It wasn't just Zack who felt this way; many players who had experienced the previous God of War felt the same.
They wondered if they had played a fake God of War, and that the truly amazing one was their son, who had no health bar.
Especially as Atreus's skills grew stronger and he learned more abilities, he felt even more useful than Kratos.
Of course, this was mainly because most players' skills hadn't actually reached a level where they could brutally defeat monsters.
In addition, there was the most crucial point: the game experience of the new God of War was very connected to the previous trilogy.
Most players weren't even mentally prepared for it.
Take God of War set in Greece as an example. After defeating the Hydra, players quickly encountered Athena and solidified the main storyline.
Take down the God of War Ares, mortal kills god!
Then, the end of the first chapter made players incredibly excited, because taking down Ares was just the beginning; their final target was Zeus.
In the content of the next two chapters, Kratos fought his way from hell to Olympus, and finally destroyed Greek mythology. It was incredibly epic.
But then, in the Norse setting?
Kratos is old and has a child, and that's not even mentioning the Blades of Chaos turning into a logging axe.
After all, the axe with a GPS auto-navigation system was actually quite fun to play with.
But the main storyline of climbing a mountain with his child to scatter ashes was something players found difficult to accept at first; the psychological gap was too large.
Coupled with the addition of RPG elements, Kratos's health bar, even on normal difficulty, was a very embarrassing sight. Not to mention that on God of War difficulty, even regular enemies could brutally defeat Kratos.
This left many players dumbfounded, feeling it was even harder than playing Souls-like games.
But after a period of initial confusion, as the game experience progressed, players quickly got absorbed in the game.
On one hand, the game itself was excellent. On the other hand, this God of War focused more on telling a good story.
This was the completely different aspect of the new God of War compared to the previous trilogy.
There was also a story in the trilogy.
But most players, compared to understanding Kratos's past and experiences, were more focused on what means Kratos would use to brutally defeat the Greek gods.
So, the Kratos in Greek mythology could be seen as extremely volatile.
But in the Norse setting, Kratos's overall playstyle was completely different.
Of course, at its core, God of War was still God of War.
After getting through the initial calm period, once Kratos embarked on his journey through the Nine Realms, the game's story picked up pace.
All sorts of grand scenes appeared, allowing players to still experience incredibly impactful combat and extremely violent battles.
But when facing enemies, Kratos could still feel the same violence he had when he tore through Greek mythology.
Especially when Atreus was in danger, Kratos, activating Spartan Rage, was even more terrifying.
But due to the change in narrative structure, players' focus was no longer solely on these grand scenes.
The interactions between Kratos and Atreus, and their journey, also became a focal point for players.
Kratos was now old and had a child. He wouldn't be playing quick-time events with beautiful women to extract red orbs anymore.
Furthermore, this installment elevated players' feelings for Kratos to a new level.
Coupled with his act of self-sacrifice in the final chapter of the trilogy to release the power of hope, Kratos in the Norse setting felt more like a person.
The previous Kratos could be a god, a monster, but not truly a person.
He would disregard the consequences of killing major gods like Poseidon for revenge, watching floods engulf the world, but in the end, he could bestow fate upon humanity.
And the Kratos who arrived in the Norse lands had a different identity: a father.
This change made the character of Kratos more complex and his personal charisma more outstanding.
Just like Ezio in Assassin's Creed or Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption.
The reason they are loved by countless players is that they feel complete to the players.
Arthur's journey of redemption begins from an outlaw to his final illness. On one hand, he remained incredibly loyal to Dutch and the gang. Even when he had countless opportunities to escape, he didn't leave, hoping instead to save the gang that had fallen into a quagmire.
Ezio, blinded by hatred after the tragedy of his family, gradually understood the true meaning of being an assassin under the guidance of his uncle Mario, established the Brotherhood, and finally became an assassin master before passing away.
Similarly, Kratos went from a Spartan warrior to the Spirit of Sparta, then to the God of War, tearing through Olympus and destroying Greek mythology. Upon arriving in the Norse lands, he became a father.
Just like the phoenix pattern before, it symbolized that the "monster" Kratos of the past had died. The Kratos who arrived in the Norse lands had begun a new life. These contrasts made Kratos even fuller.
Especially when Kratos was ambushed by Odin's son, Modi, in the cellar of a northern shipyard in the game.
In a moment of urgency, Atreus attacked Modi to save his father, but he unexpectedly collapsed and fell unconscious due to his own power, triggering a plot that made all players incredibly excited.
As Atreus's power collapsed and he fell unconscious, Kratos, who was restrained by Modi's magic, became completely enraged. He activated Spartan Rage, shattering the magical bonds, terrifying Modi into fleeing.
But Kratos didn't pursue the fleeing Modi. He had more important matters now.
This made all players who had played God of War incredibly excited.
Guided by Mimir, the talkative head he carried with him, Kratos learned that only Freya, the former forest witch, could help him save Atreus.
Zack had already learned Freya's true identity from Mimir's earlier explanation: she was Odin's wife and a princess of the Vanir gods, Freya.
However, Kratos's life experiences were all caused by gods, so he naturally didn't trust gods at all, especially since Freya was Odin's wife, even though she was essentially imprisoned by Odin.
But now that Atreus was sick, Kratos still decided to swallow his pride and go see Freya for help.
Bringing Atreus to Freya's home, she showed no other emotions due to her relationship with Kratos. Instead, she was very concerned about Atreus.
From Freya, Kratos also learned the true reason behind Atreus's lifelong frailty.
The explanation was that if a god firmly believed they were mortal and unconsciously suppressed their divine power, this cognitive dissonance would cause their body to show abnormalities.
Atreus's symptoms were now very severe. To treat him, they needed the heart of the guardian of the Bridge of Curses.
The Bridge of Curses was located in Helheim, the realm of death among the Nine Realms.
But Helheim was an extremely cold land, and any ice-based attacks posed no threat to its inhabitants. Kratos's ice-element battle axe would be useless there.
Therefore, to travel to the realm of death, Helheim, Kratos would need to find another weapon.
A fire-attribute weapon.
Seeing this, Zack's skin crawled.
A thought immediately sprang to mind!
And what Kratos said next confirmed it.
After obtaining information about the realm of death, Helheim, from Freya.
Kratos fell silent for a moment, gently stroking the bandages wrapped around his arm.
'Then I must go home...'
'Unearth the past I swore to bury forever.'
Freya, who was tending to the unconscious Atreus, shook her head and said, 'What you were before doesn't matter.'
'This child is not your past; he is your son, and he needs a father.'
Glancing at the unconscious Atreus, Kratos's gaze gradually turned determined.
Taking a deep breath, Kratos turned and left Freya's home.
(End of Chapter)
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