After many rumors, Santa Monica Studio finally unveiled God of War Laufey, the next chapter in the action/adventure franchise and the first to feature a main character other than Kratos.
We already knew from the rumor mill that the protagonist would be Faye (whose birth name is Laufey, hence the title), which led most to assume this would be a prequel, since her death kickstarts the events of 2018's God of War game. However, the developers have conceived a wholly different narrative: despite not having been previously called a god, after her funeral pyre, she awakes in a strange place that turns out to be the so-called Everywhen, the gods' afterlife and a place currently in great turmoil. Thus, her adventure takes place concurrently with the 2018 game and possibly well into the 2022 game, Ragnarok, or even beyond.
Aside from the intriguing setup, though, fans of the original God of War Greek trilogy may be rejoicing over another news tidbit: Santa Monica is looking to bring back some of those games' fluidity and visceral combat, mixed with the trademark gritty, personal combat of the Norse saga. The result looks great, at least based on the gameplay footage. In a video interview with IGN, the developers explained:
Ariel Lawrence (Game Director) - Faye has a different physique, I would say, than Kratos. She's not quite as solidly built as a brick wall as Kratos is, but she's every bit as much of a warrior. And so for her leaning into that kind of agility, that flexibility, the speed, while still maintaining how deadly she is. I think for us that was really a key spot to kind of hone in to. And just for us, you know, as developers looking through all of the games we've made, the Greek saga, the Norse saga, and really kind of stay true to our combat roots, this kind of quick, visceral combat, the fluidity of the Greek saga, but kind of the up close and gritty personal of the Norse saga and kind of bury those together in something that's really uniquely Faye.
Cory Barlog (Head of Creative): It's good accent, right? You have Kratos's very deliberate, straightforward combat persona now, and this new feel from 2018 to now, and this kind of new, almost polar opposite end of still a very familiar combat experience that has the influence of the Greek saga. So you kind of get this great new sort of addition alongside Kratos.
The most noticeable change is that Laufey/Faye can jump and perform air combos in a much more fluid manner than Kratos did in the franchise's latest two games.
Despite the lack of a concrete release window, it seems we won't have to wait too long to play God of War Laufey and see for ourselves whether the changes were a net positive. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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