Original God of War creator, David Jaffe, is less than thrilled with the new Sons of Sparta game, arguing that its very existence makes him angry for a litany of reasons, including story choice, alleged design flaws, and “kiddie level dialogue.”
To close out the February, 2026 State of Play event, Sony had one last surprise in store. After announcing full-fledged remakes of each part of the original trilogy, Santa Monica Studio and Mega Cat Studios shadow dropped God of War Sons of Sparta.
The 2D Metroidvania game takes place long before Kratos is the Kratos we’re familiar with. It ditches the brutal, bloody violence for a more tame tale of the future God of War and his brother Deimos.
Well, it turns out the surprise release wasn’t a happy surprise for Jaffe, Director of the first two God of War games. After playing for four hours total, the industry veteran lashed out on stream, heavily criticizing not just the end product, but the very premise of the game as well.
God of War creator fuming over Sons of Sparta
At first, Jaffe played a mere hour of the game before switching the camera on and letting the world know his thoughts. His gut reaction was that Sons of Sparta was “well made, but generic and dull.”
At the top, the God of War and Twisted Metal creator stressed the premise is something he’s been looking for ‘forever.’ “This is the kind of game I’ve always wanted, in terms of 2.5D God of War. Super into it,” he said.
“But this to me, is not what I was talking about. I don’t like it, I don’t recommend it. What the f*** are they thinking? Its existence is offensive.”
Initially, much of Jaffe’s criticism was levelled at the narrative and the voice cast bringing it all to life. “This is not God of War,” he stressed, as the game interrupted the more action-packed flow he would’ve preferred.
Above all else, however, was the depiction of Kratos that rubbed him the wrong way. Rather than playing as the God of War millions of fans have grown accustomed over the years, Sons of Sparta pivots back to a much younger, less brutal version of the character. Or, “some generic kid,” as Jaffe put it. “It makes no f***ing sense.
“It really makes me angry. The fact they would think this is what people want from God of War. It’s insulting to the fans, to the people that worked on the games.”
The following day, despite assuring he’d “never go back to it,” Jaffe played another three hours before hopping back on stream again. This time, he was more specific in his complaints.
From the price to overall production quality, he argued it’s a fine game, but “It certainly isn’t worthy of the God of War name.”
For one, he highlighted visual design issues. Namely, visual noise in combat made it tough to discern when to counter, he claimed. Furthermore, environmental collision was a huge gripe, impacting not only traversal but puzzle solving too, as the design language made it tricky to discern background elements from those in the foreground.
Pointing to the likes of Blasphemous, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Neon Fury, and other recent releases as examples of similar indie games with, in his opinion, better production value, Jaffe stressed it had nothing to do with Sons of Sparta’s budget. “Small budget doesn’t have to mean small creativity,” he said.
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