Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Nov 262018
 

Since I’m playing in release order, the next game up in the God of War Saga was Chains of Olympus.

God of War: Chains of Olympus was originally released for the PSP, and I could tell it was designed for a handheld system. Something about the gameplay just felt a little off compared to God of War II, a bit more suited for a small screen.

It’s also much shorter than the previous two games, and the story is structured differently. While both God of War and God of War II saw Kratos on a journey to get the power to kill a god, this felt more like an investigation: strange things start happening and Kratos follows the clues until he finds its source.

Chains of Olympus is a prequel, set during the ten years Kratos served the gods so that they would eventually take away his nightmares.

Click for Chains of Olympus spoilers
You know, I was willing to give the gods the benefit of the doubt before and assume they all just said they’d forgive him, like Athena did, and Kratos misinterpreted it… but here, Eos outright promises that if Kratos rescues Helios, Helios will make sure Kratos is freed from his service to the gods and the horrors of his past would be erased.

Yeah, Kratos saves Helios, but guess what doesn’t happen.

While God of War II shifted its focus away from tragedy, Chains of Olympus returns with another depressing story. Here, like in the original, we get to see how much Kratos cared about his family.

Click for Chains of Olympus spoilers
He gets the chance to give up everything and stay in the Elysian Fields with his daughter Calliope, and he accepts in a heartbeat. No wanting to save the world, no concern over how he’d never get his revenge, no regrets about giving up his power and life, he didn’t even need to think twice about it. If Persephone hadn’t revealed her plan like an idiot, Kratos would have stayed right there forever.

That whole scene was really sad.

The only thing I dislike about it is that Kratos describes Calliope as the only person he loved. Um…. his wife???

Seriously, why wasn’t Calliope’s mother with her? Why didn’t he even mention her? It’s always been shown before this that he loved both of them, so why did Chains of Olympus forget about her?

Now, a few things make the story seem a little inconsistent in regards to the first game, such as why Kratos in the first game seems so shocked that a mortal can kill a god, or how dramatic his return from Hades is when he already did it once before.

(I’ve come to realize that the developers must have really loved Hades, because so far every game has involved a trip to the underworld.)

Nevertheless, working with a prequel can be tricky if you want to keep the same sort of tone, and I appreciate what the story tried to do.

Chains of Olympus wasn’t quite as great as the previous two games, but I did enjoy it, especially the scenes near the end. Next, my journey through the God of War Saga will continue with God of War III!

What did you think of God of War: Chains of Olympus?

  3 Responses to “God of War: Chains of Olympus is Short and Sad”

  1. This is the only title from the old games that I skipped out on. It seemed weird to have it on handheld.Sounds like it is pretty different in a way though, which could be interesting.

  2. […] now played four games in the God of War Saga, since after completing Chains of Olympus, I moved on to God of War […]

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