Theories about the new God of War

[Scapthat]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBlngveUIAAeN_w.jpg:large (new billboard for E3)

My theory is that the Norse Gods are the ones that go after Kratos, they know that he was the one that took down the Olympians, and they don't like it that a "Godkiller" is in their realm, which is why you have that ghost/spectre like thing in the demo watching them

You have the troll, with similar marks to Kratos saying "You will not cross into Valhalla" (it could be a generic thing the troll says to anyone he fights, but it could be more specific to Kratos)

as for Atreus, I think the Norse Gods are interested in him, seeing as he will be part Greek and grandson of Zeus as well as probably having Norse ancestry (from his mother)

as for who we will be fighting, what landmarks we will see...I'm excited

the Midgard Serpent, Fenrir, Heimdall, The Bifrost, the Ancient Tree Yggdrasil, Valhalla etc.

what are your theories

 

[happyninja42]

My theory is that Kratos is going to found the Norse gods. He's got a really nasty scar over one eye, has a gnarly old man beard, and is the God of War. Odin was also known as the God of War in Norse mythology (yes, they had a few of them, but Odin was one of them). The little boy that is his son, has red hair and apparently has a thing for lightning, seeing as his bow shot a bolt of lightning at the Troll/Ogre thingy they fought.

I think that him couch-fucking the Greek pantheon upset the global balance, and has kicked off Ragnarok. He's going to go around, and imbue various heroes he encounters in the game with some of his godly powers (because he basically ate all of the greek gods powers), and thus form the Norse pantheon, to try and stop Ragnarok.

I've stated this theory previously, and I still stand by it.

 

[Scapthat]

My theory is that Kratos is going to found the Norse gods. He's got a really nasty scar over one eye, has a gnarly old man beard, and is the God of War. Odin was also known as the God of War in Norse mythology (yes, they had a few of them, but Odin was one of them). The little boy that is his son, has red hair and apparently has a thing for lightning, seeing as his bow shot a bolt of lightning at the Troll/Ogre thingy they fought.

I think that him couch-fucking the Greek pantheon upset the global balance, and has kicked off Ragnarok. He's going to go around, and imbue various heroes he encounters in the game with some of his godly powers (because he basically ate all of the greek gods powers), and thus form the Norse pantheon, to try and stop Ragnarok.

I've stated this theory previously, and I still stand by it.

Kratos being Odin (he would eventually lose his eye) would be both amazingly ridiculous but also amazingly amazing at the same time

 

[happyninja42]

Kratos being Odin (he would eventually lose his eye) would be both amazingly ridiculous but also amazingly amazing at the same time

Well they've already passed ridiculous and gone into batshit crazytown long ago with the series, so I'm fine with ridiculous.

I just really don't think, given the way Kratos is behaving in that trailer, that he's going to be killing another pantheon of gods. I think (and this is purely speculation on my part), that the devs realized, with GoW 3's ending, that they made a completely unforgivable shitbag in the form of Kratos. And that it alienated a lot of the fans. Given how Kratos tells his son to think before he acts, I think he's going to be way more laid back (in comparison to the previous games), and not just go on a murder-boner rampage because they hurt his feelings. I HOPE, that they let him be more constructive instead of destructive with what he does. That he fights to create new sources of power in the world, not destroy them, pushing things further into chaos.

Again, it's GoW, so that could all be a pipe dream, and we end up with a game where he kills the entire Norse pantheon because they laugh at his beard. But I hope not.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Some theories:

1) The Norse gods go after the infamous Kratos, ending in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
2) Kratos himself ends up founding the Norse pantheon by the end of the game.
3) Kratos enters the service of the Norse gods, retreading the plot of the first game.

 

[Scapthat]

My main theory is that in about a week we're going to see some of the most insane set piece visuals of the generation. Other than that, yeah, anything could happen.

 

[Worgen]

I still think Kratos should be the bad guy and your playing someone else to kill him. At this point he really deserves to have someone take him out.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I predict it's going to be a shadow of its former self. The over the shoulder view and walk and talk ruined everything.

What was there left to ruin though? Seriously, this franchise was on its last legs with Ascension; the formula had had run utterly thin. We've had 4 (not counting the handheld) games with pretty much the same isometric hack 'n slash action. 4 games that are still perfectly available to play right now.

I'm more interested in this then I would be if it was just another God of War.

 

[Scapthat]

I predict it's going to be a shadow of its former self. The over the shoulder view and walk and talk ruined everything.

On the one hand yeah, it could be TLoU: Santa Monica style. On the other, it could be quite a bit better if they implement their trademark game design but augment it to fit within an updated framework.

We haven't seen much gameplay yet and I think they're saving the big (good) stuff for good reason.

 

[helwyr]

Ruined is a very past tense term for a game that hasn't been released yet

 

[Scapthat]

Are we positive this is going to be superior, graphically to many other games?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I've only played the first two. But there was plenty they could have changed and improved without turning it into another movie game.

They had improved on it. The "problem" though with GoW was that the appeal of the combat was all about bruising your way through enemies; always being in motion, never stopping, and just tearing through enemies. This was pretty much perfected in 3, and when Ascension came along the team felt forced to make some changes for the sake of it. This resulted in combat that wasn't bad, but that stopped the momentum the series used to excell at.

And again, there are four games (at least) with this combat. And now a new entry is doing something different after the franchise had long lost its luster.

Developers implement over the shoulder views into all their games because they want the popularity of Resident Evil 4 and Gears but don't understand why it worked so well in those games. It's also the pretension that games are better as movies. With the camera pulled back, the player has a better view of the action and the environment and can more easily take care of enemies on multiple sides. I expect the combat to be slowed a lot and the adventure elements to be simplified just because the player can now barely see around them without turning. Also, because AAA games are getting stupider.

I've heard complaints of the over-the-shoulder, close-up camera, but besides Resident Evil 6 and The Evil Within I can't think of any game where it was a detriment. The reason being that those types of games are optimized for an over-the-shoulder view (which RE6 and Evil Within weren't).

The walking and talking in the demo was boring. I don't care about Kratos or his son. It's going to be disruptive.

Well, what can I say... Mute the voice track?

 

[Scapthat]

^^Ezekiel, this may be the game that changes your mind on at least some of that.

Although at the same time, remaining cynical will keep thorough disappointment at bay.

 

[Scapthat]

It's pretty clear after Ascension that the typical GOW Hack 'n Slash formula was running dry. thus with Cory Barlog coming back, Sony Santa Monica had 2 options

1. Create a new protagonist with the same previous hack and slash mechanics

2. Or continue Kratos' story, while fundamentally changing the game play

they went with the later option, and I among many others are glad they did

 

[Scapthat]

^Agreed. I am currently doing trophy runs of the first two games and realize how tired I've grown of the typical h&s formula. GoW as a series probably did it best imo, but it just becomes too tedious when there is really nothing else to do besides follow the script. You can only launch a horde and combo them so many times before it all starts to feel inconsequential.

I liked when I heard they would be opening up the levels with hidden stuff (relics, weapons, etc.) but still keeping it shy of open world to keep the plot moving. I get the impression this will at least feel like a much grander style of adventure instead of being like a pitbull on a linear leash.

I somehow get the feeling that SSM and Naughty Dog will be playing leapfrog trying to outdo each other between this and TLoU entries, as I'm sure there will be at least a couple more of each.

 

[DaCosta]

GoW was never the best example of the hack n' slash genre. Far too simplistic and prone to QTEs for that.

I will still mourn its loss at the feet of the "cinematic experience" altar.

The over-the-shoulder camera is not befitting of fast-paced melee combat so expect it to be slowed way down and the enemy count to drop significantly. My sad theory is that the combat is above all a victim of the graphics. Instead of lowering graphical fidelity to support the gameplay, the severely limited field of view on the super zoomed in camera allows them to crank the graphics and almost keep the gameplay at a whopping 30fps for the duration, even if they have to sacrifice the gameplay in order to accomplish it.

P.S.: Forced walking sections are shit. They are just unskippable cutscenes where you have to keep holding a button to keep them from pausing.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's an action-adventure, combining beat 'em up action, puzzles, platforming and (linear) exploration in epic environments. The zoomed OTS camera is still shitty for this kind of game.

Except when you optimize the action to suit the over-the-shoulder view, like Resident Evil 4, which is just as epic and balls-to-the-wall crazy as GoW. And that was a game with tankcontrols where you couldn't even move while aiming and that didn't have full 360 camera control.

Kratos isn't gonna become a better character with this game.

Seeing as we don't even really know what the story is going to be about, that's impossible to predict at this point. Unless your set to not like it regardless.

I would have changed the setting to Norse or maybe Egyptian mythology but have it star a new protagonist with his or her own weapons and controls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_deities

There wouldn't be much of a point in calling it God of War in that case. Both Kratos and the chainblade action gameplay embody the series almost completely.

You could argue whether they should've made a new GoW at all, but if they did it would've had to feature Kratos as the protagonist. If it didn't you might as well make it an entirely new IP.