Recently, Sony has made it clear that it intends to expand its game library into the PC market's space: Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Death Stranding have all been released on Steam. A slide found in a recent Sony investor's document revealed that Uncharted 4 may be the next game making its way to PC, though Sony has not confirmed this. This is great news for PC gamers, as Sony’s exclusive catalog has been steadily growing over the past console generation. Fans have been murmuring about what the next high-profile port could be, and while many want to see Bloodborne join its Souls brethren on Steam, God of War feels like a higher priority pick.
The 2018 God of War soft reboot was a rousing success for Sony and PlayStation. The game reinvented the old hack-and-slash franchise into a new narrative-driven action RPG form. The game's epic journey was largely praised, citing its excellent combat and emotional tale of a father and son coming to terms with one another. A month ago, God of War was technically playable on PC via the PlayStation Now program, however, a true PC port of God of War will bring with it many advantages. Beyond improved performance and graphical fidelity, the greatest boon a God of War PC port could bring is no doubt the potential for mods.
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The Appeal of Mods in Video Games
Video game mods have been used to do all sorts of things, to all manner of games. From Doom and Quake mods that make new maps and add new weapons, to Super Mario 64 mods that transform the game into an entirely different one, mods have been a core part of gaming. While they are rarely recognized in an official capacity, they are often cited as the main reason, besides performance, for choosing PC gaming over other platforms. More modern console games ported to PC might be more difficult to mod than older games, but that doesn't mean that things like models and music can't be swapped out.
Simple things like that aren't the only things that can be modded. While mods that affect the sights and sounds of a game are no doubt iconic, ones that create all-new player experiences are more rare, but are ones to be cherished. Fangame mods aren't an uncommon sight, while some mods merely seek to patch the mechanics of a game into something the modder finds more desirable. Some mods increase the difficulty, some decrease it, some add new mechanics, some remove them.
There are so many different genres of mods that it's hard to keep track of them, but a new craze did start to emerge a few years ago in the form of randomizers. Randomizers take an existing game's content and shuffle it within a set of guidelines, and they have become an incredibly popular way of breathing life into old games. They've become so popular that some games and fangames have even begun including them in some official capacity.
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Game-Changing Mods For God of War
Due to being an action RPG with equipment systems somewhat comparable to Dark Souls or Diablo, God of War would be the perfect fit for a randomizer. Pieces of equipment, as well as items and even special abilities, can be scattered throughout God of War's expansive world. Monsters can be randomized, quests and chests will spawn different things, and even the game's clear condition could be changed.
A great example to look to is the Garden of Assemblage Randomizer mod for Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix HD. That mod starts Sora in a hub area and allows him to progress through the different worlds as he pleases, all the while searching for certain key items necessary to fight the final boss. Kratos could be placed in Tyr's Temple with the lake water fully lowered, and most regions accessible, with the main challenge being to find certain items that will open the way to the final fight.
Of course, not every game-altering mod needs to be so sweeping. More humble mods could create new equipment for Kratos and Atreus to use, or alter their abilities. It would be very interesting to see a mod take on the challenge of expanding Kratos' bare-handed fighting style. Normally it's only accessible for short bursts, but it could be made into an additional weapon style that the player can always switch to and use. A different mod that gives the player more direct control over Atreus could also be fascinating, especially if it lets players use many of the special techniques he must equip separately in tandem.
A Modified God of War Experience
All of those mods take a lot of effort to make and sometimes set up, and sometimes all a player wants is a slightly modified experience for some laughs. Fortunately, mods have historically been fantastic at providing that exact experience. Something as simple as replacing the new, thickly-bearded Kratos with his PS3 counterpart would be fairly simple in the modern age, and every other character model could be replaced in much the same way. Players not content to wait for a new God of War remastered collection can start making it themselves by pitting a classic Kratos against a Baldr replaced with Zeus or Ares.
If a model swap is still too much, then a mod could simply show players what the modern God of War would look like with a more zoomed-out camera. This was a somewhat common complaint around launch, as fans wanted to see a game more like the original God of War trilogy's view. The new title has proved that it can work, but fans would still like a bit more control over it, if only to have a bit more awareness of where enemies are. It will be interesting to see what the upcoming God of War sequel will do with its gameplay, but the community would be able to wait with the chance to re-experience the 2018 God of War on PC first.
A sequel to God of War is currently in development for the PlayStation 5.
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