Cory Barlog

We're growing into an entertainment medium as opposed to 'We make games. We make Mario jump.' We no longer have to focus so hard on the technical hurdles and can ask, as a player, why am I doing this? Why am I making these choices? Games that don't have that strong foundation stumble. ”

That feeling of being rewarded for your curiosity is huge. It's why I play games, this idea of truly existing in a world. ”

At its root, 'God of War' was always the promise of adventure. ”

As a writer, you understand how hard it is to build up backstory for characters, so you can have impactful moments. You have to build toward something and then pay it off. ”

My thing I always go back to is that sense of finishing 'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,' and that castle flipping over, and just going, 'Oh my God, that was amazing! I have so much more to play!' It was astounding. I think I've always been chasing that. I think my entire career, I have been like, 'I want that kind of epiphany.' ”

Competition doesn't drive me. It's not to say that competition is bad, it's not to say that competitive games are bad because I love that those that exist, but it's not my thing. ”

God of War' is traditionally known for these cinematic, pull back cameras, which I think are fantastic. ”

Having a kid motivates you to really take stock of yourself and how much of yourself you want to be reflected back in the actions of your kid. ”

I don't think I've ever worked on anything that wasn't way bigger than we expected. That's all the way back to working on fighting games at Paradox. Everything seems to balloon when more and more people get involved. ”

It's better to do something really really well and thorough, than I think to have a surface level version of a lot of different things. ”