God Of War: Laundry Enrages The Internet

Remember when they made a Mad Max movie without Max in it, and it was a total disaster and nobody watched it and the movie totally bombed at the box office?Remember how it was basically a case study in totally not understanding your audience or even what made your own IP successful in the first place?Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you Exhibit B, God of War Laufey, the latest installment in the long -running franchise that just got unveiled at Sony's State of Play event a couple of days ago.that's already stirred up the fanbase and the entire gaming internet into a firestorm of rage and backlash, and seems destined to do for the God of War franchise what Furiosa did for the Mad Max saga.Why?Well, it's simple really.

It's a God of War game that doesn't actually have the God of War in it.I mean, okay, there's other avenues you could explore in this world, I guess.I think most players would have accepted a game about Atreus and what he does with his life after parting company with his old man.The ending of Ragnarok definitely left that kind of storyline wide open.Instead, though, Sony decided to release a game about Kratos' dead wife, Fae.Or, Lao -Fae, or whatever the fuck she's called.

Anyway, God of War Quest for Laundry apparently spans the events of God of War 2018 and Ragnarok, and picks up immediately after Faye's funeral where she finds herself in the afterlife with all the other dead gods, deities, and where every other belief system somehow all exists in the same dimensional space.Fuck me, I can't wait to see Mormonism represented there.Show us the gold tablets, guys!Anyway, Laundry Lady goes on a long and probably very violent journey through the afterlife, beating the shit out of the gods and monsters that exist there with the help of a talking cube of jelly named Frank, and yes, I'm being absolutely serious here, so that she can save Kratos and Atreus from beyond the grave.You know when you just read something like this and think to yourself,why?

What were they really expecting to achieve here?I mean, was this a story that really needed to be told?More importantly, was it a story that anyone really wanted to hear?Because I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that when you think of a God of War game, you're probably gonna imagine a big, angry, muscular, bald man who grunts a lot, tearing the shit out of anything and anyone who gets in his way, and maybe sparing a vague thought for, boy boy boy boy boy boy boy boy You're probably not going to think of a depressingly mundane looking middle -aged woman who looks like the devs applied a 1980s Scottish housewife filter to the mo -cap actress, swapping QUIRKY MARVEL banter with a talking cube made out of jelly and voiced by Jack Quaid.Because truly, if you need some kind of unthreatening, unassertive, pussy -adjacent whipping boy for your story, then there really is no one better.The point I'm making here is that this franchise has been entirely defined by Kratos and his personal journey since the very first game.

game and trying to port that kind of long -running audience investment over to a new character that was only ever mentioned in some pretty brief flashbacks up until now feels like it's really not gonna work for you.You're choosing to fight a battle that you can't win on a battlefield that's completely not advantageous to you.What do you think's gonna happen?And yeah, let's be honest here, there's the whole MODERN AUDIENCE thing to consider as well.Gamers, just like film and TV fans, have had some pretty unpleasant experiences over the years as their favourite male characters were swapped out, killed off, or just forced to step aside and make way for a collection of prickly, unpleasant, arrogant, invincible girlbosses that nobody asked for or liked.The result?

Years of great storytelling and emotional investment flushed down the shitter.And for what?So the devs can pat each other on the back and tell themselves they're making gaming more inclusive?You know, if I was a cynical man, and my experiencewith modern entertainment have made me thus, I might suggest that this whole game could easily be a cheap attempt to reframe Laundry Lady as the real hero behind the events of Ragnarok, saving the day for Kratos without him even knowing about it.Then again, I could just as easily be wrong about that.

And I hope I am, because the God of War series has been fucking fantastic in recent years and I don't want that to stop now.Either way though, I think this is where a lot of the backlash is coming from.Like it or not, the God of War franchise with its insane levels of over -the -top violence, overarching themes of revenge, honour, personal growth and fatherhood has always been aimed squarely at one demographic.Men.Kratos is like the ultimate male power fantasy in a physical sense, but with something deeper and more conflicted beneath the surface that keeps him interesting.That doesn't mean women can't and don't enjoy these games, but it does mean that men are by far your target audience.

And the moment they get even a hint that the franchise is being pussified, that their favorite hero is being pushed aside in favor of someone more diverse who appeals to modern audiences, or that they themselves are being disrespected or taken for granted, can and will fight back.Like I say, it feels like Sony have chosen a battle that they can't possibly win with this one, and in fact it's probably going to result in heavy losses all around.I don't know man, maybe the real god of war was the laundry we did along the way.Anyway, that's all I've got for today.Go away now.