{"id":70419,"date":"2022-09-09T02:22:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T02:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/what-to-expect-from-god-of-war-ragnaroks-extensive-accessibility-features\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T02:22:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T02:22:04","slug":"what-to-expect-from-god-of-war-ragnaroks-extensive-accessibility-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/what-to-expect-from-god-of-war-ragnaroks-extensive-accessibility-features\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Expect From God of War Ragnar\u00f6k’s Extensive Accessibility Features"},"content":{"rendered":"
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God of War Ragnar\u00f6k comes with a whopping 60-plus accessibility options, from auto-sprinting down muddy roads to noticeable direction indicators for combat sequences. Above all, a deeper level of customization lets players fine-tune their own wintry apocalypse. PlayStation enthusiasts might recognize the phrase \u201cPlay has no limits\u201d from a string of ads. Ragnar\u00f6k’s lead UX designer, Mila Pavlin, echoed the same sentiments and voiced her dedication to centering players of all walks of life. \u201cThis is a fantasy epic,\u201d Pavlin says. \u201cThis is about a father and son. This is about fate and the Nine Realms. And the ability to go into that, regardless of your background, and be able to experience all this rich detail and history and story? That drives me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

A wide spectrum of consultants and testers, including veterans and blind players, helped Pavlin’ team concentrate on four key fields: Vision, hearing, motor skills, and cognitive understanding. And several impressive, new features currently cover those design goals. A high contrast mode allows players to apply specific colors to item types, character types, backdrops, and more to increase general visibility and lessen visual clutter. Audio cues coupled with captions indicate button prompts in the general area and hint toward puzzle-timing modifications. For example, skill shots \u2013 hitting objects mid-fall or swinging on an arc \u2013 are easily executed by accessing game settings and slowing down environmental targets. Without these handy adjustments, Ragnar\u00f6k is prone to \u201cblockers\u201d or difficult interactive moments that can potentially inhibit progression and alienate players. Pavlin says the most significant task was finding a healthy balance between God of War’s intensity and enabling players to overcome challenges in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n

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A methodology called \u201cdual channel\u201d is pivotal to addressing this balance. The UX team’s efforts ensure players receive sensory information in multiple forms \u2013 sonically, visually, and haptically. Furthermore, options from the 2018 game, mainly text and icon size customization, are back and more elaborate than before so that all the in-game writing is legible. Abilities like Spartan Rage, quick-turns, shield strikes, and even high-contrast palettes are triggerable with swipes on the DualSense controller’s touchpad. And auto pickup makes heady battles more manageable, so replenishing health or rage meters with the respective stones in a given area won’t require much thought. \u201cAccessibility features are not just accessibility features,\u201d Pavlin tells me. \u201cThey also help to improve the experience for everyone. Ragnar\u00f6k is about moving into the next phase. For us, that meant including more people, making sure that people can customize more, and making sure that it’s a comfortable play experience for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camera navigation assistance orients the view towards current objectives, platforming can be automated, and controller visualization lets streamers share moment-to-moment button inputs with wider audiences. These are just a few of the options players can tweak. But Pavlin still yearns to expand Ragnar\u00f6k’s overall accessibility. \u201c60-plus features is tremendous to get to,\u201d she says. \u201cI still think we can do better. I think we can push it further. But honestly, I feel like people will be excited to see just how many more players can play. And if I can push a feature to the point where one more player \u2013 just one more player \u2013 could play, then that would be the greatest thing in the world; to be able to see that one player and understand how that lets them connect with the community and connect with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n