Emanuel Mojica Rosas, from Jalisco, Nayarit in Mexico, started collecting God of War memorabilia when his grandmother passed away in 2011. His family struggled during this difficult time, and Mojica Rosas ended up losing his job, too.

That’s when he found inspiration from the God of War series. “My only escape was to pick up my PlayStation 2 and start to play God of War,” he said. “If Kratos can change his own destiny, I can do it.”

To date, his collection includes 583 God of War items, including collector’s editions, mugs, t-shirts, and more. It’s incredibly impressive; take a look for yourself below.

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Mojica Rosas was surprised when Santa Monica Studio, the developer behind God of War, reached out to him. They invited him down to the studio for what he expected would be a tour, but was surprised with something even better.

During his visit, he was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest God of War collection ever. To top it all off, creative director Cory Barlog handed him a special gift: the original burned disc for the first God of War on PS2. Check out the heartwarming video detailing his trip below.

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“You inspire me continually, every time I hear anything that you say, because it helps me understand that it doesn’t matter how hard something gets. It doesn’t matter how dark the path appears,” Barlog tells Mojica Rosas during his visit. “There is always a light somewhere. That’s amazing.”

For more on God of War, read about how the first boss fight was designed.