Conan O’Brien has been doing his Clueless Gamer segment on his late-night talk show for years, delivering irreverent insights on the latest and greatest video games. On the most recent episode, he teamed up with Saturday Night Live alumnus and current star of Barry, Bill Hader, to work through some daddy issues in God of War.
Spoilers for early sections of the game to follow!
Joined by resident video game nerd Aaron Bleyaert, Conan and Hader begin God of War by making fun of the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, questioning whether players will want to address their own familial problems in a game about murdering mythological creatures. The two also spend a good bit of time teasing Bleyaert for his enthusiasm in the series.
“I love that we finally get to bully somebody,” Conan quips.
As Kratos and Atreus make their way through the woods to hunt down a deer, Conan makes a fairly accurate observation: Without context, it simply looks like Kratos is chasing the boy with an ax in his hand. He also notes Kratos’ bizarrely blunt parenting style, fitting for someone who has murdered countless people.
“Remember when your mother died and we burned her?” Conan asks. “The therapist said I probably shouldn’t have let you watch that, but I think kids need to grow up fast.”
After killing a troll and questioning whether or not Atreus should eat his mother’s ashes, the two face off against the first major boss and then revive the severed head of Mimir, who joins Kratos for the rest of his journey. Both find it hilarious that Mimir is simply attached to Kratos’ belt and is unable to actually see what’s happening during combat sections, but by the time the demonstration ends, they seem to have grown … or something.
“I worked out some stuff with God of War, and I think I can now use it in my life,” Hader says, and Conan questions whether this will lead to Hader murdering people.
God of War is a tremendous action game. In our review, we said it was “everything a blockbuster game should be,” and “one of the best games in the [action] genre.”
