One of the biggest changes in God of War is the introduction of Atreus, the son of Kratos. While the child isn’t a mirror image of his father, he does have quite a bit in common. Director Cory Barlog recently talked about why Atreus shows some of the anger that Kratos is known for, and it comes from his own experience as a father.
“That is such a weird splash of cold water to the face of a new parent, when you see the worst parts of you coming out in your kid,” revealed Barlog to the PlayStation Blog. “Oh, man. That just takes my breath away. I?m super neurotic, right" Sometimes I have a tremendously difficult time with patience. I?m probably a giant pain in the ass to work with?. I?m demanding at times, and very focused, and at times closed off. And I see that in my son, and it breaks my heart. And these are very minor things when you compare who Kratos is, and when he starts seeing the roots of what ruined his life manifesting in his kid. And he doesn?t understand or know how to fix that! Because none of us do. I don?t know how to fix that!”
...