God of War: Ragnarök (9th November 2022)

[Julius]

10 hours ago, Ronnie said:

And re: the delay to 2022, how shocking . Seriously, what was the point of saying 2021? It was obvious to everyone that was never going to happen, so why say it? 

Yeah, considering that we got footage of the first game at E3 2016 and it released just under two years later, but didn't get any footage last year, it always seemed too good to be true.

I want to say that I can't blame them, because I can understand from a business perspective wanting to do that to try to drive demand, but did anyone ever doubt that a God of War sequel was on its way? I feel like there was enough reason for me to pick up a PS5 after the rest of the presentation (to be fair last summer The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima tried to kill my base PS4, so I was always onboard for getting in early on next-gen hardware) but everyone instantly new what the "one more thing" was because it was the only major PlayStation IP from the last 5 years that we would have feasibly expected to see close out a show that was already pretty stacked with quality first party content (not talking specifically next-gen exclusive here). 

10 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I was hoping this and Horizon would be built from the ground up for new gen, but I guess not. Hopefully the transition to PS5 only will happen in what, a few years?

Yeah, not too surprising given their history, think it's a pivot to do with not being able to sell through what they initially forecast as a result of production delays.

It's been a slow trickle of next-gen exclusives so far, and there are still some good games releasing for last gen, but yeah, my concern is with the design of these games now. No flying mounts in Forbidden West, the Bifrost paths are here to stay from God of War, as are I imagine a lot of small gaps to squeeze between. The small gaps are going to be the roughest part for me personally, never been a fan of them. 

It's a shame, but I'm not too fussed. Again, I was pretty confident my PS4 would kick the bucket if I didn't jump up to PS5. I honestly want to see some more "smaller" AAA projects at this point that end up exclusive (such as Returnal, which was a big risk), as I can understand why they'd keep other titles cross-gen, like what we've had so far, but maybe just a bit more frequent. As much as I wanted to see some things change in existing IP, seeing new IP built from the ground up for next-gen, or taking some really cool things like Rift Apart is doing and focusing on those, is what I want to see more of: games explicitly focused on delivering a next-gen experience.

Even if Ragnarök and Forbidden West did end up being exclusive, I think we would have ended up asking why there are still small gaps to squeeze between, and if a PS4 really couldn't run a lower fidelity version of this. I mean, I loved it, but take away the crazy quick load times for Demon's Souls and adjust for a lower asset resolution and I feel that easily could have been released for PS4 too. 

[ArtMediocre]

On 9/17/2020 at 10:16 AM, drahkon said:

You know what, I did some research and it seems to be correct. Ragnarök.

I always thought it was Ragnarøk. I guess this is the Norse spelling.

As a Norwegian, I just have to say no. This is just wrong and I hate it. It's spelled Ragnarok, and if you spell it with a ø or a ö, it just sounds silly

[drahkon]

Really hope the game is going to be called Ragnarøök.  

[ArtMediocre]

How did you hide users here on the forum again?

[Julius]

Ragnarök title confirmed. 

Cory Barlog stepping back, teasing he's working on something else, and Eric Williams stepping into the director's chair. Ryan Hurst voicing Thor. 

[LazyBoy]

Bit disappointed by that trailer.

[Ashley]

I'm amused that Twitter seems pretty split between "Thor wouldn't look like that" and "I want to fuck Thor". 

[Ronnie]

If they change Thor's appearance from what's been shown, they lose one sale. [/jk] [/kindof]

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

I'm amused that Twitter seems pretty split between "Thor wouldn't look like that" and "I want to fuck Thor". 

Context for anyone who hasn't seen what Thor will look like in this game:

Weird not seeing him in his usual good shape that he's depicted in even outside of Marvel (I mean I guess this isn't too far from where he's at come the end of Endgame!), but I know he's not always depicted as being blonde so I'm cool with a slightly rounder, redheaded Thor. I rarely care how characters look - unless there's a legitimate reason to, such as over-the-top sexualisation - and care much more about how they're presented from a storytelling perspective. 

What I find interesting is that in the first game they were clearly going down the more traditional Thor design route we've seen many times before:

Totally possible that there's a story reason for it, not that there needs to be one, but I don't know, I don't think it's too surprising he'd end up in that kind of shape after what goes down in God of War. He is wearing a lot of armour here, so it's tough, but he looks like he's carrying less weight in his face, and just generally overall. Having a voice actor who is most likely doing motion capture could be a part of the reason for the redesign, though. 

But those are boring takes, so tinfoil hat time: PlayStation have just announced Wolverine, and I imagine that's a hint of what's to come with potentially more Marvel games on the way. Maybe he's so (seemingly) different from what we saw before to keep the door open to making a game about/including Marvel's Thor in the future? 

Edited September 10, 2021 by Julius

[Ashley]

10 minutes ago, Julius said:

Totally possible that there's a story reason for it, not that there needs to be one, but I don't know, I don't think it's too surprising he'd end up in that kind of shape after what goes down in God of War. He is wearing a lot of armour here, so it's tough, but he looks like he's carrying less weight in his face, and just generally overall. Having a voice actor who is most likely doing motion capture could be a part of the reason for the redesign, though. 

Olympics gold medal winner Lasha Talakhadze...

I won't pretend to know enough about Norse mythology to say how accurate it is to that, but in terms of having a body built for strength it's not unheard of.

[Julius]

8 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Olympics gold medal winner Lasha Talakhadze...

I won't pretend to know enough about Norse mythology to say how accurate it is to that, but in terms of having a body built for strength it's not unheard of.

Yeah I'm aware, to clarify I was talking about the differences in design for Thor from 2018's God of War to Ragnarök; I probably should have been more clear! 

[Ronnie]

Yeah it means nothing when it comes to strength. I really really hope they don't backtrack on the design. Chest hair might have to be a PS6 feature though I guess.

EDIT: Also GOW Thor could easily be Ragnarok Thor, just with armour on top. The body shapes look pretty similar to me.

Edited September 10, 2021 by Ronnie

[Ashley]

Ah okay. Guess I got too steeped in the Twitter 'fuck that' vs 'fuck that' discourse. 

[Cube]

31 minutes ago, Julius said:

 

What I find interesting is that in the first game they were clearly going down the more traditional Thor design route we've seen many times before:

Totally possible that there's a story reason for it, not that there needs to be one

I think that the dream/vision being BOY's imagination of what Thor would look like is all it needs to be honest.

[Julius]

Christopher Judge (who portrays Kratos) has shared that he was severely injured in August 2019, and which he feels is a big reason for the delay. 

Look, I still think - maybe even more so with this context - that PlayStation shouldn't have slated the game for 2021 when they originally did, as they could have just confirmed it was coming, without telling us a release year. I don't think it was dishonest, because the game is still coming and let's be clear, it's a massive company working on a global scale: they don't really owe anyone anything, in the same way that we don't owe them anything; however, this reason coupled with COVID makes it pretty clear that in a perfect world, it probably would have hit it's goal of a 2021 release. 

Either way, glad Judge is doing better, that the studio didn't sulk and delayed the game, and of course that he stayed on. His performance in God of War was immense and I'm excited to see what he brings to the table in Ragnarök!  

Edited September 30, 2021 by Julius

[Mandalore]

It's nice to hear stories of game developers/publishers being good for a change. 

[Julius]

A whole lot of nothing, but today it's 4 years to the day (what the Hel?!) since the release of God of War (2018), so Cory has a message of thanks for the support from fans and has said that they are currently deep in the trenches but will show the game when they're ready:

Don't bother looking at the comments, it's people complaining about not seeing more of the game yet 

[Dcubed]

Sounds like they’re gearing up for a delay to 2023…

Wonder what Sony’s big 2022 Xmas game is gonna be now if GOW:R does indeed get pushed back…

Edited April 20, 2022 by Dcubed

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

Sounds like they’re gearing up for a delay to 2023…

Wonder what Sony’s big 2022 Xmas game is gonna be now if GOW:R does indeed get pushed back…

I'm not joining that party yet, because it's a sequel which is heavily dependent on story, and I think they'll be better off saying and showing as little as possible like they did with The Last of Us Part II (well, kind of). I also don't think we saw too much of GoW 2018 before it released, so I think this is keeping in line with that. 

That being said, if we get to the end of the summer without a release date and we haven't heard anything official, then I think it'll be time to start being concerned, because I see this eyeing a release from September to early November if it is coming this year (in prime time for GOTY discussions).

God of War 2018 only has its release date announced three months prior to its April launch, which is why I think it makes sense to be quiet until we're three months or so out (I think all we had prior to the release date trailer for that game too was it's E3 2016 live demo and E3 2017 trailer?) and then ramp things up, maybe even more so with COVID delays and delaying production due to Christopher Judge's physical rehab taken into account. 

We'll have to wait and see I guess, but yeah, I don't think they can hold off until Gamescom in August or a potential PlayStation Showcase in September before giving us an update if they're still aiming for this year. If it does get delayed to 2023 - which would be totally fine, they should take the time they need - I just hope they'll let us know sooner rather than later, because it'd be a pretty big blow to learn of a delay after Not-E3 in June. 

EDIT: Bruno Velázquez, Santa Monica Studios animation director is bullish that the game is still releasing this year: 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

Huh, this is weird: they're already detailing accessibility stuff. 

Yeah, I think it's safe to say it's still coming this year. Remember, we only got three months from release date confirmation to launch for the last game, so they don't fuss about with lead time; they could announce a release date next month for September/October? 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

Rated in Korea. 

Further: merch being lined up to launch in September.

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Apparently Game Reactor have heard from multiple EU retailers that the game has been pushed back until next year. It will be interesting to see if any other outlets confirm the delay.

[Dcubed]

Big blow to Sony, but not unexpected at all (I mean, I did call it earlier in this thread).

Sorry @Julius.  Looks like you’re gonna have to update that thread title after all

I take it that means that TLOU Remake is gonna be Sony’s big Xmas game to fill the Kratos-sized gap now?

[Julius]

41 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Apparently Game Reactor have heard from multiple EU retailers that the game has been pushed back until next year. It will be interesting to see if any other outlets confirm the delay.

Grain of salt and all that, especially because I feel like European retailers and Spanish gaming news outlets have missed the mark a fair bit over the last few years (the Switch not launching with BOTW and some Pokémon magazine "scoops" come to mind)...

...but man, that'd suck if true. As things stand it's the only new SIE game officially slated for the latter half of the year (though I think we all are under the impression that the TLOU Remake is on its way), and it would look far, far worse than other delays just for the fact that it was originally (foolishly) slated for 2021 and because they've gone out of their way to reiterate that it's still coming in 2022. Also feels like it's been a good while since a game was rated and then delayed to be 6+ months away, can't remember off the top of my head when the last time was that it happened for a AAA title, but feels like it's been a while. 

Always other games to play, always other things to do, and for the health of the game and the team, if it's the right call, then it's the one that needs to be made. Do feel like it would be a terrible look for them if it happens, though; as if we needed more reasons for people piling on consoles they don't own (or do and don't have great interest in). 

Anyways, if it's true: congratulations to Elden Ring on winning GOTY  had a much easier run at it than was originally supposed to be the case, but well deserved!

Think we should probably start a betting pool on which of BOTW's sequel, Ragnarök, and Starfield launches last at this point 

@Dcubed the thread title would need updating with a date even if it released this year, but sure  and yeah, does seem like they're lining up TLOU that way, even if it does come as early as September (as the recent leak seems to rather plainly suggest). I suppose they've got third party titles to lean on? 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

If it does end up being a Q1 game for 2023, it had better hope that BOTW2 doesn't launch near it. Despite my feelings on BOTW, the game was a sales monster and any game caught in the storm of the sequel's release is going to get punished.