There are a lot of things that separate the God of War series from other titles. But the biggest thing is easily the combat and the bosses you fight. After all, many games have fighting game mechanics and boss battles, but this series takes it to another level. In the original games on the PS2 and beyond, they had an intense action feel that kept getting bigger as the games went on. Not to mention, you were fighting characters from Greek Mythology, so the scale of the fights was gigantic at times. The PS4 game shifted the perspective and dealt with a more personal yet brutal type of combat. Plus, you were fighting Norse gods this time, which will continue with God of War Ragnarok.
The game will end the Norse saga for Kratos and his son Atreus, which means there will be a lot of enemies/gods to fight. Early previews and trailers have highlighted some of the battles these two will have, including against the God of Thunder in Thor. But now, the team at Santa Monica Studio has released a dev diary on the combat for the game, the enemies you’ll face, and how it was “elevated” from the previous title.
In the dev diary, they didn’t talk with one single person. Instead, they spoke with many people who helped in the combat. From the gameplay designer to the VFX crew, to the animators, and so on, each had their own stories on what they added to the game and how their combined input made the game stronger.
For example, one of the VFX artists noted how you feel the power and intensity of each move you have in combat with special effects. Or, when an enemy attacks, you understand how powerful they are and why you don’t want to get hit by them.
One of the animators revealed that they worked with a camera crew and motion-capture technology to choreograph the scenes and get better ideas for how the moves and techniques in the fight sequences should look.
Multiple team members stated that they had to walk a fine line with the game’s difficulty so that it would feel challenging but not frustrating. In addition, they want the player to have a sense of accomplishment when they win a fight because they know they earned it.
Recently, some God of War Ragnarok previews praised the variety of enemies you can fight. The team said this resulted from hearing the community feedback from the PS4 title. Fans wanted more things like mini-boss encounters and different monsters to fight, so the team gave them that. They emphasize that as you go through all nine realms, each one will have unique monsters and bosses to enjoy.
Watch the full dev diary below to learn more about the game before it arrives on November 9th.
Source: YouTube
