Text/Garland SK
With the arrival of 2022, according to the scheduled time, not only "God of War: Twilight of the Gods" will debut on PS5, but "God of War" (2018) can also be played on Steam. From PS2 to PS5, this series has been more than a dozen years so far, and it has become one of the most representative IP of the Sony platform, and many players have purchased PS consoles because of "God of War". Today we will take you to approach "Kuiye" and review the development and changes of the "God of War" series over the years.
(PS: This article contains spoilers)
The people behind God of War
Just like Ubisoft to Assassin's Creed, From Software to Dark Souls, CDPR to The Witcher, almost all of the most famous works have a familiar name behind them. And it was Santa Monica Studio that survived the ups and downs of "God of War" all the way.
Santa Monica is Sony's first-party studio founded in 1999. Their initial achievement was to single-handedly build the Kinetica game engine and develop the racing game kinetica, which is the same name as the engine. The number of copies sold in this game is not the biggest gain of Santa Monica Studios, they were taken by Sony, the engine was reused, and it was shared with other studios for the development of more than ten well-known games such as Jack and Dust, Ricky and Ding-Dong, Cunning Fox Adventure, Blazing Chariot: DarkFall, and Anti-Gravity Racing: Fusion.
By the time of the PS3 period, Santa Monica continued to be helpful, setting up a dedicated department for external development and a "nurturing program" to provide funding and environment to assist and support many independent game developers. For example, Chen Xinghan, the producer of "Wind Traveler", was discovered by them; The Giant Sparrow Studio, which is now known to players with "Memories of Edith Finch", its first work was also completed by Santa Monica Studio; Ready at Dawn Studio also cooperated with Santa Monica many times and completed the development of two God of War works on the PSP platform, and then launched works such as "Order 1886".
But when it comes to the works that really make them famous, it's the God of War series.
Different action game
Maybe you often hear such a saying that it is the "three major action games". They are Capcom's Devil May Cry series, KOEI TEMCO's Ninja Gaiden series, and the God of War series that we're going to focus on today.
From the fact that the TGA awarded the best action game to "Hades" last year, and this year to "Death Return", it is not difficult to see that action games are a very broad concept; or rather, there are a variety of sub-genres in this category.
Broadly speaking, all real-time interactive games with action elements are action games; shooters, sports games, parkour, platform jumping, etc. are all within the scope of the talk. Such vague concepts often lead to community outrage and controversy, but in the traditional action game sub-genre, players have reached a consensus. It has extremely high difficulty and strict action judgment, focusing on combo instant reaction, requiring players to firmly grasp the moves, even to the point of muscle memory. This caused the old player to fight in the clouds, the enemy had no resistance, and felt that "I can go up to me", once I got started, I found that it was actually myself who was beaten. Difficulty and thrill go hand in hand, and hardcore becomes the glory in the eyes of old players, but light players avoid it.
God of War, on the other hand, pinpointed the other side of the story.
Bringing players the ultimate audiovisual experience, or cinematization, has always been Sony's goal, and the emergence of God of War coincides with this starting point. The game released at the end of PS2 1000% squeezed out the function of PS2, one of the best screen performances first attracted the attention of players, and then look at other European and American games in the same period, exaggerated acting skills can not hide the soft nature of the action - it can be said that at that time, everyone reached a consensus, thinking that action games have to look at Japan, Europeans and Americans can not do this thing. "God of War" is not the case, the grand scene and the epic interactive performance is the skin, the refreshing operation feel is the bone, the combination of the two, complement each other, quickly left a deep impression on the player.
Although a large number of QTE has also been criticized (except for some mini-games), correspondingly, under the guidance of QTE, it brings near-perfect perspective control, presenting a boss battle full of mythical epic sense and grandeur. It's no exaggeration to say that God of War is probably the most performance-focused traditional action game.
The legend begins in Greece
Seduced by Ares, Kratos slashed his wife and daughter, and has been tormented by curses and nightmares ever since, while transforming into a Spartan warrior to take revenge. This is where Kuiye's story begins.
Like other games of this type, the original God of War has a diverse and free action combination system, the chain-connected double chain (Blade of Chaos) can be attacked and retreated, and the two-stage jump, air combos, throwing and other moves are wide open, combined with QTE, bringing excellent performance. At the same time, players can also use magic attacks and special buffs to assist in battle, as well as a mix of decryption and platform-jumping elements, which together set the tone for the series' gameplay. In early GameSpot demo articles, the gameplay was described as "a combination of the action of Devil May Cry and the puzzle solving of the ICO".
Once released, the game won the "Game of the Year" award from several media outlets. It has sold over 4.6 million copies worldwide, making it the fourteenth best-selling PS 2 game of all time. For a new IP, it is like a dark horse.
By the time the sequel was developed, game director David Jaffe stepped down as creative director, with chief animator Cory Barlog taking up the role of producer. Before the game's release, he mentioned that the team's goal was to continue the story of the previous game and expand multiple elements to present more epic moments, but they would not change much from the style of the previous game.
If the first work in the series is a surprise, then "God of War II" is the best case of steady play. Released on March 13, 2007 on the PS2 platform, the game is the sixth in the God of War series and takes place after God of War: Betrayal (mobile game).
Now that God of War: Betrayal is mentioned, it's the only God of War game in the series that isn't registered with Sony's big family, and the only God of War game played in a flat side scroll. And because it was released in 2007, when the mobile phone performance was limited, the Android system was not yet available, although it tried to lean in the direction of the original, but the actual performance well, you know. However, unsatisfactory performance does not mean shoddy, during the development process, the team maintained close contact with Santa Monica Studios, received a lot of help and support from David Jaffe and Cory Barlog in terms of design, and the script was also discussed with the original writers, which is a good transition and addition between generations 1 and 2.
So back to God of War II. In this work, Quixote's most popular weapon becomes the Athena Blade (actually a chain knife), and most of the attack methods are based on a combination of weapons and skills. As always, action is God of War 2's biggest selling point, while platform jumps, decryptions, and blushing mini-games further mobilize players' hormones. The enemies in the game are mainly from Greek mythology, including the Eagle Banshee, the Minotaur, the Serpent Banshee, the Griffin, the Cyclops, the Barbarians, the Priests, and so on. And compared with its predecessor, both the size of the puzzle and the number of bosses are much larger.
The game was released and achieved excellent commercial success in several regions:
In North America, as of the end of March 2007, it had sold 830,000 copies, twice as many as the second best-selling game;
In the UK, it became the best-selling game in its first week of release, selling more than 1 million copies in the first three months of release;
In June 2012, Sony reported that it had sold more than 4.24 million copies worldwide.
Before we move on, let's talk about two psp titles led by Ready at Dawn.
The host platform's "God of War I." and "God of War II" are sought after by players, sony in order to promote their own handheld, naturally started the idea of this IP, and the task of development was handed over to Ready at Dawn. Founded in 2003, many of the early members of the studio were from Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment, and the foundation was not bad, and it did not disappoint after taking over.
Released in 2008, God of War: Chains of Olympus is a game that inherits the set of the series, pushing back the time to the pre-generation story. In terms of gameplay, it is much the same as the series, with an original combat system and a very bold boss, and after fully tapping the 3D processing performance of PSP, it presents a delicate picture performance that is no less than that of the PS2 host, completing the perfect debut of the mobile platform.
Released in 2010, God of War: Souls of Sparta is the sixth in the series and fourth in chronological order. The steady level of production evoked a positive response from players, and the work was as popular as The Chain of Olympus. In addition, the story of this game is also a supplement to Kuiye's past experience, and the two works have since been packaged into the God of War: Origins collection and re-released on PS3.
In the PS3 generation, because of Sony's strategic problems, the momentum of console sales has declined, and the emergence of "God of War III" has directly injected a dose of tonic into this game console. Released on March 16, 2010 on the PS3 platform, God of War III is the fifth in the God of War series in order of release, seventh in story order, and the final chapter of the series' journey to Greece.
Quixote changes his weapon again, taking the Blade of Exile (yes, the Chain Knife), but in this game there are more secondary weapons (Apollo's Bow, Hades' Claw, Olympus's Sword) that can participate in combo attacks. Unlike previous games, magic skills have become bound to weapons, each with its own magic attack. More enemies, larger scenes, and additional challenges are sworn to the player, and it's the culmination of the series. It's no wonder that winning the prize is a soft one, and as of June 2012, the game's global sales were close to 5.2 million copies.
It is difficult for the Greek story to continue for the time being, and the next "God of War: God of War-Ascension" brings the story to the origin of the series. The game was first released on March 12, 2013 for the PS3 platform; it is the seventh installment in the God of War series, but is a prequel to the entire series.
In terms of gameplay, this game follows the previous design, but with three generations of pearls in front, it seems a bit dwarfed; plus the young Kui Ye has not yet mastered so many moves, and the fight is not smooth enough, less flavorful. However, as a work of a biographical nature, God of War: Self-Appointed God of Death is unique in trying to add a multiplayer mode. It is also the only title in the series that includes multiplayer.
Multiplayer has a maximum of 8 players, and players are allied with one of the four gods are Ares, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Each god offers a unique fighting style and fighting ability. Players can earn Experience Points (XP) to upgrade their characters, unlock special magical abilities, and complete the gods' challenges, earning rewards such as armor, weapons, and relics of the gods. In addition, the game offers a co-op mode in which the duo will work together against incoming enemies.
Sales are not as good as their predecessors, nominations have been obtained, but few can get hands, "God of War: God of Death" has been waterloo both in word of mouth and sales, and the Greek legend has been drawn with a rest.
Re-embark on the path of canonization in Northern Europe
"God of War III" drew a not-so-perfect, but satisfactory end to Quixote's trip to Greece, and at this moment, the negative review of the new work has put a layer of gloom on the series, and going forward or looking backward has become a problem that Santa Monica needs to consider. At this point, Corey Barlogger, who had fled during the development of God of War III, announced his return. Logically, he took over the heavy responsibility.
Under his leadership, What The Studio of Santa Monica did was to get Kratos back on his shoulders and to go through the path of canonization in Northern Europe.
After the game's stage was moved to Northern Europe, the setting also adopted a number of Norse mythological settings: such as the Norse gods, the Rune Rune, the great serpent Yemengard, and Thor also appeared (short shot). Then came the fierce-looking Kratos. Kui Ye, who had once blocked the god and killed the god Buddha, had a tired look on his face, and his mentality had become less irritable than before.
Cory Barlog describes it as a reboot of the series, but in fact for new players, these are almost two completely different games. Perhaps as a testament to the determination to start over, The New God of War did not use any subtitles this time. Released on April 20, 2018, the game is the eighth in the series in terms of both the order of release and the story.
What does restart mean? It was a drastic change of work. Whether it is an unpopular element or a popular system, the mature design has almost been torn down and redesigned: the perspective has changed from a fixed camera to a third-person rear-end view; the jump action and platform jump part of the gameplay have been removed, and the Kuiye who once jumped at a height that could kill three Geralts is now as undead as an undead and difficult to bend; the role-playing part and growth elements have been added, so that Kuiye can also wear new clothes in the adventure; the weapon hides the iconic double chain, Instead, it is replaced by a powerful Leviathan tomahawk and a shield of guardians that can prevent reactions; the performance directly abandons QTE and boldly adopts a shot loaded throughout the whole process without reading the picture to the end. In addition, Kui Ye with his son is no longer addicted to the small game of the Red Soul, I don't know if it will make you feel so sorry?
Regarding the level structure, Corey Barlogger describes it as "open, but not open world". As he puts it, New God of War finds the right balance between "openness" and "linearity." One-shot performance and compact story are still their first pursuits, but in the one-line story, Kui Ye will still have the opportunity to touch the fish at the right time. The area that can be explored is much larger than in the past, the whole Nordic three-dimensional is alive, combined with a light RPG system (character training, weapon upgrades, prop making, etc.), naturally more exciting to the player's desire to explore.
According to the needs of different players, after completing the main line, the game also prepared a hidden Valkyrie and a testing ground waiting for players who wanted platinum to challenge. One handle for a cup of tea, one Valkyrie for an afternoon.
The game was well received after its release, and was favored by many media and awards ceremonies. On Metacritic, the media rating was tied for the original God of War (2005) as the best in the series, and it won the best of the year at the TGA Awards Lectra: Redemption 2.
During the UK release week, God of War became the fastest-selling title in the series, with physical sales 35% higher than God of War III. It remained at the top of the sales charts for six consecutive weeks after its release, setting a record for PS4 exclusive games to rank first for several consecutive weeks. The game sold more than 3.1 million copies worldwide within three days of its release, more than 5 million copies in the first month, and by May 2019, the game had sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling game in the series. By August 2021, the game had sold more than 19.5 million copies.
In 2018, "God of War", which broke through itself in the pursuit of change, gave back to new and old players with a near-perfect answer, but due to the development cycle and cost, the similarity of monsters, boss skin changes, and lack of big scenes were also widely criticized; and after laying an incomparably solid foundation, in the new work, Santa Monica has time to adjust the focus, so we can also invest more expectations in this work. According to Santa Monica, the Nordic story will also end here cleanly, with all the suspense focused on it.
How the legend of god of war and his old father ends depends on how "Twilight of the Gods" will be staged in 2022.
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