I actually just finished the 2018 game and am of the mind that his character didnt really change THAT much, maybe towards the end arguably.
That's not a bad way to look at it, but I can't really go along with that. When I was a teenager, I played all the God of War games over and over. My mom was working two jobs to keep the lights on, so she wasn't checking much on what I was playing when I was just 12. Plus, my uncle, who was kinda careless but cool, hooked me up with his modded PlayStations and a bunch of pirated games.