• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
I think both are products of their time and a response to what the market wanted at the time.

The original one was a fun hack and slash game. The update was an interesting hack and slash character piece. Both have good parts, both have flaws. Overall the experiences are fun to me. And we can all criticize because that is what people are allowed to do. Nobody has to listen.
 

Flutta

Banned
These kinds of posts are satire, right?
God Of War Disbelief GIF by Santa Monica Studio
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives


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 love davidjaffe davidjaffe but yeah I totally disagree here. To me Kratos aged and matured in a way that makes perfect sense. He ended up having a wife and a son again. Why would he still want vengeance and be super angry when he had his vengeance and his life literally moved on to a different place and religon?
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
So what a lot of yall are telling me is that you like 1 note characters with minimal development.
There is a stark difference between character development and character assassination. Watch what Jaffe says here. You cannot completely change the character from one person to another. It has to either a gradual, very slow process, or none at all. The character growth is just that, growth, not a 180 jackyl and hyde turn we are seeing here.

Then there is this ridiculous self inserts by writers from SSM. They said that they have grown up since the early 2000s, are parents, and want to write a different kratos. I am sorry, but you cant do that without completely destroying whats so great about the character.

GOW 2018 did it right. The change was slow, gradual and in line with his personality. Now hes yapping like a gossip girl, acting like a soft millenial cuck, and is content being lectured to by others. In the DLC, Mimir and Tyr combine forces to justify every fucking insane thing he did in the first three god of wars. What? No. he did what he did at that point in his life, and yes that made him a flawed anti-hero which cannot be swept under the rug 15 years later by college kids turned fathers who regret writing a violent blood thirsty godkiller.

Enough with the self inserts. Thor replacing their drunk alcoholic fathers is a retarded choice. Kratos being patient and apologizing to his bratty sun like a millenial dad is a retarded choice. Freya acting like an abused housewife in an attempt to capture modern day women struggles is moronic. A game about gods set in norse mythology should deal with gods and norse mythology. The last thing i want to see is kratos helping Atreus fill out college application, thor dealing with his daughter's prom dates, and freya going through menopause.
 

Lokaum D+

Member
GoW was such a mindless and fun game, enraged Kratos was awesome, so much fun killing mitologic creatures and gods, not every game has to be Tlou.0

New Kratos is boring as hell.
 

Rudius

Member
Kratos 2018 is the most masculine character in gaming history.
In every conceivable regard made old Kratos look like a spoiled, emotional teenager.

But I'd still take old Kratos over whatever the fuck Kratos was in Ragnarök.
Coming right from a 2018 replay, his character felt off from the very first 5 seconds of the first opening shot.
Yes, 2018 and Ragnarok Kratos are not the same. 2018 is much better in the story department.
 

KiteGr

Member
He is peaceful.
Only those capable of great violence can be peaceful.
If you are not, then you are not peaceful, you are harmless.

The new Kratos fit right into the dad of war role because we know what he's capable of. If they used any other "strict father" type character, we wouldn't be so on edge on every word he said. Because he was established as a monster making all the wrong choices in 6 previous games being unable to find piece, these new games was cathartic for the character.
 

Muffdraul

Member
I barely gave a shit about the OG GoW games. I played them, I enjoyed them well enough, I forgot them. Kratos was a 2D cardboard cutout of a character, was he supposed to resonate with me?I thought GoW 2018 completely blew them out of the water. And I was very hyped that it was just the piddly prologue to future games that would be even more epic, but sorry to say Ragnarok didn't do much for me. But I still liked it more than the OG GoWs. Sorry Mr. Jaffe. Hey so are you related to Al Jaffe from Mad magazine?
 

samoilaaa

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?

he was always a deep character with feelings

 
As a big Ragnarok fan I can get behind 2018 Kratos being a bit better balanced between the old and new games. But after 2018 he 'lets go' of his past. Then just spends the next several years cooped up during a miserable winter trying to take care of his kid. So whatever his character is in Ragnarok still tracks, even if it's not to everyone's liking.

Hopefully the next game gives him a great motivation. And they find the balance we are looking for with the character.
 

Ronin_7

Member
The way this guy just fell...how do you go from creating IPs such as God of War to being a second rate youtuber i'll never know.
This just shows life can Turn upside down professionally within seconds.

You gotta always keep studying & working harder than anyone 👍

Jaffe is a Total loser these days.
 

Robb

Gold Member
I like ‘em’ both. Although if I was forced to choose I’d definitely go for the old GoW games over the new ones. I don’t think I’ll ever (want to) replay the new ones.
 

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
I like both actually. Change is fine when done well and this was done well. I prefer the old ones but I’m good with the new ones too. Not everything needs to be made for me
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
He said he likes GoW 2018, he doesn't like the direction of ragnarok and what it means going forward.
He talks about fundamentally changing characters in general, for no other reason than "characters much change!", and how that is a shitty practice

It’s called a character arc that leads to character development but Jaffe wouldn’t know anything about it.
 
I will say - in ragnarok they pushed Kratos a bit too far into the ‘grumpy dad who’s really a big ol softie with a heart of gold’ territory - which is just as played out as anything else. 2018 Kratos did it was better imo.
 

Fake

Member
IDK what he was expecting after that DEI group take the lead of GoW franchise.


Just for you guys have an ideia, God of War AD bere in Brazil they put that last giant lady Atreus have interess and people like 'OK, is this God of War? Where is Kratos'.

If I would guess, the first ideia was to kill Kratos as a character, if someone played the GoW 2018 know that Kratos was suppouse to die in Ragnarok, but after TLOUSpart2 being divisive over fanbase Sony was like 'You know what? Better not kill the best character of our company just for the sake of someone fellings'.
 
Last edited:

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
GoW was such a mindless and fun game, enraged Kratos was awesome, so much fun killing mitologic creatures and gods, not every game has to be Tlou.0

New Kratos is boring as hell.

Boring if you don't like character growth, maturity, change of pace, or don't have a child.
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
I mean....I'm just going to say it. I have never liked God of War very much...new or old.

This I've never understood the hype I honestly enjoyed Maximo more

The best GOW games were the PSP ones. great gameplay
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
God of War series ended at God of War 3. Sad Dad adventures and How to Train your Atreus grows thin.

Atreus would make for a poor Spartan. Deimos deserved better. A real Spartan wouldn't let his back hit the ground and Atreus has landed on his back many times.
 

Fake

Member
As much I hate what Kratos become, God of War 2018 is still a great game.

God of War: Ragnarok in the other hand is too progressive for my tastes. And LOL to the people showing sales to prove he is wrong. Lmao folks, have a room.

I still prefer old Kratos by a mile.
 
Last edited:
Kratos became a literal bitch in Ragnarok. All game he's like "I don't want war", "I don't want to do this or that" and yet, everyone around him boss bitches him to do as they please. He did not make a single worthwhile decision by himself. At least in the 2016 game he called the shots.

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.
 
Last edited:

DrFigs

Member
As much I hate what Kratos become, God of War 2018 is still a great game.

God of War: Ragnarok in the other hand is too progressive for my tastes. And LOL to the people showing sales to prove he is wrong. Lmao folks, have a room.

I still prefer old Kratos by a mile.
there's just not a lot to point to other than sales and critical ratings. his opinion is worth a lot being that he created the character. is he right? the people playing the games dont seem to suggest that he is. the critics rating the games don't think that he is.
 
The angry man was way more fun to play imho.
GoW 2 + 3 >>>>>>>>> Dad of War 1 & 2.
Sure, but the past tense here is important. It was fun to play for three games (or five if you had a PSP). We don’t need another rehash. The new games are just that: new (and also fun).
 
Last edited:

Drizzlehell

Banned
For once I agree with him. The new Kratos is a fucking tampon. The OG Kratos was too much of a badass for modern audiences to handle today.

They're still good games, but if those ageing devs wanted to write a more thoughtful story that's more of a reflection of their own boring family lives, then they should make a new IP instead of neutering characters that used to appeal to the type of audience that's apparently not worth catering to anymore, according to modern day activists games journalists. Same thing happened to Gears of War. I mean, can't they continue just one IP that used to be a male power fantasy without gaying it up? Please.
 

Killer8

Gold Member
Like or loathe Jaffe, it's always interesting to hear the perspective of a series creator who is no longer involved. His opinion on this one does actually count for something.

On the flip-side, some people hate Final Fantasy XVI with a passion, saying it is NOT a real Final Fantasy, despite series creator Sakaguchi calling it the "ultimate fantasy Final Fantasy".
 

Deft Beck

Member
40 million units disagree with Jaffe

Like usual a vocal minority are making it seem like everyone prefers old Kratos. In reality the new Kratos is much more popular. We all heard the cheer at the Game Awards and the numbers don't lie.

Old Kratos is cringe, A teenage boy listening to blink 182 idea of masculinity.

Argumentum ad populum would like to say hello.

Like what you like, but don't pretend that you're morally superior for liking one characterization of a mass-murdering video game character over another.
 
Last edited:

Fake

Member
there's just not a lot to point to other than sales and critical ratings. his opinion is worth a lot being that he created the character. is he right? the people playing the games dont seem to suggest that he is. the critics rating the games don't think that he is.

I remember people complaining about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet being the most bugged game around and people use the colossal sales of PKMN.

Dude, fanboys are fanboys. People would buy Pokemon even if was the worst game of history, but the IP name is very very popular.
Same can be said of God of War. Kratos is the most popular character in Sony party right now.
Saying 'bruh the game sales X' is the most fanboy argument you can reply.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, we also think god of war creator took a wrong turn. He doesn't create games anymore, his last games were Bad and he is now a content creator. It's almost like what happened to Kratos happened to him too.
 
Last edited:

Flutta

Banned
There is a stark difference between character development and character assassination. Watch what Jaffe says here. You cannot completely change the character from one person to another. It has to either a gradual, very slow process, or none at all. The character growth is just that, growth, not a 180 jackyl and hyde turn we are seeing here.

Then there is this ridiculous self inserts by writers from SSM. They said that they have grown up since the early 2000s, are parents, and want to write a different kratos. I am sorry, but you cant do that without completely destroying whats so great about the character.

GOW 2018 did it right. The change was slow, gradual and in line with his personality. Now hes yapping like a gossip girl, acting like a soft millenial cuck, and is content being lectured to by others. In the DLC, Mimir and Tyr combine forces to justify every fucking insane thing he did in the first three god of wars. What? No. he did what he did at that point in his life, and yes that made him a flawed anti-hero which cannot be swept under the rug 15 years later by college kids turned fathers who regret writing a violent blood thirsty godkiller.

Enough with the self inserts. Thor replacing their drunk alcoholic fathers is a retarded choice. Kratos being patient and apologizing to his bratty sun like a millenial dad is a retarded choice. Freya acting like an abused housewife in an attempt to capture modern day women struggles is moronic. A game about gods set in norse mythology should deal with gods and norse mythology. The last thing i want to see is kratos helping Atreus fill out college application, thor dealing with his daughter's prom dates, and freya going through menopause.

No, absolutely not. You can't seriously defend Kratos' toxic behavior. This has to be satire, right? RIGHT?

We want ancient stories to mirror today's reality. Where sons don't respect their fathers, and women are supposedly braver than men. If a man seeks revenge when enraged, it's labeled as bad and toxic. Yet, if a woman does the same, it's hailed as brave and heroic lol This forum is full of brainwashed males, blindly following today's societal trends, and they wonder why the West is in decline.

If you want a pussyfied character, don't tie him to a time when people lived surrounded by hardships and war. Injecting today's disrespected and unappreciated males into that context, and telling me this is how a SPARTAN should be—is this what the RAGNAROK story is supposed to convey? give me break. This is pure propaganda garbage. The same is happening with all male characters in these AAA story driven diarrhea plots they are selling to people.
 
Last edited:

-Zelda-

Banned
This guy is a tool that does not even know how to play Metroid or Zelda, but even a tool can be right once in a while I guess.
 

-Zelda-

Banned
I would buy GOW Trilogy Remake over Dad of War anytime.
Since they are remastering the OG Tomb Raider trilogy, maybe someday this will happen. We need to send a message to devs that we want FUN characters to play as NOT characters that need a professional listener.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
To me the changes in Kratos in GOW 2018 made sense after GOW 3 in context of the story but with Ragnarok they fully went MCU level bad, I actively disliked Kratos in Ragnarok and got in my nerves.
 

Puscifer

Member
Sales and interest are really high compared to the PS2/PS3 games.

Maybe it appeals to the 30-50 year old fans this dad style game.
You're right about this, I'm dating a Dad right now and he was explaining to me Atreus's behavior and while it didn't exactly change my mind completely at least I understand as a parent why he "got" his behavior in both games.
 
It's his opinion but I completely disagree, the storytelling in the first 3 games was amateurish compared to the newer games. They were mindless fun to a degree but once GOW3 launched and it was still just kratos screaming I got bored with him as a character. I loved the series, would love full remakes of the first three games (3 looks the best but has the worst storytelling of the initial trilogy) but I would hate to see kratos go back to that way of being again. Christoper Judge is a much better voice actor for him too. This may not be what Jaffe envisioned for him but he left the studio, someone else took it over and I think improved it. The series would have died had they not made the changes they did.
 
The reboots work so well, and only because of, the eventual evolution of the character. It's a complete character arc with a significant amount of depth from something not intended to originally have. I get the disappointment of not having more of something you originally fell in love with and want more of, but for me this is so much more satisfying.
 
Top Bottom