An Interview With Aaron Kaufman From Santa Monica Studios!

When we got invited to the God of War preview event by SIES (Sony Interactive Entertainment Hong Kong Limited Singapore Branch) in Singapore, we also got to interview Aaron Kaufman who is the Senior Community Strategist from Santa Monica Studio! It was a great pleasure to meet someone from the Santa Monica Studio whom has gifted us with one of the greatest IP in games history, God of War. Without further ado, we started off with introductions and head on to get some insights about the upcoming God of War craze.

Check out our full interview below:

For starters, we asked a simple question about the name of the game. As we all know, the God of War series has always been numbered aside from the spin offs for mobile and the PSP. However this time, Santa Monica Studio has stuck with the name “God of War” without any numbers indicating that it’s a sequel. Aaron Kaufman explained that the decision was made to offer players a new beginning of the God of War series. This is also a great start for new players as well without the need to play previous God of War titles.

With the intrusion of Norse Mythology in this God of War IP, we just had to ask if the devs would make a trilogy or future titles based on it. However it was not disclosed that there will be a sequel to the game. Though this is the first time the God of War has ventured into foreign lands, moreover into the Norse’s mythic lands, this is also the beginning of a new story for Kratos and Atreus. With that, it gives plenty of possibilities as well for Santa Monica Studio to venture into, to bring us more experiences from the journey and relationship of Kratos and Atreus.

As we’ve experienced the first hour of God of War on the PS4, we were surprised with the new feel and experience that it gave. Compared to the previous God of War titles, we’ve seen a softer and kinder approach of Kratos during interactions. Of course Kratos is still badass as ever, but the theme was different this time. So we asked, “What is the main theme for God of War this time?”. In reply, Aaron Kaufman stated that the theme this time is not about vengeance but growth. Seeing a father and his son travelling together while Kratos is teaching Atreus how to be a “god”, it is seen that Kratos is afraid that he might have passed on his rage onto Atreus. Though Atreus doesn’t know he has it or knows that he’s a “god”, he does see hints along the way as they journey along. We see the two characters bond and grow together as the story unfolds later.

Stepping into foreign land is tough, unless you have allies there to help you with. In this God of War, we were wondering if there would be allies to Kratos instead of just having enemies. Brokk and Sindri are the first ones that you will ever meet as they were the ones who made Kratos’ weapon, the Leviathan Axe. They were also the creators of Mjolnir for Thor, thus allowing us to see Kratos throwing and recalling the axe. There’s also a giant serpent which was revealed during end of the E3 trailer where Atreus mentioned that “he” wants to be our friend. Aside from them, “a witch in the woods” will be your ally further into the game and also Mimir, the head who Kratos carries around the side of his belt.

Due to the series introducing us Atreus as the son of Kratos, we were also expecting should Kratos actually die in the game, would Atreus take his mantle? To that, Aaron Kaufman did not mention that if Atreus would take Kratos’ mantle in the future. Because Atreus is still growing to become a better man than Kratos is, the devs are still not ready to show players who or what Atreus would become later in the game. However it’s important for players to experience how Atreus grows and who he becomes later when they’ve reached their destination in the game.

For those who has done a little research on the name Atreus would know that it is from the Greek mythology. So our question to Aaron was, “What was Atreus’ role in the Norse Mythology?”. Aaron mentioned that Atreus and Kratos were not real characters in the Norse Mythology. They were characters created by Santa Monica Studio which incorporated them into the Greek and Norse Mythology. With the help of a campaign expanding the story of Kratos and Atreus, the God of War series has become a story that seemed to be “lost pages” in the mythologies. Thus creating a universe that includes both these characters in a new generated story.

As some of you guys might know, there are 9 realms that existed in the Norse Mythology. However there was not much detail revealed to us about the inclusion of all 9 realms. Though Aaron mentions that the notion of the 9 realms do exist in the game which allows us to visit quite a few of them but we’re still unsure if we would get to visit all 9 realms. If not, there could be a possibility that they’d make an expansion for us to explore other realms that were not included?

One of the coolest features in games are the different endings that we could experience based on the decisions that we’ve made. We were pretty stoked to hear if there would be multiple endings that we could choose from if there were any, so we asked! Unfortunately, God of War only has a singular ending. The game has a very specific story to tell which will not require players to play the game multiple times just to get different endings. However we believe the original storyline was great enough to have a singular ending which allows for an expansion later in the future.

Looking as God of War is now in the Nordic lands, we were also eager to learn if the future titles of God of War would penetrate into other mythologies like the Japanese, Chinese or maybe Egyptian. We were glad to hear that other mythologies co-exist within the God of War universe. This enables Santa Monica Studio to take God of War into many different directions in the future. However Aaron mentioned that they are currently focused in the Norse mythology and plans to expand the universe with it since they just got into Norse mythology.

God of War has always been a 3rd person perspective game. However the camera angles was changed to an over-the-shoulder angle to provide players more immersion, to feel the intensity of the battles. It also brings players closer to the combat experience as they perform finishers onto enemies just like the old God of War series. This also allows us to follow Kratos on a journey through his perspective along with the ability to view the environments from top to bottom that the devs has created in detail.

We were also looking into a co-op mode seeing that there’s another character (Atreus) included in the game. Sadly, we were greeted with a hard “No” to that. Then we moved on to know more about the weapon’s system in God of War if we would be introduced with more weapons in the future. But this time, instead of adding more weapons into the game, they have included an upgrade feature where players can upgrade the axe, bow, shield and armor which gives Kratos and Atreus a new look and unlock new combos, reflecting their growth.

Finally, we asked the most important question of all regarding Atreus. We know he’s a god but we’ve seen how Kratos killed gods before him. So we popped and asked if Atreus could actually die in the game. To that, Aaron stated that Atreus is the vital part of the journey. Though during the demo, Atreus does call for help as he’s dying, Kratos will always have to go save him. It is part of the game that the devs wanted to include to show a father’s responsibility to protect his child and save him when he’s in danger. However Aaron did not disclose if Atreus could actually die which would mean gameover; leading us to restart from the last saved point.

This has been a long but short interview for us to pry out everything that we’ve wanted to know from Aaron Kaufman. But we were glad to have it with him and discover the vital information of the game. Apart from learning how the game is played, the lore, and where it could venture out in future sequels, we were also pleased to confirm that Santa Monica Studio will not let this be the last of the God of War series.

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