(He will, of course, unflinchingly beat the life out of anyone who threatens his son, which appears to be the only way he knows how to express affection.) Kratos’ uncertainty of how to relate to a boy he’s both looking to turn into a survivor and yet afraid may turn out like him is devastating to watch. He seems disappointed in his lack of skill and stomach for combat, referring to him mostly as “Boy,” and rarely making eye or physical contact with him. Kratos loves his son but is cold at first. Here are two people with demonstrably different personalities, one of them young and still innocent, the other old and as blood-soaked as they come, both grieving over the same woman in different ways. That relationship, and how it evolves and changes over the course of the story, is one of God of War’s most captivating qualities. But he is still a stranger to this place, and is forced to rely on the son he barely connects with to decipher its languages and guide him when the swing of an axe or the imprint of his boot on an undead foe won’t do the trick. While that history certainly informs who he is now, the character we encounter here has started a new chapter, having found love, a family, and a full bushy beard in this world of Norse mythology.

If you’ve played the previous games in the series – seven of them, counting two PSP games and one mobile game – you know that Kratos lived a long life of loss, triumph, and plenty of god-killing in ancient Greece. But the story also encompasses an indelible supporting cast, a gorgeous world consistently rewarding to explore, and immensely satisfying combat. It’s all framed by one continuous camera shot that never cuts away or takes the focus off of the heart of it all: Kratos’ relationship with his young son, Atreus. Set in a new, Norse mythology-inspired world and starring a familiar but thoughtfully reimagined character, God of War’s fish-out-of-Greek-water tale is a nonstop whirlwind of emotions.

God of War is a masterful composition of exceptional interlocking parts, deliberate in its design and its foreshadowing, which pays off in unexpected ways in both the gameplay and story. That is absolutely true of God of War – its musical score elevates story moments, which flow seamlessly into fantastic action gameplay, which facilitates exploration and puzzles that reward you with a deeper understanding of its characters and its expansive and beautiful world.

The Shining, The Social Network, and Jaws are all excellent examples of films made up of strong individual parts complementing each other to form a fantastic work of art. Some of the best films of all time are those whose different strengths all work in concert to create a unified, engrossing whole.

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