God of War Ragnarök followed up its predecessor with yet another (mostly) masterful character driven narrative. Kratos grows further as a man and father, struggling against his desire to hold onto Atreus despite the inevitable. Atreus has to learn to let go of his obsession with prophecy and his foretold fate and cling to his principles, his father, and those who are dear to him. There are many other wonderful (or terrible) characters whose arcs are enlightening, inspiring, and tragic. Sindri, Brok, Freya, Odin, Thor, etc... all have well crafted stories that fit seamlessly into this narrative.

And at the heart of it all is the philosophical truths that we can change our nature, whatever our form may be, and that we must know what and whom to hold onto, and when it is time to let go of our failures and sins.

The game's story isn't perfect, but it truly is one that really matters, due to its ability to communicate universal truths about human nature that we can return to, time after time, and feel inspired to be better.

Credit to @aaronchef82 for the comment on my original God of War video that inspired my opening.

0:00 Intro and the State of Things
6:27 Atreus' Need for Answers
14:02 Meeting the Villains
20:03 The Pursuit of Prophecy
28:24 The Weight of Guilt
38:12 Finding the Big Idiot
46:09 Atreus' Path and the Pull of Prophecy
1:18:04 Oops, Turns out the Prophecy Sucks
1:32:32 Freya, Kratos, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Healing
2:02:19 Holding On
2:08:40 Atreus to Asgard
2:26:40 The True Nature of Prophecy
2:32:44 Screw Prophecy, Imma Kill Heimdall
2:36:41 The Nature of a Thing...
2:52:40 Kratos Feels Lost
2:59:46 Atreus' Big Mistake
3:11:45 The Healing
3:33:33 Because it is Necessary, not Because it is Written
3:45:24 Atreus Almost gets Himself Killed
3:52:22 Tyr Sucks
3:55:29 Letting Go
4:09:38 Ragnarök
4:27:41 For the Sake of our Children
4:33:00 Odin Cannot Let Go
4:42:27 Fin