The latest PlayStation State of Play kicked off, and it was a fairly standard event. Many expected games received more information, longer trailers, and additional gameplay, but the biggest surprise was the announcement of a new God of War title. As you may remember in God of War (2018), Kratos says goodbye to his wife, setting her ablaze on a funeral pyre.
The next God of War title, named after Kratos’ wife, titled God of War: Laufey, started with the same funeral scene, but from a slightly different perspective. Shortly after, his wife awakens in the afterlife. The reveal was pretty substantial, with the game receiving 20 minutes of gameplay. Unfortunately, not everyone was entertained by the announcement, as the original God of War creator, David Jaffe, heavily criticized the reveal by saying it “looks like shit.”
David Jaffe Criticizes God of War Laufey, Comparing it to Forspoken
Debate has sparked online around the God of War Laufey announcement after series creator David Jaffe heavily criticized the reveal. In his reaction video, the former Santa Monica Studio employee stated, “This looks like shit.” In the same breath, the creator said that it “reminds [him] of Forspoken” – a game that is often criticized for having poor writing and lackluster gameplay.
Jaffe went on to say, “It’s dead. That game is not going to do well for what they expect it to do. This just feels like Cory [Barlog] or somebody wanted to write a fantasy story. You’ve lost the gore and the violence that made the first game. You’ve lost the character. You already lost him after 2018 because he changed so much, he wasn’t the same character anymore, and you’ve lost me with the cube and the little Disney character at the beginning.”
While it is true that God of War has somewhat departed from the original intent, the series as a whole has shown Kratos develop as a character, becoming more emotionally grounded. Jaffe speculated that the studio behind God of War Laufey is being forced to create something different for the franchise, but this isn’t necessarily the worst thing for the series. After all, you don’t want your franchise to become stale.
Many are waiting for more information to be revealed to cast judgment on the game, as only a small slice of the overall story has been revealed.
