God of War (2005) | Ludonarrative Arcs

An interactive tale of vengeance, violence, and failure.

Welcome to Ludonarrative Arcs! This is my exploration into the fascinating intersection between storytelling and gameplay across the run of a video game series. This series of articles will be focusing on Sony’s God of War games.

To begin this journey of chaos and redemption, we’re going back twenty years to the original 2005 God of War. The game that channelled the violence of ancient Sparta through the edge and angst of mid-2000s culture. It grabbed the imaginations of millions, garnered praise, courted controversy, and began a legend that endures to this day.

Yet, given everything that God of War, Santa Monica Studio, and the character of Kratos have been through over the past two decades, it can be easy to forget the inherent elegance of the original game’s design and storytelling. From the pacing to the character work, the brutality of God of War (2005) is rarely unmotivated and instead used as a lens through which to tell a tale of tragedy, revenge, self-interest, and ultimately, failure.

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