God of War was a perfect reboot of one of the most iconic Sony PlayStation exclusives. The title saw Kratos and his son, Atreus, as the central characters in the story. The plot had enough space for many other memorable characters besides the two.
God of War, the 2018 title, was a step up from the original series, which didn’t have a lot of character-building. Now, a statement from Cory Barlog, the director of the title has talked about why a character was almost excluded from the title. The character in question will most certainly come as a surprise to fans of the title’s lore.
Kratos was almost exempted from God of War 2018, reveals Cory Barlog
The subheading may surprise many readers as it has been practically impossible to imagine God of War without the Ghost of Sparta, Kratos. The protagonist, who grew significantly thanks to the reboot, almost didn’t make it to the 2018 title.
This was because when the ideation and discussion of the game was carried on, some team members found him annoying. Narrating the incident during an on-stage interview at Gamelab in Barcelona as reported by Eurogamer, the director Cory Barlog stated that:
Early in discussion, people were saying we had to get rid of Kratos…It was like, ‘he’s annoying, he’s done’.
This was probably because of Kratos’ flawed moral compass as a protagonist. Kratos was never the conventional good guy who was self-righteous and stuck to his principles. If anything, he was a man who was consumed and sometimes even possessed by his rage. That is why people at Sony Santa Monica felt it was the end of the line for the character.
It is undoubtedly challenging to imagine what the series would be like without Kratos or if Kratos had not been the playable character in the reboot. Knowing Santa Monica’s grasp on the craft and the studio’s ability to craft outstanding experiences, perhaps God of War could have worked without Kratos. Still, it certainly takes a minute to imagine that Kratos’ ruthless nature and unforgiving demeanor helped steer the franchise in its direction.
However, Cory Barlog seemed to disagree with the paragraph above as per his statements, which also reflected that getting the team on the same page and finally going with Kratos took a lot of effort.
Kratos is not God of War – Greek mythology is God of War…They really did not like the character. They wanted a new character. It took a lot of convincing to make them think it was a good idea.
The only character who catalyzed the massive change that Kratos underwent in the reboot was Atreus, Kratos’ Son. Naturally, since it was mainly uncertain if Kratos would return to the franchise, and he almost didn’t, putting in Atreus didn’t make much sense either, as per the team.
The team also pointed out that if Atreus were included in the title, he would often serve as the character needing saving. That is where Barlog pointed toward another Sony Interactive Studios series, The Last of Us, which has been exceptional in creating a game where the companion (Ellie) is indispensable and not a liability.
This was also seen in God of War, as the game had puzzles that were only solvable by Atreus as he understood the language required to decipher them. But again, even if the team agreed to still go with Kratos, Barlog had a backup pitch for Sony about the God of War game that didn’t have Atreus. Fortunately, it didn’t need usage, and we got one of the most wholesome and fresh Father-Son stories ever told in gaming history.
Barlog also explained that the studio’s direction with the title had much to do with his experience of working with film directors during his time away from Sony. He said:
There is a connection to every story that is personal to you, and if there isn’t, it’s going to read [that way] on the screen.It took a few years for that to sink in, and when I came back to Sony I thought the biggest thing that has happened in my life was that my son was born
Overall, God of War was a grand success, not without a lot of ideation from the team, which also included entertaining the possibility of excluding the protagonist and the deuteroganist. Nevertheless, it paved the way for a title that has impressed and influenced millions of gamers and came at a time. When tonnes of exclusives were released, it still managed to make its place as the top dog.
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
