The gaming industry has an incredible amount of talent and experience through its ranks, and it’s far from uncommon for members of teams to jump over to others for a while. Dean Rymer is the latest to jump over to a new team for a while, departing from his role as the lead combat designer of the God of War series to an unnamed project at inExile Entertainment.
Rymer took to Twitter to announce the new role yesterday, stating that his first day with inExile Entertainment was now “in the books.” He thanked his new followers in a follow-up tweet, saying that he couldn’t say what he was working on at the moment but that he was sure everyone would be happy with it.
First day as the new Lead Combat Designer @inXile_ent in the books.
— Dean Rymer ディーン 🎮 (@deanrymer) March 3, 2020
God of War is one of the most influential and notable game releases of the last decade, and was surely one of the biggest draws bringing players over to PlayStation. The latest title was arguably the most popular in the series and has gone on to receive dozens of nominations and awards in response to its quality.
Among fans, one of the most enjoyable factors of the game was the combat, which felt notably weighty and satisfying. The combat felt fluid and flowing, giving the player enough chances to feel powerful while still keeping the gameplay moving without getting bogged down in animations or pointless enemies.
Rymer’s role as the lead combat designer is one of the many factors that led to such satisfying and well-liked combat. One would hope that Rymer can bring his expertise in the combat designing field to whatever he’s working on now.
Of course, given that we don’t know what he’s working on, there’s a good chance that the combat design he implemented with God of War wouldn’t be quite as useful. Combat for different types of games can be wildly different, even if they’re all technically games of the same genre. There’s a good chance that he’ll be broadening his skills in this new role.
Some fans might be wondering what comes next for the God of War franchise with their lead combat designer now gone. It’s likely that there won’t be much of a change in the way that combat comes through, as the higher-ups within the studio likely have their own way of making sure that the next games in the long-standing franchise still have that feel.
There’s no telling what’s next, but with talented individuals like Rymer leading the way, there’s a good chance that what comes next will be great.
