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[DragonKnight]

GoW2 was the best in the series for me. Do we know for sure balrog is heading up the game?

 

[Ophiuchus]

If it is the same Kratos it will be interesting to see how they link/transform the original story.

 

[SneakersSO]

GoW2 was the best in the series for me. Do we know for sure balrog is heading up the game?

Yes. He's confirmed it a few times on now on social media.

 

[TGO]

So we can presume the Norse Gods are aware of what happened in olympus, Kratos is washed ashore and imprisoned by Odin grows beard and escapes and goes on a killing spree

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

What if this is a reincarnated Kratos? Like how every Link is different in each Legend of Zelda game.

I thought the same too. If the new one doesn't have the scars then he may be a reincarnation, but from GOWIII this might not be the case since Kratos' body was dragged by someone (maybe by someone norse) before the full downfall of the greek world. If he was a reincarnation, he may have the same body and face but not keep the same name (especially if he is supposedly a reincarnation but born in a nordic place) and paint himself exactly with the same red tatoo pattern which represents the Omega letter (the last letter in greek which means the end and is the symbol of the series). Scars may have healed since he got a redeemed normal non ashen body as a second chance this if scars don't exist but they may still be there because the zoomed cropped Kratos isn't clear. I am afraid the supposition of reincarnation doesn't make sense.

 

[GIANKRATOS]

I would be astonished if the leaked character model and axe are the final designs.

As for the story scenario, here's my theory:

In Norse mythology, mankind's greatest warriors are taken to Valhalla upon death by the Valkyries where they hone their battle skills and feast until the coming of Ragnarok (the final battle). Maybe, after the end of God of War III, Kratos was sought out by the Valkyries since he was a warrior capable of battling gods themselves in hopes that he can stave off Ragnarok. Why would Kratos go along with this? Maybe in an effort to atone for everything he did (IE: Fucking up the Greek world). And thus the story begins.

Mmm... I think that could work.

 

[Nameless]

Man, I really hope there are some cool systems or some sort of new wrinkles because on its face it inspires nothing but apathy for me. Taking Kratos on another button pressy tour of set pieces doesn't sound appealing at all.

 

[GIANKRATOS]

I thought the same too. If the new one doesn't have the scars then he may be a reincarnation, but from GOWIII this might not be the case since Kratos' body was dragged by someone (maybe by someone norse) before the full downfall of the greek world. If he was a reincarnation, he may have the same body and face but not keep the same name (especially if he is supposedly a reincarnation but born in a nordic place) and paint himself exactly with the same red tatoo pattern which represents the Omega letter (the last letter in greek which means the end and is the symbol of the series). Scars may have healed since he got a redeemed normal non ashen body as a second chance this if scars don't exist but they may still be there because the zoomed cropped Kratos isn't clear. I am afraid the supposition of reincarnation doesn't make sense.

Kratos tattoo doesn't really look like an omega to me. It is a tattoo that is supposed to look like the birth marks of his brother had and served has a reminder in honor of his brother

Omega

Kratos tattoo

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Man, I really hope there are some cool systems or some sort of new wrinkles because on its face it inspires nothing but apathy for me. Taking Kratos on another button pressy tour of set pieces doesn't sound appealing at all.

Normally with every AC game, each main character is tied to his location and civilisation. His personnality, clothing and story is forged from his own culture. He fights his enemies locally. Yet with Ezio, the overused AC character, Ubisoft projected him everywhere. He went to another different location (Turkey) with different settings culture and enemies. He even clad himself according to their trend and found his future wife there. He even went back to Syria the location of the first game and connected with his ancestor Altair and even his descendant.

Why can't this work with Kratos?

 

[Lingitiz]

Normally with every AC game, each main character is tied to his location and civilisation. His personnality, clothing and story is forged from his own culture. He fights his enemies locally. Yet with Ezio, the overused AC character, Ubisoft projected him everywhere. He went to another different location (Turkey) with different settings culture and enemies. He even clad himself according to their trend and found his future wife there. He even went back to Syria the location of the first game and connected with his ancestor Altair and even his descendant.

Why can't this work with Kratos?

The AC formula wore super thin though, too. Even then Ubi did experiment with a lot of different isolated mechanics from game to game, some working, others not. ACB brought in the group mechanics and management, ACR messed around with tower defense. The list goes on.

Personally the change in setting is a big plus for me. But what I really want to see is how they are going to change things up mechanically to make this more than just the seventh game in a well worn series. I felt somewhat ambivalent about Uncharted 4 until ND started talking about how they went back to the drawing board for core gameplay mechanics and structure of the game. I want to see the same thing for GoW: evolve the franchise in meaningful ways rather than just upping the scale and spectacle on new hardware. It can't just be the same angry grrr i'm gonna kill everything tone again.

 

[vpance]

Man, I really hope there are some cool systems or some sort of new wrinkles because on its face it inspires nothing but apathy for me. Taking Kratos on another button pressy tour of set pieces doesn't sound appealing at all.

Doesn't seem like there would be much room for innovation in a character action game that has to remain accessible to casuals, especially if it stays linear.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

The AC formula wore super thin though, too. Even then Ubi did experiment with a lot of different isolated mechanics from game to game, some working, others not. ACB brought in the group mechanics and management, ACR messed around with tower defense. The list goes on.

Personally the change in setting is a big plus for me. But what I really want to see is how they are going to change things up mechanically to make this more than just the seventh game in a well worn series. I felt somewhat ambivalent about Uncharted 4 until ND started talking about how they went back to the drawing board for core gameplay mechanics and structure of the game. I want to see the same thing for GoW: evolve the franchise in meaningful ways rather than just upping the scale and spectacle on new hardware.

Officially this will be the 8th game. All of you seem to forget about it while it is canon. It even had a unique multi-eyed monster called Argos which devs wanted to include in the console games but was hard to do in 3D.

Anyway. From what we saw so far in the level design, this GOW4 seems to keep the same formula of fixed camera and narrow location and not going open world or at least open settings like Uncharted 4. This is intriguing for me because I thought David Jaffe vision was to have GOW with Zelda type gameplay with open world/settings. If they ate going to keep the sale formula, how is this going to work now seeing how the games of this gen tend to be open world.

 

[Simo]

So we can presume the Norse Gods are aware of what happened in olympus, Kratos is washed ashore and imprisoned by Odin grows beard and escapes and goes on a killing spree

After that video of Jaffe and Barlog talking about their end for GOW3 and the follow ups it makes me believe Barlog could of stuck to those original plan which is basically..

• Greek gods and the religion are now essentially destroyed and wiped out.
• This leaves a power vacuum that the other Gods from different religions try to fill from Norse to Egyptian deities and their respected religion.
• Kratos is swept up in all this so you'd have Norse Kratos or Egyptian Kratos.

 

[bigboss370]

There are no other games quite like the God of War games. And its been a while since Ascension. My body is ready!

 

[fart town usa]

Is kratos really that valuable of a character/franchise?

Unless there is a drastic change in how the character is presented, I'm really not all that interested. Kratos is exhausting to watch and root for.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Man, I really hope there are some cool systems or some sort of new wrinkles because on its face it inspires nothing but apathy for me. Taking Kratos on another button pressy tour of set pieces doesn't sound appealing at all.

Button pressy tour of set pieces... That's what modern AAA gaming is. I'm not sure what you are expecting here.

 

[Sneaky Gato]

I hope we will see

Spoiler

Kratos travel to persian empire and mythology in the next episode like any logic requires. I hope we will get different mythologies with each episode.

Pre-Islam Persia will never be a setting for a God of War game. Zoroastrianism is a living religion that is currently practiced by significant communities in both Iran and India. That is even before getting into the fact that Yazidism is directly linked to the beliefs of Pre-Islamic Mesopotamia and given the targeting of the minority group by ISIS I doubt Sony would even dare to go there. The controversy and insensitivity would be utterly unpalatable for Sony especially if it is attached to one of their premier brands.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Man looking at that ratchet and clank thread, id rather have a ps4/ps4k remake of GoW1&2 than this norse mythology idea.

E3 is going to be interesting.

 

[Corpsepyre]

Man looking at that ratchet and clank thread, id rather have a ps4/ps4k remake of GoW1&2 than this norse mythology idea.

E3 is going to be interesting.

Why would you rather have that?

 

[DeepEnigma]

After that video of Jaffe and Barlog talking about their end for GOW3 and the follow ups it makes me believe Barlog could of stuck to those original plan which is basically..

• Greek gods and the religion are now essentially destroyed and wiped out.
• This leaves a power vacuum that the other Gods from different religions try to fill from Norse to Egyptian deities and their respected religion.
• Kratos is swept up in all this so you'd have Norse Kratos or Egyptian Kratos.

Yep yep. I am ok with this. I actually would enjoy this direction.

 

[RootCause]

There are no other games quite like the God of War games. And its been a while since Ascension. My body is ready!

You're absolutely right, and even though I dislike Kratos, I can't wait for the next game. I just hope he isn't totally unlikeable. I could root for him in 1, but after that, I hated him. Reincarnation would be the best decision imo.

And I'm still waiting for Ascension ps4... 😡

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

And I'm still waiting for Ascension ps4... 😡

I wonder what happened to this version. I hope they are still working on it.

 

[Corpsepyre]

After that video of Jaffe and Barlog talking about their end for GOW3 and the follow ups it makes me believe Barlog could of stuck to those original plan which is basically..

• Greek gods and the religion are now essentially destroyed and wiped out.
• This leaves a power vacuum that the other Gods from different religions try to fill from Norse to Egyptian deities and their respected religion.
• Kratos is swept up in all this so you'd have Norse Kratos or Egyptian Kratos.

Don't think we'll get that story, ultimately, since it's out in the open now.

 

[joms5]

It's a piece of fiction, they can combine mythologies. And norse mythology is probably the easiest to do/explain since it involves multiple realms and they could explain away the absence of these Norse figures by saying they just weren't interested in the Earth realm for whatever reason.

I would have preferred a new character for the Norse setting, but this isn't a big deal. It's a video game, and Greek/Norse mythology is fiction. The devs probably made a reasonable business assumption that 99% of the market won't care...they just want more Kratos and a new GoW.

Kratos would be born into a new world by a new God duh

It doesn't matter if it's a piece of fiction. There still has to be some sort of continuity or believably involved. That's like putting Master Chief in a WW2 game and claiming it's just fiction. If they're going to use the same character they'd better have a good explanation as to how he got there.

As for the God explanation, fine but it still sounds like an excuse for, "we have an established character and brand, and it would be too risky to create a new protagonist."

 

[SnowFlakeCake]

Can't wait, hoping we get a reveal during E3

 

[KOHIPEET]

God of War is Kratos. I find it way more interesting to see what kind of justification Kratos has for killing a whole nother slew of gods rather than some new probably typical heroic character taking the reins.

The possibility of reviving his family could be one, or perhaps it will be something with his brother.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

I think I found out who is the new Kratos:

Spoiler

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/McKratos_(Costume)

When worn, Kratos is dressed like a Scotsman, and he has an Irish beard. His Blades of Chaos are replaced by a pair of large axes, which strikes an odd resemblance with the axes used by the Beast Lords in God of War II . Wearing this costume gives Kratos increased strength./s

 

[Super_Cobra]

Went back to play God of War 3. Just my favorite parts. I can't wait for GoW4. Kratos vs Thor should be epic.
#TeamKratos

 

[Lord Error]

Is kratos really that valuable of a character/franchise

IMO, yes. He's super recognizable at this point too. A mascot basically. You don't drop something like that to the curb just because his 1st incarnation got a bit stale. That'd be like dropping 1950s Batman and replacing him with a brand new character. instead, we know how that went, and it was better for everyone involved. When you re-invent the existing character, you don't estrange the existing fanbase (they're going to want to see what's new that happened to the character they like) and you also attract a new audience.

 

[Super_Cobra]

IMO, yes. He's super recognizable at this point too. A mascot basically. You don't drop something like that to the curb just because his 1st incarnation got a bit stale. That'd be like dropping 1950s Batman and replacing him with a brand new character. instead, we know how that went, and it was better for everyone involved. When you re-invent the existing character, you don't estrange the existing fanbase (they're going to want to see what's new that happened to the character they like) and you also attract a new audience.

100% agree. It's like Nintendo dropping their old mascots. Kratos is God of War.

 

[Lion Heart]

I'm getting hyped for this damn game already. GOW is simply the grandest of adventures, you feel like you traveled many miles and seen some shit after playing them.

Kratos with an axe. Hell ya.

 

[FlashFlooder]

I sure hope he kills some stuff in this game.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Ok Ok. After some digging. I think we already had norse clues in GOW games.

Look what I found in God Of War Ascension:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Mjölnir

Yep that is Mjölnir; Thor's hammer. I don't think this is innocent or pure hazard.

In fact ascension had a hidden secret mentioned in Neogaf before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522813 which may be an opening to a new adventure: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Predictions_and_Revelations

In God of War: Ascension, two visions of Aletheia are revealed. The first depicts Olympus after the Second Titanomachy. We see spirits fleeing from the depths of the Underworld, thunder roars and Olympus burning. The image contains a code: QUJIKPHIUEEKMJQUJ (English Version). Once cracked, the code will reveal a new premonition. An immobile earth and the prediction of an new adventure. What this new adventure is, remains unclear but it is likely a hint to a new chapter in the series or even a new franchise.

Second Mural

In the second mural, "A lone soul surveys the wake of carnage that surrounds him". It could possibly mean that a lone man, possibly Kratos, stood amidst the destruction left behind after the Second Great War.

Look at the second mural pic: Kratos is still alive after the second great war is over.

The third mural is the most interesting one:

In the original draft by David Jaffe, the Three Wise Men were meant to be Kratos and his Norse and Egyptian counterparts, after they wiped out the Olympians, the Gods of Asgard and the Egyptian Pantheon.

In greek mythology and GOW there are some analogies between greek and norse lore:
this example of analogy is very interesting since it may be the connection between both worlds if it is the place were all the pure souls from the universe go to:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Elysium_Fields

In mythology, Elysian Fields is not restricted only to pure souls but to those who died of heroic and noble death as well. This is similar to Valhalla in Norse myths.

Kratos fighting with the norse has already been applied in this non official de-make called Bit Of War: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Bit_of_War

From Kratos wiki page: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Kratos

Developer Stig Asmussen has revealed that David Jaffe intended for Kratos to take on the Norse and Egyptian gods after having defeated Zeus and the Greek pantheon. Whether this story is yet to unfold, remains to be seen.

And from God Of War III wiki page : http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/God_of_War_III

David Jaffe's Cut Plot

In an interview with GameTrailers.com, David Jaffe explained his story to God of War III. The first cutscene featured Oceanus in his water form (similar to Poseidon's God form) killing Hermes. Kratos then would fight Zeus in the opening boss fight and kill him. Then a portal opens on Mt. Olympus where the Egyptian and Norse Gods descend from. The Titans and the Greek, Egyptian, and Norse Gods wage a war to determine who would ultimately rule the world. Kratos then discovers the power to teleport back and forth through Norway, Egypt, and Greece. Kratos encounters Stheno and takes her head in a boss fight. Then in another boss fight with the Sphinx, Kratos uses Stheno's head to turn the beast into stone (and that's how we have the Sphinx statue today in Egypt). Kratos then realizes the way to permanently kill a God is to get mortals to stop believing in them. Kratos' plan was already in effect because the Gods were focused on ruling the world and had their minds off of the mortals. Thus, the mortal world was under natural disasters. The mortals stopped believing in the Gods, which weakened them. Kratos & the Titans kill off the remaining Gods. Kratos then uses the Blades of Athena to slit his wrists, resulting in another trip to the Underworld where he is reunited with his wife & daughter. The final cutscene showed the Three Wise Men heading to the North Star resulting with the birth of Christianity.

Bit of War, a God of War III demake, follows David Jaffe's version of the plot loosely.

You see? The idea has been planned for long time now, or let's say from the beginning and it has been plotted by the directors of all epiosdes. That is why I am sure that Cory Barlog knows very well what he is doing now.

Gooing back to what shinobi602 said: http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200185766&postcount=980

Ya'll are getting too hung up on Kratos.

What I highlited above and what shinobi602 sparkled is making me confidently assert what I said before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200224402&postcount=1449

Maybe (or surely) we will play more than Kratos: meaning we will play Kratos and another character (and maybe in coop too). The whole divided fans will be satisfied then.

What I fear from shinobi602 post is that we may face another MGS2/DMC4 syndrome where devs wanted to try forcing a new character to the series helped by the series main protagonist with whom we play only for a short time while the rest of the game is being played by the new rookie. This will result in being nostalgic about the previous hero and just waiting for the moment to control him even if it is short or late in the game.

I just hope I nailed it and uncovered most of what is being cooked for this game. Also Egyptian mythology incoming (in this episode or in a newer one).

 

[RevenWolf]

Remember when people joked that eventually Kratos would move on to other pantheons and kill them too?

I mean Norse is cool but I think a new protagonist might have made it a bit less absurd at this point lol

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Remember when people joked that eventually Kratos would move on to other pantheons and kill them too?

I mean Norse is cool but I think a new protagonist might have made it a bit less absurd at this point lol

Read my post above.

 

[KeyChainDude]

Ok Ok. After some digging. I think we already had norse clues in GOW games.

Look what I found in God Of War Ascension:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Mjölnir

Yep that is Mjölnir; Thor's hammer. I don't think this is innocent or pure hazard.

In fact ascension had a hidden secret mentioned in Neogaf before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522813 which may be an opening to a new adventure: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Predictions_and_Revelations




Look at the second mural pic: Kratos is still alive after the second great war is over.

The third mural is the most interesting one:



In greek mythology and GOW there are some analogies between greek and norse lore:
this example of analogy is very interesting since it may be the connection between both worlds if it is the place were all the pure souls from the universe go to:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Elysium_Fields




Kratos fighting with the norse has already been applied in this non official de-make called Bit Of War: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Bit_of_War

From Kratos wiki page: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Kratos



And from God Of War III wiki page : http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/God_of_War_III



You see? The idea has been planned for long time now, or let's say from the beginning and it has been plotted by the directors of all epiosdes. That is why I am sure that Cory Barlog knows very well what he is doing now.

Gooing back to what shinobi602 said: http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200185766&postcount=980



What I highlited above and what shinobi602 sparkled is making me confidently assert what I said before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200224402&postcount=1449



What I fear from shinobi602 post is that we may face another MGS2/DMC4 syndrome where devs wanted to try forcing a new character to the series helped by the series main protagonist with whom we play only for a short time while the rest of the game is being played by the new rookie. This will result in being nostalgic about the previous hero and just waiting for the moment to control him even if it is short or late in the game.

I just hope I nailed it and uncovered most of what is being cooked for this game. Also Egyptian mythology incoming (in this episode or in a newer one).

Nice digging my man, interesting!

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Nice digging my man, interesting!

As soon as GOW: Ascension was revealed I predicted that the game will have one of the Hekatonkheires and I even tweeted that to the director and he was amazed how I found out that.

 

[RevenWolf]

Read my post above.

About both Kratos and another as playable? Still kinda proves my point considering that my issue is primarily having Kratos included in this one.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

About both Kratos and another as playable? Still kinda proves my point considering that my issue is primarily having Kratos included in this one.

Devs need to satisfy both sides of the fans.

 

[TEH-CJ]

Devs need to satisfy both sides of the fans.

The other playable character better be Kratos son. Its the only logical choice imo.

Aphrodite survives in God of War 3 and I'm sure she popped out a child from banging her.

 

[The Silver]

I don't think Jaffe's old plan of all the other gods showing up in GoW3 was feasible for one game, gotta handle the introductions of two new mythologies and then kill them all and also have satisfying boss fights with the popular figures from all 3? No way.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I don't think Jaffe's old plan of all the other gods showing up in GoW3 was feasible for one game, gotta handle the introductions of two new mythologies and then kill them all and also have satisfying boss fights with the popular figures from all 3? No way.

Jaffe's plan for GoW in general was rather unorthodox. When he gave that explanation for how his GoW3 would've turned out, he also said that he wanted every game in the series to simply be called "God of War" and Sony would have to figure out how to inform people that each one was a sequel.

 

[SanguineShark]

Really hope they make GoW 4 full two player campaign co-op. Mix up the series a little.

That, and I don't really want to play as Kratos.

 

[Obliterator]

Wait a second, since all the Greek gods are dead shouldn't the ashes no longer be on Kratos?

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

This is so exciting. The art is fantastic!

Gah, the Kratos whiners are annoying AF. The main character could be a talking vegetable for all I care. I just wanna kill stuff brutally!

 

[RustyNails]

Wait a second, since all the Greek gods are dead shouldn't the ashes no longer be on Kratos?

The ashes were a curse from the village Oracle, not the gods. He will forever live in shame for what he did.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

The ashes were a curse from the village Oracle, not the gods. He will forever live in shame for what he did.

The ashes are the ashes of his wife and daughter that he killed blindly in his blatant rage.

Wait a second, since all the Greek gods are dead shouldn't the ashes no longer be on Kratos?

Oh btw, I think someone already spotted that both chains and ashes are gone from him:

Did anyone notice that he no longer has the chains bound to his arms and he now and now his skin looks normal by losing his ashes as if he was freed from his damnation:

Spoiler

I think he is now powerless, longing for starting over in this part of the world to carve his name among those who never knew his position before.

 

[Obliterator]

The ashes were a curse from the village Oracle, not the gods. He will forever live in shame for what he did.

Ah ok its been so long since I've played GOW I forgot. I thought it was a curse from the Gods.

 

[Memento]

Ok Ok. After some digging. I think we already had norse clues in GOW games.

Look what I found in God Of War Ascension:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Mjölnir

Yep that is Mjölnir; Thor's hammer. I don't think this is innocent or pure hazard.

In fact ascension had a hidden secret mentioned in Neogaf before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522813 which may be an opening to a new adventure: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Predictions_and_Revelations




Look at the second mural pic: Kratos is still alive after the second great war is over.

The third mural is the most interesting one:



In greek mythology and GOW there are some analogies between greek and norse lore:
this example of analogy is very interesting since it may be the connection between both worlds if it is the place were all the pure souls from the universe go to:

http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Elysium_Fields




Kratos fighting with the norse has already been applied in this non official de-make called Bit Of War: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Bit_of_War

From Kratos wiki page: http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Kratos



And from God Of War III wiki page : http://godofwar.wikia.com/wiki/God_of_War_III



You see? The idea has been planned for long time now, or let's say from the beginning and it has been plotted by the directors of all epiosdes. That is why I am sure that Cory Barlog knows very well what he is doing now.

Gooing back to what shinobi602 said: http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200185766&postcount=980



What I highlited above and what shinobi602 sparkled is making me confidently assert what I said before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200224402&postcount=1449



What I fear from shinobi602 post is that we may face another MGS2/DMC4 syndrome where devs wanted to try forcing a new character to the series helped by the series main protagonist with whom we play only for a short time while the rest of the game is being played by the new rookie. This will result in being nostalgic about the previous hero and just waiting for the moment to control him even if it is short or late in the game.

I just hope I nailed it and uncovered most of what is being cooked for this game. Also Egyptian mythology incoming (in this episode or in a newer one).

This is very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

This is very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

You are welcome. I tried my best.