Santa Monica Studio Is Seemingly Hiring For A New God Of War Game

[Johnic]

I don't have a problem with the gameplay or graphics or the fact that it's cross gen. But that story felt incredibly lacking. Nowhere close to the 2018. game.

From pacing and character development to events unfolding so fast that they throw any urgency away. It definitely shows they planned this to be a trilogy.

 

[Nomen_Nescio]

Parts of the story and how it unfolded. The execution of Ragnarok was disappointing no other way to put it. The gameplay was fine for a cross gen game.
The boss fights were also a bit disappointing for me.

Still a good game but I had expectations coming off 2018 reboot.

The story development is lackluster, especially towards the end. Definitely rushed.
I miss the grandeur in boss battles of old GOW titles. the last 2 had some, but nowg=here near as many. Ragnarok at the end was a joke, looping endlessly in the background.

 

[JAHGamer]

I loved Ragnarok, but it should've been a trilogy.... pacing was poor and Ragnarok felt rushed. God of War 2018 was almost entirely dedicated to Baldur, there was Magni/Modi but they're not really major characters. Ragnarok had 3 amazing, important, and complex Gods all mushed into 1 game. Heimdall, Odin, and Thor were all very well written which sucks that none of them got the amount of screen time they deserved. It felt like we barely scratched the surface on who they really were, but even with that little time, I still think they're some of the best characters in gaming. Odin is also now my favorite video game villain which is why he's my picture.

Ragnarok combat though was amazing, especially using the Draupnir, the best combat in a video game I've ever played since Kingdom Hearts 2. I hope for the next game they work on the pacing and copy the platforming from Star Wars Jedi Survivor.

 

[Muddasar]

I loved Ragnarok, but it should've been a trilogy.... pacing was poor and Ragnarok felt rushed. God of War 2018 was almost entirely dedicated to Baldur, there was Magni/Modi but they're not really major characters. Ragnarok had 3 amazing, important, and complex Gods all mushed into 1 game. Heimdall, Odin, and Thor were all very well written which sucks that none of them got the amount of screen time they deserved. It felt like we barely scratched the surface on who they really were, but even with that little time, I still think they're some of the best characters in gaming. Odin is also now my favorite video game villain which is why he's my picture.

Ragnarok combat though was amazing, especially using the Draupnir, the best combat in a video game I've ever played since Kingdom Hearts 2. I hope for the next game they work on the pacing and copy the platforming from Star Wars Jedi Survivor.

Completely agree.

The biggest issue was not making it into a trilogy.

They tried to fit too much into 1 game and the decision to do it came mid development cause the first half of Ragnarok was so slow.

Also wasn’t a fan of the dialogue.

Felt too modern though the voice actors were great.

 

[Gamernyc78]

It would be nice to find out Santa Monica is a two project team now like ND when The Last of Us was announced in the midst of the Uncharted 3 launch.

They been more than one team since back then...

 

[JAHGamer]

Completely agree.

The biggest issue was not making it into a trilogy.

They tried to fit too much into 1 game and the decision to do it came mid development cause the first half of Ragnarok was so slow.

Also wasn’t a fan of the dialogue.

Felt too modern though the voice actors were great.

I beat the game 3 times and still can't believe the Atreus Ironwood segment was ever greenlit......

 

[Nomen_Nescio]

I beat the game 3 times and still can't believe the Atreus Ironwood segment was ever greenlit......

How about Sif changing her opinion about Atreas & Kratos in 2 scenes? In one she wants them to be killed, in the second she suddenly realises that Odin is the real enemy.

 

[JAHGamer]

How about Sif changing her opinion about Atreas & Kratos in 2 scenes? In one she wants them to be killed, in the second she suddenly realises that Odin is the real enemy.

Nah it was never "sudden" she always hated Odin. If you listen in on her conversation with Thor she said she doesn't want Thrud to become a Valkyrie because she doesn't want her to serve Odin. She says that Odin is what is tearing their family apart, and implies that Odin is the reason Thor is an alcoholic (which is obvious). She was mad that Thor never stood up to Odin in his life. She obviously didn't like Atreus and Kratos because they killed her sons, but she knew it was ultimately always Odin's fault because they were doing it on his orders. She blames Odin more for their death than Kratos and Atreus, and she was scared that Thrud would be next, which is why she didn't want her to become a Valkyrie. It's the enemy of my enemy is my friend type of thing and it made perfect sense IMO, Ragnarok just kind of sped the process up.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Damn, we are seeing this game at the end of the gen probably.

If it's a big sequel, try PS6 (2028/2029) instead. Probably 2029 at earliest.

This would have needed to start development back in 2021 to have a release by around late 2026/2027.

Yes, after the release of PS6. Pretty likely a crossgen game.

Meaning it has zero bearing or pertinence to the PS5.

The system that's actually currently out on the market.

This is one such comment, and is actually quite recent:

If the next GOW is going to be using a heavily overhauled engine, and be similar a shift in its template as 2018 was to prior GOW games, I can easily see GOW3 not launching until 2030 at the earliest.

This is where Sony's lack of 1P AA games to buffer out the window between AAA games (and let devs refresh themselves with smaller projects between the bigger ones) is really biting them in the proverbial ass IMHO. It's one of the very few things I think Microsoft is doing better than them at; they have a good range of upcoming 1P AA games, and have already released a few like Pentiment, Psychonauts 2 and Hifi Rush (yes that's Zenimax, but MS owns them now, so it's basically 1P).

1P AA games can be, IMO, morale boosters to keep energy high while the increasingly longer and larger dev cycle of AAA games (especially those at the scale & production level of Sony's) become more demanding. Yeah it's cool Sony have been doing some 3P AA releases like Kena and whatnot, but I say either acquire some of those devs in order to get some AA stuff going internally, or grow your studios more in order to accommodate 1P AA traditional releases in addition to the 1P AAA traditional and GaaS titles.

Or, buy a 3P publisher who can provide smaller AA content to buffer between the AAA 1P releases. Preferably leveraging their (Sony's) legacy IP, with a few newer or more recent IP thrown in there. I mean if they're relying on 3P to handle all that, when it comes to exclusives what do they really get outside of Final Fantasy games (which are AAA and timed exclusives)? Marketing deals with otherwise multiplat 3P AAA games isn't a substitute; it's nice to have obviously (and important to have), but isn't a substitute.

 

[flaccidsnake]

They been more than one team since back then...

but never 2 aaa projects... at least that we've actually seen. maybe gow 2018 and stig's scifi game were developed in parallel.

 

[Johnic]

I loved Ragnarok, but it should've been a trilogy.... pacing was poor and Ragnarok felt rushed.

This part right here. Characters literally change their minds in seconds, characters appear from behind pillars to say "we're good now", Ragnarok itself just some shitty little corridor run with some background fighting and overall lack of proper character development. The second half felt incredibly rushed.

Also, characters sound too modern. The first time you meet Odin, "bruh" and "fam" wouldn't feel out of place. Just weird.

EDIT:
@Muddasar

Yes! Not many people heard it but the characters felt too modern. Seriously felt they don't belong in the world they were in. Kratos was fine but Odin is the worst one. 'So, like, bruh. Wanna make a deal 'n' shit?". Almost felt like he was gonna go down that route at certain points.

 

[JAHGamer]

This part right here. Characters literally change their minds in seconds, characters appear from behind pillars to say "we're good now", Ragnarok itself just some shitty little corridor run with some background fighting and overall lack of proper character development. The second half felt incredibly rushed.

Also, characters sound too modern. The first time you meet Odin, "bruh" and "fam" wouldn't feel out of place. Just weird.

EDIT:
@Muddasar

Yes! Not many people heard it but the characters felt too modern. Seriously felt they don't belong in the world they were in. Kratos was fine but Odin is the worst one. 'So, like, bruh. Wanna make a deal 'n' shit?". Almost felt like he was gonna go down that route at certain points.

I disagree about the dialogue, idk why it comes as a surprise when it’s not too different from how Sindri, Atreus, and Freya speak. Odin is supposed to always come off as condescending and sarcastic, that’s his entire shtick. And Richard Schiff and the writers did an amazing job, Odin was the best part of the game imo.

 

[Entropi]

I love every single mainline GOW game since the first one. Please SSM, take a break and do something else.

 

[JAHGamer]

I love every single mainline GOW game since the first one. Please SSM, take a break and do something else.

They have two separate teams, GoW and new IP has been in development for a while now.

 

[ethomaz]

I disagree about the dialogue, idk why it comes as a surprise when it’s not too different from how Sindri, Atreus, and Freya speak. Odin is supposed to always come off as condescending and sarcastic, that’s his entire shtick. And Richard Schiff and the writers did an amazing job, Odin was the best part of the game imo.

When the best characters is set to side place character without even a proper battle.
I mean everybody knows Odin was suppose to be the main villain, the epic end of game, etc... but the game just put it in the side place with everything related to him.

It was a poor use of the character.

To be fair I don't know if Thor or Odin were the worst used characters in the game due their potential to be the peak.
I think even Heimdall was better explored than Thor and Odin.

The reality is...
Nobody will remember Odin or Thor.
Everybody remembers Poseidon.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

but first remasters of GoW 2018, GoW Ragnarok, remakes of OG GoW 1,2,3 and PC ports. Then, this new game will be cross-gen...perfection.

 

[Nomen_Nescio]

but first remasters of GoW 2018, GoW Ragnarok, remakes of OG GoW 1,2,3 and PC ports. Then, this new game will be cross-gen...perfection.

Nobody would mind that, especially for the first two games. Maybe they should do what Konami will with MGS and release those games in volumes for the PS5.

 

[Yurinka]

What makes this job listing seem to confirm that Santa Monica Studio is, in fact, working on a new God of War project

Yes, Santa Monica already mentioned before that after GoWR Kratos will visit another mithology. In the game multiple of them are teased.

The director also mentioned that they don't plan to expand the GoWR story via DLCs, meaning that the next GoW project will be a brand new game.

 

[Yurinka]

It would be nice to find out Santa Monica is a two project team now like ND when The Last of Us was announced in the midst of the Uncharted 3 launch.

Just after GoW 2018 Cory pitched a new IP that he wanted to do just after it. Apparently they are working on it, and shouldn't take too long to announce it.

They also said that after GoWR Kratos would visit a new mythology in a new game. Cory also was asked that if he wasn't directing GoWR what was he doing, and said that he was taking care of multiple other things.

So pretty likely they already have 2 or 3 teams at SSM working at the same time.

 

[JAHGamer]

When the best characters is set to side place character without even a proper battle.
I mean everybody knows Odin was suppose to be the main villain, the epic end of game, etc... but the game just put it in the side place with everything related to him.

It was a poor use of the character.

To be fair I don't know if Thor or Odin were the worst used characters in the game due their potential to be the peak.
I think even Heimdall was better explored than Thor and Odin.

The reality is...
Nobody will remember Odin or Thor.
Everybody remembers Poseidon.

We must’ve not played the same games lmao. NO ONE remembers Poseidon, and we BARELY remember Zeus. Odin was 1000x better than any Greek god. And if you think he was poorly used you must’ve not been paying attention at all….