History YMMV / GodOfWarPS4

* EvenBetterSequel: Not only was it considered by many fans to be arguably the best game in the series, but some even consider it to be the best game on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 -- as of August 2022, there are only four games with better Metacritic scores, two of which (''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV and ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs) are actually {{Updated Rerelease}}s of previous-generation games. The other two (''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2 and ''VideoGame/Persona5) were highly anticipated sequels, to say the least.

* NarmCharm: The very last part of [[spoiler:Baldur's final boss battle, after Kratos and Atreus bring him down together]], is a short beatdown where [[spoiler:Kratos thrashes Baldur as he lies prone on the ground]]. In theory, this is a call-back to -- and reversal of -- [[spoiler:their very first fight, where Kratos also choke-slammed the god and managed to punch him down through the roof]]; in practice, [[spoiler:it's a very unflattering camera angle of Kratos sitting on his fallen enemy while Baldur lies there, completely unable to fight back, and hitting his quivering body with one ropey, wet-sounding punch after another like an Aesir piñata, until both of them are completely covered in Baldur's blood.]] It's hardly as dramatic this time, but it is ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice hilarious]]'', and [[CatharsisFactor VERY satisfying after the guy's caused you so much grief]].
** The entire purpose of Kratos calling Atreus "boy" is to demonstrate to players how strained their relationship is. But the consistency in which Kratos says it is so frequent that not only is it considered to be hilarious, but it has become a meme.

** [[LetsPlay/JackSepticEye JackSepticEye]] refers to the game as ''Dad of Boy'', with "boy" being said like Kratos says it early in the game.

** A big one and ultimately the point of the game: How valid is Kratos' attempt at redemption? Does making Atreus a worthy and honorable god, and even more important a good person, make up for all the harm he's caused? Is he even worthy of forgiveness, and if so at what point can Kratos earn that? Should Kratos be seen as TheAtoner or a RetiredMonster? Is he honestly trying not to hurt people unnecessarily, or is he just so devoid of people to hate that he hasn't had a chance to act out his violent tendencies? [[spoiler:Athena mocks his attempt at redemption, saying that a teacher, a husband, and a father are all things he could never convincingly be. Kratos actually agrees with her assessment of him being a monster. Kratos however, retorts that he is no longer the Greek Pantheon's monster.]] The overall implication seems to be one where there are times where "being the monster" is necessary to win on the battlefield, but that raging intensity must be tempered with discipline and self-control. [[spoiler: ''Ragnarok'' comes down clearly on the side of 'valid'; the moral of the story is that ''anyone'', no matter their past, can [[ArcWords be better]], and only people incapable of redemption are those who for whatever reason reject it.]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Faye, [[TheLostLenore Kratos' wife]] and [[MissingMom Atreus' mother]], is subject to this a lot considering [[PosthumousCharacter she is dead]] by the time the game starts, we never see how she was like in life and only hear it from other people. From all accounts, she was an AllLovingHeroine that helped people in need without expecting anything in return and managed to love Kratos despite the horrible things he did in his past. [[spoiler:However, the revelation that she was a Giant and she foresaw all the things her husband and child would do in their quest (including Baldur's fight) puts many things into question: was she genuinely nice as she appeared to be, or did she have a sinister side, using her loved ones to get revenge on the Aesir from beyond death? That being said, while she did ask for her ashes to be scattered, she probably wasn't the one who created the prophecy (though she definitely knew about it and [[ThanatosGambit engineered the quest to scatter her ashes so they could be aware of it]]). At the same time, she did know what would happen, and felt Atreus and Kratos needed to bond, and so formed the entire journey in an effort for Kratos to become a genuinely good father, and Atreus becoming a man]]. Another interpretation as pointed out by Kratos is that Faye ''did'' hate the gods, [[spoiler:but her vision of Ragnarök was simply fate and not something she was trying to set in motion. The last version is supported by Mimir, who says that Ragnarok ''was'' fated, Kratos just moved the date of occurrence sooner]].

** A big one and ultimately the point of the game: How valid is Kratos' attempt at redemption? Does making Atreus a worthy and honorable god, and even more important a good person, make up for all the harm he's caused? Is he even worthy of forgiveness, and if so at what point can Kratos earn that? Should Kratos be seen as TheAtoner or a RetiredMonster? Is he honestly trying not to hurt people unnecessarily, or is he just so devoid of people to hate that he hasn't had a chance to act out his violent tendencies? [[spoiler:Athena mocks his attempt at redemption, saying that a teacher, a husband, and a father are all things he could never convincingly be. Kratos actually agrees with her assessment of him being a monster. Kratos however, retorts that he is no longer the Greek Pantheon's monster.]] The overall implication seems to be one where there are times where "being the monster" is necessary to win on the battlefield, but that raging intensity must be tempered with discipline and self-control.

** During their second trip to [[spoiler:Helheim, Atreus eventually witnesses, to Kratos' distress, a hallucination of when [[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII he beat his father Zeus to death]], but when Kratos comments on it to Atreus afterwards, the latter claims he didn't see anything. Was Atreus horrified at what he had seen and wanted to pretend he never saw it? Or did he understand enough to acknowledge that it was something shameful of his father's past and he simply wanted to spare him of having to talk about it? A third possibility is that this happened shortly after Kratos snapped Atreus out of his arrogant behaviour when finding out he was a god, meaning Atreus realized his father had a past-self he regretted as well and had learned a similar lesson that he just taught him. He later suggests he ''did'' overhear it when Kratos decides to fully come clean to him.]]

*** To Mimir's credit, if one beats [[{{Superboss}} Sigrun]] her claims that he corrupted the Valkyries do back up his assertions that Odin is a pretty terrible person.

** Is Kratos really breaking the Ragnarok prophecy or is he performing his role in the actual prophecy hidden in Jötunheimr? Magni and Modi are the best example of this; they both believed they were destined to survive Ragnarok until Kratos killed Magni, causing Modi to tremble in disbelief and fearfully ask how Kratos was able to do this. In Jötunheimr, both Magni and Modi are shown fighting against Kratos and Atreus (Fárbauti and Loki) on the tapestry which indicates how they will die in the lead-up to Ragnarok. So is Kratos really a chaotic paradox or another pawn in the prophecy?

** Some of the harder [[BonusBoss Valkyries]] have a very nasty attack where they scream "VALHALLA!", launch themselves into the air, and dive-bomb you. You have a ''very'' tight window to dodge this, and if you don't you'll get pinned and take a minimum of three stomps to the head, which is enough to kill on the highest difficulty. Worse still, some Valkyries have a unique riff on the attack. For example, Gondul will rain down a fireball, ''then'' perform the dive, when you've probably had plenty of practice with the typical timing before fighting her. Others will attempt the dodge three times in a row (or five on NewGamePlus). [[ThatOneBoss Sigrun]] can use both those variations ''and'' switch ''mid-combo''.

** The [[BonusBoss Valkyries]] also possess an attack where they dash at Kratos and attempt to stab him with their wing. What makes this attack nasty is how ''incredibly'' fast the move is, the fact that it is also unblockable and, just like the above move, the timing can change depending on which Valkyrie you're fighting.

** All of the Valkyries are brutal, though optional, [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] even on the lowest difficulty. But Sigrun stands among them as the ''absolute'' worst. Compared to other Valkyries, she has significantly more health, deals more damage, is noticeably faster, lacks the scream that telegraphs the aforementioned [[ThatOneAttack dive-bomb attack]] '''AND''' has the combined abilities of almost all other Valkyries, with the exception of Kara's ability to summon Draugr to aid her. It should also be noted that, because of the sheer amount of attacks she possesses, Sigrun is also the only Valkyrie who can, and will, cancel her moves mid-attack to switch to another move.

* {{Narm}}: The scene where Atreus decides that Sindri is "little people with little problems" is noted for being incredibly out of place. At this point, Atreus has been almost nothing but kind and generous, willing to help people where Kratos finds them as an annoyance. Yet less than an hour after learning he's a god, he's grown so arrogant that his personality has switched 180°. Granted this could have to do with being a young boy to being a man killer less than a day before, but Atreus has shown no arrogance the entire game and has been very insecure. Also of note, is him also shitting on his mom for not being godly when he spent the entire game feeling more attached to her than Kratos. His anger makes sense, his undesired sense of pride and entitlement does not. Then again, it's hard to know how a normal person would react when they learned they were a god, and considering that Atreus was only a child when he learned this, it makes sense he would allow it to go to his head.

** Creator/BearMcCreary composes the soundtrack of a game who's protagonist wiped out the Greek Pantheon. A few years later, he would also do the soundtrack for ''Series/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians2023.''

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Kratos's new leitmotif utilizes the same rhythm as the [[https://youtu.be/h6KEQcWo34k 'evil']] theme from ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean.''

* MisaimedFandom: Although Christopher Judge's performance as Kratos was widely acclaimed by the playerbase, some were disappointed that his version of the character wasn't the angrier, bloodier, "real" version of Kratos. These players view Greek Kratos as a righteous and badass warrior, while viewing Norse Kratos as a weak old man. Aside from the fact that Greek Kratos was a terrible person and Norse Kratos is still an incredible fighter, Norse Kratos ''IS'' the "real" Kratos, as this is arguably the first time we've ever seen him not blinded by his anger, grief, or lust for power.

** Kratos is a widowed veteran who’s haunted by atrocities he committed in his past. He is trying to live his life and raise his child as best he can, albeit with clear tensions between the two of them, before being thrust into another war by outside forces in order to protect his son. While the settings are completely different, the premise is nearly exactly the same as ''Film/ThePatriot''.

** Odin. Is he really a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to prevent Ragnarok at any cost, or just a tyrant on a power trip that will do anything to stay in charge? For what it's worth, most characters share the latter opinion of him, and there is a lot of evidence to support it with Mimir's torture, Freya's exile and the Valkyries' corruption. But then again, much like Faye, he doesn't appear in the game despite being alive so we can't really tell his motivations.

** Alternatively, many players have interpreted this as Kratos intentionally holding back from what he's truly capable of. Spartan Rage is essentially a glimpse into what it would look like if he stopped restraining himself, he could ''annihilate'' his Norse foes if he wanted to. The reason he doesn't is because he fears slipping back into his old ways, and he also wants to set a good example for Atreus.