Inside God of War Laufey – Santa Monica Studio on Why Faye, a Ribbon, and a Cube Are Our New Heroes

God of War Laufey is burning the series’ rulebook and sending it to the afterlife… literally. Faye, woman of Kratos, parent to Atreus, is the protagonist successful the latest crippled from Santa Monica Studio, and the 20 minutes of footage that conscionable dropped arsenic portion of State of Play is 1 hellhole of an instauration to our caller queen of carnage, facing disconnected against 2 gods of war, forming an confederation with a cosmic cube, and uncovering herself stuck successful a fever imagination of a caller world.

"We’ll ever archer stories astir Kratos, but I deliberation for us, it was conscionable a accidental to speech astir idiosyncratic who was truthful pivotal to the beginning,” says Ariel Lawrence, Game Director connected God Of War Laufey. “To get to cognize them and propulsion beyond into this caller satellite and springiness america immoderate spot to beryllium amazed and spot however things connect. So for us, it's not a departure; it's much of an expansion."

If you request a speedy refresher, Faye – played by True Blood and Daredevil prima Deborah Ann Woll – is simply a frost elephantine of Jötunheim, has the powerfulness of foresight, and was known arsenic Laufey the Just. The Leviathan Axe from God of War was crafted for her, she has entree to magic, and fought Thor. She besides gave Kratos the nickname “Grumbles”.

"Faye near an unthinkable content connected Kratos and influences however helium goes astir his beingness now," says Lawrence.

Where successful the worlds

Santa Monica Studio’s caller task isn’t a prequel, arsenic rumored, and really starts the infinitesimal that Faye’s assemblage is burnt connected the ceremonial pyre astatine the opening of 2018’s God of War. This transports her to a onshore called the Everywhen, the afterlife of the gods. It’s decidedly not the Elysium fields of Valhalla, but a nightmarish otherworld with slayer flowers and masked skeletons, wherever creatures are being rounded up successful cages. There are bonfires of corpses and an ominous gateway hanging successful the sky. It's acold from a affable place, arsenic Santa Monica Studio’s Head of Creative, Cory Barlog, is much than blessed to divulge.

"They're each assholes,” helium says. “Literally each deity that exists successful each of the mythologies has this truly unspeakable narration with powerfulness and however they maltreatment each of it. When you enactment each those radical - similar a clump of billionaires connected an land - they deliberation they're gonna person a blessed life. No, they're each going to combat each different , they're each going to beryllium successful this unusual consciousness of struggle due to the fact that they're locked successful a prison."

This thought is brought violently location by 2 notable enemies, Sekhmet and Begtse. The latter, a colossal reddish dude, is the Mongolian deity of war. He’s truthful metallic that his sanction comes from a Mongolian connection for armor, and his relation seems to beryllium arsenic a benignant of afterlife bouncer for Sekhmet. As for her, she’s a large woody successful Egyptian mythology alternatively than conscionable different deity of war, associated with plagues, vengeance, medicine and the sun. She was created by Ra, Egypt’s ruler of the Earth, sky, and underworld, to punish humanity, but got way excessively into it and astir wiped them each out. God of War Laufey seems to beryllium truly leaning into the full psycho mean miss element, and I'm present for it.

"Sekhmet inactive has that benignant of gravitas, the scariness, the command,” says Lawrence. “We wanted to beryllium capable to truly amusement that benignant of toe-to-toe, and for [Sekhmet and Begtse] to meet."

Faye the fighter

Luckily, Faye is nary slouch successful the smashing the crap retired of worldly department. She's easy arsenic overmuch of a badass arsenic Kratos, contempt not being built similar a Panzer tank. She’s much athletic, taking connected enemies with agility and velocity alternatively than muscle, and her Jotun origins mean she has magic astatine her disposal. She besides rapidly gets her hands connected a precise antithetic sword.

“She has a antithetic carnal illustration than Kratos," explains Lawrence. "Kratos is similar a ceramic wall, and a small stoic, but his brutality is different. How bash we amusement idiosyncratic who's arsenic adjacent [to him] arsenic she is?"

To find a mode to bespeak the quality betwixt Kratos and Faye, the squad looked backmost crossed the full bid of games to instrumentality a heavy look astatine however they’d portrayed Faye’s communicative truthful far. Lawrence explains that processing Faye's combat benignant proved a enactment of caller aerial for the studio, allowing it to propulsion from the series’ past portion inactive doing thing new.

"The Greek epoch had an power connected Faye,” she says. “The Norse epoch has an power connected Faye. So going [back] to our much agile, fluid combat roots but besides retaining our companions, our gritty person combat. How bash those wed unneurotic and past marque thing that's uniquely Faye-feeling portion inactive being a Santa Monica game?"

Mighty and magical

While we lone got a hint of Faye's magic during the reveal, we cognize she's packing plentifulness acknowledgment to references to her beingness successful the erstwhile games. She has the powerfulness of foresight, was capable to formed protective wards astir the wood wherever she and Kratos lived - retrieve those glowing handprints? - and has unthinkable strength.

When we get to the Everywhen, the density of magic is amplified by similar a thousand“

"For Kratos, magic is simply a instrumentality helium wears connected his belt. With Faye, magic is simply a portion of her," says Barlog. He explains that her powers are much similar Freya's, and tied to the earthy world. "There's that infinitesimal successful the uncover wherever she gets the sword and past she pops the psyche retired of that character, and you get that large slow-mo to spot that determination is simply a powerfulness adjacent beyond what was shown earlier that she has. And it is lone going to turn and germinate wrong of this world. It's that thought that successful the realms that we've explored, successful Greece and successful the Norse realms, magic is portion of the air. It exists each astir us. Its density is simply a definite magnitude successful these realms. And erstwhile we get to the Everywhen, the density of magic is amplified by similar a thousand."

Friends of Faye

So, astir that sword. We archetypal observe it stuck wrong a cosmic cube who is - evidently - called Phranque, and voiced by The Boys prima Jack Quaid. Faye rapidly finds retired that the sword comes with an enchanted ribbon guardian named Rue (voiced by Perlina Lau) and abruptly gaming's weirdest threesome is born.

"I anticipation by the extremity of this, everybody has feelings for immoderate ribbons and a jellied cube," says Lawrence.

"It has been portion of the iterations of this since the precise beginning. Phranque has been carried implicit done each azygous facet of this," added Barlog. "To maine it's 1 of the astir important parts of it. Strip distant each of the fanciful and the plan and the other and what you person is this precise elemental cube, but you imbue wrong of it an unthinkable conflict arsenic good arsenic an earnestness and a existent personality."

We besides spot another, unnamed, astir pixie-esque quality who seems important to Faye's story, but Barlog and Lawrence enactment coy connected his role. Whatever his portion to play, Faye isn't facing the Everywhen alone.

One singular beingness

As you mightiness expect from the workplace that turned Kratos from a caricature to an affectional exploration of fatherhood, God of War Laufey looks acceptable to springiness you large feelings, too. As Faye adjusts to her caller surroundings, she hears Kratos's dependable and adjacent sees a imaginativeness of him, a reminder that successful this story’s timeframe she has lone conscionable been separated from her hubby and son. She besides seemed to beryllium capable to pass with Kratos during moments of God Of War Ragnarök, truthful portion Kratos whitethorn not beryllium the prima this clip around, helium and Atreus volition inactive play an important relation successful Faye's story.

"Everything that we're doing wrong of this game, moving successful parallel to the timeline of 2018 and Ragnarok, besides has nonstop connections to everything, truthful that everything is portion of a singular beingness wrong of it," says Barlog. “None of this is similar we're telling a broadside story. This is each a caller section successful the aforesaid book, a monolithic book, and we are starting to amusement that this has much than you could person imagined."

Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development astatine IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a nonrecreational nerd since 2006 erstwhile she got her commencement connected Official PlayStation Magazine successful the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, fearfulness movies, fearfulness games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends.