Opinion: God of War: Sons of Sparta Is the Smaller PS5 Game Fans Want, and I Hope We See More

At this point i feel like we’re having the same discussions over and over again…

I’d probably back it if it weren’t God of War. Just doesn’t fit in with that world.

The last 5 games I’ve played are smaller games. Double Dragon: Gaiden, SCARS Above, Absolum, TMNT: Splintered W, and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. Better small games are out there.

Whatever Sony does, there will always be people that like and dislike those decisions. Lets get back to a time where everyone just lets each other enjoy whatever they want

@LogicStrikesAgain I honestly don’t get why so many seem to complain about what’s out there. This, to me, has been the best generation of gaming. There’s no genre of games that doesn’t have top notch titles to play.

As long as they make something for everyone, I think people should realize no company will cater to them 100%

The game is really nice and it has bonus value in its storytelling if you are attached to the series. I hope they don’t give into the stupid backlash it got from internet Joe

I would absolutely love more humble games without attaching them to existing Hollywood-like series.

I love what Sons of Sparta represents. But that does not mean I'm obliged to rabidly run out and buy what looks like an entirely unremarkable game as soon as possible. I'll still get it at some point, but it's just not selling me enough to be a priority.

Make more stuff like Sons. But also, make better games.

Glad to see Resogun mentioned here. Awesome little game. I hope Housemarque keeps doing some smaller scale games in-between bigger projects like Returnal and Saros.

Well on paper it's a great idea and one that I support, but we all know the majority just aren't interested in the smaller games. We've seen it before back during the PS3 and PS4, loads of smaller games yet they all failed sales wise.

I think it would be less of a risk for Sony to just loan out their smaller IP's. Just like with Nintendo, a lot of their exclusives aren't made by studio's they own.

A smaller more focused game? Absolutely. Sons of Sparta? No. Games still need to be good.

While I have the utmost respect for indie titles, I still think AA is the best gap between those 100+ million games and really low-budget indies. Banishers Ghosts of New Eden proved that you can have incredible graphics, great gameplay (bad enemy variation though), and an incredible emotional story that you choose how to tell. Unfortunately, the GAMERS decided NOT TO BUY IT, because waiting for a sale for a AA game will surely fix the whole live service push... Oh wait... 🤡

It's a decent idea and i'm perfectly fine as long as the main devs also creatively involved with the game. A good example like RAD GoW: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta where Cory Barlog wrote the story for both games, which i think he did a pretty solid job.

But the big question is are these small games will sell enough to break even or profitable?

I mean, we've already experienced PS3, PSP, Vita, and PS4 era where many small / AA games from Sony 1st party / 3rd party collab didn't sold well. I doubt anyone in here ever played Rain developed by Acquire and Japan Studio.

@PuppetMaster I don't think they need to break even. Just to help the brand. To give ps gamers the sense that they're getting many first party/exclusive games, even if they're not interested in every single one. A strong brand (from the ps3 and mostly ps4 days) is what carried ps5.

They already have the perfect springboard - Astro Bot. My kids went crazy for the Ape Escape level in Astrobot. Expand it into a small budget, short, simple "double A" game that doesn't need to sell a billion copies AND can leverage a current, successful IP (if Execs insist, which it seems they do). Crossover hit factor too because it plays to new Astro fans and to nostalgic millennials.

Then Astrobot could meet and spin off with Parapa, Jak and Dax, Ratchet & Clank, Astrobot x Wipeout, Astrobot Burnout...

While I agree that smallar scales and moderate-cost games with known IPs might be a good idea what I really want more between big AAAs is not Parappa the Rapper or LocoRoco and more like:

Miles Morales and Lost Legacy. Hell! I would even say Valhalla which is crazy to give it for free. For example when the rumoured Atreus game was thought to be "smaller-scale" before we learned it's live-service attempt, I was so happy they were still continuing to use assests for inbetweeners before the next full-fledged sequel/IP etc. Who would say no to smaller scale spin-off to Last of Us in San Francisco with the assests from canceled live service game for example? I'm just spitballing here.

Another thing I have been saying this for years: Keep games shorter therefore develop them faster therefore sell them cheaper therefore earn more to compensate and take profit.

What kind of PS5 fan would want smaller games rofl

The reason for a exclusive platform are exclusive masterpieces, like Uncharted 2 back in the day. Greatest 5-15 hours (max) audio visual cinematic experiences.

I’d be more inclined to say yes to more if they have high quality output. Not sure sons of Sparta is the level we want for smaller budget projects.

I think allowing a third party dev team to pitch what is essentially an indie prequel to a massive first party stalwart is a fine idea. I haven’t played it yet but unfortunately it does seem like the execution is generally perceived to be a little under the baseline of what would be expected from the series though. Doesn’t mean that Sony shouldn’t be open to pitches from Mega Cat (or any other indie/AA dev studio) for existing ip in the future though.

@HRdepartment exactly sons of sparta is ok nothing special though more games like astro bot please now thats an amazing game

@Divergent95 Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is one of the best games I’ve ever played. Love seeing it get mentions from other gamers!

@AhmadSumadi @AhmadSumadi great game

If the smaller games are of an high quality then yes astro bot is of the highest quality available god of war sons of sparda isnt that great of a game at all i think its good just not sony quality

@AhmadSumadi Yes king, glad we both enjoyed the masterpiece. I hope the game eventually gains a cult following because it hurts so much seeing how much it underperformed financially I even pre-ordered it, and it's in my top 5 best games that I ever played!

I'm not interested in Sons of Sparta, but I'm totally behind the principle of smaller releases. My favorite is the middle-ground, though: the Miles Moraleses and Lost Legacies of the world. Take the tech you used for a larger game and make a smaller interstitial that can rely on the same bones and mechanics.

Yeah I want to play 16 bit titles on my half-a-grand 4K 60fps console. This is exactly it. How did you know?

Come on, man.

More smaller games would be good. I do play games outside of the large AAA games, though God of War: Sons of Spartan doesn't really appeal to me.

Yes to the idea in general, no to this horrid looking game. They've so many dormant, classic franchises. And this is ultimately another third person character action game, albeit in 2D. Where's Twisted Metal? Where's Motorstorm? Where's Wipeout? And yes, Resogun, absolutely (a game that I've been booting up since PS4 launch).

In a way I'm actually disappointed about Housemarque pivoting to "bigger" games. Don't get me wrong; Saros is probably my most anticipated game this year, and Returnal is close to being my favourite game this gen. But I've missed their snappy, arcade-perfect releases like Resogun and Next Machina (Matterfall was okay, Alienation was slower and more grounded, but still very enjoyable) this gen for sure.

For a lot of PS gamers it’s… Sony should be releasing more games like this…. but someone else should be the one to actually buy it 🙈

I would love to see smaller 1st and 2nd party output, but I'm not totally sold on the Sons of Sparta model - largely because I'm over GoW as a property

Sony used to do well in publishing interesting indie games, some of which you referenced, but the game that comes to immediate mind is Concrete Genie... and they closed the studio.

So I guess my problem with this model is it's still risk adverse if we're just making 2D versions of AAAA franchises. But then again, you get someone to make a high quality 2D platformer of Sly Cooper, I'll eat my words.

If it wasn't more god of war I'd agree. But that's all it is. More god of war.

I’m really glad Sony have made a smaller budget game and think it’s something they should do more of to pad out the release schedule and give old forgotten franchises a new lease of life.

This particular game though doesn’t interest me sadly. Don’t like the art style and the metacritic has done nothing to sway me over when there’s so many other games I’d rather play before it.

I usually try to support the medium/small scale stuff from the big players be it astro bot or expedition, but I haven't got around to this one and I don't think I will.
It looks alright but there are plenty of other games in the genre doing better. With that being said I would like more smaller spin off stuff like this going forward. Provided it's good of course.

thanks for the article: I agree with it, I would love to see more little and middle budget games from Sony; even just as a form of experimentation for try new ideas to later introduce into big budget games.
also it could be nice to keep some franchise alive, perhaps exploring some less known aspects.

at the same time I have a problem with the industry as a whole at the moment: there are too many games on the market, not every month, mind you, but every week! and I'm talking about indie titles of valour.

I began to develop a form of Fear Of Missing Out: there is literally too much to play and I'm unable to choose. furthermore if I'm playing a game I don't like much I immediately quit, because there are hundreds of titles that are pushing for my attention.
this is not good in my opinion: when I was younger I suspect we had less entries but more meaningful (for many reasons).

sorry if all of this looks like an old man vent, yet it describes my situation.

As others have said, I'd love more games on the scale of Sons of Sparta but not the quality of it.

@AhmadSumadi I just finished Banishers two weeks ago. It is so great! A very under appreciated gem.

Ok first Sons of Sparta is below the scale of triple A titles of even the first GoW. So no I don’t want more of this. Second, I do agree that the big budget games development times are ridiculous and should maybe be scaled back some. We don’t need the HYPER REALISTIC graphics in everything. That said, they need to be more strategic when committing to making a new game. Hence, the pushback for all the games like Highlanders, Marathon, Concord, etc. It stinks learning a studio is putting all their resources (time being the biggest resource) into games the majority don’t want to begin with. Lastly, this is the argument FOR AI (which is happening whether you like it or not and no amount of angry blogs are going to stop it.) That is, AI will help speed up development times for mundane, time consuming tasks during development. Not generating assets, writing the story, but simply back end coding and the like.

Sony can do whatever they want, people will complain bitterly regardless. They put out a bunch of small, unattached games for PS4 and they neither sold nor reached critical acclaim.

Sons of Sparta looks pretty bad in fact almost looks like a fan project in comparison with prince of Persia lost crown
So no I don't want more small games of that quality I will backtrack on my words If this small projects get better

I don't want 2D pixel metroidvanias (as the genre is oversaturated) , I want AA games, like we used to get back in the PS2-PS3 days.

@naruball I think right now PS brand is in good position with or without small games. But these small games really needs to sell well at least break even to keep Sony happy and give them solid reason to invest towards AA games & small devs. That way, they can also attract more small devs towards PS ecosystem which leads to higher output of small games.

@MrPeanutbutterz Sadly their arcade twin stick shooter doesn't sold well. According to Housemarque statement, Nex Machina lackluster sales was the final in the coffin and biggest reason why they moved on to bigger budget games.
https://housemarque.com/news/arcade-is-dead

It's a shame really but i understand their reason. At least i did my part with Resogun, Dead Nation, Alienation, Nex Machina, and Matterfall.

I've always been a big proponent for these type of games, & the role Japan Studio filled in making them. Smaller, cheaper exclusives with the right marketing can fill the space between big releases, earn some cash, and broaden the appeal of Playstation. There's a brand value to them that's not just monetary.

@PuppetMaster I adore Rain! Still listen to the soundtrack from time to time too. 😁 Real shame it's stuck on PS3.

Silksong was $20.

@Divergent95 moved into my top 10 for sure. Aside from the limited enemy variation and lack of true fast travel, I can’t think of any other flaws. Great characters, character design, and some of the best voice work I’ve ever heard in a game.

@Yor-sama but we crave more of that right? Said a small group of people.

@AhmadSumadi Yes and yes! It's not perfect but it's a 10 out of 10 for me. They literally made a masterpiece, the Ascension ending made me bawl for 20 minutes lmao. Unfortunately we probably won't get a sequel and I'm so angry because this could've been an incredible anthology series but alas.

@Yor-sama Both games has different artstyle. It's like comparing apple to orange. Not to mention PoP Lost Crown was developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, a big studio with 350 experience people who made Rayman series. Meanwhile Mega Cat is a very small studio with 24 people. I bet the budget for Lost Crown was much bigger than Sons of Sparta too, hence it was sold at $50 compare to $30 for Sons of Sparta.

Sadly Lost Crown was a flop with the team got disbanded. On the other hand, Sons of Sparta seems selling well at PS chart US & EU

@8thDoctor Nice to see there's still people who played and remembered the game. And yeah the soundtrack is really beautiful ☺️

@Divergent95

I will bite one of those sales after all the praise I heard. I'm sucker for good story and gameplay looks fun too.

I love this article.

It is insanely difficult to raise funds at the AAA level, let alone execute a creative vision in a profitable and sustainable manner while delivering the length, fidelity and bells/whistles that customers demand, particularly in the console space. There’s a reason even the largest, most talented, most well established and well funded studios are taking 5-10 years to release a game -usually a sequel - and why industry legends continue to bitterly leave the mainstream utterly burnt out.

Supporting tentpole releases with smaller, high quality games, while not a perfect solution, is a great path forward but one that needs its own specific strategy. Equal partnerships (not buyouts) with third party and indie studios makes the most sense to me, where new I.P. driven by passion, not directive, actually has a chance and both sides can better absorb a commercial failure. Just making a good game is not enough, but few studios have the marketing heft of a juggernaut like Sony, relying on grassroots strategies like lets plays, which can inadvertently hurt sales of a 6 hour single player experience.

Only buying up studios once a partnership has coalesced organically is something Sony has typically done very well. They’ve stepped away from this in the live service era but a release like ‘Sons of Sparta’ signals a willingness to step off the path. The thing is, we absolutely have to show up when studios take chances. We have to believe in the spirit of what they’re doing, even if the game isn’t a AAA knockout.

Obviously, this is a tough sell, not just for customers but investors as well. Yet this is also the value of brand, which is why this philosophy needs to be part of Sony’s image as they pivot back to their strengths behind the scenes. It’s up to Sony to convince/effectively communicate to both an increasingly tight investment pool and increasingly cynical audience that something like this is a passion project propping up sustainability, not just a cheap cash grab.

They’ve got some challenges ahead, but I believe Sony are in a good position within an unprecedented console landscape to level with gamers in a way that will contribute to their success while driving sustainability within the industry as a whole. Optimistic? Probably, but we’ve seen some recent steps in the right direction.

Yep. 6 year dev cycles don't make games fun. It just makes them more appealing to the movie-game crowd.

100% want some diversification as well as new IPS. Not milking IPS in genres they don't fit or boring lifeless copy and paste sequels that don't even address their previous shortcomings.

In the case of this specific game, no I don't want anymore mediocre metroidvanias.Or the godawful looking horizon hunters gathering.

I’d rather have more experimental “in between” games like Sons of Sparta over big risks like Concord and Fairgame$. Think of it this way— Sony could invest in probably 300 games the size of Sons of Sparta for the same development cost that they put into Concord. I’m pretty sure random chance would get at least a few awesome releases out of those 300 games.

Low budget big hits do happen. Iconic titles like Thomas Was Alone, Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, and Undertale. More recently Balatro, Dead Cells, Slay the Spire, etc. And as was mentioned, Sony can leverage existing IP to get even more attention on a small budget game, thus increasing the chances of success. So while PlayStation is looking to spend billions in the hopes of finding the Holy Grail equivalent of Fortnite or Call of Duty, they should just try spending a fraction of that investment into the smaller budget titles in hopes of finding the next Balatro or heck, even the next Expedition 33.

To be clear, I definitely still want the AAA blockbuster releases from PlayStation studios. They don’t need to slow down on those. But rather than buying and closing studios after they spin their wheels with nothing to release, let’s see if we can have some of these studios pump out smaller titles in the meantime and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get some really good stuff. It can’t be worse than Concord and all its unreleased shuttered brethren.

@Scottyy You won't regret it friend. Also, it usually goes on sale up to 60% off!

Hell yes i want more smaller games from Sony, but as somebody who played it, they must be alot better than this game. It wasn't great at all

I feel like it was Shu who championed many of the smaller, left field Sony releases in the past. He was a very highly respected figure and without him I’m not sure Sony has an equal replacement. It could be part of the reason we’re seeing less risks being taken.

i'll support smaller games from sony if they are actually good. sons of sparta is certainly NOT competent on any level. asking people to support this game is a very bad take since you are also in effect supporting mediocrity that we can all do without. shouldn't we be encouraging publishers to make better games?

I'll admit I haven't played it, but after watching several people play or other gameplay videos, yeah, not wasting my time or money with this. I love smaller games, but this just doesn't have it.

Sorry but the game just isnt good enough and it really isnt a God Of War game.

The story and the whole buddy thing is just not the back story, I want for a Kratos.

But I get the wanting smaller titles and its worth it but it truly needs to be of high quality and it just isnt.

Its an ok game it just isnt a great game.

We have enough ok games.

And we have alot of epic games in that genre which are miles better.

Smaller games, yes. Sons of Sparta, no.

I miss the PS3 days when Japan studios was pumping out wierd games, Santa Monica had it's incubator projects, then we also had more platformers etc...

So yeah I'd love more smaller games, but with a bit more effort than Son's. As someone who loves Metroidvanias, it's a real slog, gameplay is basic, artstyle isn't appealing and moment to moment gameplay is tedious

@PuppetMaster I know that I was expecting something better something like lost crown
Plus I'm still pissed that lost crown flop the game is Soo good I blame the Ubisoft haters

@DartLOD of course and I want more small projects but with better quality
Again Lost crown for me was top tier if in the future we got another gow like lost crown I'm buying that d1

just because it’s a small game doesn’t make this trash any good. l wish ppl would stop glazing indies and “small” games.

I've yet to play this game in particular, doesnt look very good in my eyes but the principle of smaller side games I approve of.

I've long since said, Sony should have a handful of small, dedicated dev teams that make smaller scaled, low budget games that are specifically designed for day 1 release on ps+ extra or even premium.

Just 1 or 2 of these a year would seriously boost the profile of the higher tiered subscription service. They're already paying for a few days 1 releases anyway from 3rd party devs so why not have them be in house games for existing Playstation IP that can bolster the brand/IP and they can have tighter grip on quality control over them too.

I mean sure? But the game should be Metroid Dread quality. It ain't that. Seems like Sony just stopped being weird and I don't know why. They're so boring now. I say it all the time here, but my PS5 is mostly for PS4 games.
I also just don't sympathize with publishers crying about how expensive games are. I don't need raytracing,120 fps 4K. If they started producing PS2s again I would buy one immediately, memory cards and all.
It's all about their drive to make a game that we never stop playing instead of creating something, releasing it, and moving on.

@Propaperpusher wow what an incredibly vapid take.
Your fault you bought a Pro. You got PSVR2 also, bro?

Well after 2017 I went I'll pick up- Gravity Rush 2, Knack 2 and Dreams and then just gave up on 1st party to focus on Indies and AA Japanese games, retro or systems I hadn't picked up like Vita, Wii U, 3DS and Switch in that order from 2017 to 2021 and still have them.

I would have said decent but I thought, nah I do want to see more like this. Depends on execution yes but even still. If it's the only way we get interesting games, fair studios using the brands or making new ones, whatever the case. Make it interesting not stagnant and tv/movies and merch, that's fine but every IP, nah that's where it gets boring.

I will buy or have most PS1 to PS3 IPs I can get my hands on. That variety interested me. Xbox doesn't do it as well but still. But OG Xbox/360 did do it better. Nintendo has it still.

I think Song of the Deep by Insomniac, Pentiment by Obsidian and God of War 2D is interesting to see.

Ubisoft and Nintendo get me interested but Ubisoft backtracked on that. Nintendo still keeps at it, I can't wait for Rhythm Heaven Groove this year even.

I didn't buy Patapon 1 and 2 Replay, as I have 1 on PS4 as the Remaster and while it may be inferior I barely play it, I respect it though.

I did get Everybody's Golf but pre-owned so I technically didn't support it, oops.

That aside I enjoy the smaller games.

I am very gameplay picky as everyone knows by now besides my large comments and however much context they pay attention to but that aside yeah.

I'd support Sony if they offered smaller games as their bigger ones aren't impressing me.

It's not really me supporting smaller games because they are small it's what they offer in them.

I respect games like Ride 4 trying thtings (not well but somethinhg), or Gear Club 3.

I respect Crimson Desert or new Fable,but ambitious isn't always a great thing.

I think Crimson Desert will be great, but it;'s controls could be a limit and because many non puzzle types, with how awkward some could be or they can't even think about basic puzzles then I mean... if they are tough or mandatory that is a design they need to twaek. BUt I mean optional puzzles is fine with me I love puzzles.

I hate how dumbed down games are these days. I've always been happy with things being optional for those who want more or other angles of games.

But I play retro games with them stacked back to back of combat, puzzles, minigames so to me it's nothing challenging unless it's not well communicated or the mood I'm in.

Or weird control schemes. I play every genre.

I'm into FMV games these days. Like I have expanded to arcade racers, hack n slashes or Tactics games.

I like Haven Call of the King or others but I know how ambitious games get.

I'm not a fan of 2D games, with a few exceptions like the latest TMNT games. I'd love some smaller games from Sony thought. Something kid-friendly like Sackboy from 2020 or Bugsnax. Bugsnax was actually incredible. Adding a few of these smaller well crafted experiences on PS5 as well as some blockbusters like Wolverine will finally elevate this generation.

It 100% depends on the type of game, and more important, the quality.

If Capcom had a small team locked in an office cranking out classic-style Resident Evil games complete with tank controls, PS1 graphics, and great puzzles, I'd be a sucker for each and every one of them.

Now, a mediocre side scroller based on an established IP but in a completely different genre? I don't know. It doesn't seem to fit. Why not do one in the style of the original God of War trilogy? You don't have to capture the visual aesthetic the same way, but you have to understand what the original developers did to make players feel a certain way and capture THAT.

When the greatest games are discussed, there isn't a lot of discussion about how cool the particles effects are or how accurate the MoCap was or how the ray traced light made a thing look 17% more realistic. We think about how those games made us feel. The story. The gameplay. The music. Sometimes the presentation, but not necessarily the visuals themselves, but how they were able to convey the developers' vision. That's the core of what people want when they say, "You don't have to spend insane amounts of money to crank the quality on everything to 11, just put out a solid game that costs less to make, takes less time to make, and can be sold to us for cheaper."

We're not going to just blindly put support behind something because Sony comes out and says, "Hello Gamers, here is the cheaper thing you wanted!" That's missing the point.

there are so many small indie companies delivering these type of games. we do not need these type of games coming from sony. despite what is being written online the only real vote, is the one the players do with their wallets...niche audience...

I'll definitely give this game a go in the future. I just pre-ordered Saros so I'm kinda out of money right now, but maybe I'll buy it next month. With Sony supporting PS5 more and more and actually trying out new and smaller projects like this, I'd gladly support them back, even though the game is a bit expensive

@SuntannedDuck2 you should be proud to be known by your length...

@PuppetMaster "I think right now PS brand is in good position with or without small games. But these small games really needs to sell well at least break even to keep Sony happy and give them solid reason to invest towards AA games & small devs. That way, they can also attract more small devs towards PS ecosystem which leads to higher output of small games."

Their latest track record definitely confirms exactly what you're saying. But I still believe that they should look at the bigger picture, like they used. When only 6/10 of the games they made made a profit, but they made them anyway (I don't remember which PS CEO admitted that back in the ps3 era, perhaps?). Because they understood that it helps their brand. And that's how they turned things around with ps3 and ps4. Now they try to maximize profits without taking any loses.

Experimentation and smaller games should be commended. As long as they're actually good games.

I won't back this type of entries for existing AAA 1st party franchises - it only leads to dilution. Especially if they're so badly made as this pixel party here, or that Horizon coop mockery...
For this type of games, make new IP's, or spinoffs with non canon stories and characters, and it'll be all good for everyone.

Smaller games, sure. But I don’t want a bunch of 2D pixel art metroidvania roguelites. There are MORE than enough already.

Two things keep me from getting Sons of Sparta:

a) It's PS5 exclusive, and I ain't buyin' no PS5; and
2) I would've preferred something that takes place post-Valhalla.

I'm a little burned out on Metroidvania, to be honest. I'm old enough to have played the originals which spawned the term (though I barely touched Castlevania, I was certainly aware of it), and I've played many, many in the genre over the years. And now, I'm less interested in more of the same.

Nothing against Sons of Sparta for those who like it, and if it were on a portable device I might be more willing to give it a shot...but probably not.

Give me the big expansive games that studios are spending the better part of a decade building. If they're good enough to keep my interest, I can stand the wait.

If you want to delight me with a smaller game, give me something that feels new and different, like Journey did - but not a modern Journey clone, because that's not new and different any more.

That's not to say I won't try indie titles, or even another metroidvania - but just saying "metroidvania!" won't get me to even turn my head these days. You'd better be coming at me with something new and different and delightful, not an amalgamation of dozens of games I've played before.

Smaller games, Yes

Metroidvania variants, No.

Id like to see more smaller, but this god of war game looks absolutely awful..there's are far better games in this vein out there.