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There is a moment early in God of Warwhen Kratos and his son Atreus are hunting a boar in the woods near their house. Atreus shoots it with an arrow which sets off a chain of events that leads to the pair meeting the witch of the woods, who leads them to her home.

The cold, hard, wintry woods open up into a forest filled with bright colors, sunshine, and the witch's home: a wooden structure attached to the stomach of a giant turtle.

At the sight of that turtle, Kratos' Leviathan Axe strung up on his back, the green ground covered in colorful, fallen leaves, I had the thought that this game was the game I've been waiting my whole life for, the game that I had had wanted to play since my childhood but didn't know I was waiting for.

Until the latest God of War.

I've always been a big fan of God of War, having followed the series since I first got ahold of the original PlayStation 2 game's demo disc, which included the first big fight against a Hydra. I was hooked and replayed the demo a dozen times, enamored by the combat and premise of Kratos taking on the pantheon of Greek gods.

I played through every God of War game (except Ascension, because it's bad), drawn in by the huge set pieces and cathartically brutal combat. It was a reliable, fun series (again, except for Ascension). But when they first showed off footage of the new God of War, with Kratos in the lands from Norse mythology, I knew this was going to be one of my favorite games of the decade.

My whole life I've been interested in mythology, and out of all the stories that I read about, Norse mythology was always my favorite with its quarreling deities and alternate worlds and groups like dwarfs, elves, and giants.

The latest God of Warcombines the tried and true action of the series (with some fresh updates) with my favorite mythology. Not only that, it's a more mature take on the series, with Kratos actually having a relationship with his son and not just blindly killing every living thing he sees. Plus, the blend of action, adventure, and puzzle-solving seems perfectly paced.

It's like this game was tailor-made to fit my interests.

There are so many moments during God of Warthat made me think, "If I made a game, this is something that I would want in it."

The standout moment, when Kratos is in Midgard at the beginning of the game and meets the Witch of the Woods, made me feel like the team peered inside my head for inspiration.

Growing up in Upstate New York as a kid, I would run around the woods in the hills near my house and near my friend's house. The scenery in God of Warreminds me so much of those days when I was young, with paths lines with trees and greenery haphazardly strewn about on the ground, and little streams of water between hills.

When Kratos walks into the Witch's protected part of the forest with Atreus, it reminds me of the kinds of things I used to daydream about. I always liked fantasy, and I used to imagine stumbling into a part in the woods that no one else knows about and finding something incredible.

God of Warhits that note again and again, like it's reaching inside me and showing me what I've always wanted to see. If I took a different path and made video games instead of writing about them, God of Warwould've been my dream game.

I can't put it down.

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