#David Jaffe

[charalysis]

Kratos Part 3: A Fan Response to David Jaffe

To David Jaffe, creator of God of War: I'm not even remotely sorry your rage fantasy attempt at a self insert grew beyond you. Your annoyance at where Kratos is as a character is incredibly amusing, because you do not seem to grasp the fact that you sowed the seeds for this kinder, less furious Kratos.

You established that Kratos's motives early on were revenge for the unintentional murders of his wife, Lyssandra, and their six year old daughter, Calliope. His motive out the gate was about someone else, despite attempts to make him seem a solely evil and self motivated man.

I find it incredibly interesting that you had zero issues before with Kratos showing love to his little girl in Chains of Olympus. Or to him taking a weak moment with Ascension to give an illusion of Calliope a goodnight kiss. Or even to him questioning himself and his actions with, "What have I done?", and "What have I become?" in the other PSP title, Ghost of Sparta when talking about killing his mother and the death of Deimos.

The plot points were laid for Kratos to develop into a kinder, calmer, and more considerate man as early as game one.

Hell, at the end of 3, he makes the ultimate gesture against the Gods, against Athena and for the people of a country he adored. He sacrificed himself to return Hope itself to the Greeks. Kratos was always thinking of Greece and it's people and what was best for them as far back as BEFORE his oath to Ares. He made the oath so he would be able to defend his people from an invading force.

Yes, Kratos was an angry son of a bitch. Selfish, cruel, arrogant, and sometimes just outright horrific as a person. But eventually you get tired of being angry, and that's what he did. He succeeded in killing all who wronged him or stood in his way. Eventually the fire fueling his hate burned away.

By 2018, we see an aged Kratos who still holds much anger and was trying his best to work on his temper. Hes once again in a position of grieving, but this time he's left alone with his eleven year old son. He's tired, he's grieving, and he's trying to handle his emotions on top of a rather volatile Atreus's. He's struggling to maintain calm because he doesn't think he should be that way, the old Kratos, towards his innocent son.

And here's a perspective: The angry teen boys who loved the series have grown up. They grew tired of the anger. Many of them are fathers themselves. They now get to see their favorite character grow up with them and develop.

Kratos isn't soft, in fact he's still as powerful as ever, and the strength it takes to undergo therapy (Valhalla in this case) is immense. Kratos is stronger than ever, he's just found it in his heart to show mercy when he can.

[vintagewarhol]

[zachfett]

Kinetica (2001, SCE Studio Santa Monica)

God bless those character designs.

Also the game's soundtrack is really, really good.

[cinematitlecards]

"Twisted Metal" (2023) Created by David Jaffe (Action/Adventure/Comedy/Video Game)

[eirikrjs]

Do you think it was a bad idea for GOW to go the Norse route when so many Neo-Nazis are using and hiding behind that type of imagery?

You can't be afraid to approach material that originally had nothing to do with Nazis just because Nazi chuds partially appropriated some of it. Fuck them, they don't own it.

That said, Kratos himself is an issue since he was inspired by Edward Norton's Nazi character in American History X:

“It took a long time to figure out what Kratos would look like, and ultimately we took inspiration form Edward Norton in American History X, when he played a Nazi. There’s this scene in which the cops arrest him and you just see how buffed and built he’s gotten. I showed that to the artist and I said, ‘Okay, that sense of power and aggression that you just see in his face, can we somehow take that, the essence of what he’s exuding, and somehow turn that into a character that fits into this Greek mythology world?”

Jaffe's Crib Notes sure belong to a different world from Kaneko's 🥴🥴

[gamemories]

[thecinematicbandicoot]

Defending the God of War Trilogy: God of War (2005)

CinematicBandicoot #Reviews - Defending the God of War Trilogy: God of War (2005) #GodofWar #GodofWarRagnarok #PlayStation #Kratos #GamingCommunity #VideoGame #VideoGames #GamingNews #VideoGaming #PlayStation2 #PlayStationStars #Ares #Mythology #Action

The beginning of a misunderstood saga By TheCinematicBandicoot thecinematicbandicoot.com July 17, 2022 God of War: Ragnarök is on the horizon, which continues the drastic overhaul the series underwent in its predecessor. However, the franchise produced an acclaimed trilogy several console generations ago. Since the release of God of War 2018, the original trilogy received backlash for its…

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

As the original designer of God of War, David Jaffe is allowed to have a say on how he feels about Kratos. So, he doesn't like how Kratos is characterized in the Norse era.

I can almost agree on some level, mostly because I wanna see Kratos travel to each pantheon, thoroughly and singlehandedly destroy every last one of them, and replace them with the powers of hope and balance.

Even in the Greek era, I imagine Kratos killing off all 13 Olympians plus the sisters of fate and Thanatos while all the lesser gods, demigods, and Titans are already dead, save for Atlas who Kratos kills later, and Thanatos consumes, embodies, and controls the evils from Pandora's Box and souls of all Primordials.

[lmaverick123]

David Jaffe's Stupid Kratos Take

I recently re-downloaded God of War: Ragnarok to play the free Valhalla DLC, and it’s amazing.  For real, amazing stuff.  The fact that this was released for free almost makes me hopeful for the future of gaming, though not really, because I know that this is an aberration, not the norm.  The norm is nickel and diming gamers until we cough up billions for them.  Such is life.  However, as I was…

[tenth-sentence]

Undressing the inmates?

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" - Rutger Bregman

[nocontexteastereggs]

Motorstorm: Apocalypse (2011)

[lodgeofthecat]

  Come hang out with us as we play more God of War!

[abs0luteb4stard]

W 4 T C H I N G

Truly, a chunk of shit. I don't know how this relaunched the films.

Wes Craven should've died before making Scream 4.

[zachfett]

Twisted Metal: Black (2001, Incog Inc. Entertainment)

I've always loved the way missile smoke trails zigzag in this game.

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Scream 4 (2011)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Scream 4 (2011)

Hearing the name, Scream 4 makes you wonder how many times these sorts of events can happen to the same group of people. That's understandable, but this series is about more than just the characters; it’s a commentary on the horror genre. In 2011, several new trends proved themselves ripe for commentary and satire. After the disappointing third film in 2000, this is a much-appreciated return.

Following in the footsteps of fellow survivor Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is capitalizing on the Woodsboro murders by publishing a book. The moment her book tour bring her home, a new killer emerges. This time, “Ghostface” (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) is savvy to the current rules of horror, meaning that the previously "untouchable" Sidney, Gale, and Dewey (David Arquette) are now potential victims.

Scream 4 begins with an out-there view of the “Stab” franchise, the films-within-the-film that are based on the Woodsboro murders and have devolved into a generic slasher series that includes time travel, attempts to be meta, roles that were recast, productions that went ahead despite the director being a serial killer, and more choices that smell of desperation. It felt like that's where Scream 3 left us. This is why Scream 4 is both a continuation and a potential jumping-on point. Since the year 2000, movies have gotten nastier with the likes of the gore-heavy Saw and Hostel series. These original films are sandwiched between endless remakes - Writer Kevin Williamson cleverly names a dozen of them in a tense scene toward the end. He makes fun of the films he mentions by pointing out the mechanisms that make them work, but then goes the extra mile by showing us how to do it well. It helps that the familiar story beats are shrouded by the mystery: who is behind the mask, and why are they brutally murdering these people?

This fourth chapter works because of the characters. Unlike so many slasher films, we actually care about the protagonists. We like Gale and Dewey. We want them to remain together as a happy couple. We know Sidney is tough and want to see her continue to grow. The same applies to the new cast introduced. Sidney’s cousin, Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) is a lot like our main heroine; she’s just an ordinary girl who is suddenly thrust into this horrifying ordeal because of happenstance. Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer (Rory Culkin and Erik Knudsen) are great substitutes for the movie-obsessed Randy (who died in the second film). I’m a big fan of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), Jill’s best friend who also loves movies, and Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), who has a not-too-subtle crush on Sheriff Dewey. Williamson said one of his main objectives was to differentiate this movie from the likes of the Saw franchise, whose audiences only care about how quickly everyone can be turned to red goo. Mission accomplished. Partially because of the actresses (among those already named, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes all have small roles that show off their charisma), and because we get enough time with these people to see them as real people, people you might even be friends with.

If there’s a mystery killer, there’s got to be a twist ending and it’s a great one. The beginning showed us there were two killers - both disguised as Ghostface - working in unison, which actually makes it much harder to figure out who are the culprits. When Jill and Charlie take off their masks, it’s a shocker but the satisfaction goes beyond the audible gasp. As in any good whodunnit, we learn what motivated them. It’s eerily chilling and relevant to modern-day. Jill is envious of her cousin’s fame and wants to replace her by recreating the events that made Sidney famous, culminating in her death, Jill’s ex-boyfriend (Nico Tortorella) getting framed, and Charlie getting double-crossed so Jill can be the “final girl”. When some of the most famous people on the planet are successful not because they’re actually talented but because they happened to already be famous or stumble into fame, and mass murders done just for the infamy of it are very real, that motivation packs a punch. This is a smart film.

If you’re a fan of the franchise, you were disappointed with the third film because the setup felt really artificial. This premise is organic and all the Scream trademarks are back: the likable characters, the compelling mystery, the dark comedy, the scares, and an insightful commentary on the horror genre. Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson legitimately had something to say and worked hard to make Scream 4 worth the wait. (On Blu-ray, May 30, 2022)