'That Looks Like Sh*t': God of War Creator Predictably Tears New PS5 Game to Shreds

Cannot disagree with the guy.

Even if the game was named "God of War: Jaffe" instead of "Laufey" he would still give it a 2/10.

Lacking gore? Have we been watching the same footage?

Kratos not being the same character anymore? The guy who tried to commit suicide in his very first scene, because he wants to move on from the atrocities he committed?

Well I thought it looked incredible 😭

To be honest, even though Jaffe is a tool 90% of the time and he overplays it for engagement, I do have to somewhat agree with the direction the franchise has taken since Ragnarok. Don't get me wrong, I think Ragnarok was amazing, but I cannot stand the Marvel-esque writing and dialog and some of the characters as well. There doesn't need to be comic relief in every scenario, especially not for God of War.

This guy is so salty it's gotten absurd.

Bitter man still bitter about being kicked out is still bitter about everything associated witht the thing he is bitter about.

I still think kill off the son and get Kratos doing what he does best without a Horizon type femme led entry. Game could be good but it's almost like they are pandering to the modern Disney type crowd. And look how that ended...

Death, Taxes, and Jaffe being a miserable F***

does he want kratos to just go on killing every god in existence?
how is that compelling? why not just make his own game then?

This is guy is a redpill isn't? Absurd.

@Czar_Khastik He's a man of principle.

@ArkhamGhost If it ain't broke, don't fix it. As opposed to if it's woke it needs fixing...

He's so blinded, he can't even see the violence in the game. His opinion is less valuable than my cat's. And I don't have a cat.

Poor crybaby

For god's sake Sammy, stop giving this man attention. Sigh.

@glennthefrog Certainly not a man of substance!

@Panic_Attache Too soon to tell without a drug test.

I'm indifferent to the game- it's more God Of War 2018 gameplay with weirder characters. I'm sure the Sony faithful will buy it.

As for Jaffe, you can understand. If you were the songwriter, singer, and lead guitar player for what you considered the ultimate metal band and you were replaced with a piano player who wrote songs about parent and child emotional issues I'm sure you would be bitter about your creation.

I still haven't played the previous two GoW's so I'm not going to comment on the direction of travel.

However I think that the argument that doing things differently is bad ignores the fact that not doing things differently creates its own problems.

Judge the game when it comes out and we can see what game it has become rather than the first 20 minutes of story and because it doesn't have Kratos as the lead.

I felt Disney vibes as well & I can't stand Jaffe!

@MrGawain I can't agree with the idea that the gameplay looks the same as 2018. Freya has shown that she can jump and double jump. That alone creates a brand new dimension to the combat.

@ShadowRJ
If only the core combat mechanics were as good as in the OG games...

I can't say I totally disagree with everything he said. However, even though I'm not very interested in the game I can appreciate that a lot of effort went into it. It doesn't look like ****. Some very talented people have clearly worked on this.

I'm just kind of ready for a break from GOW. But instead we are getting GOWL, Trilogy Remake, and a TV show? It's a bit too much. I'm also just not really interested in Fey much at all.

I love the gelatinous cube. I get the impression a lot of people have never encountered them before, which is why it seems so random.

@Chupa_loyzer I do agree that the combat in the Greek games was better than the Norse ones. That I do agree with, but I do think this one is looking like an improvement on the Norse games at least.

@ChikaBambus I kinda agree with you, I could not stand the last GoW game and the Atari GoW is not getting any of my money.

This looks good, hopefully it's not boring and sluggish as the last GoW. The last GoW felt like a Live Service game. Kratos felt incredibly underpowered from previous games.

@MrGawain I agree, GoW 2018 was good the last one was ***** horrible, boring and sluggish.

Dude is only saying that because the main character is a woman.

Gotta agree with him on the cube, sadly. But I've already said my piece about that in other articles, so I won't rehash it. The Disney vibes are real, too, but there's been a Marvel/Star Wars kind of thing going on in the previous two games, so I shouldn't be surprised.

The forspoken comment is spot on, I really did not gel with the Marvel-esque rhythm and tone to the writing in the trailer. Still interested to see what the game is but I'm cautious, and for sure Jaffe is trolling for engagement

I think Jaffe is a clown but he is correct

@ChikaBambus Was there any comic relief in this new trailer? At all?

Tell us you're jealous to not be working on a successful franchise anymore without telling us you're jealous

Jaffe is on point here. Like him or not this will be a title that will not sell the way Sony expects/wants it too. More stories of “Sony first party title sales continue to decline” to come.

It looks fine to me say no to drugs jaffe.word up son

Jaffe is a clown. Dude has no idea what his own game was about. Gow1 even had kratos be emotional yet this moron claims it was all about the gore. Im so glad hes not as often on sacred symbols anymore. Guys just annoying

I've dropped GOW 2018 like 4 times after trying to play it so generally I agree with Jaffe's view on the franchises direction as a whole. I loved the original trilogy

Totally agree, I find the old school GOW games MUCH more fun then the new third person stuff.

I agree with his points but to say it looks s*** is taking it way too far.

For what it was I thought it looked excellent. His games were also excellent for what they were but he needs to accept things change and evolve so fatigue doesn't kick in.

@THEBrew hasn't GoW 2018 outsold all the previous titles in the franchise combined?

I think this dude may just be jealous of their success without him. Which is just sad really.

Overall liked the reveal.
But the shift to a less mature feeling, i don't know about that..

This just in... David Jaffe runs his mouth again... more breaking news at 5.

This guy needs to realize he isnt relevant and never was relevant. Yes he created god of war, but there is a reason he no longer works on it or for Sony. The guy is just a bitter tool and nothing that is done is going to appease him.

@S1ayeR74
GoW games have always been third person.

@Chupa_loyzer Ok over the shoulder then, the viewpoint Sony seems to demand is used in all its games since PS3. Vast difference in over the top higher viewpoint slaying endless enemies with knives on chains, to over the shoulder with an axe and a child with a bow and arrow...

You can be better and not condone with this jealous nonsense, Pushsquare.

I'm not a God of War mark, but I must admit Jaffe has some good points (though completely blown out of proportion).

I think the combat looks incredible, the fidelity is unmatched, and the art direction, in general, is awesome.

BUT that cube and talking ribbons are such a dumb choice. The derpy animal in the beginning - groan.

I'm a millennial, but I think a lot of those choices are where the "millennial cringe" criticism of our generation carries a lot of weight.

Sounds like Jaffe hates the poorly written dialogue almost as much as I do.

@somnambulance I don’t think the Forspoken comparison will be a net benefit.

Lol, Forspoken was the first thing that came to my mind too. The full 20 min '''''gameplay'''' showcase was wholly unappealing to me, and I'm not even attached to the franchise.
Cookie-cutter movie game garbage constantly assaulting you with inane contemporary dialogue. Furthermore, it's gonna be an unfocused mismash of different mythologies, so instead of getting a Mesopotamian GOW, or an Egyptian GOW, or an Arthurian GOW (as examples) you're getting themed levels at best instead. Lame.
Jaffe is on the money here. These guys are putting out games nobody asked for, and with God of War being such a cash cow of a concept I have no idea why.
Take literally ANY mythos in the world and make a new game with brand new protagonist and supporting cast themed around THAT mythos, it's stupid simple.

@AdamNovice I think most people mean the dialog when they make that kind of comparison. You can actually trace it back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, since the Marvel tone was pretty much cemented by Joss Whedon.

@AdamNovice Overly quippy dialogue and reluctance to let a serious moment land without undercutting it with humor.

I'm conflicted. The combat looks good - what I would have liked to see in the Norse saga. Against that, they've finally succeeded in turning God of War into a Disney attraction. I really wish the infantilization of mature properties would stop.

Was talking to my son after the showcase, and he is looking forward to the game, but he can also tell I am drained out on the Sony formula and same worlds they create now.
That’s due to my longer time with Sony than him and my problem.

Sales will tell but I don’t think the latest Sony studio AAA releases sell as high as they used to.
Even FH5 sold more than Astro Bot and Ghost of Yotei.
Why, I guess because FH5 is new to PS and Say GOY is a sequel and the same Sony formula. So maybe it’s not just me getting tired of Sonys formula and worlds.
They could do with some new ip and a refresh of sorts.

The cube is weird, it will most likely change form but it looks off. The game looks amazing though, and i cant wait to play it

@KidRisky That's actually a perfect description.

While I really enjoyed God of War (2018), especially the new take on Kratos, I still haven't played Ragnarok. For some reason I just didn't have the desire. Yes, I know it's wildly regarded. So was the first one, but as much as I liked the first one I just wasn't as enamored with it as everyone else at the time.

However, after seeing Laufey and hearing how it's a parallel story running alongside the other two games, I am now extremely stoked to finally dive into Ragnarok for the first time.

@KidRisky Irony poison the f out of anything remotely fantastical, like the protagonists - and by extension the writers - are too cool for any sense of immersion.
"A talking cube... and a talking sword" - said the lady with the glowing hand currently inside the fairy-tail creature jail scene from Shrek 1. I am so sick of this style of writing dude lmao

David Jaffe must be a deeply unhappy person, all he does is hate things from what I see.

Still he gives sites like this good fodder to use as engagement bait.

@AdamNovice

...it just seems that people see a talking cube and automatically think it's stupid.

I mean, yeah. To be clear, I think the game, as a game, looks incredible. But that cube is stupid.

As the saying goes, "If you're explaining, you're losing."

Well, he's not totally wrong.
It just felt like watching some crappy Marvel spin-off, complete with the cringe comic relief characters.

Not for me, I prefer Kratos, or another male lead, but the game didn't look bad to me at all, and I hope it does well upon release

Really PushSquare, stop giving this irrelevant washed up devs a spotlight 🙄

What was once a gory operatic greek tragedy has now become a Disneyfied product full of anachronisms, whimsy and millennial humour.

And some of the changes in gameplay have objectively been for the worse; so many forced walk and talk segments completely kills any desire to replay the games; all for the insistence of no camera cuts. At the very least they should allow you to skip these moments in new game+

Jaffe hates it? That's my preorder going in then

Saltier than the Dead Sea (though I'm not particularly enamoured with the Marvel/Disneyfication of seemingly every damn Sony game).

He literally didn't say half of what you quoted... Why are you lying? He did say he doesn't like it though.Just watched his stream and comments on it. The game looks amazing, you lot are a bunch of miserable [redacted].

When your last game was the horrendous Drawn to Death I don't think you can realistically get away with saying anything looks like sh*t. That is def not something you can say about Laufey. The game looks stunning. It may not be what everyone wanted the next God of war game to be but it does look great.

@ShadowRJ They should have sooner implemented the jumping with Kratos, (like in Ragnarok, say) then the blades would have felt like a true callback to the original games. Instead, we get a more action oriented (supposedly) GoW game, with a different character that most people would rather not play as, while continuing the 'Disneyfied' direction of Ragnarok.

I don't understand this recent trend for sidelining main characters in their own franchises. 🤷

To each their own, but I cannot wait for this game.
Also, I do think GoW 2 and 3 were better than the first game in almost every aspect and he was only partially tied to the second game.

Has it become illegal, to NOT love the direction, the series has taken, since the 2018 game?
Everything I loved about the original trilogy, is gone.

It's like if a band, who started out metal, suddenly turned into blues rock, or pop. I wouldn't like that either.

It's rare that I agree with Jaffe, but here we are.

The trailer has now also reached the 100K dislike mark.

Yeah, good luck, SSM.I think Nishino is just waiting to clean the house.

Jaffe can be amusing sometimes but the constant playing to the gallery can be tiring. He really threw his toys when he found out who was directing it. I always thought the originals were fine, bit one dimensional but enjoyable enough. 2018 was definitely a huge step up in quality for the franchise.

He must know about the Disneyfication of games since he was a game designer on Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse. Oh boy!

What I also think is hilarious, that everytime a game, with a woman in the lead, gets negative feedback, then suddenly we are incels/misogynic, or what word is popular at the moment. But doing the same with a game, with a male lead, then it's just fine?

Jaffe has the right to criticize the direction of the series he was instrumental in creating, even if I couldn’t disagree with him more.

@J2theEzzo What are you talking about 'disneyfied'?

I don't mind Jade but it just seems like he hates anything God Of War now because he isn't making it

@AdamNovice I totally get that, but it just seems incongruent with rooting God of War in a more bombastic historical mythology. I'm sure they have a very good reason for it to be there and by the end of the game, it will all make sense, but it was a decision that immediately put them on the back foot, defending their decision. I'd wager that a lot of fans of God of War aren't fans of DnD and it's more quirky lore.

@Exerion76 I hear you, stranger. I've been waiting even longer for Final Fantasy to be a turn-based RPG again. Like me, I don't like God of War style action games and don't want that in a game named Final Fantasy.
But it would be cool to hear a heavy metal band take a shot at blues rock, like when Deathklok did That Ol' Murdertrain a-Comin' Blues.

@THEBrew
the franchise was basically cooked after GOW 3. it WAS broke, so they fixed it

What has this idiot worked on after the two first GoW games?

He should trim that disgusting beard instead of being jelly and criticizing this game.

We are "literally" talking about the afterlife of the Gods? What does that even mean?

Guy's right. The character derailment has been one of the worst ever, and now this.

@SecretSeashell

I hope they don't turn Dragon Quest into action games, as well.

There’s a whole psychology to unpack here, because I know some of the Jaffe comments may be related to engagement baiting and said for shock value, but I also acknowledge that a person who is the creator of a given IP will likely have strong feelings to see it taken in a direction that they don’t agree with. So he’s definitely entitled to his opinion.

Regardless, I really liked the look of the game. And, although we have very little to go on at present, to me it looks like it totally fits within the GoW universe and is actually a really clever idea of where to take it to make things fresh and yet familiar.

I think the game will do just fine and not be a “Forspoken-like” critically or commercially. Will it “not do well for what they expect it to do”? Hard to say. Is Sony expecting 20 million sales? Probably not. The game should be a success and will sell millions though.

Jaffe is allowed to have his opinions, just like everyone else.

I think the action looked good but the jumping did look a bit janky and I can see the forspoken comparisons.

When there were rumors of a "Non-GoW" God of War game I expected something more different, more creative than this. I'm somewhat disappointed.

I feel like the name is the issue for some, anything “God of War” immediately becomes a Kratos game which this game isn’t. Genuinely liked the high fantasy direction and the idea of a pantheon of mythologies is intriguing. Saying the series is gone / lost or Santa Monica have forgotten what a GoW game is a little ridiculous when they confirmed they are remaking the original Greek trilogy.

@AdamNovice That very well may be true, but there's also the danger of patronizing your audience. Santa Monica has likely earned the benefit of the doubt, but God of War is not above criticism and isn't owed success. They have to earn it every time. If you put yourself in a position where you have to defend your decision, you're already at a disadvantage, and on its surface, a talking cube just reads as really stupid to a lot of people.

laufey looked dull and boring, i agree without gow brand this game is.. skipped

He hopes it doesnt succeed because I bet he would calculate the amount of money he would miss out on.
Game looks great to me, day one for sure.

@Swandivetotheasphalt I agree. As a D&D player/DM the gelatinous cube made me smile. I also like the idea of animate ribbons and not the sword. I am curious on their backstory. Im looking forward to the game.

@AdamNovice I agree that, in my humble opinion, Kratos was not a good character in the original series. He always struck me as one-note, raged without nuance, and generally not relatable. The 2018 game really made me care about the character and his story. Of course this is all just my personal opinion, and many people tell me that the tragic, enraged Kratos who was running around mad at everyone (and having sex regularly on the side 😅) is a very deep and disturbed character with a profound arc. If so, I missed it while I was playing those games.

Shame on this website for keeping this guy relevant here but anything for engagement i guess

@Elodin The Cube was definitely a fun DnD reference. My guess is the cube may become an interesting game mechanic.

I mean it obviously won't sell as well as the 2018 game but it will most likely turn a profit for Sony.

I also dont like the new direction of the franchise that much, but oh my, the cover art is gorgeous!
Edit: minus the stupid cube.

@Kingy get over yourself u people need to go outside touch some grass the game was not meant for u ok and once again push square wants to push this no body that has not made a game in freaking years who is bitter that remake of gow is doing better then his own games he made u all just bunch of bitter men who upset woman are leads in games

@AdamNovice Twisted Metal 2012 was not bad in my opinion, a lot of people disliked it but ai don’t remember any developer trashing the game even after launch.

@ShadowRJ Well, someone above basically perfectly summarised it, but to paraphrase "infantalisation of mature themes/ content". Whereby some fantastical and violent realm of dead gods, in a game that was once renowned for its pitiless lead and graphic combat, seeks to introduce "cute" animal companions and wise-cracking comedy buddies, eg. Gelatinous cube and mystical sword ribbon.

I wasn't big on the overall tonal change and constant exposition of Ragnarok, and this looks like it's going to continue with that, and I don't really see why these characters are necessary, other than an appeal to a younger audience, who maybe shouldn't be playing the game at all? (Because presumably too young)

@Slayer25c You either replied to the wrong guy or you need to get a grip

Guy complains about everything, so nothing new there.

@Kingy You're talking as if you already played the game. They showed at least 3 mythologies, less than GoW 2018 and Ragnarok. Were they an "unfocused mismash of different mythologies"?

"... he believes without the God of War branding, no one would care about the game."

I dare say, without the "God of War Creator" branding, no one would care about HIM.

@MrBert Perfect.

I think it looks cool, and the gameplay seems pretty similar to the other Norse games from what we’ve seen. After hearing so much about Faye in those games, I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s all about.

I'm quite excited for this. I liked the weird talking gelatinous cube and ribbon. Makes me think this game is gonna be bat ***** crazy. It certainly looks like it has that GoW 2018/Ragnarok hard hitting feel and graphically it looks amazing.

I definitely don't see where the hate is coming from for this game.

Faye looks like a badass, the combat looks awesome. The new gods(the few they've showed us so far) look amazing.

This game screams GOTY contender next year.

Also I'm surprised people aren't thinking that the cube could potentially be some god or something trapped in that form which would be a awesome reveal, or something tragic will happen to Phranque which will set Fay off on a rampage. Jack Quaid is going to knock that role out of the park anyways.

Also I will never understand why people have a issue with a female led game with a badass/tough woman taking charge. Kratos isn't going anywhere, and if anything this game will show people why Kratos fell in love with the woman in this first place.

Super Excited for this game and can't wait to see more about it probably at the VGA's.

It looked awesome! Man Jaffe needs to chill

Sounds like he fits right in with all the other ragebaiters online. Also, he just wanted Kratos to be the angry god killer forever.

@wildcat_kickz In terms of the millennial cringe, I know what you mean. It's more younger millennials, though. The ones that grew up with the internet rather than the ones that got the internet in their late teens or early twenties, and the ones that really loved the awful MCU style of writing. Older would've started out with CDs, Mega Drives and ringing their friends' parents' landline; younger millennials started out with iPods, PS3s (so online consoles with DLC) and everyone having smartphones. It's weird those two groups are put as one generation.

I completely disagree. I absolutely adored the full 20 mins. This game looks insanely awesome to me! I even liked the jelly cube thing. But its a good thing i dont give a F about a game’s title, cause that sh*t literally made me Laufey out loud 😂

@somnambulance To be fair, what people tended to hate was the dialogue and tone of the cutscenes. I don't remember seeing much about the actual gameplay. And a lot of people, me included, are really put off by Sony's love of walking down linear corridors while the character talks to themselves or their companion (likely with MCU drenched dialogue), then maybe you climb something, then a cutscene, then a relatively basic fight, then a cutscene, then walking and talking, etc. It all feels samey and like it's weaving between being a movie, a walking sim, and a little combat arena.

@Paramahansa There's an article on the front page you can scroll down to read for further details, but basically the setting of this game is a mythology multiverse.

Logically speaking it's safe to assume this game is going to showcase far more than three mythologies, and because of that their portrayals will be far less developed than that of the Greek and Norse series, obviously.

It definitely doesn't look like *****...but im personally not very interested in it myself.

I'm just waiting for the remastered trilogy. Now that ive had long to think about it I realize I just prefer the old games style of gameplay and puzzles.

Oh, no!

Anyway....

I'm pretty excited for this one. Finally hack n slash is back in the franchise!

@Matroska We're all guilty of it, to some extent. The writing style started with Joss Whedon's TV shows, which were 90s and early 00s. The writing itself wasn't bad to start with, but it just got completely oversaturated, so it wasn't novel anymore and the copycats didn't quite capture that Whedon pacing. It came off more ham-fisted and cringey as a result.

I might be the only one here who actually watched (most of) the Jaffe video in question, while everyone else is blindly reacting off the headline. His reaction is more nuanced that that, but I guess everyone is just for or against anything these days.

Edit; Seems the video is unavailable now, at least here in Norway with the reason: Video unavailable
This video contains content from SME, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds

Sony struck it down?

I agree with him. It looks like generic, uninspired fantasy. Some of the art looks nice, but that's about it.

Now to be honest I haven't played the 2018 GoW game or it's sequel, so I'm intentionally averting my gaze to the trailer for Laufey for now. I will say this though:
I don't care if he has a point or not, (and this is a completely subjective argument not an OBjective one, so this valid) because Jaffe has repeatedly shown himself to be a bitter hack.He's the "guy who peaked in high school and never lets you forget what he did there".
A broken clock is right twice a day... but it's still broken.
So broken he lacks basic video game pathfinding skills or any filter over his nonsense opinions, so why should I care about them?

I intend to eventually pick GoW 2018 off my backlog, judge it, and everything else that comes near it, strictly on it's own merits, and divorce the creator of the original game and his ***** opinions from my own.

'cause I've never been one to let other's opinions stop me from at least investigating something I am intersted in...
and if it's someone whose opinions I cannot respect, even more so.

What was shown felt very Marvel-esque, and it's cringe. GoW and wacky quirk-chungus cube with "guy from that show I like" who quips every 30 seconds shouldn't be synonymous in my view. But then, this is the triple A way nowadays - make everything like Marvel because it was extremely successful and a major recent cultural milestone that everyone and their mother remembers.
You can certainly tell that there's a new creative lead for this game and now most Sony protagonists are women with a revenge MO, and yes, it's by design - so maybe there's a bit more to the criticism than "incels mad"?
The biggest positive by far was the aerial combat, which if done correctly with depth could be really fun, thing is, you may have to suffer through pages of Wedonistic or millennial writing to get there each time.
Lastly, once again a major Western studio has hired a well-known attractive actress to use her likeness for their protagonist, only to purposefully make her less attractive in-game. A tiresome and spiteful trend indeed.

It looks very normie core to me but I love Deborah Ann Woll, so I'll play it eventually lol. I was never a huge God of War fan but I can definitely see why older fans roll their eyes at this stuff as it deviates further away from how it started so hopefully they do a really good job with the remakes to earn some of that trust back from fans or something, idk. And while his complaints are valid and Forspoken is incredibly cringe garbage, David Jaffe is also a severely out of touch boomer who thought DLSS5 looked objectively better overall so I wouldn't take his opinion too seriously lol

@Chupa_loyzer he also said the same thing about god of war 2018 and the sequel

It doesn't look like *****, but its definitely not the direction I want the franchise to go in. After 2018 the franchise just seems to be on a bit of a downward trajectory

You mean he hates a game that he didn't personally create!? Yep, that's how he feels about everything.

@wildcat_kickz Well for what it's worth, me and my friend would've been 17 in 2000 and we'd watch Buffy and Angel sometimes. We overall liked it but did comment on the annoying, artificial way people spoke. The very "scripty" dialogue. It bothered me more than him, but I complained about Whedon's dialogue before it was cool, I guess. Also see: Alien Resurrection. I think just being a bit younger (like born in 1990) or watching it after it initially aired at a younger age would make it just seem really cool and fun. But you're definitely right that the more recently annoying and pervasive trends do have their origins in the late 90s. It was at least way rarer then.

lets be honest he hates everything , he hated God of war since it changed in 2018. His ego burnt all his bridges or he would still have a job with sony. but that goes with the whole idea of , it feels like some people are just never happy with what is announced , but i'll be enjoying this game when it comes out.

@twitchtvpat
And he's not that far away from the truth in those case either.

Good to see I am not alone in the sentiment that cube really distub the whole thing. I am also not fan of what we see overall like I said before. But that cube is probably one of the worst creative decisions in a media product. It is just awful and I can't accept it even though I've watched gameplay a few times.

Funny thing is I already love Faye more than Kratos. Actress being Deborah Ann Woll does a great job. Hope we see her badass boss fights with some old foes!

I don’t even care about GOW but Jaffe is insufferable

Did this really deserve a post?

I'll probably enjoy it, but i'd be lying if I said I've enjoyed the last few games as much as 2 and 3.

Even if not a lot of people agree with him, as the creator of the IP he does have a right to an opinion.

That’s like when Akira Toriyama didn’t like what they did with Dragon Ball Evolution cause they changed so much.
God of War (2018) changed so much about the IP.

So why give coverage to the petty ramblings of a bitter man?

he's right about many aspects of this game... that was a terrible first impression and killed my interest... i'm not alone in that.

it probably won't sell well and be a flop for sony... i don't know how anyone could find that take controversial. people play god of war for kratos and if he is not a prominant character, you are alienating the vast majority of your audience. let's leave it at that.

this game has an identity crisis and took too many cues from marvel which is a big mistake. the tone is all over the place and the jello cube is just... childish and stupid. this could be the nail in the coffin for the franchise if it truly bombs.

god of war should have been given 5-10 years to rest while santa monica works on something new. the fact they have failed to create a new IP multiple times should concern everyone at sony, but instead of coming to terms with the problem and fixing it, they are going to destroy the god of war franchise... good intentions or not.

at most, laufey should have been a $30 DLC — a 10-15 hour side story. that's it.

PS i find it hilarious how angry people are at jaffe's opinions . i mean, some people on here are about to pass out from some harmless comments someone made. you guys sound very toxic and it's all in the name of blind loyalty for a corporation or video game franchise??? very sad indeed. just disagree with him, explain why and move on instead of hating on the guy. it's like a cult in here... yeesh.

I mean rightfully so. The premise is pretty awful, and hamfisted. The implications in the original games was wonderful. This is like what if Atlus Shrugged was a visual novel you must play midway through Bioshock. Dumb.

@Dimey, thank you. I don't understand why he even matters at this point. He can open is mouth when he is as respected as Hideo Kojima, until then. He's a former employee. He needs to sit down and shut up.

I dont think it looked like sh#t, but I do definitely agree with a lot of his points.

What a weird (and very predictable) guy

It will sell millions. Good try buddy.

Looks like complete garbage.

I seem to recall that this man has certain...suspect opinions about things.

He's not wrong about it looking more and more like a fantasy series and less like the bloody mess the series started out as. I guess we have Wolverine for that now.

Still, I like the new GoW games so far, even if they have lost a bit of their edge. I'll be curious to see how the remake of the OG Trilogy does.

@Propaperpusher totally agree, never finished Ragnarok, it bored me.

Personally I still prefer the original Trilogy of GoW. But I like the look of this new game more than the 2018 game & Ragnarok.

Well the trailer killed any interest for me. The cube is a joke, looked awful, and though I like her character i have no interest in playing this story.
Like the man or not, he's allowed his opinion, more so than most. How you take that opinion is upto you.
I'm sure it will sell in the millions, but much less than the latest GOW games. Would be interesting to know the budget and how much Sony are expecting it to sell. I'd put money on them being disappointed.

This is the Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Ghost of Yotei and TLOU2 of the series.

@SuplexingTrains Best comment I’ve seen in a long time. But then I don’t usually read comments, in much the same way I don’t usually stroll through minefields.

The man who created something huge doesn't like the big directional change others have taken with his creation. What's the issue?

So many comments dumping on him because he doesn't like it, he is perfectly entitled to feel as he does without no marks berating him for doing so.

@Burnish1619

You can certainly tell that there's a new creative lead for this game and now most Sony protagonists are women with a revenge MO, and yes, it's by design

Most? So far the only female protag with revenge MO in Sony recent games was Ellie/Abby in TloU 2 and Atsu in Ghost of Yotei.

• Selene in Returnal didn't seek for revenge. She just wants to get out from the planet that trapped her in infinite death loop.
• Faye already dead in this game and based on her appearance in Ragnarok her only purpose is to warn Kratos about the prophecies.
• Rivet in R&C Rift Apart only want to bring back Lombaxes and free her dimension.
• Aloy in Horizon FW only purpose is stopping a planet-wide ecological collapse. There's no revenge MO.
• And so far there's no info if Jordan in Intergalactic have revenge MO.

Has he made a game recently? Simply curious.

Jaffe is washed up

Stick to the cakes mate. It looks great

Do people like this guy? What a donkey whinney baby omg. It seems he is salty that he didn't get to be the part of the games moving on and imo the only good old school GOW was the third installment. Cory's GOW reboots are way better. Just take the L and move on.

@Ainu20 sites like this survive from clicks and ad revenue. His attention seeking boosts revenue for the pushsquare which is also attention seeking otherwise it would be dead.

I like Jaffe but I have to respectfully disagree. Although there were some silly moments like the cube and Disney looking character the game looks incredible from a technical perspective. Game play also looks pretty good and since it’s only a small portion of the game it’s difficult to gauge how the combat will evolve from there. Like she may have multiple weapon types etc.

I feel like Jaffe is the god of Misery effecting today's gamers with his essence so many of today gamers and not just gamers people in general act just like him

@KawakiisaFraud 90% probably asmongold watchers that a scared of womans
So a bunch of virgin losers

Tell me that your jealous without telling me that your jealous lol
Instead of YouTube he should get an actual job maybe i don't clean the street doing something good for the community

Stop giving attention to such a loser. No matter the direction a game takes, it will never please everyone and certainly not a certain demographic of people. That dude is a has-been who is only capable of spewing hate and negativity.

GoW 2018 is my current favorite game of all time (with Okami a close second) and I'm still interested, but also a little bit concerned. The dialog and cube character do seem to be pushing a bit further than I'd like into quippy, irreverent territory that has plagued so much modern scifi and fantasy media.

GoW had comic relief, mostly delivered by Brock and Sindri, but it was relatively subdued.

20 minutes of early game footage is obviously not enough to pass judgement on the whole game, but as an indication of overall tone and direction, I'm not thrilled.

I'm diametrically opposed to most of Jaffe's positions, but the guy does have a point here. There's no denying that what was shown does carry some of Santa Monica's DNA, particularly on the technical side of things. But the overall concept will undoubtedly fall flatter than its predecessors, by a lot.

You want to take the risk, take the risk. Go full-on new IP. GOW without Kratos is the worst of both worlds. It doesn't resonate. Throughout the whole presentation, I'm pretty sure a sizeable chunk of the larger audience was thinking "how long do I need to play as whoever before Kratos takes over?".

And I have a bad feeling that Sony will make the very same mistake with Uncharted.

@Bartig don’t tell PushSquare to be better. Let us indulge in this a bit. Haha.

I don’t agree with Jaffe on much. He’s clearly farming for engagement. But I also kinda like PushSquare being a bit like this sometimes.

It sparks nice debates in the comments and allows people to let off steam.

Yeah, we should be better. But oh well. 😇

@Porco so you also hated god of war from 2018 because he also hated that ? he hates on anything he didn't make. i hate to break it to you , but this game is 100% going to sell , lets face it these days the internet's opinions have become the minority in what actually sells.

I thought it looked ok. The blue jelly cube was kinda stupid but I’m definitely interested in seeing more.

Nothing will ever come close to those original GOW games though.

@THEBrew What does this have what Horizon has? The superpowers of Aloy the faster combat seriously besides its a woman with red hair what the same?

@PuppetMaster Just some sad person who can't stand a female as the lead.

@Lavishturtle Better get glasses you seem to be blind.

@Matroska I don't understand with Uncharted lots of gameplay and cutscenes between them, Last of Us also enough gameplay with cutscenes between them, Rachet and Clank also tons of gameplay with somecutscenes. You ever played a real walking simulator?

@Porco This guy hates on everything i never seen him praise anything he is just salty he got kicked to the curb.

Nothing to do with Loyalty i loved how the game looked. Don't worry you will get another GOW with Kratos.

@danzoEX The difference between Toriyama was that he still worked on DB this guy dropped the ball a lot of times and he is just a bitter little bitch.

"Furiosa: Mad Max Saga" and "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina" lost money because they were missing a key ingredient... the main characters of Mad Max and John Wick. They may have better success with a new IP instead of riding the coattails of something that exists.

jaffe who gave up on god of war is trying to be relevant these days and xbox fans hate the idea of a female being lead protagonist in a game they said ghost of yotei would flop for that reason it was a huge success..

i hope the remake of the greek trilogy is done in the same way as the current god of war games..

It’s still too early to judge the game’s success, but one thing is clear: the theme, style, and core have shifted significantly and personally, I’m not a fan. I’m hoping this is a transitional entry, a stepping stone back to Kratos at his most iconic. That’s when I’ll be truly interested again.

I completely forgot the original trilogy was being remade. I love those games!

He's a very bitter bloke but I have a feeling this won't sell well compared to 2018 and Ragnarok.

We still live in a world where certain male gamers won't buy or play games with a female protagonist

Jaffe must be burning in jealousy and anger watching Cory got a lot of success and became more recognizeable in gaming industry compare to him who only became an irrelevant and washed up grifters that no one wants to work with.

And i think it's clear right now which one is more talented between Cory and Jaffe. Heck, i'm not surprised if Cory who's actually made bigger contributions than Jaffe for GoW 1 development.

@rusty82

We still live in a world where certain male gamers won't buy or play games with a female protagonist

Well many male gamers actually bought games with female protags such as Stellar Blade, Nier Automata, Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, Metroid, Horizon, Control, Alien Isolation, RE, Parasite Eve, Ghost of Yotei etc. So there's nothing to worry if some specific male species doesn't buy games with female protag.

@PuppetMaster I'm not saying games with female leads don't sell I just think there's still a big percentage of gamer's that won't buy games with female protagonists.

We will never know if the examples you gave would have sold better with male protagonists but I suspect they would have.

For the record it doesn't matter to me who the lead is, a good game is a good game.

I would have been more worried if the neckbeard liked it.

@rusty82 agreed. Also, I could be wrong, but I get the impression that certain gamers are only interested in a game with a female protagonist if she were made to appeal to them sexually, like Stellar Blade or Nier Automata. Anything else, they won't play and will come up with all sorts of excuses for not liking it.

@EfYI and its shape is portrayed by the beautiful Cuborah Ann Cube, which in itself sets an impossible beauty standard for gelatinous cubes everywhere.

@L_R_V no matter how well Laufey does, some people who don't want to see it succeed will compare it to the best selling God of War game to prove their point that it wouldn't sell well.

We saw the same with Miles Morales which ended up selling well anyway.

@Flaming_Kaiser I'm saying that so much of GOW, UC and TLoU is just walking along, squeezing through gaps, moving without any gameplay while dialogue sound files play. There are entire chapters in UC where you just walk around and trigger dialogue. Apart from UC1, you can't even fail the climbing sections so it's effectively just slow walking. They're basically little combat arenas and set pieces separated by linear walking sim sections. There's no decision making process here, you just hold forwards on the left stick for huge portions of these games.

Even in levels with "gameplay" it's often just blindly following someone through a linear path and doing what they say, triggering cutscenes and listening to them talk. 38 minutes of that kind of thing in, say, UC4 Chapter 6. No combat and the only way to fail is intentionally swinging on the grappling hook away from where you're headed.

This guy is such a snowflake

@naruball it's sad really isn't it.

In 2 ways 1 that they only want sexualised women and 2 that it works as these are not real women 🙈😂, are these the same people who got turned in by Jessica rabbit? 😂 Or Lara's pointy triangle boobs in the original tomb raider?

I really enjoyed Stellar Blade but I didn't get any arousal from it 😂😂

@johnedwin What have Xbox fans got to do with this haha crazy statement maybe some people just don't like the game??
Xbox or it's fans have literally nothing to do with this game or how it being received.
Talk about living rent free in someones head!
The game isn't universally loved straight away it must be Xbox and there fans!!🤔

He may be a prick but he's not 100% wrong.
I had the exact same thought after seeing the video - are they going for a PG13 with this spinoff ?
It's a gameplay trailer, they may not have shown mature content for the sake of the overall rating of the State of Play. But without an official confirmation, the question does stand.
Lowering the rating would be completely bad for the franchise.

Looked amazing, and considering the leviathan axe is actually hers because she needed to counter Thor's mjolnir it's always been made clear she's a incredible warrior which is why kratos fell.
Good to see what she's about

Internet will do internet things and be angry there's a woman in their game but jaffe, even tho he claims he isn't salty, all one needs do is listen to one of his podcasts to know he's a profoundly bitter man, especially when it comes to Sony

Gotta start ignoring this guy. Reminds me of how the current USA president came to be. Just being a manic blowhard and journalists writing about it all the time.

@Fiendish-Beaver can confirm it is Debra playing Faye

A jelly cube named Frank absolutely obliterated any interest I had the game

It looked generic, derivative, and could’ve been a cheap re-skin/expansion of the previous games.

I saw nothing there to get me excited.

In conclusion, I can’t disagree with him.

He ain't wrong it reminded me of forspoken too. I really don't like the direction they are taking with the franchise I remember ripping people's heads off and cutting open chimaera's now we have a jelly cubes making jokes like a marvel movie and purple sparks Instead of blood

God of laundry

@L_R_V I think the problem with those movies, is that they did not like and did not want to make Mad Max.

Rather, they wanted to make something else entirely different (the new IP you suggest), but they didn’t believe many people would want to watch it. They were right.

Hence, they hijack and co-opt an existing popular IP, to use as a Trojan horse.

This is a tactic that's been around for a decaded or more. It only works briefly and then consumers wise up to the bait and switch, as Disney discovered with Star Wars.

Unfortunately, it leaves a trail of smashed and destroyed franchises in its way, that were once successful and are now quite possibly beyond recovery, or as is the case with Dragon Age or Star Trek, stone cold dead with no chance of resurrection for generations.

It actually goes back as far as the 1970's, with the failed TV show "Mrs Columbo" being an example. They wanted to make a female detective show, but lacked the talent to make Mrs Marple and/or believed there was no audience interest. So instead they hijacked the popularity of Columbo. It did not work because viewers simply said "what is this garbage? This isn’t what we were expecting or wanted."

If a game has God of War in the title, but doesn’t focus on the titular character, then you would have to ask why…

Why not name the game exclusively after the protagonist....

Clearly, the developers do not believe such a product can stand on its own two feet, without hijacking something that is more popular and able to pull in the dollars on its own merit.

They may be wrong. If the game were appropriately titled and it’s protagonist given due respect, it might be successful. But clearly they lack faith…

If they lack faith, why should I have enough faith to punt 70 quid at it?

@rusty82

I just think there's still a big percentage of gamer's that won't buy games with female protagonists.

And what do you want exactly, that every single of them should buy games with female protags? If yes then that's just impossible aka not gonna happen. The same can be said for female gamers who didn't buy games with male protags.

We will never know if the examples you gave would have sold better with male protagonists but I suspect they would have.

Games with male protags doesn't always sold better than female protags. And male characters doesn't always fit with some design and theme too.

Bayonetta for example. If you replaced her with a male then the design and story would change drastically like her Umbran Witch backstory and her iconic long hair for example. How do you design a male protag around a witch character that used their hair as a weapon and also as their suit? The result would be very different and i bet the game wouldn't sell well nor iconic as what we got.

Or Alien Isolation. If you change Amanda Ripley with say some random male, it would lose the connection with Ellen Ripley and the story of daughter motivation to find her lost mother. The encounter against Xenos also will feel different since male characters are usually more calmer against danger than female characters. That's why every Alien movies had female lead.

Question. What was the last successful game that Jaffe released? Everyone is most certainly entitled to their opinion, but i get nothing but negativity from him. Jealousy is an ugly thing. Thats just me though lol.

It does look like sh*t.
And close to Forspoken.
Huge disappointment

@ytales27 His last successful game was either Twisted Metal Head-On or Calling All Cars. But after that, all his games was a flop especially Drawn to Death was a big dumpster fire flop.

Some rumors from unnamed devs said Jaffe is very hard to work with. No wonder why no one wants to hire him to lead a big project anymore. Even his two studios, Eat Sleep and Play and Bartlet Jones whatever, already closed down.

@PuppetMaster I don’t think this is related to gender anyway, the entire subject is a red herring.

Instead it relates to whether a game protagonist is well-known, loved, relatable, recognisable, aspirational and inspirational.

I’d note that Insomniac didn't have to call Wolverine "Spider-Man 3: Wolverine".

Rather, the character stands on its own two feet because of the reasons I describe above.

You could create a game called “Catwoman”.

You wouldn’t need to call it. “Batman: Catwoman“.

If you made a game about the Blue Beetle though, you would have to use that trick because 99% of the audience have never heard of him, couldn’t care less, at least not to the extent that they’d easily throw £70 at it. They’d be pretty annoyed if Batman didn’t play a significant role in the game too.

If you did announce "Batman: Blue Beetle", I expect there would be a very negative audience reaction, as they’d quite rightly say “why don’t you just give us Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl or at least someone we care about, who the hell asked for this?”.

Of course in that instance there wouldn’t be a bunch of white knights rushing out to play the gender card, I suspect there would be a more united audience backlash.

He makes some good points. I have a feeling this is going to have a similar trajectory as Veilguard upon release.

@Dogbreath

Instead it relates to whether a game protagonist is well-known, loved, relatable, recognisable, aspirational and inspirational.

We will found out about Faye characters quality in this game. But from her short appearance in Ragnarok and this trailer, i think she will become a quite popular and loved character among GoW fans.

I’d note that Insomniac didn't have to call Wolverine "Spider-Man 3: Wolverine".
Rather, the character stands on its own two feet because of the reasons I describe above.

FYI. Wolverine first debut appearance in the comic was in The Incredible Hulk issue 180-181. The 181 cover even showed the title as "The Incredible Hulk...and now The Wolverine!". Then a year later Wolverine debut in X-Men comic issue 1. You know how long it takes for Wolverine to get his own solo comic? 8 years. Without his debut in Hulk and X-Men comics, i don't think Wolverine will earn popularity enough to stand on it's own two feet, let alone got his own solo comic.

I personally don't see the problem with "God of War: Laufey". Faye not yet have enough standing power and popularity to get a game without "God of War" in the title. I mean, she only had couple of very brief appearances in GoW Ragnarok. But if this game sold well then it's possible she'll get another game with just her name in the title.

You could create a game called “Catwoman”.
You wouldn’t need to call it. “Batman: Catwoman“

That because Catwoman already build enough standing power and popularity for decades. But if she debut without helped from Batman popularity or outside Batman universe, would she became as popular and stand on it's own feet like today?

Of course in that instance there wouldn’t be a bunch of white knights rushing out to play the gender card, I suspect there would be a more united audience backlash.

It doesn't matter how Santa Monica gonna do it. There will always be some m*rons who's screaming and complaining about gender and female leads in video games.

@PuppetMaster it seems to me, and forgive if I'm misrepresenting you, but there is agreement here that the character/setting doesn't currently have big popularity or recognition.

Rather what appears to be the case is that a gamble is being taken, on the belief that consumers will like it when they try it, and the more popular and recognisable God of War brand is being used to springboard it.

I mean that’s a fair strategy, I don’t really have a position on that, other than it’s also a risky strategy so let’s see how that works out for them. A name alone often isn’t enough to overcome consumer disinterest when a game deviates from expectations. The last Mass Effect being an example a failing to convert from the original cast to a new intake.

@PuppetMaster thats what I figured lol. Thanks for answering my question.

I'll never stop loving Jaffe's early stuff - God of War I / II and the (good) Twisted Metal games. He's always been corrosive in how he has presented himself in public, even back then.

I can't agree with the vast majority of what he says or his conduct, but... he is a legend like it or not. Or, at least, was one back in the day. He's a rage farming content creator now. Which is a... career path for sure.

I guess it's one of those you gotta separate the art from the artist things. And for what it is worth, this game does seem to present a Disney affect to it that misses the mark of what drew me into God of War I / II (and III).

Is it for me? Probably not. Will a lot of people who aren't me probably like it or get them into the series? Oh, definitely.

@Swandivetotheasphalt We get it - you're a 'cultured DnD player'. Have fun with Jar Jar Binks the cube version.

“ the little Disney character at the beginning. This just seems like a fantasy.”
Not too observant is he, as that cute little “Disney” character is shown being thrown, dead onto a fire partway through the demo🤷‍♂️

@troonzhang You're more blinder than a bat if you think Deborah Ann Woll looks ugly. And the "creator" of the franchise has been irrelevant for years. I'm surprise some people including you still care of what Jaffe thinks lol. All he did is yelling at cloud like a sad boomer.

@troonzhang Didn't expect a grammar police + troll with Jaffe nuts deep in his throat. Interesting 🤔

@troonzhang I’m not crying or seething 😂 tbh I couldn’t careless what he says. It’s just a shame he is so bitter. I’m certainly not a Sony defender

Thought this game looked incredible. I sighed so hard when we learned the last trailer was 20 mins of gameplay rather than 20 minutes of more trailers, however I was hooked from start to finish and it flew by. As soon as it finished I knew I'd be there day 1.