God of War is a franchise that has garnered much praise over the years. However, one of the aspects of the franchise that has gone underappreciated often is the story. At the same time, some fans may easily remember the story events of the latest game. Therefore, it can be beneficial to look back on what this franchise has given us in terms of narrative. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to do since the story of Kratos is now one that has spanned years, meaning that it is easy for players who don’t keep up with the story to fall behind.
That said, we have you covered with a summary of the God of War story. Read below or check out the official story recap video here.
God of War (2005) | Story Summary
In this game, we begin our journey with Kratos, the Spartan who made a deal with Ares, the Greek god of war, for power. We see in the introduction section of this game that Kratos is a great warrior. It is this pride in the battle that the god Ares uses against Kratos. The god promises to give our main character the power to vanquish any of his foes if he serves him. However, Ares quickly turns on Kratos and tricks him into murdering his only family. This is how the game opens up, and then we are introduced to combat within the game.
God of War (2005) combat is more of a typical hack-and-slash game. It does feel very smooth, especially for its time of release. However, the gameplay can be boiled down to these elements. While most of the player’s time will be spent hacking and slashing, God of War (2005) also features puzzle elements and platforming. This game was an absolute classic of the PlayStation 2 era of gaming. Picking up with the story, Kratos is tasked by the goddess Athena to murder Ares. This leads Kratos on a quest to obtain Pandora’s Box to kill the god.
However, Kratos will soon find out that revenge is a path that often leads to one’s demise and unhappiness when the events of the game take place, which sees Kratos tracking down Cronos, a Titan, to obtain Pandora’s Box that is being carried on Cronos’s back. These events eventually allow Kratos to ultimately gets his revenge by killing Ares. He is then forced to replace him as the new God of War.
God of War 2 | Story Summary
God of War 2 is the direct sequel to God of War (2005). After seemingly killing Ares and becoming the new god of war, Kratos has a new list of problems on his hands. Namely, Zeus, king of the gods. The game opens up with Kratos ransacking Athens, with which the Olympian gods take umbrage. They are not too fond of Kratos causing all of this destruction, especially not Zeus, who takes the form of the Colossus of Rhodes to battle with Kratos.
However, this is not before Zeus gains the upper hand, as he drains Kratos of his godly powers using the Blade of Olympus. Zeus takes advantage of Kratos’s weakness and essentially tosses our hero into the underworld. However, this would be Zeus’s folly as Kratos meets the Titan Gaia. Gaia seeks revenge upon Zeus for defeating all of the titans ages ago. Her plan involves Kratos using the Fates to turn back time before Zeus took the Blade of Olympus.
After murdering the Fates, Kratos then faces Zeus, who kills Athena, that was caught up in the fray. She essentially switches places with Zeus last minute and is herself killed. This causes Kratos to rethink his plan, travel back in time, and begin storming Olympus alongside the Titans. This is the cliffhanger ending that the game ends with, which threw many fans into an uproar for another installment.
God of War 3 | Story Summary
God of War 3 picks up right after the events of the second game, with Kratos atop Gaia climbing toward Olympus. After defeating Poseidon during the climb, players finally get to face off against Zeus. Unfortunately, this epic quest for revenge is interrupted as Zeus attacks Kratos and Gaia. This leads to Kratos being tossed back into the underworld. After this, he obtains Pandora’s Box and is backstabbed by Gaia. He deals with this by thrusting the Blade of Olympus through the Titan and Zeus.
Here, Zeus plays his final trump card, forcing Kratos to face his memories of murdering his family. This backfires, however, and Kratos beats Zeus to a bloody pulp with his bare hands, which is highly satisfying for the player. Following the killing of Zeus, Kratos attempt to commit suicide. After which, we see he seemingly survives, leading us into the events of God of War (2018).
God of War (2018) | Story Summary
Kratos is back and tackling a new pantheon of gods and goddesses. This time he is dealing with the Norse pantheon, and we pick up with Kratos in a completely different environment from when we saw him last. He is now a man with a family to protect, and he intends to do so. But as with regular people, the past catches up with him, and he soon is faced with the god Balder. Kratos and the god with no feelings get into a scuffle, yet it seems Kratos cannot hurt the god. We find out later in the game why this is the case.
This causes him and his son Atreus to flee their home, to scatter Atreus’s mother’s ashes. Along the way, they will encounter many hardships and learn more about themselves. This game features a new perspective because it is an over-the-shoulder view, which significantly changes the combat. But combat isn’t the only thing that has changed. The same can be said of Kratos. While he is still as murderous as ever, we also see him struggling with fatherhood and his past mistakes. Finally, after a cliffhanger ending that we won’t spoil here, events take place that leads us to the events of God of War: Ragnarock.
