God of War (2018) reinvented more than just the series’ gameplay style and setting- it also reinvented Kratos as a character. Once the embodiment of rage and, as a certain Metal Gear character would say, a lust for revenge, Kratos was deemed mind-numbingly one-dimensional by many for a long, long time. Given the style of the series during its Greek era years, his character made sense- God of War was like a popcorn flick back then, and it didn’t need a protagonist with too much depth or complexity (though saying that Kratos had no complexity even back then wouldn’t entirely be accurate- but that’s a different discussion).
With the 2018 soft reboot-slash-sequel, however, the series matured and grew up, and as its style of storytelling changed and became more grounded and character-driven, it ended up needing a protagonist who could back that up. And thankfully, Kratos was more than capable of turning into that protagonist. Much more subdued, consciously holding back his famous rage and actively trying to be a different person, 2018’s Kratos was very much done with his furious, violent ways, and even though he got pulled back into the sort of situation that he was so desperately trying to avoid, he knew that he had to keep his worst tendencies in check. Seeing him with that sort of self-awareness was refreshing.
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