God Of War Laufey’s Director Talks Fan Skepticism, New Ideas, And Phranque The Cube

The showstopper at PlayStation's State of Play was a new entry in the God of War franchise. However, instead of introducing Kratos's newest adventure, Santa Monica Studio revealed God of War Laufey, which, as indicated by the title, shifts its focus to Faye, a hero and warrior in her own right, to tell a tale that runs parallel to the events of the 2018 God of War reboot. Somewhat expectedly, there has been everything from excitement to anger at the new direction. But to Santa Monica Studio, Laufey has long represented an exciting way to branch out, and to tell new and different stories that enrich the God of War we know. We spoke to the game's director, Ariel Lawrence, about the announcement of the game, the response, and what the studio hopes to achieve with its latest game.  GameSpot: God of War's identity has changed so many times and Laufey is probably the most drastic. What is God of War to you and Santa Monica Studio? Ariel Lawrence: Having worked on the franchise for a long time [and] been through a lot of those evolutions, I think it's telling an epic story that has tons of fantasy and violence, but at the heart of it still is a really human personal story.  A lot of people think of Kratos one way, as rage-filled, but there was a real person underneath that. And for us, seeing that evolution over time with the different consoles and thinking about what new things can we bring to that storytelling, what new things can we bring to that combat experience. And being able to show a mythological world that people maybe haven't seen and deliver on that surprise and delight kind of feel. There's been a feeling that Laufey is taking the franchise away from what it used to be, which for many is that violence and a bit of machismo too. How do you feel about that assessment and what would you say to potentially assuage those fears? I mean, I know a little bit more than what we've shown for the reveal, so for me, Faye definitely has violence in it and is capable of that. I think it's just more, what does a warrior look like in Faye? And it's a little different than what a warrior looks like in Kratos. They're different size and shaped people, but I think they're still both as strong and capable. For me, the level of violence for Faye is really like, 'what is going to get the job done?' And so when she's going to take somebody out it's, 'what is the way to get that done as quickly, as cleanly as possible?' There's still some more violence to come. Kratos was a Spartan general. He's still a tactician and things like that, but I think where he has more of the ability to be a brick wall, Faye is going to take on monsters and gods that are of different sizes and shapes, so she's going to use her physicality differently. And so I think that's really just playing to the strengths of both of those.  Faye wants to help Kratos and Atreus as quickly as she can, so to get through the world and those encounters to get [to] what she needs, she's going to try to go the best way possible. Faye, she's a little quicker on her feet. Faye is a giant, she was the protector of her people, she wielded the Leviathan axe before Kratos and she, essentially, tamed the beast [that Kratos was]. Why do you think there's still skepticism around Faye's ability?  Everybody comes at their stories with their own worldview, so I'm not sure what drives a lot of people to say that, but I definitely think Faye is as qualified as you said. We know that Faye and Kratos stood toe-to-toe and were partners in their life together and they cared about each other. He saw her as a capable warrior and she saw in him also that capability for change. I'm not sure what drives other folks to make assumptions on that, but I know her to be quite capable. Grief and revenge and cycles of violence have been a key part of Kratos' story thematically but this game feels like it could be different. What is the thematic journey that you want to take Faye on? I think both Faye and Kratos have had things happen in their past that they wish maybe could have gone differently. Faye was the protector of the Giants, but that didn't quite work out as well for the Giants. And so I think part of Faye's journey is processing all of those things along the way, and how can she help Kratos and Atreus? And what's the next step of her becoming and how do you come to terms with that?  We saw a lot of that with Kratos; what is he coming into? What is holding him back from doing those things? And he's had to process his rage and his grief, his relationship with his family and who he was to who he is now. I think Faye, as a warrior, has a similar journey in front of her, maybe with slightly different beginnings. But still, I think [that's] a person we can keep telling stories about. Kratos has been the embodiment of rage that has been for a lot of his life. I think a lot of people feel that in themselves through him, so that is a big reason why people have such a visceral reacti

The showstopper at PlayStation's State of Play was a new entry in the God of War franchise. However, instead of introducing Kratos's newest adventure, Santa Monica Studio revealed God of War Laufey, which, as indicated by the title, shifts its focus to Faye, a hero and warrior in her own right, to tell a tale…

The showstopper at PlayStation's State of Play was a new entry in the God of War franchise. However, instead of introducing Kratos's newest adventure, Santa Monica Studio revealed God of War Laufey, which, as indicated by the title, shifts its focus to Faye, a hero and warrior in her own right, to tell a tale that runs parallel to the events of the 2018 God of War reboot. Somewhat expectedly, there has been everything from excitement to anger at the new direction. But to Santa…