Fans Already Want to Kill God of War Laufey's Jell-O Cube

Twenty minutes of God of War Laufey gameplay. A brand-new protagonist in Faye. A multi-pantheon afterlife realm called the Everywhen. Egyptian gods, Tibetan deities, aerial combos that look ripped from Devil May Cry. And the only thing the internet wants to talk about is a big blue cube named Phranque.

Voiced by Jack Quaid of The Boys fame, Phranque is a gelatinous cube companion who accompanies Faye through the Everywhen. According to Sony's PlayStation Blog post, the character is described as "a curious cosmic cube with an earnest disposition." He's chipper. He's earnest. He slides around leaving what I can only assume is a trail of cosmic residue. And a very vocal chunk of the fanbase wants him dead on arrival.

"I wish nothing but the worst things to happen to Frank the talking cube. For no other reason besides that he's a God of War character named Frank. Go to hell Frank," wrote popular artist Wanderjegson on Twitter. "This is the worst shit I've ever seen," added another user. On Bluesky, writer Jake Steinberg summed up the skepticism: "it's a cube lol so random you get it right hahaha so quirky so random." Not everyone's hostile, though. One Bluesky user declared "GELATINOUS CUBE WILL SELL MILLIONS," while another celebrated that God of War finally replaced their son with the cube they always wanted. I get both sides here. God of War has spent the last eight years building a reputation on emotional weight and mythological gravitas, so dropping a wisecracking Jell-O block into the mix is going to feel jarring to some people. But Sony Santa Monica earned a lot of trust with how they handled Mimir's talking head, and Phranque could land in that same space if the writing is sharp enough.

Phranque isn't the only companion raising eyebrows. Faye also picks up a talking sword, with its enchanted ribbons voiced by Perlina Lau. Between the sentient blade and the cosmic gelatin, God of War Laufey is leaning harder into its stranger impulses than any previous entry. The game itself stars Deborah Ann Woll as Faye, Kratos' wife who wakes up in the Everywhen after her funeral at the start of 2018's God of War. The PlayStation Store listing describes it as "coming soon" for PS5, though no release date has been confirmed.

Whether Phranque becomes a beloved mascot or the series' most divisive character since Atreus first yelled "father" is going to come down entirely to how Sony Santa Monica writes him. The reaction so far, though, is exactly what you'd expect when you put a talking dessert in a franchise built on patricide.