By showing a sad Emperor
Sony announced a new God of War during E3. I think it’s got some good ideas and came away impressed from an extended demo of the game (hands-off) and interview with director Cory Barlog where we talked about how this new God of War represents the games industry literally growing up, with how many creators at major studios have entered parenthood and started inserting those themes in their games.
Speaking to VentureBeat, Barlog has an additional inspiration for the new direction: a live-action Star Wars show you’ve probably never heard of.
“Probably the really small beginnings of this idea, the germination of this — when I was working at [Lucasfilm], I was allowed to go up to the ranch and read the scripts for the [canceled live-action Star Wars] TV show,” he said. “It was the most mind-blowing thing I’d ever experienced. I cared about the Emperor. They made the Emperor a sympathetic figure who was wronged by this fucking heartless woman. She’s this hardcore gangster, and she just totally destroyed him as a person. I almost cried while reading this. This is the Emperor, the lightning out of the fingers Emperor. That’s something magical.”
This chance for humanity comes via another crack at fatherhood. “That first idea, though, was pitching Kratos getting another chance at being a dad,” Barlog said. “That was the essence of the pitch. People were kind of looking at me sideways. ‘What are you talking about?’ But you start thinking about it a little bit. How would he deal with that? Just saying, ‘Oh, Kratos wants redemption’ is selfish. It’s old Kratos. It’s self-centered. It has no purpose. But this idea — something beyond him is motivating him to change.”
God of War director Cory Balrog says that Sony’s violent series is growing up with the industry [VentureBeat]
