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God of War details, in-depth RPG systems, No load screens, plus more

F

ffvorax

Member
I really like a lot these changes and I'm happy they didn't delivered the same kind of game again...
But after this different chapter, depending on the ending of the story, I think the sequels will be again more action-centric... not a bad thing, but they are managing this in such a unique way that will not be possible to do it again probably in a sequel.

To be honest I will be ok even with only one game, but I bet they prefer to have a new series to milk
 
S

satire77

Member
Really excited for this game, everything i keep reading about the game makes me even more excited about it.
I think they have made the correct choice with the change of direction.
 
C

Carn82

Member
and the kid teaching Kratos how to be human again.
Click to expand...

Endgame wil be Kratos tending to his little garden, visiting the local bar without beating up people and making smalltalk with neighbours. Will feature QTE's were Kratos rates his kid's (bad) drawings. Possible options are "That looks great, keep up the great work!" and "Show it to your mom. Ow wait, she left you and died. Maybe because of your lame drawings. Now go back to your room".
 
S

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
B.O.O.M said:
Makes me wonder which god the kid will grow up to be...Ullr?
Click to expand...

go full nuts and make him odin >>
I know, just making fun

but I'm really looking forward to all of this. I wonder if, in the end, the kid will kill Kratos.
Maybe some kind of "Son, your last step to become a god, is to kill me" >>
 
F

Foshy

Member
I never cared for any GoW before but this one has made me retroactively interested in the games that came before it. I absolutely love the concept and it makes me happy SSM is bold enough to take such a big franchise in a new direction, in a way that nobody expected but now feels like a natural step forward. Not confirming to the standard expectations of a sequel, changing even the gameplay in a way that reflects the tone of the new game. Sounds like I might be exaggerating but idk it really feels like this is an important step for gaming as a medium, taking characters that were stuck in stale formulas and presenting them again under a new light and in a new context without being afraid of having to stick to the same old gameplay we expect from them.
 
O

OléGunner

Member
I think the potential payoff for players who've followed Kratos for all 3-6 games could be huge from a character development sense.

I mean there's rarely been a semi 180 to an entire character in a game series like this before. I'm so glad Kratos was kept in and as the same character we've had in previous games for this new take.
 
B

Bishop89

Member
jayu26 said:
Tried to make a quick dirty gif. Anyway you can see that creepy thing.

giphy.gif
Click to expand...

maybe its just a branch moving
 
R

Raysod

Banned
I wonder why they didn't make a new IP out of this?

We dont need another heavy story driven game, with pseudo open world levels, light rpg elements, craft system and AI babysitting.

Kratos killed his first born child, killed millions of people, monsters, gods and my interaction all these years with the character was his journey to pursue absolute power, in order for him to take his revenge.

Now I have to play a game that I have to cut the balls of the God of War and make him "human" again and probably give him a happy ending (Drake I am looking at you). An ending that will find him and son (the new wife will die in the story so they can have a reason to start the killing) in the fire laughing, after they butcher half of Norway and its gods.

Whats next on modern gaming, Kratos goes to a psychiatrist to calm his rage? And what is this new trend and my all my gaming heroes (
nathan drake
, marcus fenix, now Kratos), action based characters that made their legacy by killing thousands, are now having children and they pursue a normal family life?

I personally played the GoW series for its deep combat mechanics, its crazy over the top action and the "bad" personality of Kratos. After reading the IGN article I feel more distant from the new vision of Santa Monica for Kratos.

And something else, from the E3 demo obviously the button prompts for the QTEs are missing for some reason. Please Santa Monica don't make Kratos and son push crates to access parts of the level or "press X" to push up the son or "grab my hand" son mechanics.

But thats modern game design I guess, design based on focus groups feedback and not the millions of fans that bought and enjoyed the games.

I hope you all enjoy Kratos cut woods to make fire, hunt animals to eat and craft clothes from their fur and herbs to make potions (Skyrim or The Witcher I look at you).
 
B

bunkitz

Member
While we only saw a little bit of the kick-ass special moves and stuff, I really like what I'm seeing so far. Naturally, I'm looking forward to learning more about the combat, but I'm really interested in the RPG elements.

I'm curious whether the EXP-like stuff we saw in the demo (e.g. "Archery +50") was for Kratos' son. That would make sense, considering that we're teaching the kid all sorts of stuff. So I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we could also "teach" him new moves or special attacks and the like.

Hoping that Kratos' ax is called Jarnbjorn. It was (Marvel's) Thor's weapon prior to becoming worthy enough for Mjolnir (and his current weapon now that he's no longer worthy), but I don't know if it's a thing in actual Norse Mythology, so I wouldn't know if it's possible.

Something I just thought of... so I have a question. Biologically speaking, Kratos is a demigod, right? Human mother, and Zeus for a father. He was granted godhood, so does that make him a god, biologically? Thus making his own son a demigod rather than... half a demigod?
 
V

vivekTO

Member
Raysod said:
I personally played the GoW series for its deep combat mechanics, its crazy over the top action and the "bad" personality of Kratos. After reading the IGN article I feel more distant from the new vision of Santa Monica for Kratos.

.
Click to expand...

Please elaborate on the deep combat mechanic you have personnel experience. and what makes you think it will not be present in the current game.
 
T

Two Words

Member
Huber saying that you can throw down your ace at the beginning game and calling it back to you across anywhere, even the final point, sounds pretty amazing.
 
V

valkyre

Member
Raysod said:
I wonder why they didn't make a new IP out of this?

We dont need another heavy story driven game, with pseudo open world levels, light rpg elements, craft system and AI babysitting.

Kratos killed his first born child, killed millions of people, monsters, gods and my interaction all these years with the character was his journey to pursue absolute power, in order for him to take his revenge.

Now I have to play a game that I have to cut the balls of the God of War and make him "human" again and probably give him a happy ending (Drake I am looking at you). An ending that will find him and son (the new wife will die in the story so they can have a reason to start the killing) in the fire laughing, after they butcher half of Norway and its gods.

Whats next on modern gaming, Kratos goes to a psychiatrist to calm his rage? And what is this new trend and my all my gaming heroes (
nathan drake
, marcus fenix, now Kratos), action based characters that made their legacy by killing thousands, are now having children and they pursue a normal family life?

I personally played the GoW series for its deep combat mechanics, its crazy over the top action and the "bad" personality of Kratos. After reading the IGN article I feel more distant from the new vision of Santa Monica for Kratos.

And something else, from the E3 demo obviously the button prompts for the QTEs are missing for some reason. Please Santa Monica don't make Kratos and son push crates to access parts of the level or "press X" to push up the son or "grab my hand" son mechanics.

But thats modern game design I guess, design based on focus groups feedback and not the millions of fans that bought and enjoyed the games.

I hope you all enjoy Kratos cut woods to make fire, hunt animals to eat and craft clothes from their fur and herbs to make potions (Skyrim or The Witcher I look at you).
Click to expand...

6 games of combos and unchanged gameplay were enough. GOW as it was before looks and feels archaic. I for one dont want to play the same damn shit for a 7th time. If there is decent narrative i am in. I am tired of all the growling and yelling and "badassery".
 
B

bunkitz

Member
wapplew said:
You guys need to hear Huber hype about GoW, some very nice info from Cory.
https://www.twitch.tv/easyallies/v/72504026
time stamp at 3:16:38
Click to expand...

Shit. Makes me want to try that thing with the ax. I wonder if it'll take longer for it to reach Kratos the farther it is. Would be pretty interesting if it would...

We're getting crafting. Holy fuck. I am so fucking pumped for this game. Does this mean equipment and shit? I hope it's not a full on RPG-style equipment, but I think I'd be down for that too.
 
S

Skux

Member
valkyre said:
6 games of combos and unchanged gameplay were enough. GOW as it was before looks and feels archaic. I for one dont want to play the same damn shit for a 7th time. If there is decent narrative i am in. I am tired of all the growling and yelling and "badassery".
Click to expand...

Agreed. From the other GoW thread:

Skux said:
The greatest pop and rock stars in history have maintained their status and relevance through innovation and reinvention. Madonna. Bowie. Michael Jackson. They pushed out of their original genres and branched out, trying new things and gaining new fans along the way.

God of War isn't a genre, it's a rock star. It has to evolve and innovate, and appeal to people who never thought about playing GoW before. The worst thing that it can do is stagnate and be the same thing you've seen for the last decade.

No one wants their favourite band to release the same album six times.
Click to expand...
 
E

eloxx

Member
This sounds very promising. But please not too many RPG elements. Crafting is cool, but God of War is not about looking for stuff just to make arrows.

Also I hope we get to find out what happened after the end of God of War III.
 
geordiemp

geordiemp

Member
ironcreed said:
Sounds even more amazing than what I was expecting. And thank goodness I can control the camera and have room to explore more.
Click to expand...

For me its about immersion and weight impact in fighting which is so much better over the shoulder.

In Ninja gaiden I always loved the feel of every impact and strike, it had weight and just felt good.

In GOW I always felt a bit distanced from the strikes and action, being further away you feel more like your watching the action instead of being in the thick of it.

Always dreamed of a full camera control god of war, a series I have been meh about for a long time. I am so in, day 1.

Dictator93 said:
So my calling it God of War: Ryse Dad Simulator initially was not exactly too far off the mark.
Click to expand...

You mean like every 3rd person actin game like DMC, Ninja Gaiden and so many others I cant be bothered to type them.

GOW was almost unique in the isometric view for combat, its just joined the rest of the industry. Has nothing to do with Ryse.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Skux said:
Agreed. From the other GoW thread:
Click to expand...
Pretty much. God of War and me have an interesting relationship. The first was the first M game I ever got, had to smuggle it into the house because my parents didn't want me getting M-rated games at the time.

God of War Ascension was just missing that special something that made 1-3 great. It had a distinct vibe of been there-done that, a series spinning its wheels because it already went as big as its mythology could get. Once you mirder the Greek pantheon and take on the Titans themselves, the Furies and elephant beasts just aren't very exciting. Ascension just felt lacking in all the areas that other games excelled

This is the kind of shake-up the series desperately needed. I welcome an older grizzled Kratos, exploring his character in a new light, in a new mythology, in a clear passing-the-torch storyline (that kid isn't getting XP and learning new skills just because)
 
C

Chuck Norris

Banned
Raysod said:
I wonder why they didn't make a new IP out of this?

We dont need another heavy story driven game, with pseudo open world levels, light rpg elements, craft system and AI babysitting.

Kratos killed his first born child, killed millions of people, monsters, gods and my interaction all these years with the character was his journey to pursue absolute power, in order for him to take his revenge.

Now I have to play a game that I have to cut the balls of the God of War and make him "human" again and probably give him a happy ending (Drake I am looking at you). An ending that will find him and son (the new wife will die in the story so they can have a reason to start the killing) in the fire laughing, after they butcher half of Norway and its gods.

Whats next on modern gaming, Kratos goes to a psychiatrist to calm his rage? And what is this new trend and my all my gaming heroes (
nathan drake
, marcus fenix, now Kratos), action based characters that made their legacy by killing thousands, are now having children and they pursue a normal family life?

I personally played the GoW series for its deep combat mechanics, its crazy over the top action and the "bad" personality of Kratos. After reading the IGN article I feel more distant from the new vision of Santa Monica for Kratos.

And something else, from the E3 demo obviously the button prompts for the QTEs are missing for some reason. Please Santa Monica don't make Kratos and son push crates to access parts of the level or "press X" to push up the son or "grab my hand" son mechanics.

But thats modern game design I guess, design based on focus groups feedback and not the millions of fans that bought and enjoyed the games.

I hope you all enjoy Kratos cut woods to make fire, hunt animals to eat and craft clothes from their fur and herbs to make potions (Skyrim or The Witcher I look at you).
Click to expand...

I reckon they would have played with the idea of a whole new character. What stopped them? Two things, they wanted to play in this space with Nordic Gods. Second is the difficulty of creating a character as iconic as Kratos, both in his history and visually

You saw how people burst out in applause just seeing Kratos. And if the backlash for a different direction for him is there, it would be a hundred times that for not having him there at all
 
T

The Silver

Member
At this point I'm just waiting for them to really show off the combat. Old games were stale as fuck but I don't really care for the slower cinematic approach they showed here.
 
T

Two Words

Member
I have to imagine that Kratos got old and annoying to even a lot of the people at SSM. I have always been a big GoW fan and even I got fed up with his personality.

GoW1: Man, this Kratos guy sure has it rough. Ares is a dick. Yeah, let's bring down this asshole. Wait, the Gods went back on their deal? That's messed up. Weird that they made him a god though.

GoW2: Okay, maybe Kratos took the war stuff a bit too far, but killing him like that is pretty fucked up. Couldn't we have talked about this instead? Killing Zeus seems pretty serious, but he did kinda start it. Oh shit, he killed his only ally, Athena. See Kratos, this is really going too far. Wait, you brought back the Titans? Holy shit, this is getting crazy.

GoW3: Alright, so we're going to just take care of Zeus. He's really the only one we have a vendetta against. Wait, stop killing literally everybody, Kratos! What the hell is wrong with you?! What are you even mad about?! You just blotted out the sun, flooded the lands and freed the dead. Stop it!!! Dude, you just killed Hephestus for trying to protect his daughter! And now you're going to protect her?! Zeus was right, you're a monster that needs to be put down. All you do is bitch about your family and being mistreated. That really sucks, but man you suck. I don't want to hear your problems anymore. Just stay away from me.
 
T

TEH-CJ

Banned
Two Words said:
I have to imagine that Kratos got old and annoying to even a lot of the people at SSM. I have always been a big GoW fan and even I got fed up with his personality.

GoW1: Man, this Kratos guy sure has it rough. Ares is a dick. Yeah, let's bring down this asshole. Wait, the Gods went back on their deal? That's messed up. Weird that they made him a god though.

GoW2: Okay, maybe Kratos took the war stuff a bit too far, but killing him like that is pretty fucked up. Couldn't we have talked about this instead? Killing Zeus seems pretty serious, but he did kinda start it. Oh shit, he killed his only ally, Athena. See Kratos, this is really going too far. Wait, you brought back the Titans? Holy shit, this is getting crazy.

GoW3: Alright, so we're going to just take care of Zeus. He's really the only one we have a vendetta against. Wait, stop killing literally everybody, Kratos! What the hell is wrong with you?! What are you even mad about?! You just blotted out the sun, flooded the lands and freed the dead. Stop it!!! Dude, you just killed Hephestus for trying to protect his daughter! And now you're going to protect her?! Zeus was right, you're a monster that needs to be put down. All you do is bitch about your family and being mistreated. That really sucks, but man you suck. I don't want to hear your problems anymore. Just stay away from me.
Click to expand...

Hence why they took it in a new direction...
 
I

IvorB

Member
So a lowbrow, tits-and-gore, hack 'n' slash is being reinvented as a slightly arthouse, father-son road movie. I wonder how series fans are feeling about this...
 
R

Raysod

Banned
valkyre said:
6 games of combos and unchanged gameplay were enough. GOW as it was before looks and feels archaic. I for one dont want to play the same damn shit for a 7th time. If there is decent narrative i am in. I am tired of all the growling and yelling and "badassery".
Click to expand...

How many good hack and slash games have you played recently so you could be bored with the genre? Its 3 years since Ascension if I am not wrong and that was not a great game.

God of War was one of the top in its genre and now we are getting another 3rd person action pseudo open world game with rpg elements mixed with a Last of Us/Uncharted type of AI - press X to interact with son – with a turn to heavy story telling and resource gathering/crafting.

If this was a new IP all would be alright, but it seems that they used the God of War name to drive sales. And I don’t say that the game is bad or anything, I have great faith that SSM will deliver. All that I am saying is that we have enough 3rd person action open world games out there; god almost all of Sony’s first party AAA studios are developing the same genre at the moment, so we need more classic God of War type of games and more diversion.

I believe that God of War needed a change but not a genre change. SSM could use their talent and resources to design new hack and slash mechanics and innovate the genre rather than follow what the rest of the market does.

Game designers trying to copy movies and cinematic story telling and not spend their resources to design game mechanics is a great problem in modern games in my eyes.
 
C

Callibretto

Member
IvorB said:
So a lowbrow, tits-and-gore, hack 'n' slash is being reinvented as a slightly arthouse, father-son road movie. I wonder how series fans are feeling about this...
Click to expand...
I hope series fan that has grown old along with Kratos might be more open for the chance. At least 1 of the reason for the chance is because Barlog has changed now from the time when he make GoW2.
 
D

Dictator93

Member
geordiemp said:
You mean like every 3rd person actin game like DMC, Ninja Gaiden and so many others I cant be bothered to type them.
Click to expand...
One sec... read below
geordiemp said:
GOW was almost unique in the isometric view for combat, its just joined the rest of the industry. Has nothing to do with Ryse.
Click to expand...
It was unique for that camera angle, but now it has decidedly slow section cinematic "experience" sections (the completely uninteresting hold the reticle to help the boy shoot his bow), a behind the shoulder third person camera, combat that looks more like Ryse than say DMC or even old GOW games, on top of (perhaps?) arbitrary leveling for cinematic purposes (teaching your son to do something (which is probably scripted?) gives you better bow skill). We still do not know what those skills mean for the gameplay or if the gameplay actualy eventually does branch out into something larger and more complex... but all those things remind me a lot of Ryse honestly and not of GoW or your typical character action game.

I am curious to know how many other people thought of Ryse when they saw this gameplay preview.

They do say at least they will show off more of these "RPG elements" and larger "set-pieces" down the road... but I am not sure what those things mean honestly. Ryse had "RPG elements"... and they were terribly boring stat increases and cinematic finisher related. "Set-pieces" do not ensure interesting gameplay variety or complexity... rathrer just visual spectacle... which arguably would be more in line with GoW how it has historically been.
 
T

Two Words

Member
Raysod said:
How many good hack and slash games have you played recently so you could be bored with the genre? Its 3 years since Ascension if I am not wrong and that was not a great game.

God of War was one of the top in its genre and now we are getting another 3rd person action pseudo open world game with rpg elements mixed with a Last of Us/Uncharted type of AI - press X to interact with son – with a turn to heavy story telling and resource gathering/crafting.

If this was a new IP all would be alright, but it seems that they used the God of War name to drive sales. And I don’t say that the game is bad or anything, I have great faith that SSM will deliver. All that I am saying is that we have enough 3rd person action open world games out there; god almost all of Sony’s first party AAA studios are developing the same genre at the moment, so we need more classic God of War type of games and more diversion.

I believe that God of War needed a change but not a genre change. SSM could use their talent and resources to design new hack and slash mechanics and innovate the genre rather than follow what the rest of the market does.

Game designers trying to copy movies and cinematic story telling and not spend their resources to design game mechanics is a great problem in modern games in my eyes.
Click to expand...

SSM could have chose to reinvent Kratos or continue it in the same genre with a new character. They chose the former. It seems like the smarter financial decision and a decision they are more interested in doing.
 
geordiemp

geordiemp

Member
Dictator93 said:
One sec... read below

It was unique for that camera angle, but now it has decidedly slow section cinematic "experience" sections (the completely uninteresting hold the reticle to help the boy shoot his bow), a behind the shoulder third person camera, combat that looks more like Ryse than say DMC or even old GOW games, on top of (perhaps?) arbitrary leveling for cinematic purposes (teaching your son to do something (which is probably scripted?) gives you better bow skill). We still do not know what those skills mean for the gameplay or if the gameplay actualy eventually does branch out into something larger and more complex... but all those things remind me a lot of Ryse honestly and not of GoW or your typical character action game.

I am curious to know how many other people thought of Ryse when they saw this gameplay preview.

They do say at least they will show off more of these "RPG elements" and larger "set-pieces" down the road... but I am not sure what those things mean honestly. Ryse had "RPG elements"... and they were terribly boring stat increases and cinematic finisher related. "Set-pieces" do not ensure interesting gameplay variety or complexity... rathrer just visual spectacle... which arguably would be more in line with GoW how it has historically been.
Click to expand...

Nope,, First game that came to mind was Viking Battle for asguard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUgOTzTYkOM

Which I really enjoyed although it did run like shit on 360.
 
D

Drencrom

Member
wapplew said:
You guys need to hear Huber hype about GoW, some very nice info from Cory.
https://www.twitch.tv/easyallies/v/72504026
time stamp at 3:16:38
Click to expand...

Love listening to Huber <3 Some really cool tidbits and facts

-There are multiple enemy tribes and factions (like the troll in the demo) and they all speak different languages
-You can apparently throw away your axe and walk away from it and like summon it hours later
-Attacks on the shoulder buttons instead of the face buttons
-You will level Kratos and your son
 
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