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God of War: the quest to redeem Kratos

How can you realistically make this argument when the direct output of that inspiration is staring you in the face?
Because aspects like a kid being with you on a journey isn't something that can only be like how it is in a the Last of Us. A lot of cideogame coverage does this extremely lazy thing where if a game is dark and has a kid in it with an adult and they're all struggling to survive in a dangerous world, suddenly it is trying to be The Last of Us.
 
My issue is Sony's homogenization. God of War, an action series, is trying to be The Last of Us -- because gameplay is not as important to most gamers. They would rather have a 'strong' narrative for muh immersion.

You played it? Have you ever entertained a reality, where this game will be as much, or more, fun to play as the previous 6 freaking games? Jesus. Some things need change and that's what they are going with. Yes, Sony loves games with narrative focus, but they are the only in the business that do that right now, so I am glad.
 
Because aspects like a kid being with you on a journey isn't something that can only be like how it is in a the Last of Us. A lot of cideogame coverage does this extremely lazy thing where if a game is dark and has a kid in it with an adult and they're all struggling to survive in a dangerous world, suddenly it is trying to be The Last of Us.

But they literally said they were inspired by Last of Us.

it's not a bad thing. It's not a curse.
 
Being inspired doesn't mean it is going to be like it.
I'm saying that this is a very clear example of YES, a game like the the last us. It's literally straight from the director's mouth. :| This isn't something cringeworthy like in OT where for some reason people think directors are influenced by TLOU specifically and not the films it's inspired by, it's literally an example of a game that wears it's TLOU influence on it's sleeve.

You played it? Have you ever entertained a reality, where this game will be as much, or more, fun to play as the previous 6 freaking games? Jesus. Some things need change and that's what they are going with. Yes, Sony loves games with narrative focus, but they are the only in the business that do that right now, so I am glad.
No they're not.
 
But they literally said they were inspired by Last of Us.

it's not a bad thing. It's not a curse.

I'm saying that this is a very clear example of YES, a game like the the last us. It's literally straight from the director's mouth. :| This isn't something cringeworthy like in OT where for some reason people think directors are influenced by TLOU specifically and not the films it's inspired by, it's literally an example of a game that wears it's TLOU influence on it's sleeve.


No they're not.
Again being inspired by The Last of Us doesn't mean it is going to be like The Last of Us. I'm talking about people with the atttitude "Oh it's not gonna be like God of War. It's now gonna be like The Last of Us." It's a lazy description.
 
I think people tend to forget Ghost of Sparta and how it spoke volumes as far as Kratos's rage was concerned. Not only did the gods kidnap his brother when they were young and have him sent to Death's domain, but they imprisoned his mother on Atlantis as well. When he went to release her, she was transformed into a beast before she could tell him who his real father was. At the very end, Athena has the balls to crown him the 'true' God of War, seeing that he had just buried his brother. It's obvious all of that rage and hatred towards the gods leads into God of War 2, and we get a good reason for his primal need to destroy those fuckers. Lets not mention that his entire army + Sparta gets annihilated by Zeus. I never saw him mad just because. He was mad because he had a good reason for it.

This. His rage was always justified.
Not to mention Ares/Furies setting him up to kill his family and then covering him in their ashes.

You wouldn't be trying to hear jack shit after all that.
 
Again being inspired by The Last of Us doesn't mean it is going to be like The Last of Us. I'm talking about people with the atttitude "Oh it's not gonna be like God of War. It's now gonna be like The Last of Us." It's a lazy description.

Well I'm not making that argument. But if it has an element that Last of Us has, and they directly come out and say they're inspired by Last of Us, that element which looks kinda like Last of Us was probably inspired by Last of Us!
 
Well I'm not making that argument. But if it has an element that Last of Us has, and they directly come out and say they're inspired by Last of Us, that element which looks kinda like Last of Us was probably inspired by Last of Us!
You see people do this a lot. Remember when Days Gon was revealed at last E3? People saw zombies and a character that had a somber story about loss and tons of people went "Oh so this game is basically another kind of Last of Us."
 
Kratos being an arsehole was why I like him

Yep. Was nice having a big character that didn't fit into the norms of needing to be a good guy. Was a big reason why I liked Aiden Pierce in Watch Dogs

The more and more I hear of this new God of War the less interested I get.

Yeah, Kratos's dickishness is why I haven't finished a GOW game. I bought the collection and 3 for PS3 years ago, played through the first to the halfway point, enjoyed it but I could tell it had aged a bit, but then I made the mistake of popping into 3 just to contrast the series. I got to the point where Kratos abuses that random sex slave and then brutally kills her by shoving her in gears to solve a puzzle. After that I never picked up the series again.

The gods, at least, provided humans with sun, food and all the means to live. Kratos provided them with darkness, disease, pestilence and death. Kratos has always been a one-note piece of shit.
For all the controversy that attention seeking 'Hatred' game got, I didn't see that much fuss made over Kratos slaughtering an innocent, young, naked girl in a particularly nasty and unnecessary way.

It's going to take a fucking spectular feat of writing the like of which the world has never seen the like of which to make Kratos's redemption seem even halfway earned in the next game.


I loved reading greek myth growing up. The funny thing about this is that what I saw in GoW was really artistic given its source material. I feel the series is much less appreciated when people don't have that as a base.

Kratos at first being a human and dishing out such punishment didn't make sense. In greek myth it is normally humans that get the short end of the stick, demigods who overcome trials normally foisted on them by crappy parents or relatives (gods). And the Gods who play with humans and really didn't have to fear anything except their parents, who were either dead or imprisoned.

The reveal of Kratos as a demigod/god was a turning point and put it in line with the greek myths. The fascinating thing about it, is that kratos story, what he is, and his single-minded drive and purpose was an amazing way to break olympus. What kratos did over the course of the stories was not only destroy the gods, but introduced hope back onto mindkind and give them the power to determine their own growth and survival. Mankind by the end of GoW is freed from the utter dependence of the gods.

Seeing the setting of the new GoW, I can't help but feel bad for what is to come for these dieties and can only imagine that this story ends with Ragnarök.
 
Seeing the setting of the new GoW, I can't help but feel bad for what is to come for these dieties and can only imagine that this story ends with Ragnarök.

If that happens, project Kratos into the future when ALL the gods from every religion are dead because of him.
 
I was thinking more in a triple A sense since that has gotten really expensive to do there.
It's gotten really expensive and a bad idea generally to do in a world where so many games are giving players WAY more bang for their buck with longer campaigns and free dlc over time as well as due to the market shift in favorability towards open world games. A lot of Sony's games following this trend are based on existing IP which are way safer bets to turn into TLOU inspired narrative focused linear games compared to new IP like Days Gone and Horizon. Especially after the Order 1886 flopped.
 
Too many GoW interviews not enough GoW new footage.

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I would watch everything multiple times and spoil myself everything. I did the same for gow3 and I don't want it to happen again.
 
Too many GoW interviews not enough GoW new footage.

Why would you want more footage? We got a gameplay reveal and something close to a story trailer. At PSX we'll probably get another trailer or gameplay bit and then a launch trailer by the time it releases. That should be good enough.
 
I feel like there is a story to tell personally about Kratos that doesn't involve revenge and rather the consequences of him wanting to obtain more power and forgetting those around him. He gave his life to the god of war and paid dearly for it. The gods really screwed him over more than once but his treatment of others also wasn't the best. He hurt people because of his choices and hopefully his redemption ark will be him trying to find humanity in association with his son.

He won't open up his feelings and start talking and crying, but rather he will try to change his ways before he goes insane. I feel like the previous stories could have opened up depth to his character but they never did. By god of war 3 at the end of the game,it was too late. Pandora didn't really help with that redemption, it was really shoe horned in. Was his revenge really justified? Idk. He brought about destruction of the world and left people in ruins. What happens after that is anyone's guess but I believe the Norse gods had to fix his mess as the people didn't know what to do with hope. Athena could have been right.
 
[citation needed]
For what part?

You played it?
No, but I do not need to. I am well versed with melee focused games -- and having a camera where it is over the shoulder hinders gameplay opportunities.

Have you ever entertained a reality, where this game will be as much, or more, fun to play as the previous 6 freaking games?
You can refer to my previous statement toward you.

Yes, Sony loves games with narrative focus, but they are the only in the business that do that right now, so I am glad.
...What? I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or not. If not, that is an absurd and laughably ignorant statement.
 
Everything.
Okay.

Look at the similarities between The Last of Us, Days Gone and God of War. The last two of that aforementioned list are clearly capitalizing the success of the original. Days Gone looks disgustingly similar and God of War changed genres and its style/tone to be similar to The Last of Us.

As far my statement regarding gamers preferring software that is narrative focused, all you have to do is look at what sells and what does not.
 
Okay.

Look at the similarities between The Last of Us, Days Gone and God of War. The last two of that aforementioned list are clearly capitalizing the success of the original. Days Gone looks disgustingly similar and God of War changed genres and its style/tone to be similar to The Last of Us.
You do realize that God of War and Days Gone were in development before Last of Us even released, that The Last of Us isn't the work that created the notion of a gritty realistically brutal post apocalypse, nor the narrative premise of a father figure-child journey

Saying "it looks vaguely similar to The Last of Us, so it means they're just copying The Last of Us because it was successful" is no argument
 
You do realize that God of War was in development before Last of Us even released, that The Last of Us isn't the work that created the notion of a gritty realistically brutal post apocalypse, nor the narrative premise of an father figure-child journey

Saying "look, it looks vaguely similar to The Last of Us, so it means they're just copying The Last of Us because it was successful" is no argument
That is not true if reports about Santa Monica's leaks regarding their cancelled game are true. It sounded like the game started development sometime in 2014. Also, I'm not saying it looks vaguely similar -- it looks incredibly similar.

One more thing -- all you have to do is read this, which was previously posted by Crossing Eden.

Play God Hand.
You are preaching to the choir. That is also incredibly different and not comparable and I hope you understand why.
 
That is not true if reports about Santa Monica's leaks regarding their cancelled game are true. It sounded like the game started development sometime in 2014. Also, I'm not saying it looks vaguely similar -- it looks incredibly similar.

One more thing -- all you have to do is read this, which was previously posted by Crossing Eden.
Inspired to attempt a mature story is not remotely the same as "capitalizing on the success of the original" and changing "genres and its style/tone to be similar to The Last of Us"

And in what ways does God of War looks incredibly similar to TLOU besides a third person camera and having a child?
 
Kratos is a great video game protagonist. Not every lead has to be Nathan Drake.
Yes, Kratos becomes increasingly unlikable throughout the series, especially in 3. I don't think that makes him a crap character. Have a real bad feeling about this new God of War.
I think he's going to be a more self aware asshole who tries to reign it in now that he has a child (again.) Which is also a path worth exploring and made stronger by being familiar with the asshole he was.
 
For what part?


No, but I do not need to. I am well versed with melee focused games -- and having a camera where it is over the shoulder hinders gameplay opportunities.
Joke post? All it's missing is the "I'm an expert" tag, to reach full meme potential.
You are preaching to the choir. That is also incredibly different and not comparable and I hope you understand why.
Lol wtf? What is this cop-out response? "That's totally different because of reasons, I'm not gonna mention, because i don't know what I'm talking about."
 
Inspired to attempt a mature story is not remotely the same as "capitalizing on the success of the original" and changing "genres and its style/tone to be similar to The Last of Us"

And in what ways does God of War looks incredibly similar to TLOU besides a third person camera and having a child?
Pervert the context however you want, it's clear where its inspirations came from. Rather than keeping its identity, it is choosing to be like The Last of Us. I cannot say if it was Sony's decision or SSM, but you would have to be a fool to not see what is happening.

Based on current exhibitions, that is all I have to go on, which is still an alarming amount.
 
You know when you think about it. Kratos is more realistic about murder and death.

Drake from the uncharted series murders multiple villages of people too and he is always happy about it.
 
Lol wtf? What is this cop-out response? "That's totally different because of reasons, I'm not gonna mention, because i don't know what I'm talking about."
God Hand has a create a combo system in place and is focused WAY less on narrative.

You know when you think about it. Kratos is more realistic about murder and death.

Drake from the uncharted series murders multiple villages of people too and he is always happy about it.
They're both different forms of sociopaths.
 
Joke post? All it's missing is the "I'm an expert" tag, to reach full meme potential.
Not a joke post, melee focused games are what I mostly play. I'm by no means insurmountable, but if 90% of my play-time is engaging with these types of games, then chances are I will have a better understanding of it than most. I am sorry that you interpreted it as arrogance.

Lol wtf? What is this cop-out response? "That's totally different because of reasons, I'm not gonna mention, because i don't know what I'm talking about."
I did not go into details since it is not relevant to the discussion, but since you are more concerned about attacking me than having a conversation, I will happy to explain.

God Hand's gameplay focus was focused with the design philosophies of Resident Evil. Limited player movement and positioning to nullify the need of a dynamic (free) camera. While the camera is focused on Gene's back, you can see his entire body -- this is to understand animations and inputs of all frames within them. The camera is also this way for engagement with one-on-one fights, which, if you have played God Hand, happens often.

Gene is also given an arsenal of attacks that can be used to crowd control, but again, it is up to player positioning to understand this. Your right thumbstick is to give you a large amount of i-frames from on-screen and off-screen attacks. Because of this, fights are more controlled and deliberate.
 
I loved the part in The Last of Us when Joel was teaching his son Ellie how to be a ruthless killer and dealing with godhood.

The giant snake was a bit too on the nose though.
 
Pervert the context however you want, it's clear where its inspirations came from. Rather than keeping its identity, it is choosing to be like The Last of Us. I cannot say if it was Sony's decision or SSM, but you would have to not be a fool to not see what is happening.

Based on current exhibitions, that is all I have to go on, which is still an alarming amount.
The Last of Us doesn't hold a monopoly on mature stories. The game may have inspired them to attempt a mature approach, but doing one isn't being like The Last of Us. If anything, it's "choosing" to be like Logan.

And everything about the game is so vastly different from TLOU that the only way one could say that is trying to be Last of Us rather than having its own identity is if you think The Last of Us was the originator of half of its concepts. Instead of you know, The Road, Lone Wolf and Cub, Leon, 28 Days Later, Children of Men, Enslaved, Ico, Road To Perdition, and countless others
 
I loved the part in The Last of Us when Joel was teaching his son Ellie how to be a ruthless killer and dealing with godhood.

The giant snake was a bit too on the nose though.
Great post, thank you for following along.

The Last of Us doesn't hold a monopoly on mature stories. The game may have inspired them to attempt a mature approach, but doing one isn't being like The Last of Us. If anything, it's "choosing" to be like Logan.

And everything about the game is so vastly different from TLOU that the only way one could say that is trying to be Last of Us rather than having its own identity is if you think The Last of Us was the originator of half of its concepts. Instead of you know, The Road, Lone Wolf and Cub, Leon, 28 Days Later, Children of Men, Enslaved, Road To Perdition, and countless others
You are getting away from the point of our conversation.
 
I did not go into details since it is not relevant to the discussion, but since you are more concerned about attacking me than having a conversation, I will happy to explain.

God Hand's gameplay focus was focused with the design philosophies of Resident Evil. Limited player movement and positioning to nullify the need of a dynamic (free) camera. While the camera is focused on Gene's back, you can see his entire body -- this is to understand animations and inputs of all frames within them. The camera is also this way for engagement with one-on-one fights, which, if you have played God Hand, happens often.

Gene is also given an arsenal of attacks that can be used to crowd control, but again, it is up to player positioning to understand this. Your right thumbstick is to give you a large amount of i-frames from on-screen and off-screen attacks. Because of this, fights are more controlled and deliberate.
Everything you just said flies in the face of your statement that over-the shoulder camera view hinders gameplay. You JUST described how God Hand offers incredibly varied combat, but somehow God Of War is destined to play more like a cover shooter (TLOU), more than a melee based system (God Hand)???

And your comment that most of Gene's body is visible in God Hand is also true for every single gameplay scene of God of War, so far.

So your Last of Us 'concerns' of the gameplay style continue to seem like baseless conjecture.
 
It was a joke about the giant snake appearing in TLOU, since the games are "incredibly similar" according to some.

Goddamnit. Parody posts like yours is sometimes hard to make out from actual strawmen arguments and silly comparsions in these threads lol
 
Everything you just said flies in the face of your statement that over-the shoulder camera view hinders gameplay.
Did you miss the part talking about Resident Evil design philosophies? God Hand also is not over the shoulder.

You JUST described how God Hand offers incredibly varied combat, but somehow God Of War is destined to play more like a cover shooter (TLOU), more than a melee based system (God Hand)???
I am actually sad that you are having such a difficult time following along. Hopefully my previous statement gets you to understand this situation better.


And your comment that most of Gene's body is visible in God Hand is also true for every single gameplay scene of God of War, so far.
That is incorrect. Re-watch the E3 2016 trailer, lol.

So your Last of Us 'concerns' of the gameplay style continue to seem like baseless conjecture.
Yet, here you are, posting incorrect information.
 
Did you miss the part talking about Resident Evil design philosophies? God Hand also is not over the shoulder.
God Hand is as "over-the-shoulder" as the New God of War, so this deflection is a moot point. So you stand by your statement that even with the systems (combo strings, evasion, etc) that a game like God Hand opens to players, that it's still limited, since it's "based" on the RE design?
That is incorrect. Re-watch the E3 2016 trailer, lol.
No, I think you should. The only time in combat between both e3 (2016 & 2017) trailers that you see less than 75% of Kratos' body is during the introduction of Kratos' new axe, and contexualized cinematic kills.

Seriously, you should watch it again, before basing your argument on this flawed point.
Yet, here you are, posting incorrect information.
Make sure your arguments make sense before acting smug.
 
God Hand is as "over-the-shoulder" as the New God of War, so this deflection is a moot point. So you stand by your statement that even with the systems (combo strings, evasion, etc) that a game like God Hand opens to players, that it's still limited, since it's "based" on the RE design?
Yes. The word limited has a binary definition, but limitations do not equate to something being good or bad. In God Hand's case, it is good and in God of War's case, from what we have seen, it is bad.

No, I think you should. The only time in combat between both e3 (2016 & 2017) trailers that you see less than 75% of Kratos' body is during the introduction of Kratos' new axe, and contexualized cinematic kills.
Ah, so there are times where you do not see his entire body? Got it.

Seriously, you should watch it again, before basing your argument on this flawed point.
I watched some of it and what I said still stands. We can argue this all day, but combat engines aren't anything with enemy design. Scripted events excluded, you're looking at a combat engine that has very few combos with, I assume, inputs that do not require dexterity -- if what we have seen is evidence.

Make sure your arguments make sense before acting smug.
They do make sense, but I'm not going to show a lot of respect toward someone who engaged with me in a negative way rather than trying to have a meaningful conversation. Sorry!
 
People seriously need to stop bringing up God Hand as some kind of standard of excellence when defending the gameplay choices in the new God of War. That game was janky as fuck even at the time it was released. It was awesome, but it was flawed and it's now over 10 years old.
 
People seriously need to stop bringing up God Hand as some kind of standard of excellence when defending the gameplay choices in the new God of War. That game was janky as fuck even at the time it was released. It was awesome, but it was flawed and it's now over 10 years old.
A game does not change with age, but you calling it janky reveals your standard of quality.
 
Beaten, but Kratos is a heroic character...in the ancient Greek sense of the word hero. Kratos is a monstrous asshole who is perfectly willing to slaughter anyone in his way and destroy the gods themselves, and will achieve everlasting fame as a result. Kratos is about the most faithful modern retelling of an ancient Greek hero you're going to get: a furious, miserable sadsack willing to kill and destroy whatever he can to achieve vengeance and everlasting glory. Greek heroes aren't all or even mostly morally good. Is Kratos really that much worse than Jason or Theseus?
 
A game does not change with age, but you calling it janky reveals your standard of quality.

It doesn't, but the designs of the genre improve with time. That's like basic evolution. And it was janky, it was still great but the camera was a hindrance. It's a masterpiece but a flawed one. Lay off the holier than thou shit here professor.
 
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