Why Recalling God of War's Leviathan Axe Feels So Satisfying

The Leviathan Axe in God of War is a weighty weapon that feels just as rewarding to recall to Kratos' hand as it does to throw it, something that the game's designers had in mind since the beginning.

In his personal blog, Vince Napoli, lead systems designer for God of War, discussed the ideation behind the Leviathan Axe's recall feature. It seems like a standard feature that wouldn't require much thought, but Napoli said that it's one of the first ones the designers wanted I the game.

"With that said, the first mechanic I wanted to talk about was something that ended up being a pretty unique and well regarded mechanic - recalling the Leviathan Axe after throwing it," Napoli said. "It was also one of the earliest gameplay/combat prototypes that we tackled."

The designer said that he idea was formed years ago but still received finishing touches as soon as recently as just a few months ago. While it's most basic function would bring it back to Kratos, the team realized that more could be done.

"We realized pretty quickly that in addition to some strong fantasy fulfillment, the mechanic also came with some additional game play benefits we weren't predicting. One of the first things we realized was that hitting enemies on return was basically mandatory. It wasn't only what you would intuitively expect, it was something that was both satisfying to do on purpose and have happen accidentally."

For the recall animation, Sony Santa Monica went through a few different varations before settling on the live version. In one scrapped version that's seen below, Kratos had to stand still and hold his hand up high for a recall. It's a dramatic one, but one limits movement and honestly might get old after a while. Instead, Napoli and the team decided on the more casual recall animation while still making sure that the axe's power came across loud and clear.

via GIPHY

"We wanted the beginning of the recall to feel weighty, almost like a mini-attack, something forceful," Napoli said. "For the catch, we wanted to make sure that it feels strong, but we were very careful not to make it feel like Kratos can't handle the Axe or that it's too heavy for him. We had to strike a very specific balance so that the catch feels casual, like he does it all the time, but still carry some momentum through so you can feel the Axe's speed."

If you toss your axe into an enemy or wall, you might also notice that it sticks for a second before being recalled and even has a small wiggle before it's freed. All of this was added purposefully as well and was added so that players would feel as though the axe was truly wedged into whatever it was thrown at.

Napoli's blog post covers even more about Kratos' Leviathan Axe and can be read here.