‘God of War’: How to Play All Saga’s Titles in Chronological Order

The ‘God of War’ saga doesn’t have a complicated storyline to follow. However, like any successful franchise that has had to find a way to launch spin-offs to expand the short story it started from, it can get confusing at times. Join us on the odyssey of Kratos and his long history as a god slayer. As usual, we review the games in order of release and then tell you how to play them to learn the protagonist’s story in chronological order.

Release Order

These are all the games of the ‘God of War’ saga:

1. ‘God of War’ (2005) - PS2
2. ‘God of War II’ (2007) - PS2
3. ‘God of War: Betrayal’ (2007) - Mobiles
4. ‘God of War: Chains of Olympus’ (2008) - PSP
5. ‘God of War III’ (2010) - PS3
6. ‘God of War: Ghost of Sparta’ (2010) - PSP
7. ‘God of War: Ascension’ (2013) - PS3
8. ‘God of War’ (2018) - PS4, PS5, PC
9. ‘God of War: Ragnarök’ (2022) - PS4, PS5

Chronological Order

Here is the chronological order that tells the story of Kratos as it happened. We stop in each of the games to give you some the details.

1 - ‘God of War: Ascension’ (2013) - PS3

When the story of Kratos reached a kind of dead end, we had to go back to the beginning of the character and his transformation into a god slayer at the hands of Ares, the god of war. We already knew the story, but here we are protagonists, witnessing the terrible pact between the human Kratos and the merciless divinity.

2 - ‘God of War: Chains of Olympus’ (2008) - PSP

In the first of the PSP games and the first time jump from the main story, Kratos resigns to being enslaved by the gods. He spends five years in this situation until he discovers a conspiracy in the underworld and a way to ingratiate himself with the gods.

3 - ‘God of War’ (2005) - PS2

The saga begins with the first and still impressive Playstation 2 exclusive. We meet Kratos, a slave of the gods for ten years and with a considerable grudge against Ares.

4 - ‘God of War: Ghost of Sparta’ (2010) - PSP

Despite appearing on PSP after the third installment, it is a vital game to understand the chronology of the character, as it was inserted somewhat after the first game. We live in this independent adventure in which Kratos is already a god and undertakes the search for his brother Deimos, whom he believed dead, reaching Atlantis.

5 - ‘God of War: Betrayal’ (2007) - Mobiles

The chronological mess continues with another game that doesn’t seem to have much depth in the main story but is set at a specific point in time, with the god Kratos leading the army of Sparta. This does not please Zeus, who sends a messenger, Ceryx, who ends up being slaughtered by Kratos. In other words, here is where the battle between the Spirit of Sparta and all of Olympus begins.

6 - ‘God of War II’ (2007) - PS2

We regain some peace of mind in the chronology by going back to one of the first games in which the character appears. We see Kratos in the same circumstances as in ‘Betrayal’, leading the Spartan army after 13 years as a god. In a similar formula to the mobile game, Kratos defies Olympus and faces the entire pantheon of gods, despite his friendship with Athena.

7 - ‘God of War III’ (2010) - PS3

After ‘God of War II’, with no time for Kratos to recover (despite that we changed console generations), the Spartan joins the Titans to attack Olympus and kill all the gods. With him, we saw the end of a particular phase of the character, and that’s why the next PS3 game, ‘Ascension’, had to go back and tell the beginning of the character.

8 - ‘God of War’ (2018) - PS4, PS5, PC

A reformulation of the character is necessary in the plot because there is nothing left to tell of his Olympian stage. But, in fact, there is a lot to say: he hides from the gods, takes refuge in the protection of the Norse pantheon, and has a wife and a son. But Odin is on the lookout.

9 - ‘God of War: Ragnarök’ (2022) - PS4, PS5

Kratos’ latest adventure is the direct sequel to the 2018 game. Ragnarök approaches, and with it, the war against the gods. This time, Odin and Thor will be at the forefront of an epic tale where Atreus, Kratos’ son, takes center stage, and the story does not focus on the extermination of the gods.