The God of War series stars one of the greatest fighters in the history of the universe, so it stands to reason that the developers at Santa Monica Studios would create some intimidating bosses to stand in Kratos’ way. There have been dozens of boss characters over the years, all trying to stop Kratos in his tracks. However, only a few of them have been able to prove themselves as worthy challengers for the God of War.
Here are the six hardest bosses in God of War history.
6) Odin – God of War: Ragnarok
The final boss of God of War: Ragnarok is no joke. He might seem like an old man that Kratos could deal with easily, but that’s a trick. Odin has access to all kinds of wide-ranging attacks thanks to his godly powers. You have to master fighting from range, or Odin will quickly take you down.
On top of all that, Odin’s fight takes place right after you defeat Thor. That means you have no chance to recuperate and have to immediately jump into a multi-phase fight against the hardest required boss in Ragnarok. Stay away from his spear, and watch out for all the Bifrost damage if you want to have a chance. It does drop slightly because you get a checkpoint after each phase, but it’s still a spirit-destroying battle.
5) Hades – God of War 3
Hades is one of the early bosses in God of War 3, but don’t take that to mean that he doesn’t pack a punch. This hulking monstrosity is one of the toughest tests Kratos has in a game filled with difficult bosses. You’ll fight Hades over three phases, each of which presents its own challenges.
His claw blades hit with devastating force, quickly dropping your health bar if you can’t get out of the way. Plus, Hades will summon the souls of the undead, giving Kratos even more frustrating elements to deal with. It’s not the hardest God of War 3 fight, but it’s definitely up there.
4) Ares – God of War
The final boss in the first God of War is yet another tough, three-phase fight. The Ares battle starts with a one-on-one battle against the god, who uses an unblockable AOE and fast strikes that can be tough to dodge. After you get through that, you’ll have to protect your family from a horde of Kratos clones.
This phase is particularly annoying. Managing all of those enemies while trying to protect your family can feel like an impossible balancing act. If you get through that, you’ll have one last fight against Ares. This phase is a bit easier than the second one, but you’ll still need to keep up the pressure to come out on top.
3) Zeus – God of War 3
The final boss of God of War 3 takes the top billing of required boss fights. Both of the next two bosses are optional, so you won’t see them unless you want to. Zeus is a different animal. This final fight puts a satisfying bow on the original trilogy with yet another three-phase fight.
Phase 1 turns God of War 3 into a quasi-fighting game with the narrow platform you’re dueling on. The second phase is a fun callback to Kratos and Zeus’ fight in God of War 2. This phase is just about surviving until Gaia comes back, so you just want to stay mobile. However, in the final stage, you’ll be attacked by Zeus clones and plenty of AOE attacks. Oh, and like the Ares fight, you need to protect Gaia from taking damage, making this final phase as frustrating as it is difficult.
2) Gna – God of War: Ragnarok
Gna is an optional boss that you can only fight in the post-game of God of War: Ragnarok. That means Kratos is going to come into the fight with his full toolkit. It also means Santa Monica Studio was free to dial up the difficulty to give players one last challenge before they put Ragnarok down.
They did exactly that, making Gna one of the fastest bosses players have ever fought in a God of War game. As she dashes around the battlefield, you’ll find it almost impossible to predict what she’s going to do next. She has long-range sweeping strikes, aerial dives, Bifrost projectives, and so much more. The only thing keeping her from taking the top spot is that she’s, in some ways, a copy of a better boss in God of War (2018).
1) Sigrun, Valkyrie Queen – God of War (2018)
Image courtesy of Sony
Gna is a rogue Valkyrie that will probably kill you several times. Sigrun is the Valkyrie Queen and one of the most difficult fights in modern video games. To even get to this fight, you need to take out eight other Valkyries, which isn’t easy on its own. Then, you get to Sigrun, who has access to nearly every attack the other Valkyries used, and then some.
She flips between styles without notice, making it impossible to predict what she’s going to do next. On top of that, she’s using more powerful versions of those attacks, which means your health bar will get melted in a matter of seconds if you’re not careful. This is the toughest fight in God of War‘s history, and it’s not very close.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!