All God of War difficulty settings and how they work
What difficulty setting should you pick in God of War?
Zack Palm 
Image via SIE Santa Monica Studio
When you jump into a new game of God of War, picking an ideal difficulty setting can feel a little challenging. The franchise has a reputation for being tough, and with the changes of gameplay added to the 2018 version of God of War on the PlayStation and PC, things have certainly changed. As a result, you’ll want to make sure you understand each difficulty option and know what you’re about to experience. In this guide, we will cover all God of War difficulty settings and how they work.
There are the four God of War difficulty settings you can select when you start the game.
Give Me a Story
The Give Me a Story difficulty setting will be the most straightforward experience possible in God of War. In it, you can expect to spend minimum time combating the various bosses and enemies throughout your time in the game, not stressing these things too much. If you’re purely here to experience the story in God of War, we highly recommend picking this option and enjoying the show.
Give Me a Balanced Experience
The Give Me a Balanced Experience difficulty setting focuses on giving players a small challenge, forcing you to partially think about what upgrades you’re picking or what armor you’re giving Kratos. But overall, it’s not a hard time. You’ll want to select this setting if you’ve played other God of War games in the past, but it has been a long time since then.
You won’t have to spend too much time grinding or looking for specific items. Instead, it’s a harder experience than Give Me a Story, but combat shouldn’t make you sweat.
Give Me a Challenge
For those looking to consider what armor types they’re using, think about how to approach the combat, and struggle with a lot of the encounters, Give Me a Challenge is what you want to do. It’s not as brutal as Give Me God of War, but it’s a harrowing experience where you won’t always win the first time you have a combat encounter, and if you’re actively upgrading your armor, skills, or Atreus, you’re going to have a rough time. Give Me a Challenge is a satisfying challenge with difficult enemies.
Give Me God of War
Give Me God of War is the most difficult experience you could have in this game. The enemies are extremely tough, the combat is problematic, and if you do not seek out rare resources or complete side quests, you’ll have a rough time working your way through the story. This difficulty more will not be for everyone who plays the game. We highly recommend playing through Give Me a Challenge before you consider trying the Give Me God of War difficulty. You cannot pick another difficulty setting after selecting this one.
You can swap difficulty settings after you’ve played for a bit through God of War. Except if you’ve picked Give Me God of War, which will have you create an entirely new save file.
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