Summary
The Adventures of Kratos and Boy are epic, but are they fun? The father-and-son dysfunction and Kratos' allergy to smiling might make things a little too serious or gloomy. Luckily, PC gamers know how to lighten things up and make Norse-flavored deicide more inviting thanks to mods.God of Waris nearly 6 years old, after all. Its story has been told already, and continued inGod of War: Ragnarök(which has yet to reach the PC as of this writing). The 2018 game’s gonna start showing its age eventually.
God of War’s mod collection has built up fast, with a variety of ones that offer quality-of-life upgrades or just wacky fun. ThesegreatGod of Warmodsrange from useful gameplay/visual upgrades to inside jokes and questionable character cosmetic changes. Some of them might even be enough to make Kratos chuckle, much to the Boy’s delight.
Updated January 23rd, 2024, by David Heath:One year have passed, and God of War: Ragnarök remains the only GoW game that hasn’t reached the PC yet. It may turn up this year, or pop up next year. But until one announcement or another gets declared, PC players still have to make do with just the beginning of Kratos' Norse adventures with “the Boy,” his son, Atreus.
It’s still a great game, but there’s only so many times a person can play the same thing over and over again until the thrill is gone. Luckily, the modding scene is still quite lively, and has provided a few more mods for fans to tweak their games with. Whether it’s improving the light shading, restoring Kratos' classic look, or replacing him with someone else entirely, these are more ofGod of War’s best mods.
18Young Kratos ReSkins
NexusMods Endorsements: 387
Kratos is a little worn out and weary in the reboot, so some players decided to bring back some of his youthful glow. By youthful glow, that means his appearance back when his hormonal rage and genocidal tendencies were unchecked.Young Kratos ReSkinsbrings back Kratos' looks from the original Greek trilogy of games.
The only beard here is a goatee and his jawline and musculature are a lot sharper and tighter compared to his latest dad model. In addition, the modder also included some alternative looks, like his Dark Odyssey costume fromGod of War 2and his blue tattoo design fromGod of War 2005’s prototypes. It also includes General Kratos fromGoW2and Fear Kratos fromGod of War 3.
17Script Loader And Gameplay Tweaks
NexusMods Endorsements: 258
Think of this one more as a collection of mods than a single entry, which is a godsend for PC owners who prefer less clutter in their file explorers. TheScript Loader and Gameplay Tweaksmod also has some cheats that players can toggle in case they run into potentially game-breaking bugs or glitches.
These features are:
Players can access all of these with a simple keypress. The noclip mode and freefly camera are notably useful for taking some pretty screenshots and seeing what the developers might’ve hidden in Midgard. Both are easy enough to control, so it shouldn’t take players long to break those boundaries and see what’s out there.
NexusMods Endorsements: 107
Apparently, Christopher Judge, aka Kratos' voice actor inGoW 2018, cracked some mighty fine dad jokes that sadly weren’t used in the game’s dialogue. So,God of Dad Jokesremedies that shortcomingby wedging in some of Judge’s unused dad jokes in the cinematic scenes (“I’m sorry…” “Hi sorry, I’m Dad”).
A word of warning though, this mod will break immersion and change Kratos' usually dour personality into the most serious cornball. So players are recommended to reserve this mod until after they have finished the game at least once. Otherwise, there goes the drama. Spoiled because Dad Kratos was less keen on picking up some lamb cress (“I’m a f*****g God of War!").
15Disable DLSS Sharpening
NexusMods Endorsements: 61
DLSS is a godsend from Nvidia and is arguably more important than its flagship tech, Raytracing. It practically frees the framerate since this downscaling & upscaling tech improves performance at the cost of a negligible image quality reduction. It’s not without its shortcomings, however. Some DLSS implementations include image sharpening, which can be too much.
Such is the case inGoW 2018, because in some cases and shots, the overbearing DLSS sharpening can make the game look cel-shaded with its aggressive outlines. That’s why the modDisable DLSS Sharpeningexists, and does what it says in the title: disables the sharpening to make the outlines look better in full HD. This way, players can enjoy smooth graphics as well as framerates.
14JG’s Leviathan Axe And Blades Of Chaos Recolors
NexusMods Endorsements: 161
Tired of how Kratos' default weapons look? Even he needs a change of scenery and attire from time to time, soJG’s Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos Recolorsmod remedies that monotony by letting players pick their Leviathan Axe’s colors like it’s a lightsaber fromStar Wars. The same also goes for the Blades of Chaos.
Players will be surprised at just how much a simple color change can freshen up the weapon’s appearance. Players can pick nearly all the colors of the rainbow for their weapons, from a deep red to a soft purple. They can wield a literal Golden Axe, or swing a pink set of Blades at any Draugr that want to make that a problem.
13Blades of Athena GOW3 Style-Blades of Exile
Endorsements: 72
Kratos returning home to break out the Blades of Chaos once more, despite his attempts to bury his past, is one of the standout moments inGoW 2018. Though some die-hard fans might be wondering how and where they suddenly turned up when Athena replaced them with her Blades of Athena at the end of the 2005 game, then turned them into the more powerful Blades of Exile inGoW3.
Even if they’re not wondering about that, they might prefer the weapons offered by theBlades of Athena GOW3 Style-Blades of Exilemod. It redesigns the blades to look more like the ones he used back inGoW3. It also comes with 8 alternate designs, from a silver shade to a deep red, though they require upgrading the blades to Level 5 to access.
12Less Annoying Item Cards
NexusMods Endorsements: 198
While the game’s UI is good, some players got a little too frustrated at the item cards, as they hung around on the screen much longer than they would’ve preferred. So, Rayjiun made someLess Annoying Item Cards, which helped a lot of players explore Midgard and loot chests more smoothly.
The mod is rather simple. It makes the item card notification disappear faster by reducing the downtime between its appearance and when players can press the skip button. The mod author was kind enough to include options regarding the speed of the delay, from 2x speed to 4x speed, and even Insta-Skip to close them as soon as they appear.
11God Of War NG Plus Save File (PS4 Import)
NexusMods Endorsements: 248
It’s hard to avoid watching story summaries, spoilers, or gameplay videos fromGoW 2018over nearly 6 years. UnlessPC playersgo in completely and intentionally blind to enjoy all the surprises and twists, they may end up rushing the game to get to the big gameplay bits instead of taking in the story and atmosphere.
After all, they would’ve seen all that from videos and streams online. If they want the joy of New Game+ without completing the game first, they can download an imported save from PS4 with a nearly complete progression via theGod of WarNG Plus Save File. It’s barely a mod, but it essentially gives players fully upgraded gear, weapons, runes, etc., like a Full Upgrade Mod would anyway.
10Invisible Shield
NexusMods Endorsements: 88
It’s still odd seeing Kratos with a shield and a more defensive fighting style after his more aggressive heydays in Ancient Greece. The only other time he used a shield in combat was viathe Arms of SpartainGod of War: Ghost of Spartaon the PSP, and it took a backseat to the spear’s jabby strikes. That’s probably why some players prefer Kratos without the magical, circular aegis on his arm.
TheInvisible Shieldmod does just that by deleting Kratos' shield model and the shield armband that goes with it. He can still use it in gameplay, of course. It’ll just be invisible, like the ‘Mime of War’ costume’s blades inGod of War: Chains of Olympus. This is especially aesthetically pleasing when Kratos gets his goodold Blades of Chaosas players will be able to see those angsty chains more clearly.
9Clean Invisible Armor And Wrist Armor
NexusMods Endorsements: 449
In addition to the shield, some Kratos die-hard fans might also prefer Kratos with his old getup, which is practically just a loincloth, greaves and some arm bracers. It’s much colder in Midgard, so he kind of needs pants andextensive shoulder armorto stay warm (his stints in the mountains inGoW2andGoW: GoSnotwithstanding. But PC players don’t have to worry about that and go back to Kratos' classic look.
Clean Invisible Armor And Wrist Armordoes away with the models of the said armor and makes Kratos feel young again. This mod makes him topless, exposing those intimidating Spartan pectorals and most of his Spartan tattoos (a tribute to his late brother Deimos, according to lore). It makes Kratos look more photogenic, but it does mean it makes keeping track of what armor set he’s wearing a trickier process now.
