Till this day, i'm still amazed at how polite baldur was, instead of just breaking into the house directly, he is kind enough to knock the door and wait outside
Wouldn't call him nice he insulted him because he didn't know what he wanted I mean just say it and this game woulda been like half an hour long although I'm happy it wasn't
Fun fact: kratos being nice, talking to Baldur, giving him a chance to leave shows development AND also comes from a custom in ancient greed called xenia, or sacred hospitality, basically they would never turn away someone at their home unless the guest violated it first with violence it's also why he allows thor into his home
@@overdrive65 I kinda think he did considering Odin barged in like he owned the place and drank from Kratos cup of mead. At least Thor asked and brought a gift.
Kratos being thought being bigger because of his Rep(Thought he was a Jotnar,) being insulted for being enlightened, Greeks were known philosophers(Jotnar could see the future.)
@dairo1 In Norse Mythology, Giants are just a race. It doesn't mean to be a massive 1,000 ft man who can reach into the clouds. They're simply just a different race of deities in Norse mythology.
_"I'm not my brother"_ I love the way throughout the game Thor is constantly mentioned through dialogue and lore. He's really bigged up as this terrible, ruthless power. Can't wait to see him in Ragnarok.
@@soujimura4839 Interesting. I definitely thought it was about Thor as before that Baldur basically says if Kratos had just given what he wanted he would have spared him. Suggesting his brother would have killed him regardless. Sounds like Thor.
I liked the small detail at 3:39 when Baldur is repeatedly muttering “No” it’s because he didn’t feel Kratos punch and thought he’d be the one to finally make him feel something.
It's all the better considering it's meant to make the player believe that Baldur is muttering "No" because Kratos is too strong, but turns out he's muttering because of the opposite.
@@L1cktySplit yep! Rewatching this scene from both before knowing who Baldur thought he was meeting and afterwards it works out both ways, very clever!
‘Twas so awesome. I don’t have a PS4 so I’ll probably never play this game in completion, But I still think this is one of the greatest opening video game scenes in history
Probably because of difference in objectives, Thor and Odin came there to negotiate, Baldur came in there to interrogate and then eradicate. The moment Odin gave Thor the pass he was ready to hammer Kratos’ ass.
What Baldur meant in their first interaction. "I thought you would be bigger." - Cuz he believe he is looking at a "Giant" he was told he would find in that house. "Long way from home, aren't you." - Baldur thought Kratos is from Jotunheim. "Oh, you already know the answer to that." - Referring to Giant with their clairvoyance. "Your kind is supposed to be so enlightened, so much better, so much smarter." - Again still talking about Giant with their gift and wiseness. I love how it was left so vague that at first, it makes us thought that Baldur knows that Kratos is from greece, but that is not the case.
I love the story telling in this fight. You won't know it until the end, but Baldur was horribly mistaken about who Kratos is, and that is why he is so angry that even Kratos can't make him feel anything.
@@pidenstudio963 The oppsite. Baldur had No idea who Kratos wad or that he was a Greek God. He thought he was a Jotun. He was looking for the Jotun Guardian, who was Fay, and just assumed it was Kratos. "Thought you'd be bigger" Because he thinks Kratos os a Giant, "Your kind was so kuch smarter" referencing how the Giants can see the future. It was all just a case of Mistaken Identity.
@@harrisonhurst6480 honeslt question how did Baldur confuse him for a giant when Thor has already fought Faye? Did Thor jsut not mention what she looked like?
@@walkingbiohazard6518 It's implied that Fay had set up those marked trees you see Kratos chopping down at the start of the game. Specifically, she set them up as magical wards to prevent Odin and his minions from being able to find them. Fay specifically requested from Kratos that he use those particular trees for her funeral pyre. He probably didn't know it, but when he cut down those trees the magical ward was probably broken. And that's what allowed Baldur to finally hone in on their location. So, in short, they knew generally where Fay, and by extension Kratos and Atreus, was living. But the magic she tied to those trees kept Baldur and others from finding out exactly where they were.
This is precisely what a battle between literal GODS would look like. Flying back and forth, random explosions, and the world around them literally collapsing and shattering under the weight of their clash
@@jmass4207 LITERALLY, if I have a complain about dbz or dbs is that when they battle the punches they make are just small explosions, the only time we got something similar to this is when goku and beerus were sharing punches and destroying the universe , after that we didn’t have nothing ( wait forget it goku vs jiren )
The way that the blasting shockwave 8:33 along with the thunderous sound, just to portray the indescribable amount of brute, raw, uncontrollable and unstoppable strength from two mighty god-warriors who are fighting each other while the land around them is falling apart, is absolutely astounding as it is portrayed.
I love 12:24-14:02 and how it shows how exhausted and afraid he is. Thats the probably the hardest fight he’s had in years and then when he speaks to himself and Faye about the journey ahead and how Atreus isn’t ready, just amazing writing. Really hypes you up for the amazing story you’re about to experience
It’s a story, they made him this way when every game before he showed no weakness. Even as a God vs another god it shows it’s toll in this game. What beautiful game on all fronts
@@thouken5777he’s definitely holding back, his punches are obviously weaker and his spartan rage is suppressed and only uses it to ram a tree into baldur.
@@omlg2021 "he's holding back" -while the clearly maniacal god who threatened abducted and stabbed his son is not even a field away from him? Holding back my ass
Even after Ragnarok, Baldur is the greatest foe Kratos has ever faced. Thor was Brutal yes, but Baldur was cunning, intelligent and ridiculously strong all at once and didn't need a weapon to get him anywhere
Thor according to Kratos hit the hardest out of anyone he’s ever faced. That includes Hercules and Zeus. But Baldur was by FAR the deadliest opponent Kratos fought. Even with all of his gear from GOW3 he’d lose since this ain’t a normal god, it’s fucking Baldur.
Jeremy Davies is definitely one of the top performances, if only because he clearly did his homework on dialects. He's nailed that Swedish accent where you're accustomed to speaking English since childhood through being taught British dialects but growing up on American media, so you land on that weird hybrid of three languages. It's actually a very realistic accent. I sound a lot like that myself.
Who ever did the voice acting for Baldur, did a phenomenal job. You can really feel every frustration and all the resentment in the voice alone. And it gets even better each time you encounter him in the game.
When I played this part my girlfriend was around watching me play, and she wasnt really that much into videogames. So when she saw Baldur's hp bar go back up she literally told me "oh shit babe he's cheating." Made me chuckle.
Gotta love how Baldur was so excited at the chance to finally be able to feel something. But soon as Kratos punches him he’s immediately like “No, no no no..” because he didn’t feel it and he’s in absolute despair because of it. After that the fight is more like a chore.
baldur: you know what i want kratos: no i dont baldur: you are a jotun, right? kratos: no im the god of war from greece, trying to make a new life for myself baldur: oh my mistake have a good day
imagine kratos would have embraced a kinder heart after living with Faye, and took him on a walk away from Atreus to explain who he was or done the same but in his same tone and baldur would go "oh fuck you killed the Greek pantheon nevermind I don't think you're the guy I wanted to see"
@@cb-9938 i think baldur isn't madman like thor. He just want revenge like young kratos, you can imagine being disable to feel anything since you birth
I like how it took Kratos some time to get back to his savagery. Like he legit seems to remember how to fight as the game goes on. By the end of the game he’s pretty much back but with a clarity. Brutality with a purpose.
There’s a prequel comic that shows Kratos just going out in the wild to try and restrain himself. When wolfs start to attack him he just stands still and only dodges til the wolfs leaves him alone. Then some trolls roll up on him and decide to try to eat him. He takes some of their punches before getting ticked off which leads him to beating like 3 trolls bare handed. When he gets home Atreus says it looked like he had a good fight but Kratos just says he failed today to keep his rage in check. So pretty much for at least ten years everyday Kratos would go out in the wild and purposely refrain Homs from fighting
I just realized that at 14:36 when Kratos pulls Atreus from under the house and right before he closes the hatch, the camera pans down to it and you can see a little bit of the wrapped blades of chaos.
@@whatisthjs look directly at the middle of the screen at 14:38 next to where the white scratch wood markings are at you will see a bit of the red cloth that had been wrapped around the blades peaking out just a tiny bit
He was like "you already know the answer to that" when Kratos doesn't know about giants or even the Norse gods that much but Faye told him about them but he didn't really care cos he despises gods. Baldur didn't want a fight but he kinda instigated it though cos he wasn't clear on his intentions then he punched him
Couldn't Kratos just cut his head off after he snapped it? He'd have 2 heads on his belt instead. Hey hey, that'd be alright wouldn't it? Freya could revive Baldr's head like she did Mimir's but then he would not be a danger anymore coz he doesn't have a body, only his head, lmfao!
@@pedrojuan8050 you misunderstood that process. Baldur would still be dead, and Mimir is still dead. It's only a reanimation of memories and present thought. With some ability to talk. They're still dead, Freya would still be furious.
3:43 Baldur saying "no no no" because he realized Kratos can't hurt him is so subtle but important to the story. All the things we didn't know at this point but found out about later is one of the things that made this game so amazing. Truly one of the greatest games ever made.
@John Fisherman Odin knew who Kratos was, he sent Baldur because he thought Kratos wouldn't be able to kill him. Baldur also said, "I'd hoped that you, of everyone, wouldn't finally make me feel something." Baldur was hoping the god-killer would be able to make him feel something.
@@thewanderingchris5485 yep odin knew kratos but doesn't know who he is. even mimir, the smartest man alive, was shocked to find out that kratos was actually the ghost of sparta.
@@thewanderingchris5485 Odin promised Baldur to lift Freya's spell if he find a way to Jotunheim.After Kratos cut down the trees(marked by Faye) protection of their house was lifted so Baldur knew there was a giant living there.He was looking for Faye to ask way to jotunheim but he found Kratos instead. He didn't attack Kratos to feel something he just wanted to make him talk since he tought he was the giant hiding in the woods
So all started because Baldur thinks that Kratos was a Jotun, A Giant from Jotunheim. And Kratos thinks that Baldur knew he was The Ghost of Sparta, The God of War😅.
Well, considering that other deities can wander into other realms like this, it would make sense that they would at least be aware of other pantheons of Gods out there. As far as I’m concerned, Baldur does know he’s a God of Ancient Greece.
Um thats why i think the plot at alot of points is stupid cus dude if a stranger comes at your door and says he has some questions WHY TF CANT YOU JUST LISTEN UP ONCE and then fight if you have to and the ending of the game was pretty stupid too i mean the whole game we thought we're gonna reach the highest mountain in the realm but then we find out its not and when we're about to start a journey to the HIGHEST mountain baldur comes and then the portal ends up getting destroyed like really man thats just a very disappointingly stupid cliff hanger no offence, great game tho overall
Voice-acting/direction is phenomenal, he's not doing grunts of pain, he's spazzing out because he's getting brain-damage and it's healing itself at the same time.
the beginning conversation before the fight is so smart, because returning players think Baldur knows about Kratos killing an entire pantheon and fleeing from his destroyed homeland. Whilst new players are getting the implication that Kratos has a legacy as a destroyer, and players that have finished the game really know that Baldur mistook Kratos for being apart of the Jotnar, when he was actually looking for Faye.
Breath of the wild had the best introduction for a game gameplay wise. That game was incredible at teaching you how to play the game. Though if youre speaking narrative wise then yeah this is probably a contender.
Baldur's dialogue just makes so much more sense when we find out later that he wasn't actually searching for Kratos and just assumed that Kratos was the giant. Also you just simply recognize his dragon after the first playthrough.
What I find the most incredible about this entire sequence is how different it feels and how the meaning of this entire encounter is completely different once you start New Game +. Baldur shows up actually looking for Faye, he had no idea Kratos and Atreus even existed. When he refers to “your kind is supposed to be so much better than us” he was actually referring to the Jötuns, not the Greeks like we originally are made to believe because again, he had no idea who Kratos was. He was sent there by Odin looking for Faye because she was a legend in the halls of Valhalla due to her feats prior. And where they first made us assume Baldur went there looking for Kratos so he can fight him and “feel something” from the challenge, he was actually there to get his ability to feel again by Faye as she was the key to Jötunheim and their magic could’ve healed him. Now that’s what I call amazing writing. Red herring in the most perfect way. The hindsight is insane.
I heard another theory that’s he knew Kratos was the Ghost of Sparta the God killer. And was hoping that the God Of War could make him feel something or possibly kill him like he wanted.
@@oentrepreneurbecause if modi killed faye he’d have a VERY angry olympian god after him and the mere fact that he’s not already torn to shreds and six feet under during the events of gow 2019 is proof enough
6:30 holding back, not giving into the hatred The fury.. And the fire.. But the second his son comes of mention the bloody air ignites with how angry kratos becomes... Amazing.
he doesn't want to lose his child again. We know kratos is family man, if zeus didn't trick him to kill his family maybe kratos will stay loyal to gods
@@littlehidan531 Zeus didn’t trick Kratos to kill his family Ares did he only started truly hating them after they denied him release from his torment of killing them even after he saved them and did their will multiple times
Dude gotta be honest when I seen this man I was like who the fuck is this guy but when he uppercut Kratos I was like WHAT THE FUCK...HES A GOD THIS PUNY PERSON
@Ronnie Kray younger kratos was all kills he didnt even talk during fights except with zeus in gow 2 and gow 3 the other fights he is always silent but here baldur talk like a broken radio never shuts up.
According to Cory Barlog, this is the most powerful Kratos has ever been. And according to the novelization, Kratos has never felt anybody as strong as Baldur. So that first punch must have been a huge “holy shit” moment for Kratos, as it was for all the people playing. Pretty crazy how Kratos still came out on top against his strongest foe yet, who was invulnerable. The fight with Thor is going to be insane.
pretty sure kratos said that baldur was the toughest fight for him because of his invulnerability not because he was the strongest yet lol... baldur kept coming back... testing kratos's patience and strength like no one else... also baldur can't be the strongest because that is one of the main reasons freya put the spell on him in the first place... the prophecy of his ''unnecessary'' death and how small and weak he was born is why freya was drowned into fear... that first punch was a surprise because both of the guys were holding back... and none of them were sure what they could do... they were testing each other throughout he entire fight until kratos overpowered him... he would have died like three times already if he wasn't invulnerable lol... that is when kratos not even going all out... no way baldur is stronger than zeus... zeus's counter part in norse would be odin with his manipulation and thor because of his brute strength... kratos vs thor can't even imagine that... hope it's brutal af... EDIT ABOUT GOW5 [wasn't as brutal as I had hoped but it was good, also ragnarok was pretty rushed overall, considering they cramped two games into one they did a pretty good job, odin is the only disappointing part for me personally]
@@MKIS_33 This is the truth indeed.The text is clearly talking about Baldurs invulnarability if read more carefully Fanboys only hear what they like and i will crush them for it Dont except getting likes from anyone than me,they are too weak for the truth
FALSE According to Cory Barlog Kratos is very rusty at the start of the game which is why he has trouble with Baldur. Cory has NEVER stated Kratos is stronger in the new game,on the contrary he has called GoW3 Kratos the raw epitome of strength and said Spartan Rage is similar to that level. He has also implied many times Kratos has degraded physically Yes there is that time he stated GoW4 Kratos would defeat his older counterpart but he later clarified thats because of Spartan Rage and him being much mentally stronger and wiser and knowing his past selfs weakeness The strongest version of Kratos is with the power of hope and next is True God of war giant Kratos with the god armor when the olympians wouldnt challenge him unlike in GoW3
@@newhybrid101 No. Kratos is rusty. That's all there is to it. Gods get stronger with age. It's just that Kratos is no longer imbued with rage. End og GoW4 Kratos > GoW3 Kratos. The ability "Spartan Rage" is the constant state of fury Kratos was in during the trilogy. Kratos/Cratus is the God of Strength in Greek mythology, his strength is tied to his rage. Since he was always rageful in the trilogy, his strength was unbounded. Spartan rage is his ability as a god. Zeus has lightning, Poseidon, water, ares, fire, Kratos, rage and fury. In GoW4, Kratos is displaying similar, if not, better, feats to his Trilogy self WITHOUT Spartan Rage. He beat Baldur pretty easily in the last fight compared to his fight with Zeus and Baldur KO'd the world serpent in 3 blows. The world serpent is strong enough to destroy beyond literal infinity as shown by the battle between he and thor. Remember, trilogy Kratos is ALWAYS in his spartan rage state in a way. Older Kratos has learned control and now can hone into that rage at will. But, he's already killed Norse Gods WITHOUT it. So! GoW Trilogy Kratos
1:39 is such a great subtle sign that Kratos is scared and confused at the situation. It did a really good job of helping you understand that he was very much ready for change at this point in his life.
I just love the dialogue of this encounter. Baldur literally walking in to the unknown He thought kratos was someone else not a man that killed an entire pantheon of gods. Kratos not wanting to resort to violence. The “leave…my…home” always gives me chills
Call me crazy but I think the story in this one was more consistent and tight. Ragnarok is a better game in gameplay and scale, but this one had more memorable moments. 100%’d both games, both are great.
Yeah now that the hype is dying down I think alot of ppl r realizing the many flaws of ragnarok. 10/10 gameplay but if I were to watch I movie telling the gow ragnarok story I would think it's a terrible movie.
@@rudolphschmidt313 they didnt utilize the full potential of norse mythology to the fullest..sure thor and odin are the popular gods of norse but there are so many other other gods in norse which are not even in heard in this game...where is septnir?? He is literally odins horse and a popular *figure* in mythology...fenrir or jormie played no role whatsoever...thor was shown as this merciless monster and almost killed kratos in first fight but gets bullied by kratos so easily in the end...ragnarok is the biggest event in any mythology but its potrayed like a street fight in this game..what happened to visions of athena? What happened to the place mimir said not to go in helheim? Why did zeus randomly disappear when he ws somewhat a part of story in 2018..why wasnt there more backstory for faye..she ws the only character i ws so intrested in..what was the reason she died? I can go on for an hour ranting abt this game...it had so much potential and theh barely scratched the surface like 20 percent..srsly such a disappointing game and its sad how ppl think this game is a masterpiece in terms on story
Buldur was looking for faye not Kratos. Plus he didn't know who Kratos was he probably got random news from Odin to track him down after the unexplained cause of Faye's death. The new game of 2021 will explain it.
I love how when he closes the trapdoor after getting Atreus, the camera shifts view to the Blades of Chaos under the floorboards for just a second. Excellent foreshadowing.
I will outlive every fragile incigniffacint god in asgard. I will live to see the nine realms turn to ash and blow away ! what will you have after 500 years
This has to be one of my favorite Boss Fights ever. Sure, Baldur isn't really that hard to beat, his attacks are predictable and altogether there's nothing special about the fight at this point in the story. But goddamn is it cinematic. Trees flying, boulders being effortlessly shattered, and the scripted sequences are beautifully animated. Wish all Boss Fights could be like this
Agree, Baldur fight is pretty easy because of gameplay mechenic, story wise, Kratos did struggle beating Baldur due to his invulnerability, btw the cinimatic, music and fight scenes are just amazing
Easily one of the best boss fights in gaming. You could feel Kratos’ anger and it’s just a brutal fight. Even more brutal if you just fight him bare handed without the axe
Brilliant. When I first played this, I thought Baldur knew Kratos was from the Greek Pantheon from his comments. But in fact he thought he was a Giant.
I love the subtle camera movement to put the wrapped up blades of chaos under the floor in centre frame when kratos closes the hatch as you can see them if you look closely
@Lucifer no he doesn’t know. He was looking for his wife Fey because of you played the game he said “I thought you’d be bigger” and Fey was a giant and do you really think baldur would try to fight a god???
Playing God of War for the 1st time on the hardest difficulty and having this fight was honestly so much fun. dying over and over and over again and feeling myself gradually start to improve was so awesome.
I started on the second hardest difficulty and as a first time GOW player it was just plain hard, same goes for any fights where the enemies just keep coming
Gotta admit, I’m shaken by kratos’s patience He’s grown considerably since we last saw him, whereas before he’d have made baldur into a red paint just when baldur seemed mildly threatening or even standing his ground where when I saw him strike kratos I was like “oh shit you lucky bastard I can’t believe you’re still alive!”
Apparently at this point Baldur is by far the strongest person kratos has ever faced, kratos is much stronger since his original times in the God of war games so if we took one of those kratos's they would probably die.
@@TerribleVA the Greek gods are by far way stronger than the Norse ones since the greek ones are basically immortal and you can see by the way they fought the titans that they are much stronger than these Norse ones. Hercules a mere mortal, would give this Baldur a beating.
@@TerribleVA The second part of what you said was confirmed, he is MUCH stronger than his younger counterpart, however - the Norse gods are weaker in power than the Greek pantheon, that part was ALSO confirmed by the devs.
One gripe with this boss fight is that it was so good it ended up being thr best boss fight in thr entire game. Everything else after this felt a little dissapointing to me fighting the same troll or frost element 20 times.
the trolls are just an enemy with some variation and a healthbar, and aren't designed to be *boss* bosses the only flawed bosses i can think of are a couple specific Valkyries who have no tell between the unblockable dash attack and the hard-to-dodge one (eg the dash into wing stab versus dash into wing swipe, the former of which you dodge to the right and the latter you must dodge to the left or block, and you can't tell which happens, so it's down to a 50/50)
I like how despite being violently insane from centuries of sense deprivation, some traces of his benevolence and kindness before the spell still show in the form of giving Kratos the chance to come in peace, he really doesn't want to fight, he wants to get rid of the curse and that's it
