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.

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.

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?

In January, if I question why I never seem to make a dent in my game backlog, remind me that when people recommended I play the new God of War game, I decided I wanted to see the full progression and bought the God of War Saga collection.

Going into the first God of War, I had a vague impression of the original series as “angry Kratos kills everyone.” Now I lean more toward “Kratos’s life is awful and you’d be angry too.”

Our story begins with Kratos despairing, and then the narrator tells us we’re going to learn what brought him to that point. The majority of the game, therefore, shows the events leading up to the beginning.

As Ares attacks Athens, Athena tasks Kratos with killing him. In exchange, she promises that his sins will be forgiven. Kratos is plagued by nightmares and wants Ares dead anyway, so he accepts the seemingly impossible task of killing a god.

The story was more prominent than I expected, with important flashbacks to Kratos’s past in addition to the present-day events (and a few lore/worldbuilding notes here and there, too). I already knew the basics of what happened to him, but I almost wish I’d gone in completely blind so those moments would have had a greater impact.

When it comes to the gameplay, all I really knew going in was that it was an action game with hack-and-slash combat, so the puzzles came as a pleasant surprise. The sheer amount of platforming challenges were also a surprise… though not quite as pleasant. Some of those platforming sections were brutal.

I didn’t particularly like all the quick time events, but back when it came out, I suspect QTEs still felt fresh and epic, so I can’t really fault it there (except for the parts that make you mash R2, which is awful on a PS3 controller).

I enjoyed exploring and searching for treasure chests, and even though the series is known for its combat, I often had more fun with these action-adventure moments than when I was just fighting enemies.

Back to the story, though, what I really liked the most was how it felt like a Greek tragedy. It could have easily borrowed from Greek mythology without capturing the same tone, but many moments made me stop and think about how well it fit in with those stories.

Kratos’s backstory has all the key parts to make him a tragic Greek hero (he even parallels Heracles in several ways). Now he’s obsessed with revenge, filled with rage, and really not a nice person at all.

When I was in college, we read the Iliad in one of my classes and reached a point where Achilles was being particularly brutal. We stopped and discussed the fact that heroes in Greek mythology are not necessarily good people. They’re strong and capable of amazing feats, but they also might be angry and vengeful.

And that’s perfect for Kratos. He’s serving the gods and fighting powerful monsters, overcoming challenges no one else has managed. He’s their hero, even if he might not seem like what we’d call a hero.

Sure, I felt guilty at a couple points (that poor guy in the temple…), but Kratos’s actions fit both his backstory/motivations and the sort of Greek tragedy vibe the entire story had going for it. I enjoyed that a lot, and I’m interested in seeing if the sequels stay true to that feeling.

Have you played the original God of War? What did you think of it?