I'm pretty hyped for this. I'm a big GoW fan since day 1 but the franchise needed a fresh start and I trust them to deliver.
They could've gone all the way though and create a new protagonist to go along with the new setting, but they probably figured that was too much. With how much they're changing the gameplay, there would be nothing left from God of War at this point.
As for humanizing Kratos, I'm assuming this will only be noticeable during the interactions with his son, which isn't out of character at all, not only is avenging his family the premise of the whole saga, but it has already been done in Chains of Olympus, I think people need to refresh their memories in regards to what happens in that game.
Not only does Kratos show genuine affection for his daughter, but the antagonist toys with those feeling in a truly cruel way, that game justifies better than any other what drives Kratos throughout the saga.
I'm looking forward to seeing how his relation with his son evolves, after what happened with his previous family I'm not surprised that he's a more distant father. Becoming too close to his son will only open him up to another blow. It's the same situation Joel finds himself in at the start of TLOU.