God of War Ragnarok testers weren’t bothered by early puzzle spoilers

The studio has revealed that issues surrounding the rate at which God of War Ragnarok’s companion would crash a puzzle mechanic were only reported to the Santa Monica studio after launch. In a new interview with MinnMax, narrative director Matt Sophos said that pre-release QA testers never gave any feedback about the likes of Atreus talking too much while trying to solve a puzzle. They didn’t see this as an issue, so the team was caught off-guard by the feedback.

Sophos said: “That was certainly never the goal. I think it was somehow too aggressively timed for the signal and there should have been a countdown timer before something came out.” He then adds that he “would love” to have a patch to slow down the rate at which puzzle hints are given, but he speculates that this could be a difficult coding task. Story lead Richard Gaubert, who was also part of the interview, admits “they’re often hinting” when playing the final version.

The conversation around early puzzle spoilers in Sony games really started last year with Horizon Forbidden West, and was then heightened by Santa Monica Studio’s latest epic. When you’re told what to do so quickly, fans argue that it ruins the experience because you’re not checking yourself. We posted a Talking points On the subject shortly after the release of God of War Ragnarok, and 39 percent of you responded that early puzzle spoilers are “annoying and patronizing.”

How do you feel about this topic after a few months? Share your thoughts in the comments below.