stop whining and die.
If there was a modern analog for Kratos, he'd probably have been either Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Mao Tse Tung. Except that would be an insult to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Despite their horrible ways in accomplishing things, they still wanted to do the best for their country even if it came at the expense of others. Kratos? He's in it for himself although he gives lip service about doing it for Sparta. But if push comes to shove, he'll gladly slaughter Spartans as well.
Ugh.
It's a shame that such a great game series has to have such a horrible and detestable protagonist.
Skipping cutscenes and dialog is definitely the best way to play this series.
Regards,
SB