Why is it bad that Freya cares about her son more than her own life? Kratos is the same way. And tall about being overprotective, Atreus' whole arc is dictated by Kratos not wanting to expose him to the reality of his life. And if you think for a second that Kratos wouldnt lay down his life for Atreus, even if it was Atreus trying to kill him, then you must have played a different game.

In fact, during the sequence where Freya turns on Kratos after they hurt Baldur, he essentially says to Atreus, "if the roles were reversed, nothing could stop me from protecting you either." So this whole thing people criticize Freya for is something that the game pretty much explicitly points out is something that Kratos would do too.

I'll admit, I had never considered the valkyrie thing before abby brought it up, and I agree that it's actually messed up. They could have just had them "test" Kratos or whatever as opposed to making them damsels. But I really feel like that's the only example of the game dropping the ball with its female characters.