@SandyofCthulhu Ah, Concord. It only existed for a short time, but people will tell its legend for decades to come. These character designs really were the perfect storm of tackiness and unclarity.
Applying "Ship of Theseus" to God of War. If a series isn't defined by its setting, protagonist, tone, themes or gameplay style, what is it defined by?
If you change all these things, what remains aside the high-level concept of epic adventuring and hitting things with a blade?
@YooooooBean I dunno, GoW 2018 felt different to me on a fundamental level. Most of its systems were completely new, built from the ground up.
You're right that Laufey will probably be closer to the originals while still operating in the new framework. A mix of old and new.
What if later Phranque the gelatinous cube gets his own spin-off where he falls through a magical portal ("Well, I guess that happened!"), ends up in modern-day Brooklyn and becomes a plumber, a bit like in some inverse Super Mario Bros (1993) scenario. Is that still God of War?
The latest entry shifts focus away from Kratos, no longer commits to a single mythology, tonally seems to be a big a leap towards quirky modern YA-fantasy, etc. What else would have to change before the series is no longer recognizably God of War?
And there's a strong chance I won't be getting a PS5, and hence won't be getting this game, making the speculation moot anyway.
Conclusion: God of War-series in in a weird place right now, but you could kind of see the signs in the two previous games already.
I guess God of War Laufey doesn't exactly come out of left-field. One could argue it just continues the trends set by Ragnarok:
- Kratos' role is diminished
- vastly expanded cast and setting
- softer tone with quip-filled dialogue
- increased mobility in gameplay
I suspect that with the improved gameplay I might actually like this game more than GoW: Ragnarok. But I really wished it was called something else, because at this point it basically only has 1% of the DNA of the classic God of War.