God of War (2018)

God of War (2018) marks a clean break from the Greek installments. Kratos puts away his double blades, exiles himself to Norse mythology, and finds himself an unwilling father to Atreus, a kid with frankly cumbersome curiosity, deep in a forest teeming with creatures from the nine realms.

The game rests on visceral beat 'em up combat, a camera glued to the back of Kratos's neck that never cuts - a full single-take shot from start to finish - and a father-son narrative that leans as much toward family drama as toward brute-force action. The Leviathan axe replaces the Chains of Chaos, and the change in tone is radical: less spectacular on paper, far heavier in feel.

Developed by Santa Monica Studio, it swept GOTY 2018 and earned a perfect score from the specialized press. Ideal for fans of demanding narrative action, whether as an entry point into the saga or as a rediscovery.