It seems like God of War was almost completely different, as Sony initially wanted to get rid of the game's protagonist, Kratos.
Santa Monica Studio’s 2018 outing God of War has gone down as one of the most popular and memorable PlayStation 4 exclusives so far, and, in a generation in which third-party developers and publishers seem to have heavily favored Sony, that’s really saying something. The game stands among a select few games that everyone should experience regardless of genre preference or platform affiliation, and that’s due in no small part to the title’s narrative elements. Vastly more robust than anything seen before in the series in terms of story, this God of War pseudo-reboot took a solid foundation and nearly perfected it.
That said, according to Cory Barlog, creative director at Santa Monica Studio, the game’s narrative direction was heavily debated early on in production. The team seems to have known from an early stage that they wanted to pivot away from the traditional God of War settings, but initially, it was hard to see a man like Kratos settling down and starting a family… again.
In fact, Barlog confessed that, originally, the team didn’t want to include Kratos in the game at all, believing him to be a bit of a worn-out character. “It was like, ‘he’s annoying, he’s done,’” he stated. “They really did not like the character. They wanted a new character.”
Given God of War’s reception, it’s good to know that the development team eventually stuck by the Ghost of Sparta, but, to be perfectly honest, the creative team’s issues with Kratos weren’t without merit. After three mainline series entries, a multiplayer-centric side story, and two prequel games on the PSP, it did seem like it was time to give the character a break. Plus, he had, in the past, been criticized for lacking emotion and relatability. Sure, he was initially presented as sort of a tragic hero, but, by the time God of War 3 rolled around, it was tough to see Kratos as anything other than an extremely angry, one-note demigod.
However, it was the location, not the setting, which was changed in the end. It first came as a bit of a shock to fans when it was announced that the series would, for the first time, be leaving the realm of Greek mythology in favor of Norse deities. Admittedly, it did seem like a natural progression; there weren’t very many gods kicking around for Kratos to kill after the third God of War game, so it was definitely time to move on to greener — or in this case, icier — pastures.
Yet, in a way, the creative minds behind 2018’s God of War did invent an entirely new character. While the Kratos players are introduced to in the game’s intro is the same from a lore perspective, tonally, and even physically, he’s really not that similar. Sporting an ax, a thick beard, and with an adolescent son in toe, he was about as far removed from the man who murdered Zeus as he could possibly have been.