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Despite Santa Monica Studio’s most recent God of War entries garnering immense praise, creator David Jaffe has stated that he is unhappy with the series’ – and Kratos’ – current direction. Jaffe cited that his biggest issue with the latest installments was the iconic protagonist’s glaring behavioral change after the Spartan captain went from a bloodthirsty, albeit layered warrior to a stoic yet caring father, saying: “I don’t want these characters to grow.”
With the God of War Ragnarok Valhalla DLC release time having recently kicked off, Jaffe made his thoughts known to the public via a YouTube video, in which he reacted to the comments made by Game Director Bruno Velazquez in an IGN interview. In the latter article, Velazquez stated: “You could say that a lot of our projects in our games and the way that we approach them kind of reflects a little bit also about the studio’s personalities and personal experiences.”
Jaffe then stated in the aforementioned video that he “doesn’t give a f*ck what you’re going through at the studio.” “If you’re [going to] build a brand new IP, or you’re [going to] build a character into the God of War lore, and that character is struggling or dealing with problems that [people] in the studio have dealt with, that’s wonderful, do that sh*t all day long,” he continued. Afterward, he expressed his disappointment with Kratos’s maturation, adding: “that is not what this character is.”
Later on in the clip, Jaffe noted that he liked the first mature iteration of Kratos “that Cory [Barlog] did” in 2018, “but that was because it was so meta and so interesting and genuinely just so good that I was cool with it.” “But no, I don’t like the direction that God of War is going in at all now after seeing Ragnarok,” he continued.
Despite Jaffe expressing his displeasure at the series’ latest developments, it’s safe to assume that we won’t be seeing the old battle-hungry Kratos make a reappearance any time soon. While you wait for details on a new installment, take a look at our guides on how to beat Heimdall in God of War Ragnarok, how to get to Sanctuary Grove in God of War Ragnarok, and how to get the Draupnir Spear in God of War Ragnarok.
