GOD OF WAR (Art, Impressions, Thoughts)
polycounter lvl 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR7IX5RTPPA&t=48sMust be a good time for this guy. He's the director of the game and here is he, reacting to the critical acclaim the game is currently receiving.
Looks like a cool dude and I'm more than happy for him. I still remember watching him tire himself out for the release of GOW 2 in 2007 (there was a CD dedicated to the making of of the game and that when I discovered him)...
Hopefully, the artist that worked on this title are happy with the favorable reviews too!
For those who have the game, what are your impressions?
If I could nitpick a few things personally, my only criticism is the general lighting. I think it sometimes look flat and grayish. I know they're going for a specific tone/grade but I think they could've added some warmness and color here and there.
Replies
The rocks and environment work in this game is off the hook. I really dont know how they are pushing as much detail as they are. There have been a ton of little rediculous things that have made me stop and say "haha really!?" like some ropes having little alpha plane tiny hairs coming off them, barely noticed them but when I did i just laughed in delight. An don't even get me started on Kratos, probably the best character model I have seen in a game.
another awesome thing I noticed is the world feels large without being a massive open world filed with useless time waster activities. While it still seems designers love the number 3 (3 items to collect, 3 things to smash etc) there isn't much repetitive side quest syndrome most open world games suffer from.
I really love how diverse the world is in terms of art, You can go from bleak forests to dark caves and then to lush overgrown ruins in a 20 minute period in ways that feel organic and natural. It keeps the scenery fresh and when you do backtrack, its usually through an alternate route to keep things interesting. smart and refreshing level design. no running huge long distances to collect shit and then having to run back to the quest giver....more and more something I cant stand in games like the witcher and horizon, even if they are really good games.
The puzzles like opening the locked chests are unique enough to not get boring, and some of them are a bit of a brain teaser that you feel rewarded when you figure it out. The best thing is they usually only take about a minute or less to figure out and solve and you feel smart after doing so. its the micro to the overall macro that is echoed in most aspects of the gameplay.
I could go on and on, but I would rather just get back to playing the game
The Story is fairly interesting and is keeping me engaged, which is a big deal for me considering I ignore 99% of game stories as they are just either uninteresting with boring characters or overcomplicated masturbatory plots. Though to be honest, most of my attention is kept specifically because of how strong/interesting the characters are. The writing has also been quite fun (especially those two characters in particular) with great attention to animation and interactivity/callbacks. It really is just one of the best crafted games I've played, and as a huge fan of the first 3 GoW games I'm stoked to see where they go from here, I'm so glad they didn't butcher it. Only about halfway through but I imagine the second half is at least as strong as the first.
Oh and I must give a big +1 to the sidequests actually feeling meaningful and worth doing instead of the ubi-fun busywork that usually gets appended to games like this.
honestly it's worth playing the the fucking graphics alone, just put it on easy mode and mash your way through. But the gameplay is challenging and fun, and has way more depth than I expected as far as having a huge variety of ways to approach combat, and the moveset you have available.
I'm gushing right now but really they did SO much right and between this and BOTW I hope it gives more companies the confidence to try and reinvent tired game sequels in a fresh new way.
Yeah I'm looking at you, Pokemon.
fuck
it might not be new enough. They could stand to have a different tone.
Personally to me it looks like itd benefire from a much wider angle camera and for it to be slightly more fluid.
That being said ive not actually played it yet so I may be totally wrong.
It's to say this:
Gamers and critics have been exclaiming the following:
"Single players games are not dead. Look they still sell!"
But this game took 5 years to make.
This is the only GoW possibly going to exist for this generation of consoles.
This is the only game Sony Santa Monica have completed for this generation of consoles.
I have a suspicion gamers are overestimating how repeatable this success is.
You know in triple A productions, whether it is movies or games, the longest and most challenging part is to recreate everything from scratch when working on a new IP.
While this is still a ""GOW"" game,it's pretty much like a new IP since it's so so different from the past games.
It certainly didn't take 5 years to create all the assets/animations, visuals of the game.
5 years were certainly for:
-Building a new engine from scratch for the PS4
-Re-inventing the game play, game mechanics, R and D on the game design.
-Research and documentation on a new settings, exploring and discovering Norse mythology and lore
-Writing characters, overall plot for the 3 games (it's confirmed to be a trilogy), general theme and story branching
-Huge phase of pre-production for the art direction (color pattern, characters, enemy design, environment look, feel and tone
-Production phase where they create all of the assets, animations...
Creating the first game of a ''new'' series is usually more challenging and more costly since everything has to be designed from scratch.
Subsequent games and follows-up take less years since they generally re-use assets, have the engine already laid down and mastered, they already know the direction of the overall feel of game play and art...they really just iterate and ''update'' on what they already have ...
Initial RnD from a tech standpoint to get everything up and running (usable but not feature complete) can happen very fast and the art teams probably started at roughly the same time as tech teams did.
Maybe not 5 years in the want a sequel but if they intend it to have the same level of impact in terms of gameplay and visuals it would probably still be 3-4.
As for the game itself holy shit. The lighting is amazing, I stick Kratos in a dark corner turn the camera to look outward and the tone mapping doesnt get weird, there are no weird rim light issues... I have never seen a game do that before I think. Its a small thing but it really stuck out at me when I noticed it,
On a serious note I'm glad ya'll like the game, specifically the level of detail us environment guys were able to put in.
It was fun as hell to work on
If I had to pick something it would be for the sharpening of details, especially on characters that make all the high frequencies pop a bit too much for my taste.
Also, is it just me, or does the skin lacks scattering and SSS?
It does lack some redness here and there on the skin. Like I said, I like everything about the game except the lighting technology that was used. That's mos likely an engine limitation rather than an artistic choice. We were too spoiled with Uncharted 4 . We had colors bouncing and popping everywhere in that game.
Despite the magnificent scenery and incredibly detailed character/asset models, they games looks painfully ''artifical'' and cold at times.
GOW 3 also had a dark/chaotic setting but it did give more warmth.
The character work and art in general is fantastic! Also saw that vid of Cory and it's awesome to see what the guy has achieved after he put his heart and soul into it. Well deserved congrats to all involved
(....and of course the legendary Raf Grassetti)
http://sms.playstation.com/static/img/downloads/godofwar_cosplayguide_may2018.pdf
https://www.twitch.tv/gnomon_school/videos/all
I had the same impression sometimes. Similar to the Bayonetta series; where a lot of the foes and bosses are over detailed with shiny and detailed assets but you can't really visually figure out what you are fighting.
New video from GDC
God of War | Raising Kratos | "Making Of" Documentary
Raising Kratos documents the five year, herculean effort to reinvent one of the greatest stories in gaming, God of War. Facing an unknown future, Santa Monica Studio took a massive risk, fundamentally changing their beloved franchise and re-establishing their rightful place in video