God of War Was Originally a First-Person Game

Since the firstGod of Warreleased in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Sony’s hack-and-slash romp through the realms of Greek and, more recently, Norse mythology has become an iconic franchise within the gaming industry. Kratos has become one of the most well-recognized characters in gaming and theGod of Warfranchise has become a staple of the third-person action genre. However,recent revelations from director David Jaffesuggest thatGod of War’s gory action wasn’t always intended to be third-person.

God of Waris no stranger to changing up the long-running franchise’s formula, especially in recent games. 2018’sGod of Warsaw the franchise taking its mythology-themed action in a new direction, shifting its focus from the classic Greek mythology that had guided the series into a direction inspired by Norse mythology. The re-imagining also saw Kratos shedding his classic chained blades and reworking the overall feel of the game into something more akin to RPGs. Now, David Jaffe has revealed thatGod of War’s original incarnation was intended to be first-person.

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A recent video on Jaffe’s YouTube channel revealed that his vision forGod of Waroriginally planned to tellits Greek mythos-based storydirectly through the eyes of the mighty Kratos. According to Jaffe, the game’s first-person perspective was inspired by his experience playing a first-person action game calledMaken Xon Dreamcast. However, according to Jaffe, issues with howGod of War’s story would be presented ultimately led to the idea being shelved before it was even pitched to the game’s programmer, Tim Moss.

Jaffe goes on to cite how he felt that a first-person perspective wouldn’t be able to portray the properemotion behindGod of War’s storythrough a first-person perspective. The firstGod of Wargame would ultimately shift into a third-person style said to be inspired by gamess likeDevil May CryandIco. Jaffe references several other aspects ofGod of War’s development throughout the video as well, explaining how systems like the game’s quick-time events and climbing systems were inspired by other games.

With theGod of Warfranchise building towards its next release inGod of War: Ragnarok, fans believe that more major changes are coming for the long-running action franchise. Comments from the game’s director suggest the finale of the franchise’s Norse saga may end with thepotential death of Kratos or Atreus. Santa Monica Studio has also shared several pieces of concept art for the upcomingGod of War: Ragnarokshowing off new content and regions. WhileGod of Warmay have shifted significantly from David Jaffe’s original vision for the game, the franchise’s success as a third-person certainly speaks for itself.

God of War: Ragnarokis scheduled to release in 2022 for PS4 and PS5.

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