God of War Ragnarok level designers interview

God of War Ragnarok received huge and deservedly very positive reviews. And not only in our review, but, of course, all over the world. As part of the release and review, we also had the opportunity to interview two level designers from the Santa Monica studio and other European game journalists. James Riding and John Hickenbottom. And, of course, there is no shortage of interesting information and behind the scenes. So let’s get down to business.

One of the first questions was clear: where did the creators draw inspiration for the diverse environments that we can find in all nine worlds? But the question as such was not directly directed at the level designers per se, rather the praise was aimed at the art direction per se. In another question, of course, the more classic answer was that a lot of the inspiration came from TV shows, movies, or other games. But at the same time, they also tried to make the whole game not only for themselves, but also for the fans and somehow for everyone. When inspired, they don’t follow any rules and just look for things that can be fun.

When asked what a “typical God of War level stat” looks like, according to both developers, we got the answer that everything needs to be put together well. In other words every aspect of the game must fit together well. The plot emphasizes the gameplay, which, on the other hand, is complemented by various puzzles. Anyone who is familiar with God of War Ragnarok will probably agree with us when we say that the developers really managed to achieve this.

Another issue was how the various conversations were integrated into the levels themselves. Here we learned that sometimes the story is created first, and then the level that complements it, and sometimes vice versa. However, it is also about the cooperation of both parties; one of the developers, after creating the level, came up with the idea that they needed to include one dialogue somewhere, for which there was not enough space in terms of gameplay. Therefore, parts of the level had to be changed to accommodate one additional dialogue.

Especially if you like to explore and fill in everything, then you have probably discovered for yourself … How to say this without spoilers. Such an interesting place in Vanaheim. This was also discussed during our conversation, specifically in the context of why the developers decided to block some parts of the game until the very end. One of the answers was surprisingly simple: because they like it. The more difficult answer, however, was that they also wanted the game to have locations and places where you can only go to the moment when you have more or less everything unlocked and you are familiar with everything. So they throw you into more or less a sandbox where you can do and achieve everything, they let you play and at the same time they can test you. Where, in short, you don’t have to be forced to hold back.

Related to this was the question of how the developers were able to “force” the player to return to already explored areas and worlds just for puzzles and other things now that they already have the necessary items to complete them. The praise here is mostly a kind of smaller division within the team itself called the “Player Investment Team”; in other words, the team focused precisely on the contribution of the player to the game, which he was assigned, for example, to come up with interesting rewards for completing these secondary tasks. If you just want to follow history, of course you can. But if you put the time and effort into finding and doing it all, you will be rewarded.

Then some questions dragged on a bit. According to two devs interviewed, their favorite world is Svartalfheim (probably because it’s a world they both worked on together), devs tend to be personally delighted with the game, how much variation they’ve been able to bring to the game, and as for having a special jump button, this was not included in the plans. The team tried to come up with ways to expand on the first part – that’s why there are blades and the movement possibilities associated with them from the very beginning. But a special jump would mean it would more or less become a completely different game, and that just wasn’t on the agenda.

But what might not be so far from realization might be other part. The blueprint for the entire saga of Norse mythology has, to some extent, existed for some time, but the whole blueprint has somehow changed. And after the release of the first game, there were internal conversations about creating a trilogy. Of course, as we now know, this did not happen.

As for the level designs themselves, both developers agreed that puzzles are harder to come up with than boss fights. With puzzles, you have to make sure everyone understands what they have to do and that everyone can do it. It requires a lot of playtesting, feedback and iteration. Some puzzles began to be easily created two and a half years ago and are still modified even at the last moment. At the same time, accessibility elements, for example, did not greatly interfere with this development process. The basic vision of the puzzle has always been created independently of everything else, and only then, according to reviews, they began to take into account the fact that almost everyone could assemble the puzzle.

The last of the questions then related to the personal opinion of the developers about whether they feel good that the series as such has been renewed. That there have been such drastic changes and a complete reimagining of God War as we know it. And then the word “absolutely” fell out immediately. The reason was that we now live in a new era of gaming – both in terms of gameplay and storytelling – and that now we can relate to Kratos much more. Which is just fine. And we can only agree.

Have you already completed God of War Ragnarok, or have you only reached the first part? Let us know what you think in the comments. And, of course, we thank James, John, Santa Monica and Sonya for the interview.