107
Comrades, is it 'woke' to grow and change?
(hexbear.net)
I actually just finished the 2018 game and am of the mind that his character didnt really change THAT much, maybe towards the end arguably.
I can appreciate an edgy as hell 2000s character today. Characters like Jack Garland in Stranger of Paradise and Vergil in Devil May Cry 5 are fun to me because they're practically caricatures. They could've done that with Kratos, but taking a character the least suited for parenthood, especially single parenthood and putting him in that situation was narratively interesting. Kratos processing his wife's death, reconciling his relationship with his son, and ultimately learning to let both go is more adult than running around ripping everything in half because angy.
Kratos and Vergil are very different kinds of edgy though. It's like The Punisher and Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow The Punisher who also kills cops in his game.
I'm pretty sure Shadow the Hedgehog does kill cops in his solo game, and I think you kill the president in what I assume is the good ending
The reason why Jack works so well is because Square was fully self aware and knew what they were doing. Things like the "bullshit" cutscene, and him interrupting the boss monologue with his "no fucks given" attitude are pure gold.