God of War Ragnarok has to be one of the year’s most hotly-anticipated games. With its November 9 release date fast approaching, two of the game’s Lead Combat Designers have been sharing new information on the upcoming action. In a recent interview with GameInformer, Mihir Sheth and Denny Yeh explained how Kratos will have some new and interesting tricks up his sleeve when it comes to combat in God of War Ragnarok.
According to the two designers, who have both worked on the God of War titles for a number of years, the upcoming game will feature new and improved combat systems. In particular, one of the game’s previously underused fighting mechanics has had something of a makeover. The triangle button, which in the original game would recall Kratos’ axe but do little else, has had a reworking to make it pack more of a punch, so to speak. Instead of acting as a simple recall tool, it’ll have a much more powerful function. In God of War Ragnarok, using the triangle button will equip Kratos with a brand new set of moves known as Weapon Signature Moves.
Check out a video below:
These special attacks will charge either the Blades of Chaos or the Leviathan Axe with ice and fire-based elemental energy, which will be inflicted upon enemies as corresponding elemental damage. By instantly freezing or causing enemies to combust, this new mechanic will definitely kick things up a notch when it comes to the damage Kratos can serve up. These blows will be known as Frost Awaken and Whiplash. Ouch. Being able to throw an axe that’ll burst into flames on connection with a monster and incinerating it instantly does sound pretty epic though.
These new elemental attacks underpin the wider rationale behind God of War Ragnarok’s enhanced combat revamp. While the majority of the weighty, heavy-duty combat action beloved in the first game will remain in place, subtle changes such as these ones will give the fighting sequences more impact. It’s all part of the new game’s internal primary philosophy as explained by Sheth, that “Kratos plays with his food.” Changes have been made to reflect the playfulness of Kratos’ battle actions, such as charging his shields with kinetic energy during fights, which can then be smashed down to knock enemies off their feet, for example.
It certainly sounds as though the game will feature some exciting and gameplay-enhancing changes. PlayStation recently released a video recapping the main events in the God of War story, ahead of the game’s release in a couple of months, for those new to the franchise. For the full discussion with God of War Ragnarok’s Lead Combat Designers, you can check out GameInformer’s interview. In the meantime, we’ll go back to counting down the days until the action-packed God of War Ragnarok launches on PlayStation consoles.
God of War Ragnarok will launch on November 9 on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
