https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-boss-was-horrified-after-playing-god-of-war-fo/1100-6461269/

God of War is easily one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed games of the past year, and while it has hit huge success post-release, it was not always so certain that the PS4 game would do the franchise justice. Speaking at Devcom 2018, the developer-focused event at Gamescom, creative director Cory Barlog got candid with the audience and told them about some of the challenges he and his team faced during development, including the time Shuhei Yoshida, the head of SIE Worldwide Studios, came in to play the game. It didn't go well.

During playtesting of the game, much of God of War was still looking rough, reports Gameindustry.biz. "Part of it was that we were building the engine and tools, as we were building the mechanics, as we were designing the mechanics, as we were then designing the levels," Barlog said. "All of those groups had to build everything at the same time." He added that many playtesters had intense reactions to the game at this point, accusing his team of "ruining" Kratos after seeing certain cinematics and gameplay.