// KOTAKU — GAMING
All Of The God Of War Games, Ranked From Worst To Best
God of War is about to do something it hasn’t done before: center someone other than Kratos. Before we head into the Everywhen as Faye with God of War Laufey, we thought we’d take a look back at over 20 years of god-slaying and navigating Kratos’ dysfunctional family tree by ranking all the previous games from worst to best. Don’t yell at us if your fave is low on the list. Simply swear vengeance upon us and take out a pantheon of gods on the way.
Mechanically, the 2D, sidescrolling Sons of Sparta maybe wasn’t the kind of treatment I want God of War to get but narratively, yes, please, may I have another. I thought turning GOW into a metroidvania was cute, but the gameplay got tedious after a while. However, I adored that the narrative conceit of the game is Kratos telling his daughter Calliope a story about his life as a child. I have so much grief for Kratos’ first family because they wield so much narrative power over this entire franchise but we know so little about them. Regardless of the gameplay, I’m glad Sons of Sparta exists so I can get my “Kratos being a good dad to his FIRST child for a change” fix. — Ash Parrish
The last PS3 God of War is absolutely a relic of a pre-live-service era when companies were bolting multiplayer modes onto the sides of their most lucrative ships, so it’s not super surprising that the bulk of Ascension feels a little underbaked. The prequel is still full of the kinds of incredible, cinematic set pieces and twitchy action that make each God of War at least memorable, but its hack-and-slash combat feels narrowly focused on Kratos’ iconic Blades of Chaos, with you shifting between different elemental affinities instead of different weapons that would have more tangibly changed up your playstyle and the flow of combat. That final boss fight against the Kraken and the Furies still whips pretty hard, though. — Kenneth Shepard
God of War Ragnarok would have been incredible as two games instead of one. Yeah, the frustratingly bloated and overly long sequel is still rock solid, with fantastic action and some incredible moments, especially for Kratos and Atreus, who remain the heart and soul of the series’ Norse mythology games despite the ever-expanding cast. Still, it’s hard to not get wistful thinking of what this story might’ve looked like if it’d had a bit of breathing room. Ragnarok’s Valhalla DLC, meanwhile, shows exactly what a hypothetical scaled-back sequel could have looked like by giving Kratos a roguelike therapy session that’s laser-focused on one character instead of a dozen, which helps the core action mechanics shine through in a way that base Ragnarok didn’t, having a bit too much noise going on to let that action sing sometimes. It’s a shame because so many of Ragnarok’s narrative threads, such as Angrboda seeking out the remnants of the frost giants and the inner machinations of Thor’s family drama, are genuinely compelling, but it’s all fighting for attention in a game that’s trying to wrap up a trilogy’s-worth of stories in a second game. — Kenneth Shepard
The PlayStation Portable was one of the earlier attempts at a handheld offering console-level experiences, and God of War: Chains of Olympus was certainly one of the best examples of a studio making it happen. Ready at Dawn pulled off a handheld God of War remarkably well, creating a Kratos experience that was pretty comparable to its console brethren and that you could take on the go. Though it isn’t quite as narratively illuminating as its sequel, it’s still a truly impressive feat for 2008. — Kenneth Shepard
Ghost of Sparta, Ready at Dawn’s second Chaos Blade swing at a handheld God of War game, is just as solid a game as its predecessor. What gives it a bit of an edge over Chains of Olympus is how much we learn about Kratos in the prequel, including the introduction of his brother Deimos, who adds a whole new wrinkle to Kratos’ dysfunctional family tree. That guy is an onion of layers to peel back, and Ready at Dawn