What is your favorite God of War moment?
Come this Friday, PlayStation 5’s big hit for the holidays, God of War: Ragnarok, will finally release. The second installment in Sony Santa Monica’s soft reboot of the hack-and-slash series (which started with the PlayStation 4s god of war) doesn’t just get rave reviews, it gets great from the major outlets. At the time of writing, some writers have called it one of the best PlayStation games ever, quite high in their personal rankings of the series overall.
The original god of war released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2, and has since become one of Sony’s most consistent franchises. Next to Ratchet & Clank from Insomniac Games, the god of war franchise is the only other first-party Sony series from the PS2 to make the leap across more than one PlayStation generation. Back during the original PS2 trilogy and spin-offs across other PlayStation systems, the big selling point was series leader Kratos and the brutal violence he would inflict on anyone and everyone in his path. Juvenile as it may sound, it turned out to be a working formula. Not all entries reached the same height, and that was clear in 2013 God of War: Ascension that there really was nowhere else to go with Kratos after he had murdered enough of the Greek pantheon that the killings lost their meaning.
enter god of war 2018, which took Kratos to Norway during the time of the Norse gods. With a one-shot camera trick and Kratos’ young son Atreus as the game’s big hooks, the soft reboot breathed new life into the franchise. Across both PS4 and PC releases, it received critical and commercial acclaim and became one of the strongest examples of PlayStation’s obsession with blockbuster triple-A titles. (Or, as it may also be known: the daddy toy.)
Across the Greek and Norse eras, Kratos has had some major, truly cinematic events, whether through gameplay or cutscenes. My favorite moments are not original, but I still love them: Kratos receiving the Blades of Chaos in the reboot is still extremely good as a mix of characterization and gameplay, and the fight against Poseidon that starts God of War III might be one of my favorite openings to a game, ever. For this week’s Open Channel, we want to know some of your favorite moments from throughout the franchise’s history. And if you’ve heard about what’s going on in ragnarok, don’t be a dick and ruin what’s going on.
Want more io9 news? Check when you can expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for DC Universe on film and TVand everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
