We have about a month left God of War: Ragnarokwhich means that each game station Gamers and their grandmothers are either reenacting the God of War saga, or planning to do so. This could (and should) include PSP games. Because they kick ass objectively.
But here’s the thing: Sony refused to let us play those games with ease, despite launching an upgraded PS Plus subscription earlier this year. “It’s going to be packed with classics,” the platform holder said. Well, the premium tier doesn’t even have Tekken 3, so let me square my doubts.
God of War diehards certainly won’t have any problems since they’ve been hoarding all of Kratos’ adventures over the years, but newcomers or regular fans may never give Chains of Olympus or Souls of Sparta a fair deal Opportunity. Given all the other entries in the current PS Plus Premium offering (including 2013’s criminally neglected Ascension), what’s up with these two lesser-known games?
Yes, these two are just a few titles in a long line of classics that haven’t made it into the PS Plus Premium (currently lackluster) library, but they represent two of the highest points in PSP history. I’m pretty sure they’re in Sony’s better interest than *check notes* Toy Story 3.
Even if you leave out the God of War IP and think of Souls of Sparta and Chains of Olympus as lighthearted indie action-adventure games, they’re still punchy and gorgeous-looking — despite their development Portable hardware is limited. Plus, the pair’s streamlined art direction often makes their visuals far superior to the saga’s first and second mainline entries.
For those who don’t know or don’t remember: Chains of Olympus and Soul of Sparta was developed by Ready at Dawn, an oft-overlooked SCE studio that pioneered work with Daxter for the PSP An early first-party effort – it was a very successful spin-off, you guessed it, the Jak and Daxter series. The studio’s work rivals some of the stuff we’ve played on the PS2, which is why the development team later had the opportunity to make something bigger for the PS3 with The Order: 1886.
Both games fill in the gaps in Kratos’ original storyline; Chains of Olympus begins after his mythical power-up from Ares (and after the events of Ascension), but just before Before the first game; Soul of Sparta tells a rather pivotal story, set between the first and second entries. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have complained at the time if the story was “just there” to justify more bloodbath on the PSP, but both games were really trying to make something related to the bigger God of War picture .
Honestly, a lot of the stories from the original trilogy are not out of date. The premise, overall plot and adventure are all great. The games have enough charm to remain iconic, but Kratos — and everyone else’s — characterization is a bit mediocre and often feels immature.
The entire Greek world was put at risk by the actions of a man who had been misled and betrayed by the gods, which really needed richer storytelling, which wasn’t the top priority at the time to beat their title. The main focus was on making violence look like Cool and satisfying.
Unsurprisingly, PSP games are no different in terms of their core philosophy, but the extra story and context they provide ended up being very valuable, especially going into (and out of) God of War III. For example, the initial conclusion of his story included a brief mention that Kratos caused Hades a lot of pain when he killed Persephone – something that didn’t happen in the first two mainline games , but in the Chain of Olympus.
Aside from the small reference and name drop in the third major God of War – which has positioned these games as more than a one-off romp – a huge narrative gain comes from a deep dive into how and why Kratos’ family died , which is arguably the most important event in the entire series, a permanent shadow cast on Kratos…it barely gets enough screen time. Especially as we get into Ragnarok.
On top of that, more adventure and slaying of mythical characters and creatures means more intrigues and secret plans from Mount Olympus that power much of Kratos’ spree. They’re a busy and shady bunch, and with a lot of the crap — including the battle with Kratos’ long-lost brother Deimos — happening outside of the main game, you start to understand why Kratos is in several parts Relentlessly overreacting in such a dramatic way.
Other highlights include the destruction of Atlantis and an actual visit to Sparta as part of Kratos’ never-ending quest for revenge. There’s always another cool scene or situation around the corner, and I’m so grateful for Ready at Dawn’s knack of channeling the best parts of the big title while simplifying the most boring parts and the ones found in their big brothers inevitable backtracking.
After God of War (2018) already raised the issue of him murdering his father Zeus, Ragnarok seems to have given extra attention to Kratos’ troubled past, and if to extract some extra drama and dark memories from it, I don’t Would be surprised by the PSP title.
Kratos is often referred to as “The Destroyer”, which we did witness over the course of the original trilogy, but a lot of the destruction he caused seems to be a direct result of how the gods got along with him, so we tend to be in most All agree with him. However, these extra chapters reveal several major devastating events in the Greek kingdom just because he had a super bad day. This has to make some sense.
If you have access to a PSP or PS3 (a nice remaster was released in 2011), you probably already have physical or digital copies of these games, and we recommend checking them out before Ragnarok. Otherwise, we hope Sony sees something meaningful and offers games through PS Plus Premium — after all, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen PSP games slip into the service. In any case, let’s pray to the Sony gods together for a quick recovery of two very valuable PSP artifacts for PS4 and PS5 owners.
This is what Kratos deserves.
Ragnarok will release on November 9 for PS4 and PS5. You can read about everything we know about the game so far at the link.
