The new God of War is utterly remarkable.

Every major element, from the presentation, to the gameplay, to the story, to the scope, is praiseworthy. But what makes God of War one of the best games of the generation is the way it all comes together into a cohesive whole. To get to the heart of it, let’s break it down piece-by-piece.

The Story

(I will avoid all but the earliest spoilers in this section, but will talk a bit about the thematic focus of the game. Read at your own discretion)

God of War is explicitly about parenthood. Kratos, the vengeful God from the previous games, is now older and wiser, forced into a position of guardianship after his second wife dies. With few exceptions, he spends the entirety of this new title accompanied by his son. The events of the game cause their relationship to grow and change, and also allow for opportunities to immerse the player in common parental fears. One sequence plays up the anxiety and tension of temporarily losing your child. Another suggests that your kid may grow up to be a right bastard, despite (or because of) your best intentions.

Even as the game opens up, and the scale of the world and mythology reveal themselves to be larger than you imagined, the story itself remains extremely focused. Most major characters are either parents who make poor decisions in an effort to protect their children or the children who suffer as a result. It is simultaneously one of the biggest and smallest game experiences of the year.

This isn’t to say that God of War is unique in focusing on parenthood; much has been written about the “daddening” of video games that has been occurring now that many industry veterans have become fathers themselves. But game director Cory Barlog has instilled God of War with a real sense of pathos. The game feels personal, not only because of his perspective as a father, but because of his history with the God of War series.

While praised at the time for their stories (set in and tonally inspired by Greek mythology), there are elements of the earlier games that feel juvenile or simplistic compared to today’s more grown-up game industry. Kratos may have had a solid backstory, but he was still a very one-note character, whose every action was driven by vengeance. Some moments hold up incredibly well today (like, for instance, the epic scaling of Mount Olympus at the beginning of God of War 3), but others have become quite embarrassing, the game industry equivalent of old doodles of big-boobed stick figures (NSFW: Exhibit A)

Barlog himself seems to be looking back on his series (he worked on both of the first two games, and even directed the second) with a mixed sense of pride and embarrassment. This comes through in the game via Kratos’ fear of telling his son about his past. Despite never showing one iota of self-awareness in the previous series, having to step outside of his own perspective and consider sharing his past with his son causes Kratos great shame.
There is a moment in the game where Kratos is forced to reckon with his past, both embracing and combating the monster he used to be. The sequence masterfully plays up the tension and apprehension Kratos has, but also conveys the catharsis inherent in coming to terms with oneself. It’s an excellent microcosm of the game’s raison d’etre: tackling the complex tangle of past and future represented in parenthood, through nuanced storytelling and interwoven gameplay.

The Gameplay

While I expected God of War to wow me in several areas, I was admittedly skeptical of its new combat system. Just watching it play out in demos, it looks clunky. The camera position (just behind Kratos, similar to Resident Evil 4) doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense in a melee-oriented game, where one can quickly become surrounded by foes, and the Leviathan Axe is nowhere near as sleek or show-boaty as the previous trilogy’s Blades of Chaos.

Early impressions aren’t the best, either. The initial moveset is woefully limited, yet the controls still feel needlessly confusing and awkward. Take, for instance, the way that most of your attacks are mapped to the right hand shoulder buttons, but ordering Atreus to shoot an arrow (which essentially serves as an extra ranged attack) is mapped to the Square button. Or how blocking is mapped to the left hand shoulder, but evading is mapped to X. There’s little consistency to where offensive or defensive moves are located, and I found myself getting lost in the controls from time to time.

But to say that God of War‘s combat grows on you is a major understatement. You eventually do get used to the controls, and you begin to understand how elegant they are in different scenarios. Certain techniques, such as parrying, become more manageable, and enemy “tells” strike you as more apparent. You also unlock SIGNIFICANTLY more abilities, weapons, equipment, and special moves as the game continues. Most players will find themselves using very different combinations of runic attacks and equipment abilities than their friends.

It is this freedom of approach, combined with fast-paced and fair combat, that makes God of War the greatest action title I’ve played since Devil May Cry 3. To truly master the game, one has to have an understanding of the various enemies and their weaknesses, but also the timing of their own chosen move-sets. It requires a conscious presence in battle, even against relatively common enemies, to keep track of windows of opportunity and manage different formations. It provides the satisfaction of “learning” the game present in the Dark Souls titles, with the more tense, fast-paced thrills of a Platinum Games title. It is outstanding.

The Scope

God of War is also much bigger than one might expect from its marketing and conference presentations. Just watching footage of its main story, it appears to be a linear experience that borrows heavily from the Naughty Dog playbook; beautiful graphics, great performances, interwoven gameplay, all placed along a narrow and meticulously crafted path. The first couple hours of the game do little to dispel this notion; the path forward only typically goes in one direction, the main story drives the action, and the game shifts from playable to non-playable sequences roughly as often as an Uncharted title.

However, shortly after acquiring a compass, the game opens up in a huge way. With nothing but a map, a boat, and the aforementioned compass, Kratos and Atreus are free to explore their world and discover all sorts of quests and wonders. Unlike many open-world games of today, the player isn’t shown markers for where to find quests, or told exactly what they’re looking for. Instead, similarly to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there’s an emphasis on personal discovery. Some of the most satisfying content in God of War is off the beaten path, just waiting for you to stumble onto it.

The game doesn’t waste your time, either. While not everything you encounter is equally exciting, even the most simple diversions are interesting, featuring puzzles or battles that a developer actually put thought and care into. There are rewards at the end of every path, so it never feels like you’re wasting your time collecting random odds and ends for the sake of completion (well, okay, other than Odin’s ravens…). As the game continues to open up in ways I would rather not spoil, the consistent quality of these diversions impresses more and more. It’s the best balance of quality and quantity since The Witcher 3. While it doesn’t quite reach the scope of that game, the controls and visual details are arguably more refined.

The Presentation (Graphics and Sound)

This part comes as little surprise to anybody who has been following the game, but God of War looks completely and utterly stunning. Whether it’s surprising you with it’s depth of color, or its scope, or its cinematic battle sequences (there are early game spoilers in each of those links), the game continues to impress from start to finish. The performance capture work, which happens to be some of the best in the business, adds an extra degree of realism to the proceedings. The art direction straddles the line between realism and heightened fantasy, and never quite falls into the Uncanny Valley.

But the game’s commitment to presenting everything in a single “shot” is arguably even more impactful. Like Alexander Inarritu’s Birdman, there is never a break in the presentation, with only the occasional trick used to mask a cut. The effect is less pronounced in a video game, where players are used to uninterrupted shots during gameplay, but the presentation still has a subtle impact throughout the game. It really helps emphasize the growth between Kratos and his son Atreus, as the camera gracefully re-positions itself to sell the moments between (or apart from) them.

The decision to keep the camera close to Kratos also helps sell the scale of certain moments. Earlier games established this by having the camera zoom way out, until Kratos was nothing but a speck on a much larger canvas. Here, Kratos always takes up roughly the same portion of the screen, so when something enormous is nearby, it is impossible to take in all at once, often reaching way into the background of the environment. Seeing how the World Serpent’s face fills the screen without shifting the distance of the camera really sells how much larger the world is than you could fathom.

The real unsung heroes, however, are the members of the sound team. Without a doubt, God of War has the best sound design I’ve encountered in a game. Surround channels are perfectly utilized, and crunchy effects are liberally used to add to the satisfaction of pulling off powerful attacks. The team seems to get how dynamic range is supposed to work; dialogue is always loud enough to be heard (regardless of the direction it comes from), it mixes well with the effects and score, but when something is meant to be loud or overwhelming (like the World Serpent’s voice) it absolutely is.

All in all…

When I try to think of the drawbacks to God of War, it feels like nitpicking. Yes, the map system is kind of a mess. Yeah, I would have liked to have been able to fast travel earlier in the game. I’ll admit that I was tired of fighting re-skinned trolls even late into the game. But in light of all of the things that this game accomplishes, across the narrative, the presentation, the gameplay, it’s barely relevant.

In some cases, my inherent desire for more of something is actually counteracted by my rational acknowledgment that they made the right call. Aside from a few epic fights, God of War keeps things relatively small. There are frequent hints at something more, and an end-game teaser which rather explicitly sets up a more epic sequel, but the developers demonstrate significant restraint. They know that in order for this story to grow, they need to give the player a sense of progression. What is here is extraordinarily satisfying and more than one could reasonably expect a game to deliver, but it’s ultimately just a taste of what’s to come. God of War is one of the greatest games I’ve played in years, yet it feels like it’s just scratching the surface of what Santa Monica Studios has to offer.