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God of War Ragnarök borrows top-notch accessibility options from Last of Us Part I

DeAngelo Epps
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Sony recently released a complete rebuild of one of the most iconic games in its PlayStation catalog. The Last of Us Part I not only reintroduced the world to one of the most essential gaming experiences, but showed off some of the best accessibility features we’ve ever seen. Now many of those impressive options are making their way to the upcoming God of War: Ragnarök.

God of War Ragnarök - "Father and Son" Cinematic Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

The development team at Santa Monica Studio already shared more than 60 accessibility features coming to God of War: Ragnarök in May. These features include controller remapping, high-contrast mode, navigation and travel assistance, speaker names, and more. Now Ragnarök is taking a few cues from The Last of Us Part I with even more features that will open the game to as many players as possible.

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Newer features include auto pickup, which allows players to automatically pick up items, and navigation assistance, which tells players where to go next using an arrow on the screen. High-contrast mode, previously announced, lets players apply different colors to items, characters, specific terrain, and more to improve visibility.

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Other newly shared features include:

  • Audio cues and captions
  • More elaborate text and icon size options
  • Auto-platforming
  • Controller visualization

Rather than hoarding accessibility options, game developers have shown a willingness to share these innovations between titles. Last year, EA opened all of its accessibility patents, like Apex Legends’  unique Ping System, with its Patent Pledge. Reusing the best accessibility options from The Last of Us Part I will help make God of War: Ragnarök playable by an even broader audience.

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The Last of Us Part I is a remake of Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3 classic that brings a variety of visual and accessibility updates that could only be achieved on the PlayStation 5. It comes packing multiple difficulties for any skill level, meaning you should be able to find something that suits how you best want to play this beloved experience. Even at lower settings, though, things can get pretty hairy sometimes. So whether you're an avid fan revisiting a favorite on Sony's newest hardware or taking on this post-apocalyptic story for the first time, we've got some tips to help you get started.

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The Last Of Us Part I haptic dialogue feedback enhances accessibility
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The gaming industry continues to do right by gamers with disabilities by putting accessibility features in upcoming games, including The Last Of Us Part I. Naughty Dog has given us an overview of the accessibility features that will be included in the remake of the 2013 classic PlayStation 3 title.

As Sony wrote in the PlayStation Blog, the studio took most of the features that were available in The Last Of Us Part II and expanded upon them. The two features that stand out the most are audio descriptions for cinematic cutscenes and haptic feedback for dialogue. Game director Mattew Gallant said the studio expanded upon those features to make the game even more accessible to blind and deaf players than in the original game.

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Sifu’s summer update is part of a push to give players more options
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Sifu garnered renown upon its release because of its dedication to being intense and tough. Compare it to Dark Souls if you want, but the game demonstrated the intensity of the quest its main character is on by making every enemy a real threat until players learn to master their kung fu moves and the game's unique aging mechanic. Over time though, developer Sloclap has made Sifu more and more approachable, even with more difficulty settings, while still retaining its vision for the game.
"Our intent was never to make a difficult game for the sake of it; it answers our intentions," game designer Theo Caselli tells Digital Trends. "We wanted a game that echoes the kung fu ethos of mastery via practice, and we wanted to put weight into the fight with a realistic approach. Fighting someone should be risky, stressful, hard, and feel like a single mistake could be the end. But we also understood that some people do not have the time or do not fancy this mentality, but still wanted to have the action movie experience nevertheless."
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To make progress on that approachability front, Sifu's spring update introduced an easy mode. Now, the newly announced summer update adds a plethora of gameplay modifiers. While some of these modifiers make the game more challenging by removing moves or buffing enemies, others, like infinite health, can make Sifu much easier for first-time players intimidated by the challenge. Mix in the update’s brand new scoring system and outfits, and it looks like the best time to play Sifu since launch will be after the August 31 update.
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"The easy mode was really intended for players just wanting to enjoy the ambiance, the environments, and the story with cool fight scenes," Caselli continued. "At the other end of the spectrum, we also wanted to give the most skilled players an even greater challenge and introduce a harder difficulty. The same philosophy guided our choice on the upcoming summer update. Make the game more tweakable, to make it more accessible, or more challenging, or even a little bit of both at the same time, both cheats and modifiers."
Some gameplay modifiers that will make Sifu a lot easier include Bullet Time, infinite health, and unbreakable weapons. Of course, players who like how difficult Sifu can be can also ramp up the challenge by making enemies faster, removing moves like blocking, or giving themselves a single hit point. Meanwhile, the scoring system entices players to defeat groups of enemies uninterrupted for the maximum point reward.

Truly skilled players can also show off with a brand new outfit called Master Hand, which gives players a hat that will fall off if they are hit even once. If you want to beat Sifu with a hat on, you’ll need to be really good. Players who do want to get all of Sifu's trophies will also have to avoid modifiers that make the game easier. Felix Garczynski, Sloclap marketing manager, confirmed to Digital Trends that gameplay modifiers that make the game easier will disable trophies. Slocloap also believes gameplay modifiers have a place in helping players who want to improve. To get better at Sifu, Garczynski recommends disabling blocking, though maybe you can still turn on zero gravity and have some fun.
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