God of War Laufey's Deborah Ann Woll Feels 'Totally Unbothered' by Online Haters

Good on her. Don't feed the trolls.

good for her. always nice to see trolls failing to troll someone

Power to her. Love to see these chuds get put back in their box of mediocrity.

Like she'd tell us all about it if she were? These kind of articles only feed the rage baiters and discourse. Be better than this.

Looking forward to the game a lot, reminded me of the way Naughty Dog used to really get to grips with a console at the tail end of it. Something about it graphically really just seemed impressive somehow. The lighting, texturing and models just really felt alive and present.

And good on the actress for not letting things like social media get to her, best way to use social media at large is to not use it at all.

Gonna skip this and buy God of War Drake next year . I heard Santa Monica is even hinting at a God of War Elsie as a launch title for the PS6 and a deluxe milking edition bundle.

Yeah she shouldn't really care at all haha!
I'm sure her paycheck will soften the blow of a load of random losers hating on her.
People love the dude who plays Trevor in GTA Steven Ogg I think and you can see the contempt in his eye for questions about the game even at gaming events.
It's an acting job if I annoyed people with my performance I'd see it as a bonus!
If you hate me I hate you and your ugly children Haha 🤣

Jello shots for every time Kratos has to deal with dead wife. Can the man not live on?
Live, Laufey, Stop.

I’ve watched enough Laufey criticism videos to know that absolutely no one blames Deborah Ann Woll.

@nomither6 Well I always felt Kratos' fat ass was taking too much space on the screen 😂. Still a great franchise by design regardless who's the main. Atreus' parts felt quite boring in Ragnarok though.

Sorry but i can't bond with female game characters. My exception was Ellie and a bit of Alloy. It's becoming to much lately.

False narrative ahoy.

The old play book we've seen over the past decade.

Take a very small minority of critics who push weak or stupid arguments, and frame them as representing the vast majority of criticism of your product.

This creates a convenient strawman.

The majority of the criticism relates to the product not being God of War. Nothing to do with women.

The dev/publisher acknowledged this by using the God of War moniker in the title, because they know it is far too weak to stand on its own two feet using its own name and didn't have the balls to back their own product.

It's simply not the game people wanted. Much like Diablo Immortal got hammered when everyone just wanted Diablo IV.

@zebric21 you actually make a good point on the subject of “representation“.

For the last 20 years, we’ve been told how important representation is. I’d suggest that it is important for all demographics not just one or two groups of special snowflakes.

If you are being asked to pay £70 for a product, and representation is important, then you (as the overwhelming majority demographic customer) want the protagonist to represent you.

It does not matter how many other games represent you, the developer is asking you to pay £70 for their game, not any others.

Don’t they all start out saying this until the numbers come in?

@Dogbreath Ah so you've played it to completion? Do tell us in what ways it isn't a God of War game, and what notes you'd provide to the developer to make it so.

@zebric21
You prefer bonding with men? Absolutely nothing wrong with that 🙂

Ragnarok’s dialogue was poorly written garbage that was anachronistic and entirely out of place in some parts. The dialogue in the Laufey trailer was also very poor, particularly both that ‘token-Pixar-comedy-character’ cube’s actual lines and the delivery of said lines.

I don’t care whether I play as Kratos or his wife, but crap dialogue has and will drag the perceived quality of these games down to Hades, and no amount of graphics or gameplay can help them claw their way out of that predicament.

@Mr-Cage I genuinely don't like anyone enough to begin hating them..does my wife count 🤔 (just joking)..

(sarcasm) What we have here is a game that proves once again that gamers' biggest enemy isn't politicians, or the stock market or even other platformer holders....

It is the dreaded woman.

YES QUEEN, tell 'em

@Northern_munkey “I genuinely don’t like anyone enough to begin hating them”

Oddly relatable, love that way of putting it.

My ex definitely counts though 😂

Anyway who hates on Deborah can go and screw themselves. She's a lovely person and is a massive nerd herself, she's basically the female version of Henry Cavill.

@Atreus97 When i play a game if it's good enough i could feel beeing in the shoes of the actor. It's only natural. Your comment has sexual implications. A bit weird for videogames..

@nomither6 How dare they make a game based around the person who nearly killed Kratos and fought Thor to a stalemate.

Come on dude we all know if this was God Of War: Thor you would be happy.

As a god of war fan and huge Kratos fan.i like what I see in god of war laufey. The game looks really good.people always gonna hate and you can't satisfy everybody. Word up son

@zebric21 Becoming too much? Isn't the majority of the human race female? Giving how male focused VG's were for decades its about time female characters got their time to shine especially when women outnumber men. As for me yeah give me 30+ hours with Deborah over a half naked man any day.

@playstation1995 Hate is a strong word. I think the reality is that most people (including me) don't care so much for this side of the story.

I look forward to playing this and it will be interesting to play as someone who isn't Kratos. If we want the series to continue then I think they need to expand out because Kratos has had his story and its pretty much done. His arc has gone from rage to wisdom and changing the location would not alter that character development. If Kratos is to reappear then there needs to be a story reason and maybe that will occur via offshoot games rather than just Egypt this time and he is angry again.

@DennisReynolds I think they have their fair share. Another more usefull metric is how many men or women buy these games. If the industry is growing with more female gamers then it's a good thing.

@Northern_munkey Hahaha ain't that the truth!
In reality we both love our partners more than we could possibly comprehend!!
That seems the best story to go with doesn't it haha😉

@zebric21 I think you'll find the majority of people just want a good videogame that does the series justice and that the story is window dressing.

@zebric21 The playerbase across the industry is (and has been for a good while) clost to 50:50 between men and women.

I find all this “it’s not a man so I can’t relate and enjoy it” attitudes very strange.

Firstly, you’re telling the world you relate to being an adolescent boy in spandex swinging from buildings, or a bloke who has a very deep voice to almost comic effect, biceps bigger than my thighs and carries around severed heads whilst teaching a kid to be level headed.

All of this you find entirely normal to relate to, yet the moment a woman is on the screen your minds just switch off.

You see, men, true men can empathise, find common ground and support women too, and want to build up women not keep them down. That’s a true man. Not a man in spandex struggling to find his lunch box or a bloke who just swings things at Gods and keeps a tamagotchi like head around.

So, to be a true man, at least one I was raised is respectful and supportive is one that can play as a woman and see the value in that journey.

And no, I wasn’t raised on soy, I’m allergic to it, no I don’t go Starbucks as I think it tastes like the scrapping off a floor.

I was just raised by a good mother and father to see my mother had value and experiences that were worth knowing and learning and supporting.

And also the gaming landscape is close to evenly split with men and women, so let’s not go there either.

So go on, enjoy your protein shakes, lads in tight clothing swinging from rooftops and men with comically large features and a gruff voice.

The real men shall be in the meantime enjoying everything the world has to offer, and supporting it.

Can't wait for this. Replayed 2018 and Ragnarok after this was announced. Def worth staying off social media in general. It seems that everything is negative as that's the only way to get people to engage. Youtube is like that as well, seems everything needs to be over the top negative to try and get views on anything. Faux outrage and constant negativity is the way online has gone.

@MrPeanutbutterz Yes and no. Whilst the overall market is 50:50, what men and women play is markedly different. Men are more likely to play sports and action heavy games whereas women are more likely to play puzzle games and simulations.
In other words, more men than women are likely to play God of War.

@ButteredCrumpet A true man can also value escapism that videogames offer..A psychological analysis for choosing where to spend 70euros is a bit far streched.

@ButteredCrumpet "I find all this “it’s not a man so I can’t relate and enjoy it” attitudes very strange."

Isn't it interesting though how gender and race swaps in our media tend to use representation as an argument? It is almost as if it is only a problem when men or white people say that they prefer to play as male or white characters...

Meh, the Internet loves to hate. I'm not a fan of GoW games anyway but I hope this one is a cracker for those that are, just to see the haters squeal if anything else.

This looks awesome, day 1 for sure. But in real mythology Laufey (also Nál, Nål = Needle) is never confirmed to be a Jotun or an Æsir. She is described like this in the poem Sörla tháttr: "She was both slender and weak, and for that reason she was called Nál". We learned this ***** in school lol

@nomither6 I think the appropriate response to not wanting to play a female character is to just not play the game. Going on an online campaign to complain about it just outs people as being, at best, immature and, at worst, sexist.

@Dogbreath Not everyone needs to "be" the player character. There are plenty of us that are happy to play a game and be completely invested, even if we don't see ourselves as the main character. I don't think I'm Lara Croft when I'm playing Tomb Raider games, but I love playing them all the same.

@LifeGirl Yeah that's a fair point.

@nomither6 plenty of other games with male leads. Go play one of them.

@zebric21 Thinking you’re one of these manosphere losers.

@zebric21 Hey, you’re such a man, I have a straw to help build that straw man argument against me.

I’m not conducting a psychological analysis, so stating that only shows how little you know about conducting scientific research.

One could argue it’s barely escapism at all to be a man playing as a generic male archetype.

But we won’t go there shall we, as you seem to be fearful of psychological assessments of any kind.

@LifeGirl Oh, I find what the media focuses on very interesting indeed. But given that we are on said media there’s not much I can say in that regard sadly haha.

May e if they put her in tight shorts and give her massive 'personalities' they won't hate it as much 😆 I don't care tbh.

@ButteredCrumpet Lol

I've never understood the idea that a video game protagonist would have to represent me as a player, or the player's gender, as several people seem to be suggesting here. As a man I've had zero issues connecting emotionally with whatever type of main character, be they male, female, human, animal or barely animate object. The opposite feels like such a limited imagination in a medium whose main strength is that you can be anything and do anything.

@ButteredCrumpet Hear, hear. The whole "insecurity masquerading as manliness" trope is incredibly tiring. We need fewer Andrew Tates and more Nick Offermans.

@Fake-news So you just erased about 40 years of videogame history making male heroes laughing stock. Well played sir!

I was loving the reveal right up until the jelly cube appeared, that thing took me right out of the experience personally. I am still super excited for the game, it looks amazing but I dunno, that jelly block seems so out of place.

@wildcat_kickz Nick Offerman, what a man! There’s a YouTube of him just sitting by a log fire drinking whiskey. One of the most strangely therapeutic videos I’ve seen haha.

Im looking forward to this. She shouldnt worry about all these haters waiting on remakes or sequels to Jumping Flash, Sly, or Ape Escape that they wont even buy 🤣

glad she's not bothered, I also salute her for not being on social media, at this point these guys grow tired, its the same misogynistic comments again and again and again, misogyny is a psychosis these guys can't break

@Shirtpotatoes75 Same! As a male, I have absolutely no problem playing as a female character in a video game. In fact, I actually think it's kind of cool that Santa Monica Studio is making a God of War game featuring a different protagonist. Deborah Ann Wool is a great actress too.

My problem with this game is that there is a talking cube in it. It feels very out of place compared to the characters in prior God of War games.

I am what some may consider a cubist, a person with a strong prejudice against sentient cubes. The less of a presence that speaking blob of jello has in the game, the better

@ButteredCrumpet

@Leinad7 she didn’t make a statement, she answered a question. There’s a difference

Maybe try reading the article next time 😂

@Questionable_Duck @Shirtpotatoes75 The cube aversion (not in general, just in this case) is something I definitely get. It's hard to not be reminded of the talking cuff from Forspoken, even though I haven't played that game. Maybe it's not as bad as we think, we'll see.

@wildcat_kickz Sheer magnificence.

People here seem to think that dismissing baseless and bad-faith criticism also invalidates legitimate criticism (as seen in the “toxic social media” article). But anyway, good for her! A lot of those on the hate-train don’t even play games, they’re just miserable memers.

I was quite looking forward to the game ever since the first leak about it. Playing as Faye sounded like an interesting change. It still would be.

The problem for many wasn't, and still isn't, having a female character take the lead. The problems in that 20 minute preview were what they built around the lead.

@zebric21 Most of the games released this year are male led, even RE Requiem where Grace was sold as the lead has her side lined for a good majority of the game.

Pretty sure more women/girls play games more then ever now. Even big actresses are open to being gamers like Brie Larson and Zendaya

@Dogbreath Your argument presupposes that the only reason that Laufey is the main character is because of "box ticking," rather than just a creative or story-telling decision by the writers of the game. Isn't it possible that women could be protagonists in games simply because that's the story the writers want to tell, rather than catering to the "snowflakes" you hate so much?

@Questionable_Duck

Hahaha, of all the prejudices a person can have mate, a prejudice against sentient cubes is one of the less problematic ones at least😂

I assume we'll learn more about the cube's tragic backstory at some point and perhaps our anti-cube stance will be turned on it's head!

Still won’t buy it

@Dogbreath Last time I checked, my daughter and wife weren’t aware of any “rules” you speak of them making.

If you know of the survey where women decided the rules for nations, laws, games and anything else as a majority, by all means let me know.

As if you find the questionnaire my wife and daughter would like to answer that they very much don’t mind who they play as male or female or anything in between, and it would seem only men have the issue of who they play as.

I think it’s pretty obvious some men see women as weak and therefore can’t get behind the idea of succeeding as one. It’s hardly difficult to understand if you stop and think for a moment.

Ah, yeah, stopping and thinking, yeah, I see the issue now.

@DennisReynolds Good to know. Myself i can't even find time to play the latest metal gear remake. A series that i love.

@Dogbreath I'd also add that you seem to be admitting to your own hypocrisy. You decry and reject the notion of "representation," yet reserve the right to complain that you're not being represented.

@ElPenitente she made a statement during interview. I actually read it.

@zebric21 I don’t know how anyone can possibly feel represented playing as Kratos. A Greek God living in the Nordic Nine Realms fighting other gods with a severed head and some dwarves for best friends. If playing as a woman troubles you I imagine personality wise you couldn’t be more different from the confident, secure and assuredly masculine characters you imagine represent you.

@DogBreath I cant speak for most people but I will spend my £70 on games that are good. The main character could be a Plastic bag full of cat sh*t for all I care if it’s a 10/10. My identity isn’t fragile enough to be threatened by people that are different to me and tbh if every game was Straight White Male Simulator then I think we would all be bored as hell in 2 years. I don’t know who these “snowflake groups” are who have managed to pressure Santa Monica into spending millions making a game for the sole purpose of representation but I’m going to use occams razor and suggest that there is no shadow cabal of female GoW fans running the industry but instead they are just telling the story they want to tell.

@GeeEssEff “plastic bag full of cat sh*t” had me in hysterics, I’m stealing that!

@GeeEssEff A brutal and entirely accurate put-down of the thinly-veiled misogyny on display in here.

@wildcat_kickz
I learnt a long time ago that you cannot reason with anyone who uses the term 'snowflakes' squire, but you are spot on nonetheless 👍

@GeeEssEff Living in 2026 feels like an easy representation to me. Everyday we fight to survive in a very maladjusted invironment. Games are a fantasy world. If i like playing kratos and Big Boss more than Ellie or alloy leave me be and respect my choice.

@ButteredCrumpet
Beautifully put, you delicious lil' crumpet! 👍

@wildcat_kickz Either reply to what I'm actually writing or I will put you on mute if you insist on trolling via strawmen.

AS I'VE ALREADY SAID (learn to read) I don't give a damn about representation for myself. I will RP as most characters.

A group of vile odious industry and media activists DO care about it though.

If I catch those hypocrites denying other peoples feelings of entitlement to the same representation that they are so keen to demand for themselves, then I will publicly expose their hypocrisy.

Having exposed their hypocrisy in this thread, it's clear from the response that I hit a nerve. They didn't like the mirror being held up.

@Leinad7 Actually, she gave an answer to a question she was asked. Statements don’t require prompting from questions.

So she gave an answer. Have a nice day.

@Shirtpotatoes75 You know the only time my dad used that term “snowflake” was to describe a literal snowflake.

And seeing as he was a boxer, darts player and pub lover along with running a building company … I don’t think it could be debated he was no less a man for not wanting to belittle women.

Finding a jelly cube odd and wanting to bring women down to build men up are not one and the same. (So completely get that argument from everyone).

Agreed with you on all fronts.

@zebric21 Every day you fight to survive? I’m sorry I wasn’t aware you were in a war-torn country ripped apart by men who by and large make the decisions to rip said countries apart.

I’ll send you some cash to support you if needed, but of course if you just mean you struggle to represent misogyny in a world that’s changing to not reflect that, I’ll skip that GoFundMe if it’s okay with you on this occasion.

And just to note I do completely support you playing as a male character more often than that of a female character.

It’s the attitude towards this falsehood that it means there’s male eraser due to a female character that’s not great.

@Dogbreath good job, buddy, you did it! You won the culture war!

That said, it's way more simple than people want to make it. This game has God of War on it because it's in the God of War universe and you'd be an absolute marketing moron to not take advantage of that in the title. And I mean a literal, actual moron.

@Dogbreath it's hard not to notice that you portrayed the female in this example as a hysterical, crybaby and the male counter argument as thoughtful and composed.

Maybe take a minute to reflect on what that says about your view of the world.

Sales will tell the tale of whether a product lands with an audience and that's really the only thing that isn't noise.

Some internet tomato throwing means nothing (Hogwarts Legacy) and some is an accurate forecast of what's coming next (Concorde). Arguing with people for or against Laufey today won't effect the actual metric that will determine if it was successful.

@ButteredCrumpet it's shocking how much venom you spit. As for war torn counties I'm pretty sure your country did it's part.

@OpheliaDynamight why isn't Wolverine called Spiderman: Wolverine?

Because it's a strong enough character to stand up on its own right. That's how it became popular and a name in its own right. It doesnt need to leach off others.

Why was GoW/Kratos chosen as the character for a third person action game way back in the old days for the original games and not Laufey?

Why isn't Laufey like Bayonetta?

Because barely anyone gives a monkeys about that boring character. Nothing to do with gender.

@zebric21 And women nearly always have additional pressures to their survival than men.

So using your logic you should be able to relate to women characters better.

@Dogbreath Feel free to mute me if you must. I will say that your replies have been pretty aggressive and you've been using deliberately triggering words, like "snowflake" to provoke those types of responses.

Your example in comment #93 doesn't hold up because the framing is wrong. It's not that the activists are saying they won't play games that don't represent them; they've been playing protagonists that don't represent them their entire lives. It's that they would like more representation in general. The "dude" in your example is then saying they won't play the game because of that representation, as if to boycott the entire notion. It's easy to dismiss the complaint that you never see someone like you in games if you've been seeing someone like you in games your entire life.

@Dogbreath Ah, so you don't actually have a response of merit for me? As predicted, ta for confirming.

@OpheliaDynamight yes that's right. That's been the media and industry narrative for fifteen years.

Hysterically complaining, playing victim and rolling around on the floor like a football player. Most of them being men ironically and claiming to speak for women (well who am I to argue).

Then when a few dudes request the same thing they'd been asking for, they respond with a tirade of abuse.

They've never heard of the phrase "what's good for the goose".

@zebric21 Venom, me? I don’t think speaking the truth to those it hurts is classed as “spitting venom”.

All you’re doing is telling the entire comments section I made points that hurt your feelings and world view.

Telling me I’m spitting anything but the truth isn’t the rebuttal you think it is.

There’s a reason you all lose the ability to form a coherent conversation and put forward an argument when pressed.

It’s because you don’t have a live feed of the misogynistic men on tap that you can ask for advice on what to say next.

And of course my country has done its part war wise, haven’t all? Since the dawn of humankind we have attempted to kill one another. There’s no land that hasn’t been stained by blood in which humans inhabit.

Let’s leave it here and agree to disagree, knowing that I’m right obviously.

@Dogbreath Have you only discovered a thing called "brand recognition" this morning?

Funny that you should ask about Wolverine, because it's actually called "Marvel's Wolverine", just like how Spider-Man is called "Marvel's Spider-Man". Something something brand recognition.

@Dogbreath this is a clear waste of time, but why not? Let's start from the top.

Why isn't it called Spider-Man: Wolverine?

Probably because they share a setting, but entirely different stories. A quick Google search is really all you need to understand this one, assuming you actually have any interest in understanding it.

Your next point is ACTUALLY hilarious. Wolverine wasn't in the original X-Men comics. In fact, he didn't even appear until a decade in. So I guess by your metric, Wolverine is in fact not a strong character who can stand on his own. He had to leach off the success of X-Men to get anywhere in this world. Are you going to bypass buying Wolverine now because he's a fraud who couldn't stand on his own two legs and had to be helped?

Why wasn't Laufey chosen for the original games? Well...I'm not sure. It was a different set of writers writing a different kind of story? Maybe it didn't occur to them? Where does any creative idea really come from? Who is to say? I don't think that means that new ideas can't exist just because someone else had other ideas in the past.

Why isn't Laufey like Bayonetta? Because she isn't? The same reason Mario isn't like Sonic? Alucard isn't like Ezio? Women can be different types of women! NEAT!

And your last point is just you pretending one opinion is a monolith. It isn't.

Again, probably a waste of time to type all this, but why not?

@MrPeanutbutterz you mean you didn't have a counter argument?

I mean you can't win a debate when you are inventing and replying to fictional posts that you created in your head, and not the points others are making. It's a form of trolling.

It's amazing how I said I never create or choose characters that represent me and prefer to role play instead, yet 90% of you wrote replies suggesting I wouldn't play a female character.

My 22yo female WoW main was created whilst most of you were wearing diapers.

@Dogbreath again, take some time to reflect on your characterization of the situation.

Men: cool, calm, just asking for something
Women: hysterical, crying, whining, tantrums

Really take a second and do some inner reflecting. Maybe ask yourself if you haven't also been caught up in a narrative.

@Brigurugi unfortunately in 2026, this is the norm it seems on the site, and doesn't look like it'll be slowing anytime soon.

I feel like a little bit of integrity has been lost on the site. I get they need to survive, but becoming braindead and clickbait merchants like IGN and Kotaku isn't the way.

@ButteredCrumpet look man it's getting tiring and you will soon hit my ignore list. Accusing me of misogyny when all I said is that I'm not interested in that game is something you need to professionally check. You really need to invent enemies. Have a nice day.

@Dogbreath No, you reckon this isn't a GoW game, so I asked did you play it to completion to know it's not, and how the devs could fix it.

Your response was to ***** the bed.

Anyone with eyes can see that.

It baffles how anyone can have such a strong opinion about that. As if they've never played a female character before, and If they never do for some weird reason - well, that's strange. She's not an outsider, she's literally Kratos' wife, making her side of the story is an interesting choice to expand the franchise, and she does not replace Kratos either.

@EfYI she's not pushing the false narrative.

It's the vile media/industry figures doing it.

They are deliberately pushing the questions, knowing they can exploit the innocent answers for click bait.

They don't give a monkeys about her. They will twist her words, make misleading headlines, take it out of context, bury the fact they asked her, and exploit that to make a fast lazy buck, knowing any blow back will be on her.

She is a sacrifice they are willing and happy to make for a fast buck, whilst feigning that they care about her!

The media and industry are the enemy. Fast buck inflammatory trolls of the media, combined with unscrupulous industry suits who are happy to use their performer as a human shield to cover for their poor decision making.

@OpheliaDynamight it was actually "activists" hysterically and abusively demanding representation. A coalition of various identity group representatives, who I might add had never been elected and had ZERO mandate to speak for those groups.

Then they were even more abusive when another group said they'd like some representation too.

Again, reply to what people actually said, not the fake fictional strawman posts you invented because you'd lost the argument.

@MrPeanutbutterz it's not a God of War game.

Wolverine isn't a Spiderman game.

@zebric21 None of us need to “professionally check” anything. It’s a few opinions being shared on an article. None of us are declaring war with one another or threatening one another with violence or hatred.

I just think it’s a shame you can’t bond with a female character, it would be as odd to me as saying a child who’s male can’t bond with their own mother.

Oh and don’t worry about putting me on ignore, I don’t mind being ignored by anyone, but just know I’ll never ignore anyone unless they seem rather threatening or truly void of anything interesting.

You’re neither of those. I just wish we lived in a world where we could all bond over the love of video games where the gender of a character isn’t a thought. But I understand that’s not the world we live in.

Anyway, good argument, enjoyed the back and forth buddy, you have a great day!

Good for her. Don't see why she should give a damn about anyone's opinion, all she has to do is give a good performance which I'm sure she will, as she's a phenomenal actress.

Personally, can't wait. Looks great and I have no reason to believe I won't enjoy it every bit as much as the last two games.

@Dogbreath We may be misrepresenting your arguments, but I don't think any of us are straw-manning deliberately. If you want to make a point, keep it cool and collected. It's really hard to understand the point you're trying to make when you're using deliberately triggering language.

To touch a little on what @MrPeanutbutterz said, this is a God of War game because the developers said so. They have more ownership over the franchise than you do. You may disagree with the choice, but it doesn't make it less true. Obviously, Laufey would sell worse if it didn't have the God of War branding. No one is denying that. But the game takes place in the already established universe of God of War, so it makes sense to keep the branding.

@Shepherd_Tallon I wish I could quit social media. I always manage to quit for a year or two but then I get dragged back somehow or the other.

@Dogbreath alright, let's try this again, since perhaps my last post was getting a bit argumentative. Sorry to the mods.

I'm sorry you feel like something is being taken from you or you're being treated unfairly. But I'd ask you to imagine how the groups of people that have been treated that way for centuries might feel. Not only treated that way, but in many facets of life had it codified into law.

Is video games the best place to start changing that cultural norm. Maybe. Maybe not. I can't say for sure. And I genuinely don't want anyone to feel left out or made to feel they're somehow villains, males included.

Maybe the game will be good. Maybe even good enough that you come around and play it. But do you know what happens if it's bad? A parade of right wing hucksters who will insist it's bad because it features a female lead. And those some vile people will never come out and call a game with a white, male lead bad for that reason. It's subtle, but it's just as heinous.

All that said, I do empathize that you feel targeted or vilified for just being who you are. I don't think the vast majority on the progressive side feel that way towards you, and it's unfortunate that the very loud minority that might get amplified by right wing trolls.

I hope you come around on this game, but if not, that's fine too.

And with all that said...I don't like GoW and won't be playing it either way. Cheers!

@OpheliaDynamight every group has been treated bad through history!

Why do women still have to go through this? Tale as old as time.

@Alpine yeah...it'd be nice if we could maybe start fixing some of that and not get distracted by who goes first.

@Ryu_Niiyama because there’s still a lot of objectively stupid men with fragile egos.

@Atreus97 The way you dragged him to filth LMAOOO... This had me cackling for 5 minutes straight! 💀
Jokes aside, I'm gay myself but the behavior of some of these straight men make me actually question myself AM I GAY ENOUGH lol. Like gurl damn, you're more obsessed with men compared to my ass....

Everyone should ignore online right wing, virgin, neckbearded losers. As a man, countless men are hopelessly embarrassing.

@EVIL-C Louder for the right wing, virgin, neckbeard losers in the comments, please!

@Divergent95 I’m bisexual and there’s a reason I’ve always found it far easier to date women. It’s due to issues like in these comment threads, where it never takes me long to see why women have such trouble in the dating world at times.

And yes, @Artreus97 provided far more entertainment than I think even they intended for me too.

@OpheliaDynamight you aren't replying to me so why have you tagged me???

I do NOT feel anything is being taken away from me. I never said anything of the sort.

Yet again, and just like the rest of you, you have invented an entirely fictional position (strawman) and used that to misrepresent and attack me. The same old play book.

I will repeat again for the n'th time:

I do not care about representation. I like to role-play as people different to myself.

I have merely said that over the last 15 years, the industry and media have made continuous arguments in favour of representation.

My actual point (the one you refuse to read or reply to) is that 90 percent of the complaints about this game are that the character is boring and uninspiring, and 10% are from people who feel the character does not represent them.

I’ve simply said that you should not be abusing and throwing pejoratives at the 10%, when they are only asking for what the media and industry have been promoting for 15 years. That is it. That is all I’ve said.

@ElPenitente @EVIL-C To be fair, there are plenty of obnoxious people of different political, sexual, and folical persuasions that should be ignored, too. I think it's just safe to ignore obnoxious losers, in general.

@ButteredCrumpet We know what women go through these days because we're targets of the same demographic too. Of course we empathize and of course they're bothered by us and women, because our existence threatens their toxic masculinity and the system they've built. Of course, I'm not demonizing all straight men, there are some amazing ones out there that are even allies, but when the majority is acting like this....

@Dogbreath if all they're asking for is to be represented, then guess what...they already won.

Find me a genre that doesn't have male representation.

Sports games? Basically 100% male representation.

Action games? I wouldn't even know where to start. Link? Ezio? Kratos in about 10 other games? Nathan Drake?

RPGs? Cloud. Sepirtoth. Other people that aren't in Final Fantasy.

Platformers? Mario, Sonic, Kirby (could be claimed be either probably?).

So if that's their only complaint, that they want representation...is it really a valid complaint given the vast majority of games already have them represented?

@OpheliaDynamight not really my pain?so the whole thing is disingenuous to me. I never experienced it my ancestors did.

@Alpine there's a lot of literature that one can read about how the actions of the past affect the current pain people go through. It isn't disingenuous, it is factual.

@OpheliaDynamight it is disingenuous to me I never experienced that.

I do not get the hate for this entry. My only concern is whether or not it will "feel" like a new God of War game. Ragnarok felt new only in the title. There was no true innovation to mechanics or gameplay that I noticed as a gamer. I just want them to do something new with Laufey. Will be a must buy for me though, have loved all the games so far and a change in protagonist isn't going to change that.

@OpheliaDynamight and...... yet again you have failed to read my posts. I already addressed that point. Try reading it this time:

Johnny has £70 in his wallet.

Johnny likes to be represented by a protagonist, just like all the other groups who’ve been complaining for 15 years.

Dave the Developer wants Johnny to give him £70 for the game he made.

Dave the developer is not asking Johnny to give him £70 for GTA5.

Dave the developer is not asking Johnny to give him £70 for Max Payne.

Dave the developer is not asking Johnny to give him £70 for Witcher 3.

Dave the developer is not asking Johnny to give him £70 for Uncharted 4.

It does not matter what other games are on the market. All that matters is the game that Johnny is being asked to pay £70 for now.

Would you buy a game that is trash, just because you’ve already played 30 games that were good? Of course not. All that matters is the game someone is trying to sell you now.

The 10% of Johnny's will pass on this game. It's sales will fall short of the previous two games.

I am NOT Johnny.

However, the Johnnys are perfectly entitled to explain why they are not going to buy it, and should not be subjected to false pejoratives for doing so, when their arguments are the exact same arguments that the industry and media have pushed for 15 years.

I fail to see what is remotely unreasonable about that position. I am merely holding people to account and ensuring they are not hypocrites and remain logically consistent.

@Dogbreath so just to be clear, if someone said "I'm not buying this game because it has a white, male lead" you would be defending them this vigorously in a comment section?

Because you seem to keep framing those people as "whining" and "complaining" in your comments, as opposed to these other people who don't dare deserve to be critiqued for their purchasing decisions.

@OpheliaDynamight Am I okay to keep you on standby as my solicitor? As it’s clearly your calling, and I think you’d be worth far more than the free representation.

Yet I do find it sad to see stating what you are is even needed in this day and age. You’re remarkably capable of something quite rare it would seem, keeping a level and understanding, empathetic head on whilst making the most direct, meaningful and thoughtful points.

@ButteredCrumpet you can keep me on standby, but unfortunately, if asked to defend you, you'd probably end up in prison!

That said, this whole thing is starting to remind me of a a point I heard someone make the other day. "Arguing with grifters is like playing chess with a pigeon...it's just going to knock over the pieces and strut around like it's won."

But at least some folks are getting something out of this back and forth!

I get it if some people doesn't like the idea of playing as Kratos badass Norse wife who got accompany by a talking jelly cube and sword (yes i admit they sounds pretty goofy). But to hate the actress and the game before its out is just sad.

@PuppetMaster nobody is hating her personally this is very OTT.

@Dogbreath A more apt comparison would be to call an MJ game Spiderman. Wolverine (X-Men) is a separate IP as far as I'm aware (or at least it started that way); Laufey is one of the most essential components of the entire God of War reboot.

I find the push for representation extremely dumb. Games give you the ability to be someone else. Personally I don’t care what my character looks like as long as the game is good.
On topic , you have to be living a pretty sad life to attack people involved with the creation of a game.

@Mythologue Catwoman, Harley and Joker are essential elements of the DC/Batman universe.

If I were creating a Catwoman, Harley or Joker game now, I'd have the belief in the character and my vision to just call it "Catwoman", "Harley" or "Joker".

If on the other hand I'd picked or portrayed a boring, mediocre, lame character that inspired excitement in barely anyone, like say Bluebird, I'd called it:

Batman: Bluebird.

Then when people say "that sounds ruddy boring mate, just give me the real thing why don't you", I'd probably play the misogyny card, and get the "usual suspects" to back me up, cause a social media storm, and deflect that narrative from my bungling incompetence.

That's just me and my scheming Bond villain mentality though. It's not like the Movie, TV and Games industry have done that a bajillion times already.

@Psofo if you don't care what your character looks like, then why is pushing for them to look different dumb? That seems to imply you do care if they look different.

@OpheliaDynamight Bestie can I just say that I live for you and that you're so iconic for keeping calm while dragging people for filth 💀? Like iconic queen behavior ngl.

@Dogbreath or since Bluebird isn't a super established character like those other 3, you'd name it that so folks in the general public would say, "Oh hey, it's a character from Batman."

And then if it's good and catches on, and Bluebird becomes a hit character with the public, 30 years later you wouldn't need the Batman in the title.

Kind of like how Wolverine (that lazy layabout) had to hitch his wagon to the X-Men a decade into that comics existence. But now, he can stand on his own as a character.

Once again, it's pretty easy marketing. Kind of like, I'm not sure...naming a game something from established myth...something super popular from mythology...maybe like "God of War"... because people would hear "Kratos" and go "who the hell is that?" and be less interested in the game.

The discourse in this thread in almost as entertaining as the game will be.

Day 1 for me!

@BamBamBaklava89 why are you assuming i’m one of those people? how about you stop being prejudice and watch your mouth.

Personally I wouldn't play this game because I don't find the character attractive. I know nothing about the game past the character pictures. It's same as horizon the first one was fine but the new one in 4k is not for me. I don't want to pay to stare and someone I don't find attractive for 40+ hours.

@Ziek1883 what a shallow life you must lead. Pity.

@Ziek1883
So I assume you find male protagonists sexually attractive in the games you choose to play?

@Shirtpotatoes75 golden comment right there

@Shirtpotatoes75 is everything lgbt in your world?

@PuppetMaster I’m really curious if Phranque is who/what he says he is. He’s voiced by Jack Quaid and this is not Jack’s first time lending his voice to the franchise.

@Rambo-kind
Not at all squire, it's just Ziek seemed to have a very specific way of deciding on whether he would enjoy a game, specifically, he could only play games where he considered the protagonist to be attractive.

I will concede that despite being heterosexual and married for 30 years come September, I did have man-crush on Nathan Drake🤣

@OpheliaDynamight I don’t get your logic. If the status quo was characters vastly different to me I would not be up in arms to be “represented”.

@Shirtpotatoes75 it takes a real man to admit that

@ElPenitente I'm sure there's a twist for Phranque, just like Mimir who also has a goofy name as Puck.

@Alpine I've seen some hate comments for her.

@Dogbreath

The majority of the criticism relates to the product not being God of War. Nothing to do with women.

Oh really? Most complaint i've seen is people screaming woke this and that because the game protagonist is a women, not baldy man Kratos.

The dev/publisher acknowledged this by using the God of War moniker in the title, because they know it is far too weak to stand on its own two feet using its own name.

This is like complaining Mega Man Zero shouldn't used "Mega Man" in the title just because Zero is the main protagonist, not Mega Man. When in fact, Capcom used "Mega Man" to empashized that Zero is still canonically part of Mega Man universe.

Laufey is still part of God of War universe and also will be used to expand that universe. So i don't see anything wrong with the devs used "God of War" in the title, not just to boost the marketing but also to underscore the game status as canonically part of GoW universe.

So what you and some people complaint about the devs shouldn't used "God of War" for Laufey is silly and beyond pointless.

An actor of a game they are a part of saying it's great? Almost like they aren't allowed to say anything bad about the game lol. Not to say this will be a bad game.

Btw. I never see Castlevania fans who claim Symphony of the Night, Order of Ecclesia, Bloodlines, Portrait of Ruin, Curse of Darkness, or Aria of Sorrow as a "not real Castlevania game" just because they doesn't used Simon, Trevor, or any Belmont as a protagonist. Heck, some of those games doesn't have the iconic "Vampire Killer" which is one of the core staple for the franchise.

I guess Castlevania fans are a lot more open minded than some God of War fans. They got multiple games without Belmont and Vampire Killer, two games even played as the series archenemy son and underling, and i never see them angry. But God of War fans going ape sh*t just because one game that doesn't have Kratos as a protagonist 😁

I don't think anyone on the games are given the casual response to the Domino's tweet. And they really shouldn't be anyway given the proper prep work put in.

"I'm not on social media, so that helps"
Undervalued life advice

Good for her! Shame the devs decided to uglify her instead of using a true likeness.

@Shirtpotatoes75

I don't find men attractive but theres a different between looking at something unattractive and passable. By default I would normally choose a female character because I would rather look at a woman than a man. I wouldn't discredit the game for a gender unless they aren't straight. No offense I'm just not the target demographic. As a man I dont want to pay to watch men kiss and I dont think theres anything wrong with that. I choose to spend my money on companies that align with my preferences. A video game is an art. Why would I want art that isn't pleasing to my eyes at a premium price? It people like it then it will do well. If they don't then the studio gets layoffs it's simple. Video game studios have been closing down for a long time now because they are mostly have operate on liberal idealogy sold to a conservative demographic. Without going into politics the groups have different ideals which don't always generate profits when games cater to the vocal minority that don't corrolate into strong sales.

Classic case of 'representation' vs 'presentation'. Horizon Zero Dawn vs Stellar Blade. Realism vs Beauty Filter. Crunch vs AI Slop?

People that use"trigger/triggered/triggering should shampoo my crotch. Worst sequel idea ever, this side of Dragon Age Failhard and anything Druckmann.
Enjoy the crash, SJWs. NEO-GEO AES+ sez buh-bye.