360°

God Of War Creator Thinks That The Character Of Kratos Took A Wrong Turn

Terri writes: "In a recent video released by the creator of the God of War series, David Jaffe, we can see that Jaffe is not fond of the direction PlayStation took regarding the franchise, and in particular, Kratos himself."

SinisterMister148d ago

Well, I personally think that Santa Monica did an absolutely phenomenal job with Kratos, showcasing insane character development in all the right ways.

Jin_Sakai148d ago

I disagree. God of War went from a brutal action game where Kratos was slaying gods to a boring father figure. God of War 3 was my favorite in the series.

Christopher148d ago

I much prefer the focused and purposeful with reason Kratos who still gets into brutal combat and still has to kill gods even though he tries not to. Past Kratos was just anger personified and did nothing but subvert any expectations of him being something else other than just rage.

darthv72148d ago

2 is still my favorite. Everything about that game is top shelf design. the scale and scope of things like fighting the colossus of rhodes to awakening the steeds of time... just epic. 3 was good, but 2 is the high point of the original trilogy (for me).

The direction santa monica took for the reboot was less GoW (god of war) and more GoW (gears of war). The whole 3rd person perspective, having a partner (even if its his son), and lack of verticality with no more jumping and creating crazy areal combos... it was difficult to come to terms with but i managed. the story was good though, but i still give the nod to greek mythology over norse (and likely egyptian if that is where they go next).

frostypants148d ago

I can see it either way. I agree that the series now has nothing in common with the original beyond superficial character appearances and general setting. They sort of used the IP to sell an entirely different style of game. That said the new games are well made in their own right.

VivaLaManual148d ago

Yes. The game grew and stopped being one dimensional. What a shame....

DarXyde148d ago

I don't even think Jaffe really understood Kratos, despite creating him. Or rather, he doesn't seem to understand how he created the fertile ground for this kind of character development arc.

He was always a warrior, but he had a very human element since day one. He had a chance to protect his family again in God of War I and Ares took them away... Again. He knows he can't get them back and moved forward as the new God of War. Fast forward, the Gods betrayed him (though he was still sympathetic to Athena at the time). Eventually, he waged war with Olympus.

He was part of the pantheon and that would've been the entirety of his story arc where he oversaw war for all time.

But the truth this, Kratos has changed, but he largely remained the same. His two constants were always pride in his family and revenge against those who have wronged him. You take those two together (a threat to his family and Gods looking to kill him) and the direction he's taken is pretty congruent with who Kratos always has been. I guess you can say Kratos would just be a merciless monster for the sake of it, but the old games never explore present aspects of the character (e.g., what kind of father Kratos was). We got a look at that, and with a boy, no less.

I find the franchise did well to age with the audience. I was an angry teen when the original came out. Now I'm kinda mellowed out with a family and I just get it.

I think it did an excellent job of connecting with the audience as we grew up. It's a bit like Toy Story in that regard.

Monstieur148d ago (Edited 148d ago )

Agree. I liked GoW 3 the best as well. There weren't enough unique boss fights in the reboot.

Crows90148d ago (Edited 148d ago )

Well he aged considerably. Define boring father figure exactly? Maybe your father was boring but don't put that blame on others.

As far as slaying gods ...you're right ...he went from god slaying to....hmmm god slaying.

The newer Kratos matured with the audience. They could have just kept doing the same game over and over but they saw it getting stale so they had to switch the formula...they did so incredibly well.

SinisterMister148d ago

While God of War 3 is undoubtedly excellent in its own manner, the "boring father figure" part is something I don't agree with. For starters, if the situation calls for it, the old Kratos is back on camera, like when he fights against a particular Aesir god in Ragnarok.

tombfan147d ago

He achieved his goal... he actually got the revenge he was so desperately needing and in the end what? It'd be terrible character development if he would just go to another mythology to kill more gods just for the sake of they being gods. They actually gave them a meaning in life, and even better, they got an amazing idea of how to create a new game with actual bealavility and a plot, not just merciless kill.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 147d ago
savedsynner148d ago

Agree 100% Kratos had about an inch of depth before the norse version. Now he feels like a real character, a real dad, with real reactions based on his experiences.

gold_drake148d ago

i think they did a fantastic job with Kratos.

Snookies12148d ago

Wasn't Jaffe the one who got stuck on something easy in Metroid Dread and started bashing the game because of it? From what I played of GoW 2018, they actually gave Kratos some much-needed depth. I definitely plan to finally go through the newer entries once my PS5 comes in.

tombfan147d ago

Jaffe got stuck with his young mind thinking and it really showed with his latest attempt in gaming "Drawn to Death" it was like a teenage dream that became true and also, sucked.

Christopher148d ago

This whole video was essentially him finding comments to back up his own opinion. "It looks like a lot of people think..."

Yeah, well what do the review scores, sales, user scores, and completion rates on the last two say? Anything on that?

Reaper22_147d ago

Nothing wrong with his opinion. He created it so he's earned the right to criticize. Review scores and sales have nothing to do with it. It's success was never in question.

Christopher147d ago

You should probably read the first part of my comment. He's cherry picking opinions to support his but ignoring the plethora of other opinions.

Yeah, he's allowed his opinion, but his arguing method is to act like people just agree with him and not the diverse opinions out there on the subject.

-Foxtrot148d ago (Edited 148d ago )

People won’t like it I know but he’s entitled to his opinion being the games creator

I totally disagree but it’s not going to ruin the game for us who do like it

purple101148d ago

Yeh I may or may not disagree but he created the original and without him we would have no god of war, (or maybe one that wasn’t as good). So he can say what he wants in my books

Last I heard of him he made a black ad white game with a weird sketch art style. Similar to Sega Madworld

Haven’t heard from him since
Shame

itBourne148d ago

Drawn to Death, yeh, played it at the Playstation experience, it was quite fun, an old school arena shooter. Then it came out, and everyone died quicker, so strafe battles gone. It essentially turned into die, insta spawn, use ult, get a kill, they insta spawn, ult you, you die, and just repeat that loop lmao, its was terrible.

Christopher148d ago

I just have a problem with him saying they shouldn't have called it God of War because his opinion doesn't align with theirs on the future of the IP. That part I felt was pointedly petty.

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40°

The Big Inworld AI Q&A - 'Everyone in Gaming Sees the Potential of Generative AI'

Wccftech interviewed Nathan Yu from Inworld AI to discuss the dynamic NPC tech's applications to games as well as potential issues like costs.

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wccftech.com
160°

Xbox President Sarah Bond's Bloomberg Interview Is Corporate Fakery At Its Best

Saad from eXputer: "After Arkane Austin & Tango were shutdown, Xbox President Sarah Bond spoke with Bloomberg in what I believe to be utter corporate fakery."

gold_drake1d 7h ago

im not really surprised by that, shes always been more a "let me talk about something else than what u want to know" kinda gal

Cacabunga23h ago

If what they are doing is that good, what’s the point of hiding the true story?

anast1d 4h ago

She's a caricature of the shareholders.

PRIMORDUS1d 2h ago

"Shareholders" I call them cancer, they are already rich to begin with but need more and more. It's like a disease, with no cure.

__y2jb9h ago

If you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder in these big tech companies yourself. To demonize them as 'heartless rich people' shows you have no idea what you're talking about.

anast8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

@Y2

Of course, it isn't about that. You are attempting to set up a self-righteous strawman to stir up some kind of ignorant mob mentality.

And by the way, most everyone is a touch heartless or we wouldn't be able to consume the products we do knowing very well how they are made. People have to be this way because of self-preservation and convenience.

__y2jb5h ago

@anast please explain to me how what i said is self righteous or a strawman. I simply pointed out that categorizing all shareholders as cancer is ridiculous.

Leeroyw23h ago

I own shares in game companies. I'm not anything near a major share holder. I just want them to make good games and be successful because of that. I think it's the senior management that's the problem. They are the ones that should be making it clear to the shareholders what creates growth and ensures a future of their business. Not this weasle words garbage that she did on the interview. It was horrific. I don't know a shareholder that would be happy with any of them for this.

Profchaos22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

Same and I'm not rich by any stretch like most people's I'm just trying to keep my head above water these days most company's shareholders are made up of everyday people it's amazing how companies think we want something but the reality is we don't.

Disney are probably the worse at the moment it's shareholders voted on ending a lot of the crap and outing the current execs the execs turned around and said no we disagree with the shareholder vote

PRIMORDUS17h ago

I meant at the rich fucks who have millions in the bank already. They are making so much per year, that if they don't make what they are expecting they go into a panic, when in reality it will not even hurt them at all. Those are greedy assholes.

anast8h ago

"you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder"

Pensioners don't make any decisions about anything. Obviously that is not what this is about.

CrimsonWing691d 3h ago

Yea, it was and it’s insulting that they think we’re dumb enough to fall for this. Look, the truth was you took a gamble on these studios and while they released some games to critical praise and great reception they just aren’t bringing in a ROI. Be transparent, you’re not a politician.

Just tell everyone you spend money on projects big and small and when money isn’t being made you go over the potential of revenue a studio can bring in vs those that can’t and make the hard decision to chop them.

She says this whole thing about “success” doesn’t fit one meaning for each studio. Well yea, a small budget production isn’t going to expect to sell the same as a large budget production.

One thing I wish they did though was let Tango be an independent studio.

TheGamingHounds1d 3h ago

disheartening to see no regard for the human cost of business anymore
the bad decisions and judgements of these CEOs severely impact the frontliners
these fake responses are just salt on wounds

RoadRacer1d 3h ago

imagine havin the audacity to say "we need more games like hifi rush" right after closing the studio that made it lol
followin up with this show of "deflecting every question" was in poor taste

Show all comments (28)
70°

XCOM 2 Director Says He's Never Seen Such "Horrific Layoffs" In His 25 Years In The Industry

Firaxis veteran Jake Solomon hasn't seen mass layoffs like this in his whole 25-year career.

Read Full Story >>
dualshockers.com
CrimsonWing691d 4h ago

Alot’s changed in 25 years. We have games with $300 mill budgets, people not interested in games other than Fortnite and Minecraft, the older generation of gamers giving up the hobby or dying off, a period of super bad inflation where the industry decided to hike up prices on games, Gamepass harming game sales, GaaS games being pushed left and right with obnoxious monetization and worse looking/playing (Suicide Squad vs Arkham Knight).

The industry is just shite right now. Games ain’t selling, games cost massive amounts, businesses can’t bleed money and this is what happens. Part of it is on them and part of it is on consumers not buying.

Yi-Long17h ago

Consumers ain't buying because of what they're selling; There is no new SSX or Burnout, everything is now Online Required, everything is 'service', etc.

Indies are still delivering the goods, perhaps even better than ever, because those are often the guys and gals who know what they want to make and just make that and hopefully we dig it as well and support it ...

... but when you look at those multi-million budget AAA games, are they improving on what we have had before? Is the new Forza Motorsport better than a Forza Mototsport 4? Is Halo Infinite better than Halo 3? Is Dragon Age 2 such a huge improvement over the first Dragon Age? Etcetc.

Yeah, graphics have gotten better, worlds have gotten better, but I think a gaming generations stands or falls with diversity and experiences, and a few gens ago we had access to whatever we wanted, so if we wanted a boxing game we picked up one of the boxing games, if we wanted snowboarding we'd pick up one of the snowboarding games, if we wanted to do a rythm game we had DJ Hero, or Guitar Hero, or Rockband. If we wanted to sneak around we had Splinter Cell or MGS or whatever.

We had variety and we had options, and that makes or breaks a generation, imo. You're in a foodcourt of games and they're serving all kinds of different cuisines, and so you'd pick and choose whatever you felt like that day.

Right now, you're in a restaurant, and you're only allowed to pick from one menu, and there's a dress-code, and you have to register, and you have to stay in your seat, etc etc.