Late last year, God of War director Cory Barlog revealed that a Dwarven duo named Brokk and Syndri would be responsible for Atreus and Kratos' upgrades, also suggesting that the two dwarves would have their own narratives. Now, the developer has shed even more light on customization, revealing just how extensive the game's upgrade system is.

In a new developer diary published to the PlayStation YouTube channel, the God of War development team explains that the ethos behind the new game is to let players play the way that they want. Jason Mcdonald, the game's lead gameplay designer says that "we just want players to have choice," adding that, although players may have a "different Kratos" compared to other God of War players, they'll realize that "they're still Kratos at the end of the day."

When Mcdonald says that players can create a very different Kratos, the designer isn't kidding. Game director Cory Barlog notes that "all of Atreus' core abilities and all of Kratos' core abilities, as well as his reactions - the cooldowns and how fast those go - all of your damage, as well as [your] ability to take damage, all of those things are factors you can have control over." Through a skill tree, players can gain new abilities for Kratos' new axe, also affecting barehand abilities and defensive abilities such as Kratos' block and parry.

Barlog suggests players will have to think carefully and strategically about how they pursue upgrades. For example, if players have pursued a strength-focused build then they may have trouble up against certain, tough enemies that are crunching through their health bar. Barlog says that players may want to "swap" things out to suit or just adjust their playstyles based on their stats and the enemy's attack style.

Moreover, the video mentions resources that will be used to craft those items. For example, players will need 5,000 pieces of Hacksilver in order to craft a Boar Hide Shoulder Guard. The new God of War will be big on exploration but it's unclear just how much of the game will be devoted to collecting these resources for crafting and how the game will ensure that this gameplay remains fresh and doesn't feel like legwork.

God of War releases April 20, 2018 exclusively for PS4.

Source: PlayStation - YouTube