"Kratos believes that being a god is a disease, and that rage is a side effect of that disease, and he’s terrified that he’s passed it on to his son.”

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“ We’ve already told the story of The Hulk. We want to tell the story of Banner now.

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“ We need to tear it completely down and look at it from completely fresh eyes.

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“ "This game is about Kratos teaching his son how to be a god, and the kid teaching Kratos how to be human again.

This was a sentence I didn’t expect to hear about God of War 24 hours ago. But after its stunning reveal at Sony’s E3 2016 conference, I got a chance to see an extended version of that demo, and speak with Cory Barlog, the game’s creative director. After six games set in Greece, six games that told the story of a character who felt one-dimensional in his rage, and six games that caused me to become apathetic towards the series, I am fully on-board for this new God of War.I've always appreciated the combat and spectacle of the God of War games. The core trilogy remains some of the most influential action games of the past 15 years. But despite this, I've never been able to connect with the series, and I think that's because of Kratos himself. One of my biggest qualms with the prior GoW games is that Kratos himself just didn’t have the depth I wanted in a character. But that’s changing now.As we saw from the demo, the bond between Kratos and his son is at the heart of God of War. This is key throughout every moment of the game. When his son pulls back his bow, nervously aims towards a buck, and misses the shot, Kratos begins to yell at him. Suddenly, a rage meter — generally used as a combat mechanic — appeared in the corner and began to rise as Kratos scolded the boy. But as the boy apologized and the God of War realized that he was overreacting, the rage meter subsided. This sort of subtle, contemplative detail was unexpected, but wholly appreciated.While you assume complete control of Kratos, you also passively control his son throughout the entire game, and both characters grow and evolve. There’s a single button dedicated to your son, and its use depends on the context. He becomes an active participant in combat, traversal, exploration, and puzzle-solving. In this, the game is about passing knowledge onto your child. At the beginning of your journey, you teach a reluctant child how to fire a bow and hunt. As you progress through the game, that becomes second-nature to the boy, and it’s clear that your knowledge has been passed on.Barlog explained, “There's a public perception that God of War is like your dad's muscle car. Not something I want to drive, but something he'd want to work on.” What might’ve worked back on the PS2 in terms of mechanics, characters, and storytelling simply don’t work in 2016. I love the idea that Barlog, who has been with the series since the start, and served as creative director on God of War II, isn’t afraid to flip the table over. “We need to tear it completely down and look at it from completely fresh eyes,” he said to me. This motto isn't just in the story and characters, but in the mechanics and progression as well.While the E3 demo was a quieter, more character-driven look at the game, Barlog assured me that the series isn’t shrugging off its bombastic, cinematic roots. The reason they didn’t focus the E3 demo on a huge, spectacle-filled set piece is that it's a given that the game will have those. Barlog and Sony Santa Monica have mastered those moments, so with this demo, they wanted to surprise fans and non-fans of the series with the unexpected."This game is about Kratos teaching his son how to be a god, and his son teaching Kratos how to be human again.” That’s not a sentence I expected to hear about God of War 24 hours ago, but here we are, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Marty Sliva is a Senior Editor at IGN. He once ate a whole blueberry. Follow him on Twitter @McBiggitty.