Take God of War, for example. The title has been universally praised for its combat, storytelling, and design, but it has a few elements that could really benefit from new hardware. Sony Santa Monica did a great job hiding the seams in the game (the loading points), but the PS5’s SSD can allow the dev team to do even more.

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God of War’s biggest ambition was to tell Kratos’ story in one complete shot. The camera never “cuts” away from a character to a new angle or jumps to a loading screen. Everything feels continuous from the moment Kratos chops down the tree.

It’s an impressive achievement for director Cory Barlog and his talented team, but one has to wonder what limitations that approach also put on the game’s design. Because gameplay has to seamlessly blend into a cutscene, were their ideas that were left on the cutting room floor? Hopefully for God of War 2 on PS5, the developers are able to go further with the “oner” concept.

The other element of God of War that could almost assuredly benefit from the fast SSD is the invisible loading screens. While the game likes to keep players involved in the action through the single take, there are sections where it is clearly preparing the next area. Using the Mystic Gateway is one of the ways that God of War gets around the no cuts concept while still offering a fast travel system. There is a lot to do in the game and collectibles to find, so being able to quickly travel throughout the open world is very useful.

But when Kratos and Atreus enter the Mystic Gateway there is always a pause before the portal opens up. This is an obvious load and some players might have picked up on what the game was doing. God of War 2 on PS5, however, should be able to replicate this system without that sense of waiting. Early demos of the SSD’s impact on games shows that the technology can render worlds very fast with no pop-in.

It’s possible that God of War 2 on PS5 will introduce a new system for realm travel (assuming Kratos will travel realms in the sequel), but the Bifrost was an elegant way to present new locations while preserving the tracking shot feel. Like the Mystic Gateway, though, there is an obvious sense that the game is loading the next world. It’s a slow process to complete the shift to a new realm and an incorrect selection can make things even worse.

For the next-gen, the Bifrost will presumably be an instant travel system where the only waiting will be for some visual effects to complete. Without a doubt, Kratos is going to visit Asgard for a showdown with Odin. Maybe not in the next game – Thor seems like the primary antagonist there – but eventually.

To Sony Santa Monica’s credit, Mimir helps mask a lot of the loading with interesting fables about the world of God of War. Some follow traditional Norse mythology while others cut their own path, but all were worth hearing. We even found ourselves trying not to progress the story to hear Mimir’s story all the way through, even though he does pick up where he left off.

But the PS5 should offer the God of War team a more powerful foundation on which to realize its systems. Fast travel should be truly instant, the sense of hidden loading sections will be gone, and the single tracking shot concept can be blown out to even bigger proportions.

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