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And Kratos Relents

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  • so those who spoke were listened to. Be advised: read the GI comments at your own risk. The temptation to blow torch some of these children is killn' me.


  • Damn!  First I was going to start a thread about the trophy thing a few days ago, then ace beats me to it, and now YOU got to this first!!!  I'M ANGRY LIKE KRATOS!!!!  Silliness aside, ace actually took the original thread in a more interesting and less generic direction than I would have, and I guess I don't have to link anything with this now! :)

    I'm prepared to get some flame for this, but I never thought the trophy was bad enough to steer me away from buying the game.  I love the God of War series and since it wasn't an actual event in the game, just a trophy, I was still excited for it.  But that doesn't mean I wasn't affected by this.  I think its really bad, especially because, aside from the embarrassing sex minigames, GOW doesn't pander to gender roles.

    Kratos is equally nasty to men and women (if boot stomping a vicious Fury is offputting to you, Helios got his head ripped off while he was still awake & breathing) and there are plenty of great female characters in the games.  Athena, Pandora, Persephone was a villain in one of the PSP games, and personally its great to see the Furies as the main villains in Ascension, as they're very interesting characters in Greek mythology.  So the name of the trophy totally clashes with the tone of the game, and from what I gather, that specific scene too.

    Mind you, I haven't played the game yet, but from what I've heard this is the final battle, the final Fury.  So this trophy is basically one of those story-unlocked types at the end of the game.  Trophies (or achievments) are supposed to compliment the moment they celebrate, so ordinarily this one is supposed to pat you on the back for finishing that final fight, but its original terminology turned it into a hateful act, not a necessary, triumphant one.  It turns what should ordinarily be a victory prize into something low and degrading.

    An argument erupted on Adam Sessler's twitter (he's the journalist that slammed this in his review) over the context of the scene that might get a tiny bit spoilery, and one guy defending the trophy, but it all falls down to what Sessler said to him. (Sessler didn't really take part in the argument, smart man)  "What does the word hoe mean to you?"  I might be paraphrasing now, but that's the point; the context doesn't matter, its the fact that she is being called a whore.

    There is an interesting story in old Islamic teachings that very much applies here.  It centers around an Islamic warrior locked in mortal combat (not that kind) in the 17th century.  The Islamic warrior has the upper hand, he's disarmed his opponent, who is now moments away from death.  His enemy then, in his seething hatred, spits on the warrior's face.  To this, the warrior releases his prey, takes a deep breath, and then orders that the fight begin anew.  His opponent is puzzled, and the warrior explains that if he were to kill him after that act of contempt, it would have been a kill made from anger, an act that his teachings forbid.  So he wished to continue with a clear head, committing violence only through necessity.  This is what the scene in God of War should be like, an act of necessity in the story, not an act of contempt, like what that trophy originally suggests.

    Sorry for the long, philosophical one, but in short, I'm not as bothered by the trophy, but am happy that Sony Santa Monica have decided to change it.  It was probably meant as a joke, but they didn't realise the impact it would've had.  And as a little factoid that makes no difference whatsoever, the trophy was named by a female producer. ;)  

  • The comments on that article were so infuriating, I had to write a blog about it.

  • " the trophy was named by a female producer." Yes indeed it was. Also, just to add a little more fuel to the fire here, it came to my attention that the trophy is awarded not after the Fury is curbed to death but AFTER a particular male character arrives to save Kratos from the remaining Furies (if my sources are correct) which has many a GOW fanboy and girl clamoring to Kratos' defense saying the trophy is indeed not for the killing but the saving part.    

  • And for whatever reason the link did not appear. Here it is:


  • That was my tiny spoiler deckard. :)  And therein lies both Sessler's and my point, the context doesn't matter, it still means you are calling the Fury a whore, and the rescue man the bro.  Oh big deal Kratos isn't the bro, there's still only one hoe, and what's wrong is the fact that you're calling her that for any reason.  Like I said before, it was probably meant as a joke, because that's how that term is used (see Micheal Bay's Transformers) but its just totally inappropriate.  If this was Duke Nukem, maybe then we could just shake our heads and walk away.

    And that was a really good blog Marz.  I have to say that the comments I've read about this issue have been the worst part.  

  • "see Micheal Bay's Transformers"

    Absolutely not St Nik. No way in heck would I inflict that upon my eyes :)

  • Oh deckard, I didn't mean it literally. :)  But the fact that its relevant to compare this trophy with the crass dialogue of Bay's Transformers movies is proof alone to how bad it is. :)

  • Well you could always go see Paul Anderson's Resident Evil... ;)

  •  "And as a little factoid that makes no difference whatsoever, the trophy was named by a female producer. ;)  "

    Strangely enough, that makes me feel a little better about it. I dunno what that says about me, though. ^^;

    It also makes me feel a little better that Sony Santa Monica have changed the name of the offending Trophy.

  • I've got a clearer head now, so I can actually understand why it makes it better badgerbil.  From my point of view, its further incentive for me to believe that they never meant any harm by it, and they owned up to their error with the upcoming patch.  

    Something I just thought of this morning is that the game only came out yesterday, so this whole fiasco has been irritated by 4 days of comments from idiots that haven't even played the game yet.  And some preach about context?  YOU CAN'T PLAY YOUR BELOVED CONTEXT!!!  *ahem*  Sorry. :)

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