Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

The game has spawned a franchise and is one of the best-known Playstation 2 games out there. Its well-implemented analog controls and fighting mechanics are legend. It brought us some of the first quicktime events. And it brought boobs in video games into mainstream acceptance. Kind of.

Honestly though, while I had some minor issues with the second God of War game, the original is a true classic. Few people will argue that. The game is as addictively fun as it is brutally difficult. Fighting a huge wave of minotaurs and gorgons, balancing across that narrow wooden beam while jumping spinning blade wheels, climbing up a sheer stone cliff while dodging falling boulders – it’s all in a day’s work for my man Kraatos.