The God of War remake really needs to change these sequences. It would be a shame if it didn’t!

Kratos may return to his roots in a possible remake of the classic trilogy, but one controversial detail risks ageing very badly.

Brutal violence has always been God of War’s calling card, but in a modern remake it isn’t only the blood that raises concerns. The infamous “spicy” scenes from the original games-played for laughs in the 2000s-now feel out of place, shallow and even embarrassing. If Sony really does revisit the Greek saga, those sequences can’t be copied over on autopilot.

The problem with the sex mini-games in the classic trilogy

Across the first three numbered God of War games, Kratos doesn’t just tear through gods and monsters. He also takes part in sex mini-games with courtesans, servants, or even Aphrodite herself. It was framed as “adult” and cheeky content, but built as a mechanical button-pressing mini-game.

In practice, these scenes tended to work like this:

• The player encounters female characters in bedrooms or private quarters;
• An interaction prompt appears, usually framed as a joke or a provocative nudge;
• A QTE (quick time event: a sequence of timed button presses) begins;
• The camera cuts away, showing sheets, falling vases, statues, while moans are heard;
• The player receives red orbs (in the first two games) or a trophy (in the third).

In the PlayStation 2 era and the early days of PS3, this approach was sold as a “mature” flourish. Today, it comes across as little more than teenage shock value. The issue becomes even bigger in a remake with modern visuals-more realistic and detailed-and an audience far more alert to empty, sexualised portrayals.

God of War has matured as a narrative. If a remake ignores that in these scenes, the dissonance will be glaring.

Kratos has changed, and a remake can’t pretend nothing happened

The Kratos of the original trilogy is almost a force of nature: cruel, impulsive, often sadistic. He burns a soldier alive in Pandora’s Temple, uses a servant as a counterweight in a lethal mechanism in God of War III, and treats most NPCs as disposable.

By contrast, the Kratos of God of War (2018) and Ragnarök is a different character. He is still violent, but he carries guilt, tries to control his rage, shows affection, and takes responsibility for Atreus. The focus shifts away from violence as spectacle and towards trauma, fatherhood, and a second chance.

Putting this “new” Kratos alongside the PS2/PS3-era sex QTEs would create a huge clash in tone. Santa Monica Studio has, over recent years, shaped the franchise into something more mature-interested in complex themes, not just shock.

Keeping shallow sex mini-games would be like yanking the handbrake on the series’ evolution just to satisfy the nostalgia of a few.

When the subtext existed… and then got lost along the way

A curious detail: the first God of War did at least attempt to give some emotional context to these “no-strings” encounters. Documents found near Kratos’s bed suggest he seeks sex as a desperate way to numb the pain of having unknowingly killed his own wife, Lysandra.

What started as metaphor turned into fan service

As the series went on, that dramatic layer faded away. What was, in theory, a reflection of the protagonist’s guilt became little more than a franchise “signature”, repeated almost out of obligation. The tone shifts from Greek tragedy to adolescent joke.

If a trilogy remake wants to speak to the narrative weight of God of War (2018), it can’t recycle these moments as though they’re just a “spicy bonus”. They need substantial reworking-or replacing with something more coherent with Kratos’s journey.

What a remake needs to change in these sequences

There are several ways to deal with the legacy of these mini-games without erasing the series’ identity. Some concrete options:

• Remove the sex QTEs and keep only subtle references, conversations, and implications that reinforce Kratos’s personal tragedy.
• Turn intimate encounters into narrative scenes, focused on dialogue and internal conflict rather than button-press challenges.
• Reposition rewards: no red orbs or trophies as a “prize” for sex; character progression should come from combat, exploration, or dramatic choices.
• Increase the agency of female characters, giving them goals, voice, and impact on the story-not just a decorative role.
• Use Kratos’s past as an open wound, showing how these encounters reveal loneliness, guilt, and an inability to process grief.

Sexuality can still exist in God of War-but as part of Kratos’s tragedy, not as an easy trophy mini-game.

The risks of keeping the old format in a modern game

If Santa Monica simply repeats what it did in 2005, the studio faces some very real risks:

Risk	Likely consequence
Perception of gratuitous sexualisation	Negative press and backlash from parts of the audience, tarnishing the release
Dissonance with modern Kratos	A sense that there are “two characters” that don’t belong in the same franchise
Clash with current industry standards	Unfavourable comparisons with games that handle sex more maturely
Broken immersion	The player swings from epic drama to awkward embarrassment in seconds

The cumulative effect would be a remake that’s technically impressive but narratively dated-stuck in a very specific mid-2000s moment.

How these changes could enrich the experience

Revisiting these sequences with a different approach isn’t censorship; it’s a creative opportunity. By replacing the mini-game with more layered scenes, the studio could deepen Kratos’s pain, better show his spiral of self-destruction, and bring the classic trilogy closer in tone to the more recent games.

Imagine a remake where, when Kratos interacts with courtesans, he’s haunted by visions of Lysandra and his daughter. Instead of a QTE with background moans, the player experiences an uncomfortable conversation, a surge of restrained anger, or a moment where he pulls back-unable to connect with anyone. The emotional impact would land far harder than any red orb reward.

Terms and context worth explaining to today’s audience

QTEs, or quick time events, were heavily used in the PS2/PS3 era: the game demands that the player quickly presses on-screen button prompts to complete a cinematic action. In God of War, QTEs were used both to rip a god’s head off and to play through a sex scene. Today, the format is often criticised for reducing player control and turning key moments into reflex tests.

Another point is the use of red orbs as a “currency” to upgrade weapons and abilities. Tying that system to sex mini-games, even if optional, creates a mechanical link between progression and sexual reward. In a remake, it would make more sense to attach upgrades to heroic feats, discoveries, combat challenges, or dramatic choices-reinforcing Kratos as a warrior in conflict, rather than leaning into a crude gag.

A possible future for the Greek trilogy

If the goal is to rebuild the original trilogy with the same seriousness given to God of War (2018), these sequences need to be rethought from the ground up. This isn’t about erasing the past-it’s about reinterpreting it in light of everything the franchise has learned. Kratos can remain brutal, contradictory, and troubled, but a remake doesn’t need to stay shackled to mini-games that the industry itself has largely left behind.