Believe me when I say that I take my playthroughs of BioWare game very seriously. This means that once I get it in my head to replay any of either the Mass Effect or Dragon Age games in succession, nothing – and I mean nothing – gets in my way. Once I start a replay, I have to see things through to the predetermined end I have in mind. Hence, when I decided to start up a new round of Dragon Age-ing over the recent holiday break, I had a bullseye set that I’d re-complete Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. All went fine in the first game, and they were going well in the second until, well…I always hit a bit of a roadbump when I reach the game’s second act. The game builds so nicely in its first act, and then it deflates a tad once we rejoin our cast years after some serious adventuring. Usually I make it over that hump just fine, but this time I…stalled. And I stalled just long enough to let something else squeeze its way in. That something else, a very welcome “something else,” is God of War (2018).

There are, obviously, a ton of things that set the new God of War game apart from Dragon Age, and there’s hardly any comparing the two. But until it wasn’t until I started God of War that I realized something in my gaming life had been severely lacking: excellent combat. Sure, over the past year plus, I dove deep into games with extremely good stories and plenty of lore. There was no questioning that in the Bethesda and BioWare games of my choice. But what these games lovingly lack is truly satisfying combat. This made God of War’s combat system stand out so highly even in the game’s initial moment, and despite its incredible graphics, characters, and voice acting. I’m playing the game on the PS5, so those last few items, especially the graphics, are absolutely brilliant, but they aren’t enough, thankfully, to overshadow just how good it feels to play God of War.

Santa Monica Studio’s 2018 revisioning of the classic hack-and-slash God of War is old news at this point, so I’m not going to rehash what we all know. The game has been making headlines recently with the release of its jump to PC, which reads as highly praised, and which brings the game to many folks who weren’t able to play it before. Here we have “dad” Kratos, all grown up with a kid, Atreus, in tow, as they go off together on a heartfelt, necessary, and dangerous adventure This is no simple pilgrimage from point A to point B – puzzles, traps, and loads of different enemies litter the duo’s path. Kratos has his familiar Leviathan axe at the ready, while Atreus rather deftly wields a bow. Together they make a formidable team, one ready to take down enemies small and, well…very large. I’m aware that Kratos’s weaponry will change, but for the moment, maneuvering Kratos on any given battlefield with his axe, while also controlling Atreus’s own attacks, is nothing short of fantastic. Kratos is powerful, quick, and so very much fun to control.

Not to leave the rest of the game behind, what I’ve experienced of its story (I’m somewhere in chapter 2) has been pretty darn amazing, too. The beginning of Kratos’s and Atreus’s time resonated in much the same way that Aloy’s story did from Horizon Zero Dawn. Saying that the two have an emotionally rocky relationship is an understatement, but it’s clear that they are deeply bonded, and that Kratos cares more than he lets on. Initially, I expected to be a somewhat put off by Atreus. When I watched the game being played years ago, I recall him be overly talkative. This he is, but in a way that’s more charming than less. Given Kratos’s outward lack of emotion, though he is awfully enjoyable to take in when he does speak, Atreus’s inquisitiveness serves as a perfect foil. The kid is bright, earnest, and so adores Kratos it’s almost painful to watch as Kratos remains willfully distant, at least for now.

God of War is part of my own “clear out the backlog” project for the year, and it certainly started things off with a bang. I’ve seen just how good it is, and I knew I’d be in for a treat once I started it, but I had no idea just how very, very sweet it would be. My adventures with Kratos and Atreus are just starting, and I’m really looking to traveling the road ahead with them, myths and monsters and all.

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All images, including lede, were captured by author during PS5 gameplay of God of War (© Santa Monica Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment).