This time, Kratos’ vengeance is aimed towards the Furies: vicious arbitrators who punish anyone who breaks their oaths and promises. As was God of War tradition up to that point, Ascension primarily consists of Kratos killing Greek monsters and mythological figures. Much of Ascension’s narrative relies on story beats and backstories that gamers had learned from previous entries, but it adds details that provide extra context and character motivations.

God of War: Ascension takes place six months after Kratos was tricked into killing his wife and daughter. So if you’re waiting to dive into God of War: Ragnarök and need a refresher (or explainer) on how the series got to this point, here’s a chronological breakdown of the God of War timeline so far.

Even the latest God of War games, which softly rebooted the series, share countless connections with the previous games that might elude some gamers’ eyes. To make matters more confusing, the main entries in the series feature references that call back to earlier events gamers might have missed if they didn’t try some of the slightly more obscure titles in the franchise. Granted, the series avoids the worst curse of narrative bloat that plagues franchises like Kingdom Hearts, but every God of War entry provides intriguing extra bits of lore and context. In the grand tradition of many long-running video game franchises, those follow-ups soon formed an elaborate timeline that is as confusing as it is impressive.

Even though God of War was seemingly designed as a one-and-done story, its success all but guaranteed a sequel When that second game proved to be just as lucrative and acclaimed, even more projects were greenlit. Gamers were so blown away by its action and cinematic presentation that even the game’s murderous anti-hero, Kratos, soon became an unlikely PlayStation mascot. In 2005, Santa Monica Studio introduced gamers to a bloody new experience simply known as God of War.

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