Support NeoGAF

[Lunatic_Gamer]

According to the latest rumors, the next God Of War installment could be in the works, and it may even be a half-sequel, a new term that has been popping up recently.

ViewerAnon, a popular Twitter user known for often reliable leaks and rumors, reported that Santa Monica Studio is working on ‘new God of War stuff’ that could either be a new DLC or a half-sequel.




The fact that Santa Monica Studio is working on more God of War is not unheard of. Earlier, a job posting on Santa Monica’s website hinted at the possibility of a God of War: Ragnarok sequel. The post details specifically mentioned that they were looking for a combat designer who had past knowledge of God of War games.

To further solidify, a popular leaker and community member, The Snitch also reported that a DLC for God of War: Ragnarök is in development. The post back in August 2023 mentioned:




Now that we know Santa Monica is working to bring more God of War content, like a sequel or a DLC, where did the “half-sequel” thing come from? And most importantly, what is a half-sequel?!

Half Sequel: A Glorified DLC?​

Half-sequels may be regarded as standalone expansions that are too short to be a full game but provide a more complete experience than a DLC. But the real question is: Why?

The latest AAA games are taking longer than ever to make. With major graphical enhancements and larger, more realistic worlds expected from the bigger titles, the development is not expected to become any faster. With games taking more than 10 years to develop, half-sequels become a potential lifesaver for the studios.

We have seen these earlier and especially from PlayStation — for example, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Infamous First Light from Sony. These games are smaller but continue the story, and unlike DLCs, provide a standalone experience to the players.

Bot Verification

gameshorizon.com

 

[ManaByte]

Watch it just be all Atreus levels based on how the main game ended. They definitely left an opening there for a solo Atreus story.

 

[BaneIsPain]

Atreus dlc starring angrboda

 

[AmuroChan]

I'm fine with these standalone expansions. I don't need every game to keep me busy for dozens of hours. I very much enjoyed both Lost Legacy and Miles Morales. I'm perfectly happy to play a tight 10-12 hour campaign and move on.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Atreus dlc starring angrboda

 

[ManaByte]

I'm fine with these standalone expansions. I don't need every game to keep me busy for dozens of hours. I very much enjoyed both Lost Legacy and Miles Morales. I'm perfectly happy to play a tight 10-12 hour campaign and move on.

If it was Kratos, sure. Day 1. But it’s probably Atreus. Fuck those levels. Hated them.

 

[Varteras]

At least it's not a remaster. Yet...

 

[Danjin44]

f it was Kratos, sure. Day 1. But it’s probably Atreus. Fuck those levels. Hated them.

This exactly reason why I cant get myself to replay Ragnarök and for some reason Atreus got much, MUCH dumber compare to 2018 game.

If it was Kratos from pervious game, he would have killed Atreus by now.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Atreus dlc starring angrboda

Puts on the God of War 3 music that plays when Kratos is about to kill a god…

 

[lh032]

God of War: Atreus and Angrbooa

 

[Drizzlehell]

God of War: Atreus and Angus

 

[JusticeForAll]

I really disliked playing as Atreus, so I hope it's not that.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

PLEASE let me play as Thor.

 

[LakeOf9]

Just please don't be about Atreus.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Does that make it a quarter sequel j/k

 

[mortal]

Now that we know Santa Monica is working to bring more God of War content, like a sequel or a DLC, where did the “half-sequel” thing come from? And most importantly, what is a half-sequel?!

Half Sequel: A Glorified DLC?​

Half-sequels may be regarded as standalone expansions that are too short to be a full game but provide a more complete experience than a DLC. But the real question is: Why?

The latest AAA games are taking longer than ever to make. With major graphical enhancements and larger, more realistic worlds expected from the bigger titles, the development is not expected to become any faster. With games taking more than 10 years to develop, half-sequels become a potential lifesaver for the studios.

We have seen these earlier and especially from PlayStation — for example, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Infamous First Light from Sony. These games are smaller but continue the story, and unlike DLCs, provide a standalone experience to the players.

Bot Verification

gameshorizon.com

I'm quite open to playing shorter lengthed, $30-$40 AAA games. Having something in between AAA & AA could possibly allow for more creative experimentation within some studios since there would be relatively less financial risk for publishers.

 

[MagnesD3]

The DLC game getting DLC... im sure that will be real special..

 

[semiconscious]

& youse guys are welcome to it...

(& gone...)

 

[akaFullmetal]

 

[Flabagast]

How boring. Ragnarok was already a half sequel of sort.

Please Santa Monica move to a new IP

 

[Puscifer]

Watch it just be all Atreus levels based on how the main game ended. They definitely left an opening there for a solo Atreus story.

I would officially be done with that shit, the absolute worst parts of the games that went on for 2-3x longer than they should.

 

[mitch1971]

I'll take the half with Kratos in; you can keep the other Atreus half.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Sign me up for a 20hr god of war title with less narrative bloat and hybrid gameplay with multiple characters that waters down the experience

and if it releases late 2024? Even better

Less disappointment, more time for the wife and kids. Everyone is happy

SlimySnake

 

[Salz01]

I can’t really remember playing Ragnorak. That’s how memorable it was.

 

[Golgo 13]

I can’t really remember playing Ragnorak. That’s how memorable it was.

Same. Everyone hates this fucking game it seems, how the hell did it sell / review so well.


I do remember quite a bit of 2018 God Of War tho, fond memories too

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

I know everyone hates the Atreus idea, but it could be good. I've seen some cool looking concept art.

it

 

[SlimySnake]

Sign me up for a 20hr god of war title with less narrative bloat and hybrid gameplay with multiple characters that waters down the experience

and if it releases late 2024? Even better

Less disappointment, more time for the wife and kids. Everyone is happy

SlimySnake

If its DLC that is more of the same then pass.

If they make a truly next gen game with insane next gen visuals and setpieces then i am game.

I actually wanted to play a Thor game in this universe. let me fly around with my thor hammer. honestly, the fact that they never gave you the thor hammer just shows you how much they got wrong with ragnorak.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If its DLC that is more of the same then pass.

If they make a truly next gen game with insane next gen visuals and setpieces then i am game.

I actually wanted to play a Thor game in this universe. let me fly around with my thor hammer. honestly, the fact that they never gave you the thor hammer just shows you how much they got wrong with ragnorak.

I mean, it's going to be on the same engine which already looks good, plays well....what's not to like? You enjoyed Uncharted: TLL which wasn't next gen or anything

 

[SlimySnake]

I mean, it's going to be on the same engine which already looks good, plays well....what's not to like? You enjoyed Uncharted: TLL which wasn't next gen or anything

Lost legacy was the second game using the U4 formula. This would be the third. Besides, Uncharted 4 was 15 hours and Lost legacy was 8. Both god of wars are 30-40 plus hours. I think they need to do more than just do a copy pasta DLC.

P.S just saw the Loki concept art. If this game is about Loki then Im out. Fuck that little shit. Kratos failed him.

 

[Auto_aim1]

I can’t really remember playing Ragnorak. That’s how memorable it was.

Same here. I could say that about most modern games tbh. Even Cyberpunk. Just switch off brain and mindlessly do fetch quests.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Lost legacy was the second game using the U4 formula. This would be the third. Besides, Uncharted 4 was 15 hours and Lost legacy was 8. Both god of wars are 30-40 plus hours. I think they need to do more than just do a copy pasta DLC.

P.S just saw the Loki concept art. If this game is about Loki then Im out. Fuck that little shit. Kratos failed him.

You just want your cake and eat it too. Anything that looks significantly better visually will require more time to develop. If you want your 20 hour SP games, this is how you are going to get them.

I don't really care, the game looks good enough to me, and pretty close to the best we're already getting.

This game could be 15-20 hours, finely tuned with less narrative slow parts.

 

[ManaByte]

I know everyone hates the Atreus idea, but it could be good. I've seen some cool looking concept art.

it

 

[Gojiira]

Im fine with it, regardless of whether its Atreus or not. Too invested in the story and universe so a £25/35 expansion sounds great.
Preferably it will be a semi sequel that bridges the norse mythology to the next.

 

[SlimySnake]

You just want your cake and eat it too. Anything that looks significantly better visually will require more time to develop. If you want your 20 hour SP games, this is how you are going to get them.

I don't really care, the game looks good enough to me, and pretty close to the best we're already getting.

This game could be 15-20 hours, finely tuned with less narrative slow parts.

I disagree. modern development tools make graphics rendering very easy. you can look at just how easy it to is create levels in UE5. the reason why games take so long is that they have 40 hour campaigns with 20-60 hours of side content.

if the game is short then you wont need 2+ years to make a next gen only game. just do decent length 15 hour campaign like RE4, uncharted 4 or tlou1 or even a 12 hour one like uncharted 2, and it will be worth full price as long as they show something truly amazing and unique.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I disagree. modern development tools make graphics rendering very easy. you can look at just how easy it to is create levels in UE5. the reason why games take so long is that they have 40 hour campaigns with 20-60 hours of side content.

if the game is short then you wont need 2+ years to make a next gen only game. just do decent length 15 hour campaign like RE4, uncharted 4 or tlou1 or even a 12 hour one like uncharted 2, and it will be worth full price as long as they show something truly amazing and unique.

A 15-20 hour game is going to take at least 2-3 years to develop. All those examples you gave took 2 years or more.

 

[SlimySnake]

A 15-20 hour game is going to take at least 2-3 years to develop.

yeah, 2 minimum. i thought this was coming out in 2024 so that should be enough.

 

[Ansphn]

I prefer these half sequels rather than having to wait 5 years for the next full sequel. Give me something to play while I wait for the next one.

Uncharted Lost legacy was great. Everyone loved Miles Morales.

Give me God of War : Adventures of Areus while I wait for the next GOW.

 

[Fbh]

Eh I don't know.
I'm playing Ragnarok right now and it's one of the least ambitious and most "more of the same" sequels I've ever played. I don't know if I want an even less ambitious "half sequel".

 

[bitbydeath]

Hopefully it’s Kratos free from his kid, shagging whores and bashing people’s brains out.

 

[Kerotan]

Atreus dlc starring angrboda

Yeah basically a lost legacy type game. The plot will probably lead to her origin world or some shit and they end up in Egypt.

Which would set up the next main game over there. It would be ps5 and maybe ps5 pro only which should give us a nice improvement over Ragnarok graphically and technically.

 

[TransTrender]

UGH

Hopefully it’s Kratos free from his kid, shagging whores and bashing people’s brains out.

Yes exactly, like the good old days

 

[semiconscious]

I know everyone hates the Atreus idea, but it could be good. I've seen some cool looking concept art.

it

okay - where do these guys go to get their haircuts?...

 

[TransTrender]

okay - where do these guys go to get their haircuts?...

Reddit

 

[kiphalfton]

How boring. Ragnarok was already a half sequel of sort.

Please Santa Monica move to a new IP

Yeah, ideally make a true sequel to God of War 3. Or even make it about Kratos brother Deimos for fucks sake.

 

[kiphalfton]

I know everyone hates the Atreus idea, but it could be good. I've seen some cool looking concept art.

it

Expecting Atreus to grow up to be even halfway masculine, when he has a weak jaw and big nose...

Expect him to grow up, to look more like Michael Cera.

 

[Zuzu]

I'd be happy with that. A 15-20hr experience would be great if they could make it that long. If it's 10hrs or shorter I don't see the point. A game like this needs a few hours to set up the narrative and produce enough interesting story moments and set pieces to make it worthwhile.

I don't want it to be based on Atreus but if it is I hope they make him a more mature character and give him robust melee gameplay in addition to his ranged bow gameplay. His ranged combat in Ragnarok became pretty monotonous.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

Sign me up for a 20hr god of war title with less narrative bloat and hybrid gameplay with multiple characters that waters down the experience

and if it releases late 2024? Even better

Less disappointment, more time for the wife and kids. Everyone is happy

SlimySnake

Why is 20 hours the threshold for the length of a game? 20+ hours seems to be the default expectation by consumers these days, and I don't know why.

8 to 12 hours is fine, but 20 hours for a game like God of War is going to be filled with obnoxious padding.

 

[WorldHero]

Not sure how I feel about this. I'd much rather see Kratos in a new location like Egypt or a remake of the 1st game.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

Yeah basically a lost legacy type game. The plot will probably lead to her origin world or some shit and they end up in Egypt.

Which would set up the next main game over there. It would be ps5 and maybe ps5 pro only which should give us a nice improvement over Ragnarok graphically and technically.

You guys will never give up on the idea that Angrboda is from Egypt or Africa, when the sad reality that Sony Santa Monica wanted to blackwash characters for the sake of virtue signalling.

 

[Mitsurugi Reiji]

Time for God of war to copy Last of us again

Spoiler: Spoiler

Kill atreus and let us play as Damaged Sindri