Chapter 740: Kratos and His Tag-Along Troublesome Kid

As the game's story progressed, Zhang Yi quickly noticed the differences in its gameplay. It leaned towards an ARPG style like The Witcher: Wild Hunt, with a greater emphasis on cinematic presentation.

Especially the interactions between Kratos and Atreus, the father and son, deeply moved Zhang Yi.

After a period of travel, Atreus and Kratos found the Elk that had been scared off earlier. Kratos once again handed the bow to Atreus and told him to try again.

This time, Atreus didn't recklessly draw his bow and shoot as before. Instead, he cautiously approached the prey before aiming and firing. With a pained cry as the arrow struck the Elk, the animal fell but didn't die immediately.

Looking at the Elk on the ground, Atreus, as instructed by Kratos, took out his mother's keepsake, a dagger, from his pocket, intending to kill the Elk. But seeing the twitching Elk on the ground, Atreus couldn't bring himself to do it. He looked at Kratos, bewildered and helpless.

'No, you must finish what you start,' Kratos gently shook his head.

Turning his gaze back to the Elk on the ground, Atreus tried for a long time but couldn't bring himself to act.

'I can't…'

Kratos said nothing, merely walked forward, gently took Atreus's hand, and guided him to plunge the dagger into the Elk's neck. Blood slowly seeped from the wound in the Elk's neck. Atreus looked bewildered and lost, staring blankly at the prey slowly losing its life.

Standing behind him, Kratos looked at Atreus, wanting to reach out and pat Atreus's shoulder or head. But his hand, just extended, retracted again.

This scene deeply moved Zhang Yi.

It lacked the raw violence and exhilaration of the previous Kratos tearing apart the Hydra with his bare hands, punching Poseidon, and kicking the Sun God. Yet, just this small gesture instantly made Zhang Yi feel that Kratos was different.

Because the previous Kratos was a god, a demon, a monster, but never someone one could associate with being a human. But the current Kratos felt like an old father who worried about his child but pretended to be strict.

He was no longer the cold, emotionless killing machine. Restraining his anger, wanting to comfort his son but not knowing how, these small details perfectly portrayed an old father, or rather, a father unskilled in communicating with his child.

Just as Zhang Yi was filled with emotion, the ground suddenly shook. A massive hand reached up from beneath the cliff and grabbed the Elk's corpse. A giant appeared before Kratos and Atreus, and at the same time, the monster's name, 'Troll,' appeared in his vision.

The long health bar indicated that this guy was a BOSS.

In the scene, Kratos handed his bow to his son, holding a greatscythe, standing like a mountain in front of Atreus. The game officially entered its first BOSS battle.

Unlike Kratos's solitary journey in Greek mythology, Atreus by his side could also help. However, unlike Kratos, Atreus's main attack method was archery, and as far as Zhang Yi could tell, Atreus's attacks were too 'scraping' (dealing very low damage). The crucial point was the long attack interval; after shooting an arrow, he had to wait a long time to replenish.

'Forget it, boy. Just stand by and cheer '666' (nice, awesome). See your old man's strength.'

Entering the BOSS stage, he naturally chose the easiest difficulty. Zhang Yi controlled Atreus to shoot a few arrows, then, feeling it was utterly useless, stopped controlling Atreus entirely and focused all his attention on controlling Kratos to attack the Troll.

Although the previous story cutscenes, combined with long takes and perfectly timed BGM, had effectively set the atmosphere. And Kratos's various subtle actions, the father-son interaction was very touching.

But this was God of War, after all, and Zhang Yi was most looking forward to the actual combat. The battles with minor mobs before were not satisfying at all; a couple of axe swings would take down a monster.

Now, finally, he could have a proper fight with a BOSS.

The combat experience wasn't significantly different from the previous game, though his current moves were limited and could only be unlocked after upgrading. As for the combat difficulty, while it was on easy mode, it wasn't exactly simple; there was still a bit of a challenge.

After depleting the BOSS's health to a certain point, the familiar QTE interface quickly appeared before Zhang Yi. With the QTE triggered, Kratos leaped directly onto the Troll's body. He brutally hammered the Troll's head with both hands, then forcefully grabbed its horns and yanked it to the ground. With a series of cracking sounds, Kratos brutally twisted off the Troll's head.

The unique over-the-shoulder perspective and the one-shot camera made Zhang Yi's blood boil. Although it wasn't as brutal as twisting off the Sun God's head or pulling out Hades' soul in Olympus, the visual impact from this unique perspective was still incredibly familiar.

Zhang Yi also noticed that he had no complaints whatsoever about the 'weakening' of these execution methods. This was because, from a plot and character design perspective, there was a perfect explanation. The current Kratos was no longer a revenger. He was not a killing machine dominated by the flames of vengeance; he had his child, so it was natural for him not to be as violent as before. This change was not abrupt but rather a natural progression.

The only thing Zhang Yi was truly dissatisfied with was how utterly weak Atreus was. The more he looked, the less he resembled Kratos! After defeating the Troll, Atreus rushed to its side with his dagger, unleashing a barrage of attacks on the dead Troll's head. While attacking, he shouted, 'Who's afraid of you?!' But as he kept poking with the dagger, he actually strained himself.

Timorous during the fight, yet delivering powerful punches after it's over—he was utterly pathetic! Looking at Kratos, who was carefully educating his child, Zhang Yi sighed. The difference between father and son was just too vast.

Look at Kratos: even in middle age, his blade was still sharp. His fierce bald head, murderous tattoos, burly physique, and ability to brute-force everything in close combat. He pinned the massive Troll to the ground and 'scraped' it (defeated it easily).

And Atreus? His small, frail body was afraid of the cold and wore a fur coat, his eyes were timid, and he only shot 'cold arrows' (long-range, cowardly attacks) from afar during combat, constantly shouting, 'Father, be careful!' After the fight, he poked the corpse a couple of times with a small knife and even strained himself. It was truly embarrassing; this troublesome kid showed no trace of the God of War's demeanor!

It was clear now: the upcoming story would involve Kratos taking Atreus, this 'tag-along troublesome kid,' on a journey together. And Atreus's actions further convinced Zhang Yi that this guy was completely useless in combat. It also reminded Zhang Yi of his experience playing DOTA and World of Warcraft with Old Song.

Funnily enough, thinking about it this way, Zhang Yi felt he didn't dislike the troublesome kid so much anymore; in fact, he found him a little exciting. It was a shame the kid already had a name in the game; if he could customize it to 'Old Song,' it would be even more fun.

But it wasn't a big problem; he could always imagine it.

"Son, stop panting. Who told me I'm your dad? Follow your dad from now on and watch how your dad rips apart the Norse gods with his bare hands."

"New God of War? I think 'God of War and His Tag-Along Troublesome Kid' is more accurate."

After a round of complaints, Zhang Yi controlled Kratos to pick up the items dropped by the BOSS and then opened the interface to upgrade Kratos's new axe skills. As for Atreus's bow and arrow skill upgrades, he completely ignored them.

Upgrading skills requires items, you know? With early-game items being so scarce, why would a troublesome kid like a mascot need to upgrade skills? Who can your broken bow and arrow even kill? Just follow your God of War dad, Kratos, act like a useless person, shout '666,' and occasionally pick up a couple of kills, isn't that enough?

(End of Chapter) <>