God of War is celebrating its five-year anniversary today, April 20, 2023. Below, we take a look at how the relatively recent release has had echoes of influence across the AAA development landscape.
As a highly successful reboot of a legendary (though dated) trilogy, God of War 2018 garnered not only ecstatic reviews from critics, but also 23 million in sales by the end of 2022. However, while many great games come and go, this one achieved something that few others do–it’s become a major blueprint that AAA developers look to follow in their own projects.
God of War 2018’s influence is most evident in a number of elements that have become staples of the contemporary single-player AAA landscape, such as colored loot systems in action games, Souls-inspired combat, an extravagant presentation, and map design that bridges the gap between linear and open-world. Some noted developers have called out the game as a major milestone that they hope to reach, including Final Fantasy XVI director Hiroshi Takai. In a recent interview Takai even said that God of War is the game that XVI most resembles in terms of quest design, which surely will surprise some fans.
God of War 2018’s presentation is arguably its most striking aspect. Santa Monica Studios’ decision to trade the fixed camera angles of the previous trilogy for the “one take” over-the-shoulder view of the reboot is well-known as a masterstroke, but the strength of its visuals go beyond
