God of War Ragnarök creative director Eric Williams recently confirmed the game will feature different shield choices, each with their own defensive attributes and properties. Developer Santa Monica Studio has detailed several new gameplay and story details following the title’s official unveiling at the PlayStation Showcase 2021, with an emphasis on more combat-related options related to gear and playstyles.
The retractable Guardian Shield was originally introduced in 2018’s God of War, which replaced Kratos’ powerful armlet, the Golden Fleece, from previous titles. Given to Kratos at the start of God of War, the shield could be used as a basic form of defense, allowing players to protect themselves from foes or have the option to parry incoming attacks – substantially staggering enemies. This could be adapted to different combat styles, and allowed breathing room to maneuver and deal heavier blows with Faye’s Leviathan Axe or Krato’s infamous Blades of Chaos. However, the shield had no customization or attributes – something God of War Ragnarok appears to be expanding upon.
In a recent interview with Jon Ford, God of War Ragnarok director Eric Williams confirmed that the upcoming title will feature a variety of shields with diverse defensive options and abilities. Williams went on to explain that combat and enemy encounters will be designed in ways that encourage experimentation with different gear and abilities. Williams elaborated, “The reason we’re doing this is [because] we really want to open up expressive choice to the way that you build your Kratos.”
These choices apparently will allow for different responses from enemies, which enable players to explore their options when approaching different situations of combat. Williams told Ford, “You can kind of play a little differently, and then the enemies know how to respond to that, or force you into these different situations where you need to use different things… We wanted it to be more expressive, where your choices matter when you set them up.” As revealed in the past, God of War Ragnarok is also confirmed to feature more of God of War‘s Greek era signature mechanics and older gameplay style.
As more interviews are conducted and details are revealed, God of War Ragnarok already looks like it will be a potentially effectual sequel. Players familiar with 2018’s God of War gameplay and combat can look forward to more variety and customization, seeing as they’ll soon be able to fully build their own Kratos based on playstyle and choice – and new players can take part in a meticulously developed installment that wraps up the God of War Norse saga.
God of War Ragnarök will be available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2022.
