Sony Santa Monica Studio's release of God of War in 2018 was met with widespread acclaim. A large part of that love for God of War was the game's polish and attention to detail, as the way Kratos moved in combat felt fluid and powerful. Now, a God of War dev is coming forward with a secret design element that may offer a hint at how Santa Monica Studio was able to help convey Kratos' strength.
Apparently, when Kratos takes his sword off of his back, it grows larger in his hand. The odd factoid comes from PlayStation Studios visual artist Robert Morrison, who shared the detail on his Twitter account. According to Morrison, Kratos' axe is a "different scale" when it's in his hand as opposed to his back. A Games Radar follow-up with Morrison gets more specific, clarifying that the axe grows around 20% in size in Kratos' hand.
Morrison's explanation for the axe changing sizes in God of War is surprisingly simple. He says that these types of tricks are used to give off the "best visual presentation" for certain camera angles and that it helps "frame the shot." In other words, Santa Monica Studio simply felt like when Kratos held his axe in his hand, it looked too small, so it made it bigger. That bigger-sized axe didn't look as good when it was on Kratos' back, so they kept it smaller.
It's hilarious to consider that Sony's Santa Monica Studio decided that, rather than keep the axe a consistent size, it would be better to grow and shrink the axe and hope God of War players wouldn't notice. Of course, it ultimately paid off. While there were undoubtedly some players who noticed the axe seemed larger in Kratos' hand, it was subtle enough to not be noticeable by most, let alone distracting. The size change is hidden in the animation where Kratos takes the axe from his back and the camera's movement during the animation.
While Morrison mentioned that this is a common trick in game development, he says that he doesn't recall whether it was used in any other ways for God of War. Still, it's easy to see where similar techniques could be used. Any time the camera zooms in or out from Kratos' back, or when another object is touched by Kratos, it could be made smaller and larger.
The use of this technique isn't always just to frame a camera shot, either. In Kratos' case, it's to make him look larger and imposing. Santa Monico Studio may even embiggen Kratos himself, or shrink his son Atreus, to show the power dynamics between the two or to make Kratos look more threatening. Next time anyone plays God of War, they'll have to watch for these moments.
God of War is available now on PS4.
Source: Games Radar