Yesterday’s State of Play ended with the announcement of “God of War Laufeny” – and for the first time Kratos is no longer in the spotlight, which is already causing heated discussions among fans. But according to Santa Monica Studios Head of Creative Cory Barlog, there’s no need to worry.
After action-packed insights into „Marvel’s Wolverine“ and premieres like „Until Dawn 2“ The big climax followed just in time for the end of yesterday’s State of Play when Santa Monica Studio was full 20 Minutes of Gameplay from the next big chapter of the franchise presented: „God of War Laufey“.
But this time the focus is not on the grim Spartan, but on his late wife Faye, who is fighting her way through the afterlife of the gods. And although the gameplay shown looked fantastic with quick air combos and magical powers, there was immediately a murmur going through the community: Is Kratos’ time over?
Cory Barlog clarifies: “There will always be Kratos games”
In an official interview on the PlayStation YouTube channel, Cory Barlog, director of the 2018 release „God of War“ and now head of creative at the studio, as well as “Laufey” director Ariel Lawrence, make it clear that fans don’t have to worry about Kratos.
Lawrence also openly admitted that she was initially quite surprised when she took over the management of the project in 2021: “I think when I came back and talked to people, I just assumed that it would be another Kratos game and he was the one I would be telling stories about for the rest of my life.”
However, Barlog was quick to emphasize that the spirit of Sparta remains the absolute foundation of the franchise. “God of War Laufeny” is not a departure, but an important piece of the puzzle for the bigger picture.
“It’s exciting. Even though Faye is something different, she’s still part of the bigger picture of what we really want to explore – all these different characters in there. But there will always be Kratos games throughout the story,” says Barlog reassuringly.
And Lawrence also agreed with a laugh and added: “Oh, for sure. We can’t help but tell stories about the big guy.”
Not a departure, but an expansion of the universe
But the developers also made it clear elsewhere that Kratos remains the emotional center. To colleagues from IGN Barlog revealed that the idea of exploring Faye’s past had been floating around in his head since its release in 2018. After all, it is the perfect bridge to organically expand the universe.
“We’re always going to tell stories about Kratos, but I think for us this was just a chance to talk about someone who was so crucial to the beginning, to get to know him, to go into this new world and give us a place where we can be surprised and see how things are connected. So for us it’s not a departure, but more of an expansion.”
And for anyone worried that a game without Kratos won’t feel like God of War, Lawrence also had a few reassuring words. The combat system is intended to unite the worlds of the classic and new games in the series.
“The Greek era had an influence on Faye. The Nordic era has an influence on Faye. So we’re going back to our more agile combat roots, but keeping our companions and the dark melee combat,” said the director.
It is not yet clear when exactly “God of War Laufeny” will be released exclusively for the PS5.
There was one exciting detail on the sidelines of the interview: Barlog indicated that Faye is not the only character he would like to shed more light on in the future. He explicitly named the dwarven blacksmith Sindri as a character whose story follows the emotional events of “Ragnarok” still offers a lot of potential.
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