I can appreciate an edgy as hell 2000s character today. Characters like Jack Garland in Stranger of Paradise and Vergil in Devil May Cry 5 are fun to me because they're practically caricatures. They could've done that with Kratos, but taking a character the least suited for parenthood, especially single parenthood and putting him in that situation was narratively interesting. Kratos processing his wife's death, reconciling his relationship with his son, and ultimately learning to let both go is more adult than running around ripping everything in half because angy.