God of War is a game series first created in 2005 where you play as a god named Kratos. The first three games are Kratos (you) going on a rampage and killing Greek gods just because he can. The fourth game recently came out in April 2018. In this one, it’s set in Norse mythology, not Greek. The basic plot of the story is Kratos’ wife, Faye, has passed away, and Kratos and his son Atreus need to find the highest peak in the realms to spread her ashes.

God of War 4 is longer than the other three. This one is 25 to 35 hours depending on the way you play. You could do the story, go after the Valkyries, do side quests for the dwarfs who make and upgrade your armor and weapons, do side quests for characters around the environment, or free the dragons. Or you could do all five. I did all five, so the whole game took me over 25 hours.

God of War 4 isn’t just great with its beautiful story; it has amazing visuals and graphics. The sky is the most realistic sky I’ve ever seen in a game. And each setting is so pretty. God of War 4 is the best looking video game I’ve ever seen since I’ve gotten into video games. One of the best graphics of the whole game, to me, is the snow on the peak of the mountain in Midgard, the realm you’re in. The snow is really impressive, you see the footprints you and Atreus leave, and they stay there until the wind blows them away, or more snow covers them. It’s the best snow animation I’ve ever seen in a video game. One of the first snow graphics that could be displaced was in Uncharted 2 that came out in 2008. Those graphics were mindblowing at the time, and to see snow graphics like this only 10 years later, is crazy to video game players like me.

Another amazing thing about God of War 4 is the environments and scenery in the distance. God of War 4 has some of the prettiest visuals I’ve ever seen, up close and far away. Which brings me to what’s in the background of the game. Most video games only put buildings, mountains, forests, or any natural occurring background. But God of War 4, uses different natural scenery. You get to meet the world serpent, who is long enough to stretch around the world, but instead of it disappearing after, it sits in the background, and you could see it, which is really different. This isn’t the only thing that could be found in the background though. In one part of the game, you go to a setting to find something for a dwarf, but the whole area is underneath a dead giant, which is really different. Also, toward to the end of the game, you go to the realm of the giants, and normally, there would be mountains, but instead, mountains are created by dead giants.

God of War also has great character development. This goes for both Kratos and Atreus. At the very beginning, Kratos is mean and doesn’t really care about others feelings, just winning a fight, or killing an animal. But throughout the whole game, you see him soften up a bit. Instead of not acknowledging Atreus’ feelings, he learns to accept them and ends up trusting him more. Also, during the game, you see moments of Kratos becoming a better person to Atreus, because, at some points, he goes to put his hand on Atreus’ shoulder, but doesn’t, but then does at the end, which shows his growth as a character.

Atreus also grew as a character. In the beginning, he was brash and quick to make decisions that weren’t always the best. He never listened to what Kratos said, and did what he wanted. Throughout the game, he grew because he learned what’s right and wrong, and became more mature, which makes Kratos trust him more. But there was a point when Atreus became really annoying. Kratos is a god, which makes Atreus a god too, and when he finds that out, he becomes way too cocky and doesn’t listen at all, but Kratos eventually puts him in his place, which causes Atreus to be good again.

Those are only a few reasons as to why I loved playing God of War 4. The game progressively got better as it went on, which is why God of War 4 is one of my favorite games at the moment. It’s at least in the top five. If you’re squeamish to certain things, like blood and gore, I wouldn’t recommend this game, but if you’re not, I highly advise you to play this game for amazing visuals, great gameplay, and an awesome story.