Kratos sculpt by Mark Newman

The Extra Credits bunch over at The Escapist have a fantastic new episode about the narrative successes and shortcomings of the God of War trilogy, entitled No Redeeming Value. Their conclusion: the games are a blast to play, the characterisation is outstanding but the story as a whole has no redeeming value. As always, their case is solid and enlightening and, as a big fan of story myself, I cannot help but nod along. With one exception.

I take issue with the claim that Kratos “is one of the most fully realised characters in gaming today”. I don’t think that is true and I don’t even think Kratos is any good as a character. To me, the characterisation of Kratos is the biggest failing of the God of War trilogy.

There will be spoilers from here on, so hit the jump at your own peril.