Why do God of War's Characters Keep Spoiling Puzzles?
In this video from the Game Maker's Toolkit channel, the new God of War game is analyzed for its plethora of options, sliders, and toggles that provide reminders and out-and-out solutions. The video discusses why characters in the game keep spoiling puzzles, and how these hints help players move through the puzzles more quickly to get back to the real gameplay. The video also explores the reasons for the existence of these hints, including accessibility and playtesting. The sheer scale of the game and the pressure to round off every rough edge is discussed, leading to a whole generation of games that seem terrified of letting the player think for themselves.
The puzzles in God of War are palette cleansing moments of downtime between the fight scenes, to help set the pace. The hints help players move through the puzzles more quickly, to get back to the real gameplay. Recent PlayStation games have been dedicated to accessibility, and these hints can be seen as a way of helping out players with cognitive impairment. However, the biggest reason for their existence comes down to playtesting, to see how players get on. If a lot of people are getting stumped by the exact same bit, then the best solution is to revise the design.
The video also discusses how games are packed with waypoints, little dotted lines, exhaustive quest logs, and messy map markers - all there to stop players getting lost, but it also means you never have to think about where to go next. This leads to games that are so afraid of losing any players, they practically play themselves.
In conclusion, the video suggests that triple A games are like Marvel movies - great fun if you just want to turn your brain off for a while and soak in the spectacle. The video suggests that the future of gaming lies with indie games like Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, Immortality, and Tunic.
