Humour isn’t something you normally associate with the God Of War IP, but it seems to have been something more of a priority in God Of War Ragnarok. Speaking with Gameinformer, God Of War Ragnarok‘s Game Director, Eric Williams shares some insight into how and why humour was a greater focus in Ragnarok, the comparisons between the game and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and more.
In response to a question that was about the type of humour implemented and the timing of the decision to inject humour into the game in the first place, Williams said,
Because I was bringing a lot of really heavy stuff into it, and they were like, “okay, if we’re going to do this, we have to cut it somehow.” I wanted it to be like Empire [Strikes Back]. Remember, Empire is kind of a downer by the end. But I don’t want it to be that much of a downer because it is going to be the end.
I wanted the middle of the game to be kind of a downer, and then swing back around. So they were like, “Okay, cool. Can we start to open it up then?” And I was like, “Yeah,” and we started playing around with it and then we really leaned into the whole Kratos is like literally the most powerful straight man in comedy you’ve ever seen, to the point where he does things that are so him that you just laugh at him.
The one that always stood out to me is like when he first shows up, it’s in the house, and Sindri goes, “Do you need a snack?” And he just says, “I do not need a snack.” That’s going to be a meme on the Internet; one-hundred percent like that’s going to happen.
The decision to write humour into the God Of War Ragnarok experience is one thing, but having the talent capable of delivering it well is another thing altogether. Williams and fellow God Of War Director, Cory Barlog recently spoke of the incredible impact of Christopher Judge as Kratos, and this undoubtedly played an enormous part in those moments of levity resonating with players as the team wanted them to.
God Of War Ragnarok updates are still coming, with a photo mode confirmed to be on the way, while the game is smashing sales records in the UK.
God Of War Ragnarok is available now on PS4 and PS5.
