Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt this son was a bit fiercer than Kratos.
This feeling grew even stronger as the game's story progressed, and Atreus's weapons and skills gradually got upgraded, along with learning new arrow types.
Before they could head up the mountain, a blast of dark breath blocked their path. The Witch of the Woods informed Kratos and the others that to get past this dark magic, they needed to travel to the Elven realm of Alfheim to find the World Tree's light, which would illuminate their path forward.
Guided by the mysterious Witch of the Woods, Kratos and Atreus used the World Tree to travel to Alfheim, the realm of the elves.
However, it was different from what they expected. Just like other places outside the nine realms.
In the elven kingdom, there were also undead warriors appearing from nowhere.
And Alfheim was also in a state of war. Light elves were being invaded and slaughtered by dark elves. The game's difficulty here once again increased.
Compared to the undead warriors, these dark elves, who could fly and were incredibly fast, were much harder to deal with.
Furthermore, these dark elves had a parry skill. When Kratos attacked with his axe, the dark elves would sometimes parry his blows. They were also well-designed classes, with dark elves having both melee and ranged magic users.
As for the boss fight in this map, it made Zack struggle. The monster was a Stone Ancient Ghoul, its body covered in rocks that made it immune to damage, with only the core in its chest being its weakness.
And compared to Kratos, Atreus, who had upgraded his arrow skills to a very short cooldown, was practically a ranged turret.
He activated Spartan Rage and, after a lot of effort, defeated a special dark elf with a horn on its head.
Zack looked at Kratos, who was catching his breath after the fight, and then at Atreus, who seemed perfectly fine beside him.
He felt like something was off.
Although the combat felt very dynamic and exciting.
Kratos's punches landed hard, and the feedback from his axe hitting monsters was excellent.
But with this performance, Kratos would be leaning on his old back, gasping for air after fighting just one or two dark elves.
Earlier, when they were pushing that large millstone, Atreus had worried if Kratos had hurt his back.
Could this Kratos still be called the God of War?
He was like an elderly grandpa! And one who couldn't read, at that.
And if this was the case on easy mode, then how terrifying would the God of War difficulty be?
He would probably only be able to dodge from afar and rely on throwing his axe to deal damage.
Zack thought to himself.
At this moment, Kratos and Atreus had also reached the pillar of light formed by the World Tree's light.
Kratos handed his axe to Atreus, and then entered the pillar of light.
Upon entering, Kratos fell into an illusion.
The scene that appeared was the journey Kratos and Atreus had taken together.
During this time, Kratos heard a conversation between Atreus and his deceased wife.
At the same time, this also allowed Zack to understand some of Atreus's inner thoughts, such as his feelings for his biological father, Kratos. Atreus's heart was extremely complicated.
On one hand, he truly loved his father, but on the other hand, due to Kratos's past actions, he also resented his father.
In the illusion, Kratos kept moving forward. Finally, when he pushed open the door and arrived at a broken bridge, where the light was abundant ahead. Kratos seemed to see his wife, Laufey. He raised his left hand and slowly walked forward, wanting to get closer.
But at that moment, a pair of hands appeared behind Kratos and pulled him out of the illusion.
"Wait! Come back! Don't… no!"
Kratos yelled loudly, trying to stop it.
But the next moment, he was pulled out of the illusion and fell heavily into the shrine.
"What did you do? Why did you do that!"
Looking at Atreus, who was beside him looking concerned, Kratos, having been pulled out of the illusion, furiously questioned Atreus.
Facing Kratos's anger, Atreus also became agitated. From his voice, Zack could sense Atreus's panic and his fear of being abandoned.
"I saved you! You were trapped in there. I waited and waited, and you didn't come out… so I pulled you out!"
"Son, I was only in there… for a moment."
"No way! You were in there for ages! I didn't know what to do! You abandoned me! A second time! Why don't you care about me?"
"I…"
Kratos looked at the World Tree in his hand and fell silent.
Zack also fell into silence.
Unlike Kratos, Zack now had only one thought.
Who in the hell is the real God of War!
Looking at the numerous dark elf corpses all around, Zack felt his understanding being severely shaken.
Zack had fought these dead dark elves before.
They were elite monsters for him. He had used all his strength to kill just a few.
And afterward, Kratos was panting heavily. Zack had to search everywhere for green orbs to regain some health.
But now, Atreus, wielding his axe, had single-handedly killed hundreds?
You're the God of War, aren't you?
Especially with what happened next, it left Zack speechless.
After collecting the World Tree's light, Kratos infused the light into Atreus's bow.
With this, Atreus learned a new ability: turning his arrows into light elemental.
This made the bow attacks much more powerful, and it was particularly effective against these dark elves.
With just two shots, the dark elves were stunned.
At this point, Kratos just needed to step in and mop them up with QTEs.
For some inexplicable reason, Zack felt that familiar sense of mowing down enemies again.
But the problem was that the roles were reversed!
Shouldn't it be Kratos showing off and carrying his son?
Why was Kratos previously exhausting himself while fighting groups of dark elves, even needing to activate Spartan Rage?
But now, Atreus could stun enemies with a couple of arrows, allowing Kratos to easily dispatch them?
The game's content was still largely the same.
Combat, interspersed with puzzle elements for variety.
But with Atreus's impressive feat of single-handedly defeating hundreds of dark elves, and his new ability, Atreus's damage and utility were fully maxed out.
Combined with Kratos's constant questions and actions, Zack felt the game was a bit strange.
Especially when paired with some of the puzzle content.
When they encountered climbing sections, Atreus rode on Kratos's back. When they needed to carry crystals and stones, Kratos handled it. When they came across something they didn't understand, Kratos would call out "boy."
Looking at it now, it felt like Kratos was just a porter and a mount, and also like the ignorant son, Liu姥姥 entering the Grand View Garden, who hadn't seen anything and needed his son to explain.
And Kratos's health bar was incredibly embarrassing. Even with Spartan Rage, which was powerful, it only lasted for three seconds of true manhood.
Looking back at the images of the father and son.
Kratos: Unwashable dark past, slightly tired eyes, faded cheap tattoos, impatient tone, illiterate, embarrassing health bar cap.
Atreus: Noble bloodline, determined eyes, shooting four arrows per second, skilled in conversation and fluent in eight languages, cold-resistant leather armor, an infinite health bar.
This installment was clearly about the God of War and his elderly, illiterate father!
(End of Chapter)
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