God of War Laufey's reveal at the recent June 2026 State of Play certainly pleased many franchise fans, but that's not to say there weren't criticisms to be found online. For example, some wrinkled their noses at Phranque, a talking cosmic jelly cube companion played by actor Jack Quaid, largely known for his role of Hughie in the TV series The Boys (but also already present in God of War: Sons of Sparta as Eis). Phranque, like the sword's talking ribbon, Rue, was criticized for looking whimsical and therefore not grounded enough for some tastes.
The topic was tangentially touched upon by Game Director Ariel Lawrence in a recent interview with YouTuber FlowGames (spotted by ResetEra's Angie). Lawrence, who worked on the original God of War games before leaving for a stint at Riot Games, returned in July 2021 and found that Phranque (alongside Faye, of course) was the first character established by Head of Creative Cory Barlog when laying the foundation for God of War Laufey. She also said that Phranque's cubic nature has enabled the team to implement "super cool" mechanics for combat, traversal, and puzzle-solving.
Both Phranque and Rue are really important, both in combat assists as supplemental to Fay, but also in traversal and puzzle solving, and just the utility of both of them and what they can do in the shapes that they're in. So, for Phranque, as a cosmic jelly cube, how we may use him in certain parts of the world has definitely been exciting for the team just in terms of design work for us.
When I came back to the team, the two characters that actually were started from with Corey [Barlog] were both Faye and Phranque. Phranque was one of the very first things he's always been a part of this story in the Everywhen. And I think just that possibility of taking something that feels kind of inanimate and not a person, and really seeing how we could drive connection and story and make you feel about a cube. I think that was just an interesting challenge and pitch, and Cory and I were talking about it. I was like, "That's really exciting. That's something different." And I think that at the heart of it, too, it's just the surprise factor of it that was just so exciting for the team. And where we could go with that mechanically has also been super cool.
Indeed, I can already picture plenty of interesting applications. It would be even better if we could direct the cube ourselves, though that might not be the case. Anyway, talking objects aren't exactly news to the fantasy genre; as always, to judge a character's depth and value, we'll have to play the game ourselves. God of War Laufey doesn't have an official release window yet, but it is expected to launch next year on PlayStation 5, blending the brutal combat of the Norse era with the fluidity of the Greek era.
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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