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God of War's Creator Thinks That the Character of Kratos Took a Wrong Turn

JoduanER2

Member


Covered by 80lvl.

Very very divided on this. Considering he's a former God of War dev, so he has earned his right to critique, but completely disagree with his views on the matter. We've seen Kratos evolve from a senseless monster to a really calm and reasonable person, and it's beautiful. Thoughts?


I agree (well with the header at least, haven't watched the video) I vastly prefer the old Kratos, this one is boring as f**k... I prefer the massive, grotesque, over the top, loud god of war vs the calm, politically correct, good nature, safe space new god of wars.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Boring if you don't like character growth, maturity, change of pace, or don't have a child.
I have 3 children and don’t need Soyny’s Californian b-grade writers to tell me how to feel or act. I feel for any father that has to live vicariously through GoW.

Also, as if you need to have children to relate to this game. There isn’t some profound messaging here. Pure ‘as a mother’ vibes.
 
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Laieon

Member
PSA: Having a Hobo beard doesn't make you look cool, it makes you look like a hobo.
iu
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
I'm curious about this, because I LOVED the first one and haven't played Ragnorok yet.

If what you're saying is he's disempowered rather than compassionate and considerate, that would be disappointing. That would not be an evolution of the character.
I loved the 2018 game a lot. Imo the perfect Kratos. In Ragnarok, he's is a side character in his own game I feel. Always understanding of others and telling everyone he meets to "lead the way". He says that at least a hundred times. Just having him do the "hmpf" all the time is not a deep character trait...

Play it for yourself, the games combat loop is what made me stick to it - the characterization of Kratos was a major let down. As has been a lot of the god awful mandatory parts with his son.

Edit. There are also two Kratos at play here, one is a beta cuck in every in game cut scene including the slow talk & walk sections and then there is the actual god of war in the game play portion of the game. Hes so very understanding of your feeling one moment than rips heads off of Trolls just like that. Its a bizarre combination.
A poster above me mentioned it, and it reminder me about that aspect and how it bothered me a lot in Ragnarok.
 
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'even a stopped clock...'

i'm with jaffe on this. kratos, or croft, or even, to an extent, nate drake? they're as much cartoon characters as they are 'real' characters, maybe just a step removed from, say, mario (who is, lest we forget, a human plumber), &, no, i don't want to see them 'humanized', or injected with 'feels', or anything other than what they already are. kratos mellowing out, having a son? that ain't 'growth'. that's simply the transformation of a laughably cartoonish killing machine into a kinder, gentler killing machine. it's arguably even dumber & more juvenile than the original take, in that it aspires to something ludicrously out of reach - actual gravitas...
 

SirTerry-T

Member
As a grouchy old bastard myself, I believe "mature storytelling" is the worse trait to be found in modern videogames.

A high score table and the ability to enter three initials should be more than enough for you young 'uns.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Awful progression.

Going from a ruthless killing machine, with the biggest chip on his shoulder, to calm and/or even reasonable.

Nah, I don't think that really makes sense.
 
I vastly prefer older Kratos. If he was the same character now as the early 2000s then that would be full. GOW III was the final time they could have pulled that and got away with it. Ascension proved it had gotten tired.
 

GermanZepp

Member
Why do people keep saying "He's the God of War, he's supposed to be angry blah blah" ? Did ya'll not play the game at all? Kratos has matured and that's because of all of his life experiences. You cannot be the God of War for long if you're just blood thirsty all the time. Kratos is more calculated and does not allow the rage to blind him. That alone makes him stronger than young Kratos. It even goes over this in the Valhalla DLC.
The boi is lame. Is ok to give kratos more things to say, but from the infinite amount of things they could do with the franchise, they went down the dad/son issues road trying to grasp some TLOU vibe. I dont know man.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Well yeah maybe. Idk.
It just shows that he can destroy the whole world, kill everyone and then still be cool dad.
No consequences
 
Dad of War feels like Cory Barlog saw one too many "war vet and son who can't connect" Hallmark movies and thought that was what maturity in writing looks like. The fact he used that corny shit on this character is even sillier.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The boi is lame. Is ok to give kratos more things to say, but from the infinite amount of things they could do with the franchise, they went down the dad/son issues road trying to grasp some TLOU vibe. I dont know man.
Sony hit a homerun with LOU 1 with the father/daughter vibe, so they kept it going to satisfy gamers who want one part action, one part HBO drama.

Just a matter of time Horizon, Ghosts of Tsushima, Spiderman etc... get their 12 year old sidekick where adult and child teach each other the meaning of life.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I agree completely. His arc was perfect in GOW2018, learning to let go of the past, accepting who he was, trying to be a better person etc.

Ragnorak just turned him into a softie. He's now lecturing people on their love live.... yes, mimir and kratos discuss Sigrun and Mimir's love life in the DLC. Its retarded. it makes no sense.

He did that through out Ragnorak lecturing Freya on forgiving her brother apologizing to fucking Atreues after he nearly destroyed the fabric of time and space. this is not kratos. This is a millennial dad in 2023.
Perfectly said. Ragnarok turned him into ratchet 2016/rift apart
 
The old games weren't ashamed of what they were, edgy action games. The story was easily ignorable.

GoW2018 was hamfisted, Ragnarok is pure cringe. Yet you can't skip any of it, if you just want to get to the action. Oh look, Kratos cries now, oh there's a dying dog, it's so deep! ...except not really. That's the cheapest trick in the book if you're incapable of telling a meaningful story. Tearjerkers like that are on the same level as jumpscares in horror media. On top of that you've got hardcore prudism and cliche Disney characters (if even that, more like mid Netflix-tier). Meaningless babble about "oh no, war is bad???" but gameplay is still the same endless hack'n'slaying, lol, so pretentious and bad.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The old games weren't ashamed of what they were, edgy action games. The story was easily ignorable.

GoW2018 was hamfisted, Ragnarok is pure cringe. Yet you can't skip any of it, if you just want to get to the action. Oh look, Kratos cries now, oh there's a dying dog, it's so deep! ...except not really. That's the cheapest trick in the book if you're incapable of telling a meaningful story. Pathetic tearjerkers like that are on the same level as jumpscares in horror media. On top of that you've got hardcore prudism and cliche Disney characters (if even that, more like mid Netflix-tier). Meaningless babble about "oh no, war is bad???" but gameplay is still the same endless hack'n'slaying, lol, so pretentious and bad.
Every marketing manager will tell you if you want customers caring and being sympathetic or feeling good about themselves to try to add in kids or pets into the tv ad or packaging. Not sensible for all promotions, but if it makes sense to add a baby, it's like hitting a home run.
 
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Klosshufvud

Member
The old games weren't ashamed of what they were, edgy action games. The story was easily ignorable.

GoW2018 was hamfisted, Ragnarok is pure cringe. Yet you can't skip any of it, if you just want to get to the action. Oh look, Kratos cries now, oh there's a dying dog, it's so deep! ...except not really. That's the cheapest trick in the book if you're incapable of telling a meaningful story. Pathetic tearjerkers like that are on the same level as jumpscares in horror media. On top of that you've got hardcore prudism and cliche Disney characters (if even that, more like mid Netflix-tier). Meaningless babble about "oh no, war is bad???" but gameplay is still the same endless hack'n'slaying, lol, so pretentious and bad.
I agree that the writers and directors make a play for very manipulative way of instilling an emotional reaction. It's just empty. Safe, sanitized, inoffensive and most likely focus tested to hell and beyond. Eventually comes across as cynical and condescending of its players.

I am reminded of JRPGs of old when a simple text bubble and melodic tune was enough to hit you in the guts. Now they spend $100m to say less. Just an extension of the same crap that's on Netflix and cinemas.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The new Kratos could do with being less of a little bitch.
It's definitely not the route I would have went with the Story.
While I would have kept the more claim and under the radar Kratos like in 2018 GOW, the moment he got his Blades of Chaos the shit should have hit the fan with Kratos having his take no shit attitude.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
I have 3 children and don’t need Soyny’s Californian b-grade writers to tell me how to feel or act. I feel for any father that has to live vicariously through GoW.

Also, as if you need to have children to relate to this game. There isn’t some profound messaging here. Pure ‘as a mother’ vibes.

Did you miss the "or" in the "or have a child"? You're acting as if no other medium has ever made content where the "dad" is the central character and we are experiencing life through his actions. It's not unusual. It's worked fine in every other work of art. Why not games?
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
2018 was great, Ragnarok sucked quite a bit.

GOW:R sold 15 million copies in one year.

God of War >>>>>>>>> Dad of War
The old games was better

Both are great. How about that?

Dad of War feels like Cory Barlog saw one too many "war vet and son who can't connect" Hallmark movies and thought that was what maturity in writing looks like. The fact he used that corny shit on this character is even sillier.

GOW:R sold 15 million copies in one year. And won awards. Maybe you are just out of touch.

I agree that the writers and directors make a play for very manipulative way of instilling an emotional reaction. It's just empty. Safe, sanitized, inoffensive and most likely focus tested to hell and beyond. Eventually comes across as cynical and condescending of its players.

I am reminded of JRPGs of old when a simple text bubble and melodic tune was enough to hit you in the guts. Now they spend $100m to say less. Just an extension of the same crap that's on Netflix and cinemas.

Empty to you. Good to the majority of people that played it.
 

Fake

Member
Yep and that was a story of revenge after losing it all so brutally.
The current games are more about preservation of his child after his past experiences.

He just answer the reply dude. Stop moving the goal.

Kratos was a dad before 2018. People love to act like a God of War fan, but in fact they never like those first ones and try to ignore when come to arguments.
 
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Ummmm....he was dad in his pervious game....his entire quest for revenge for that very reason.
5de.gif

Not actually. He wanted to get rid of his nightmares and for that he made a deal with Gods. He was not trying to take revenge and kill Ares as a primary objective for what Ares tricked him to do. Crossing paths with Ares happened to be one of the tasks that he was given by the Gods. In the later games his motive for revenge against Gods was that they turned against him after he was being just as bad a God of War as Ares was.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Did you miss the "or" in the "or have a child"?
No.

You're acting as if no other medium has ever made content where the "dad" is the central character and we are experiencing life through his actions. It's not unusual. It's worked fine in every other work of art. Why not games?
I’m sure there are. I’m sure some of them do it very well. I’m sure there are really profound original stories focussing on the role of the father. God of War isn’t one though.
 

Bond007

Member
He just answer the reply dude. Stop moving the goal.

Kratos was a dad before 2018. People love to act like a God of War fan, but in fact they never like those first ones and try to ignore when come to arguments.
I have no idea what you are talking about.
I am very well aware of the story. Slow down alittle pal
 

bitbydeath

Member
People are saying it’s character development, it’s not.

images


Kratos was always a Dad of War, everything kicked off after he got tricked into killing his first family. They kept him tethered. It was hinted at his desire for family again in God of War 3 when he met Pandora.

images


That was the moment he actually softened up, and not 2018, but he still had a mission to do. When his mission was over he would have used that moment to get that feeling back by starting a new family.

images


But here’s the thing, Kratos is immortal, he’s said to be intentionally making his body look older for the sake of Loki. Loki isn’t immortal, eventually Kratos will lose him and when he does he will seek revenge and can revert back to his old look or another of his choosing if he pleases.
 
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