God of War‘s rebirth back in 2018 was unanimously agreed upon as the best path of evolution for the series and Kratos. Although it may not have been perfect from a gameplay standpoint, none can argue that its narrative and characters were anything but that.
6 years on and with the benefit of hindsight, however, it is difficult to look past some of the cracks in the story. For instance, the game’s subreddit seems somewhat conflicted on how to feel about Kratos’ one ability and why he didn’t utilize it more throughout his and Atreus’ journey.
If Kratos Can Self-Heal, Why Didn’t He Use the Ability More in God of War 2018?
While Norse God of War‘s second outing has left many speculating on the possibility of a third game, it has also given many the time and chance to look back on the story so far.
Unfortunately, this seems to have surfaced a few plot holes that are too difficult to look past, especially from a gameplay standpoint. For instance, on the game’s subreddit, people can’t seem to make their minds up about why Kratos doesn’t self-heal himself more throughout God of War 2018.
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According to some, this ability’s very showcase is confusing for two reasons – the first is that there was no lore explanation in 2018 for why Kratos can still use such skills in the Norse era during his fights with Baldur other than how he’s simply brute-forcing them out:
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The second reason is that he may just simply be a bit stupid outside of battles and would much rather rely on random shiny stones to heal himself:
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The problem here, it seems, is that for all that Kratos is—from a powerful individual with a gifted intellect to one of the wisest people in all of the nine realms—his gameplay counterpart sometimes failed to reflect this in God of War 2018.
A Few Gameplay Aspects of God of War Don’t Align Well With the Games’ Narratives
Sure, the Aesir gods truly had it easy when dealing with Kratos and Atreus, but that doesn’t change the fact that some of the series’ past sins seem to still be carried on in the Norse saga.
It all seems to stem from Santa Monica’s need to evolve the gameplay of God of War titles rather than move away from it. For instance, why does Kratos, someone capable of flipping Tyr’s temple, grunt while slowly lifting open a simple gate? Or why does he need to rely on green healing items instead of self-healing by depleting some of his rage meter?
Such instances are endless in 2018’s gameplay. While God of War Ragnarok has fixed a lot of such problems, especially the one related to self-healing, it still carries a few issues forward, which now seem etched into the overall design of the Norse saga.
Considering that, it would be quite interesting to see where Santa Monica takes this franchise from here on out and whether it can improve the alignment between its gameplay, lore, and narrative.
With that said, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think God of War 2018 could’ve integrated a self-heal mechanic for Kratos? Let us know in the comments below.
