Like many modern games, God of War includes several difficulty levels that adjust the gameplay to match the player’s preferred experience.
And even though the in-game descriptions do a decent enough job of breaking down each level, some players may want more specific details before making a choice.
In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between all of God of War’s difficulty levels as well as show you how to change the difficulty setting and decide which level is right for you.
By the end, we hope to leave you with a better understanding of how God of War difficulty works and what to expect at each level.
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All God Of War Difficulty Levels And Differences
There are a total of four difficulty settings in God of War: Give Me a Story, Give Me a Balanced Experience, Give Me a Challenge, and Give Me God of War.
Below we’ve broken down each setting and how they impact gameplay, including the amount of damage, health, and status effect granted to both Kratos and enemies.
Give Me A Story
By far the easiest of the difficulty levels, Give Me a Story is perfect for players who just want to experience God of War’s narrative without any significant challenges.
On this setting, players will encounter enemies that deal decreased damage and behave with minimal aggression compared to higher levels.
In addition, enemies will take increased damage and become stunned more easily, with Kratos also gaining increased resistance to negative status effects.
Give Me A Balanced Experience
Considered to be God of War’s “normal” difficulty, Give Me a Balanced Experience is a great choice for players who like to be challenged without feeling like they’re at a disadvantage.
It’s best recommended to first-time players who aren’t yet familiar with God of War’s combat systems and want to experience the main storyline.
Since the game gives you the option to change the difficulty setting at any point, players can always go up or down a level if Give Me a Balanced Experience ends up feeling too easy or hard.
Give Me A Challenge
The next level is where things start to get interesting, as Give Me a Challenge provides enemies with various buffs, stat increases, increased aggression, and overall damage.
On top of this, enemies are granted an extra 50 base health along with +8 Defense, stun resistance, and reduced damage from ranged attacks from the Leviathan Axe and Talon Bow.
Lastly, Give Me a Challenge extends the amount of time needed to apply status effects like Permafrost and Immolation during combat.
Give Me God Of War
Without a doubt the hardest difficulty level in the game, Give Me God of War carries over everything from Give Me a Challenge and then some.
Enemies deal even more damage and have longer-lasting status effects with extra penalties (Poison lowers Kratos’ power level, Frost reduces his invincibility while dodging, etc.)
To add to this, enemies take less damage, are more resilient to status effects, have more Defense, can only be wall-pinned mid-air, and can easily counter Kratos’ attacks.
As if things weren’t hard enough, most enemies are upgraded to Elite status upon taking damage, increasing their overall strength and aggression.
In turn, Kratos receives less powerful parries, Spartan Rage, and reduced damage; however, he does deal slightly more damage in the air and can clear status effects using Healthstones.
How To Change Difficulty Levels In God Of War
Players can adjust the difficulty level at any time except when playing on Give Me God of War, which cannot be switched off once selected.
In the event you wish to lower the difficulty from Give Me God of War, you’ll have to start completely over with a new game.
For all other levels, players can modify their settings by opening the pause menu, going to Settings, Gameplay, and selecting the new difficulty option.
Which God Of War Difficulty Setting Should You Choose?
The God of War difficulty setting you decide to choose largely comes down to a matter of personal taste and comfort.
Some players seek out games with high-stakes combat and aggressive enemies such as in Dark Souls, Sekiro, or pretty much any FromSoftware title.
However, just as many prefer story-driven games to toe the line between challenge and power fantasy to strike the perfect balance.
We suggest starting with Give Me a Balanced Experience and playing for a few hours before deciding whether you want to kick things up a notch or tone it down.
