And one thing that has earned it its iconic status in video game culture has to be the memorable boss fights. While the game-play in God of War isn’t exactly revolutionary, the developers take the tried and true hack and slash formula and use it to craft very unique experiences. Every boss fight in a GoW game is different, often requiring that you solve puzzles and get creative to figure out how to beat the boss. God of War isn’t famous for its difficulty. But many of these fights offer a great challenge to even the most experienced players, especially if we factor in the revamped game-play of the latest installment which was inspired by games such as Dark Souls… known for featuring insanely hard bosses. I think it’ll come as no surprise that a third of the bosses I’m ranking below all belong to Norse mythology. Go figure!
15. Poseidon (God of War III)
The Olympian god of the seas is the first entry in my list. He’ll fight you as a horse-crab monster to stop you from climbing Mt. Olympus with the titans at the very beginning of the game, while you’re still learning the ropes. The fight has three phases, each with increased difficulty as Poseidon grows both angry and desperate. He isn’t specifically hard in the grand scheme of things. But it’s a challenge for anyone just getting to know the game, and I had to start somewhere with this list.
14. Alrik – Barbarian King (God of War II)
The Barbarian King Alrik is one of Kratos’ staunchest rivals. Even coming back as a magic zombie to take revenge on the Spartan during God of War II. His long range and solid damage are a challenge in and of themselves. His movements can also be hard to read, in great part because of the camera angles, and he’ll summon enemy grunts to grab and damage you quite often as the fight progresses. Overall a decent fight that may take several attempts to master on the higher difficulties.
13. Magni and Modi (God of War 2018)
My first entry from Kratos’ newest adventure features Magni and Modi, two sons of Thor with a bad attitude and great teamwork. Magni is fairly easy to deal with by himself. His attacks are powerful but very slow and easy to anticipate. Modi and his shield, on the other hand, can be very troublesome. And the little brother will start attacking from a distance if you leave him alone for too long. Other than there being two enemies to worry about, the difficulty in this fight comes from their variety of shockwave attacks that have very long range and can be hard to dodge if you’re not extra careful. It will take a couple tries before you get the hang of reading and preparing for their attacks. But once you do, it’s not that hard to actually beat them(well, not THAT hard).
12. Persephone (GoW: Chains of Olympus)
The last boss on the PSP masterpiece can pack a mean punch. Especially on higher difficulties where her damage is through the roof. She’ll fly around a lot, which can confuse you, and she has some really fast moves with somewhat questionable hitboxes that can be hard to avoid. Once you’ve gotten her health down enough she’ll start launching projectiles that you’ll need to deflect back at her. The thing is, she can deflect them back at you too causing a game of Hot Potato to ensue. The key to the fight is to remain in close quarters so she can’t overrun you with her fast attacks.
11. Hellheim Bridge Keeper (God of War 2018)
This enemy may just be a re-skin of the pillar-wielding ogre enemy that plagues the player through the whole game, but don’t let that fool you. This version is unique and quite harder than the rest of them. This boss does a variety of things one could describe as “unsportsmanlike” such as teleporting, filling the arena with slow-moving balls of energy that can damage you, and summoning a bunch of other enemies to distract you while it hurls stuff at you. Attacks are quite fast and you can easily be overrun if you’re not careful.
10. Hercules (God of War III)
Kratos’ half-brother may want to prove he’s stronger than Kratos, but his methods are somewhat… impersonal, as he’ll try to tire you out by summoning grunts for the majority of the fight. While in lower difficulty settings a couple of hits from the grunts won’t be enough to slow you down, in higher difficulties the chip damage from all of those pawns will become a problem. If you do manage to handle the numbers, however, beating Hercules himself shouldn’t be too hard.
9. Sisters of Fate (God of War II)
The fight against the Sisters of Fate near the end of God of War II is one of the best in the series. Along with providing a considerable challenge, especially on higher difficulties. They attack fast and often which will make avoiding damage complicated. Overall it’s a nice balance of puzzle-solving and hacking at the Sisters where you’ll need to be aware of many things at the same time.
8. Svartaljofurr – Dark Elf King (God of War 2018)
The King of the Dark Elves is a big challenge to beat in a point in the game where you’re still not necessarily a master of combat. It may take a couple tries to understand his attack patterns, and once you do, you’ll realize they change as the fight develops. His most dangerous moves consist of shooting three bombs of red light at the ground, which explode after a moment. These bombs will turn everything around Kratos pitch black, making it difficult to know where the next attack will come from. So avoid them at all costs if you want to win.
7. Theseus (God of War II)
The fight against the founding hero of Athens requires you to become the God of Parrying and generally have fast reflexes. As if that wasn’t enough trouble, he’ll also summon enemies such as minotaurs to distract you while he attacks you with his magic from afar. The fight is definitely a challenge by default. But at higher difficulties it may have you throwing your controller at the screen a couple times. Just breathe slowly and count to ten.
6. Baldur and Freya (God of War 2018)
The final boss fight in the latest God of War installment is no walk in the park. Baldur’s repeated changes between fire and ice elements will have you on your toes, constantly changing weapons and fighting style. Freya will also interfere repeatedly with the fight to protect her son, and there’s enemies being summoned over and over which can easily overwhelm you if you can’t focus on everything at once. That said, you’ll eventually come out on top and finally beating Baldur is worth the trouble.
5. Charon (GoW: Chains of Olympus)
The ugly old ferryman of the river Styx hates his job and he’s ready to take his frustrations out on you. You’ll first fight him near the beginning of the game in a really unfair fight where he’s clearly supposed to beat you. The second time you meet him isn’t much different, except you’re supposed to win. But he doesn’t only heal his already massive health bar often enough to annoy, no that’s not it. He also teleports around the arena and has a very long range both with his scythe and his magic attacks, which can lock you in place and drain your HP in seconds. May the gods be with you if you’re fighting him at a high difficulty.
4. Zeus (God of War II)
The final boss of the second main installment in the series is none other than Zeus, patriarch of Olympus. His varied attacks will down you in just a couple of hits despite your fully upgraded health bar, and it’s a very long fight for someone who can kill you that fast. As if that weren’t enough, lots of those attacks are series of projectiles in rapid succession. You better have gotten good at parrying by this point.
3. Ares (God of War)
Games have a tendency to make over-sized fights relatively easy for some reason, but that’s not the case in the original God of War’s last boss fight. Ares has an array of fast attacks, lots of which are unblockable. It also includes an illusion segment where you must protect Kratos’ family from copies of himself, which can be near-impossible on higher difficulties if your reflexes aren’t top notch. Definitely a fight worthy of closing off an already amazing game.
2. Zeus (God of War III)
There’s a reason why the leader of the Greek gods makes the top five twice. The second and last fight against Zeus in the series comprises several phases, each with unique challenges. One of them is a side-scrolling fight like you’d see in a traditional fighting game which is a first for the series. At one point he’ll also clone himself several times and heal while you’re dealing with his copies. His damage is massive, and some of his attacks are very hard to dodge. Once you do win you get the chance to punch his face in a QTE that won’t end until you grow tired or your circle button breaks, so at least you have some motivation to keep trying until you win.
1. Sigrún – Queen of the Valkyries (God of War 2018)
The overall hardest boss in the franchise is evident once you face her. In YouTube comments, threads on Reddit and laments on twitter, you’ll find her name: Sigrún, Queen of the Valkyries. Even on normal difficulty you’re unlikely to survive more than two hits. While she, on the contrary, has a massive health bar. You could die at her hand more than ten times and you still wouldn’t know all of her different moves, of which she has almost 20. This fight isn’t only about skill. It’s also about your will to keep trying and your capacity to remain calm. If you are having trouble there are some guides to help. But really it’ll just take tons of practice. I guess it’s appropriate given the tone of the game. Rage and resentment won’t get you anywhere, so remain calm and try again… over, and over, and over again…
