Cory Barlog is continuing to lead Santa Monica Studios in keeping God of War for the PS4 fresh and running lean shortly after its debut on the system last month. This includes releasing yet another compatibility patch to address a few lingering issues that were present post-launch.
Shacknews is reporting that patch 1.17 offers bug fixes, stability improvements, and better compatibility for both the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Shacknews notes that the latest update actually fixes one of the biggest issues that was introduced in the previous update with 1.16. In the studio's attempt to refine and improve the high-dynamic range capabilities for supported televisions and the PS4 Pro, it actually broke the feature, causing some headaches and painful experiences for some PlayStation gamers. Well, you'll be pleased to know that 1.17 actually fixes the HDR issues, making it a lot more usable than in the previous patch.
The actual changelog for the patch notes is rather thin, with 1.17 simply fixing some of the bugs that some gamers caught throughout their gameplay experience in God of War, as well as the performance enhancements for those with a PS4 Pro.
The previous patches did a bit more than just refine the gameplay performance. For instance, as Shacknews points out, patch 1.12 actually added a brand new in-game text resizing feature in the options menu using a slider bar.
Some of the other patches fixed and broke things all at the same time, sort of like patch 1.10 adding a bunch of new features such as the showing of the speaker names in front of the subtitles so players would know who is talking, as well as improving the in-games general economy for when Kratos buys and sells items in God of War. Santa Monica Studios also overhauled some of the enemy balancing within the difficulty settings, along with several other bug fixes and performance improvements. However, in fixing some of those bugs the team also broke the resolution for a number of players, creating unwanted letterboxing for some gamers, which ruined the viewing experience for some PlayStation games.
However, Santa Monica was ardent in its quest to right the wrong and did so by releasing patch 1.11, which fixed the black bars.
Since then it's been a game of cat and mouse with updating God of War, adding certain features and tweaking certain mechanics while also attempting to avoid the possibility of breaking the game.
The latest iteration of the hack and slash game has taken on more of an RPG flavor compared to previous outings, making it a very distinct experience compared to the original trilogy and God of War: Ascension.
Critics have also absolutely fallen in love with this reboot-sequel of God of War, making it one of the most critically praised games since Super Mario Odyssey. There have been some major and minor changes to the way the game plays, such as switching from an isometric camera to an over-the-shoulder camera similar to The Last of Us or Resident Evil 4, so it's understandable that Santa Monica is working extra hard on the refinement factors of the game to make it as enjoyable, playable and inviting as possible.
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