Eric Williams, director de God of War: Ragnarok, reveals in a recent exclusive interview for IGN the five video games that have most influenced him as a developer, from his childhood to his latest job at Santa Monica Studios. Interestingly, several of the titles he mentions were originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and you can find some surprising choices.
How could it be otherwise, the first game he mentions is the The Legend of Zelda original released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. “Being from the Midwest and playing in the woods as a kid made this game feel very familiar and fantastic at the same time“, comments about the work of Shigeru Miyamoto. On the other hand, he also mentions the forgotten Castlevania 2: Simon’s Questa title that has been defined by Williams as a “total package”, noting that elements such as “the city, the day and the night, the secrets and the mythology of monsters“, were a great influence on his work as a developer.
The third game you mention is Punch-Out!, a fighting title that gave him the necessary knowledge to develop complex combat systems. “The patterns, mechanics, techniques and challenge of this game served as the basis for me to my first notions of what a ‘good’ combat system should be“, Explain.
The importance of economics and the subject
Baseball Stars He was also a great influence because he taught him economics. “I love the ‘numbers’ in baseball. This game had a salary system that taught me the fundamentals of statistics and economic systemshe comments. Finally, Williams also mentions River City Ransom, a title that taught him the importance of subject matter. “The theme is very important to me. and this game’s theme of being a ‘child’ was very strong. Playground gangs, sports, guns, comics to learn skills, even the low cap money felt like lunch money or true allowance values of the time,” the creative concludes.
