God of War: Ragnarok anticipates the novelties of combat in gameplay published with the Game Informer portal. During the video, which is barely a minute and a half long, Kratos can be seen battling the enemy with a never-before-seen repertoire of moves compared to the 2018 adventure.
Game Informer associate editor Jason Guisao explains during the footage that the sequel’s combat revolves around the “play with your food” philosophy. The designers at Santa Monica Studios refer to the multiple actions you can take around your opponent, whether it’s taking advantage of the scenery or chaining attacks with Kratos’ tools. The improvement in agility is obvious; even the camera is a little further from the warrior’s back.
The editor points to a new mechanic located in the triangle button. By holding it down we can activate the final movement of the weapon we are carrying. If we do it with the Leviathan ax, we will return the power of the ice imbued through the edge, which will modify the combinations that we can make during a specific window. If we do it wielding the swords of chaos (yes, they come back), so will we with fire.
The reasons for the change
“In the last game, if you pressed triangle, the ax would come back to you,” lead combat designer Mihir Sheth told Game Informer. “But if you’ve already used it, nothing happened. If you had the Chaos Blades and hit the triangle, you just went back to the axe. We looked at the concept and thought, “What if you could do something a little different with this button? a new repertoire of movements?’ »
Shields have also been redesigned. One of them, called Dauntless Shield, allows Kratos to parry by reacting at the last second. When this happens, the shield will turn red, signaling to the player that they can perform a devastating forward move to stun their opponents. Remember that God of War: Ragnarok will go on sale on November 9 exclusively on PS5 and PS4.
Source: Game Informer