New God of War game Sons of Sparta was originally going to be set "a little bit closer" to the classic Greek saga, but the devs thought Kratos as a kid "resonates" more with the franchise

Sony and Mega Cat have taken us back to the early days of Kratos for God of War: Sons of the Sparta, a new 2D platformer exploring the youth of him and his brother, Deimos. As a prequel, it goes back further than any installment previously, bringing us deeper into the mind of the eponymous warrior, but that was always the plan.

"Early on, we did think about maybe [making the story] a little bit closer to the events of the Greek saga games that fans are familiar with," Zack Manko, game director at Sons of Sparta developer Mega Cat Studios, told the PlayStation Blog. "I think the writers at [Santa Monica Studio] thought this is what we need to go to, because seeing Kratos as a boy here resonates throughout the rest of the series."

Really, Atreus became a north star, in the sense of how fatherhood impacts Kratos and his slightly unorthodox, shall we say, parenting style. The Greek saga has him as a ruthless maverick, merciless to his enemies and a lone wanderer, whereas the Norse games thus far have him with his own child, a dynamic he's not often great at handling.

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"These formative years of Kratos, this character, seeing all these things that happen and these influences on him. It just adds so much to this character that fans are familiar with throughout the rest of the games," Manko adds.

It is remarkable how much depth Santa Monica Studio and the various other studios who've contributed to the franchise have managed to bring to Kratos, a character who was famously shallow and whose games could be extremely puerile. Now, he's seen as a symbol of a grieving, emotionally distant dad who's unlearning his deeply ingrained old habits. All while still ripping hoards of enemies.

He's multi-faceted, and Sons of Sparta is here to show us more of that. But even if you don't care for that part, you still get to mince a Cyclops. He's still the god of war, y'know.

God of War: Sons of Sparta's easiest difficulty makes an excellent reference to the 2018 reboot, and fans love it: "Whoever came up with that should get a raise"