Over the past week, Sony has been celebrating the one year anniversary of God of War. Plenty of insight into how the game was developed at Sony Santa Monica has been revealed in the past few days, including the announcement of a documentary showcasing the five-year effort to bring God of War from an idea to an actual product. Speaking of its development, Cory Barlog, God of War's director, shared an interesting tidbit about one of the title's more iconic moments, and how it was almost cut from the game. Please be aware that SPOILERS for God of War follow.

Even in a game that is filled with powerful moments, for many, one of the most iconic scenes in God of War is when Kratos returns to his home and unearths his Blades of Chaos. While longtime fans will remember these weapons as the ones used to essentially destroy the Greek Pantheon, this scene was nearly cut entirely. As Barlog revealed, the Blades of Chaos were added into God of War in the last year of development, leading the team at Sony Santa Monica to believe the weapon would have to get cut, as it took nearly 3 to 4 years of development time to make God of War's Leviathan Axe feel great to use.

Adding to the trouble was God of War's new camera angle, which deviated from the classic side and isometric view for a new behind the shoulder style. The team struggled to make the chains not only feel good, but also look good, considering the new angle presented a number of challenges. For Barlog, though, the blades didn't just represent a cool nod to longtime fans, but they served a big narrative purpose in the story. While they were something he wanted to bury and move on from, ultimately they were a tool that he'd have to return to for his son in that segment of the story, but to also show his evolution and growth as well.

As most fans would agree, not only did the studio nail the scene and the feel of the Blades, but also the developers worked hard to make that moment really memorable by adding all sorts of little details and visual flourishes. Things like the deer and lightning flashes, as well as the shots used to show Kratos entering his house for the Blades were all crafted intentionally. Interestingly enough, Barlog even admits that the God of War team used a sleight of hand technique so they wouldn't have to show Kratos reattaching the chains to his arms.

Alongside all of the anniversary talk, rumors have begun popping up signalling that a sequel is in the works. Ultimately, this shouldn't be too surprising considering how well the game sold and was received by players. The rumor was given plenty of life by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, who jumped into a Reddit post discussing a potential sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, and basically claimed that Sony had already started working on a God of War sequel, likely for the PlayStation 5.

God of War is available now on the PlayStation 4.

Source: GameSpot