God of War 2 Retrospective
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- God of War 2 Retrospective. The follow up to the legendary first entry had a lot to live up to. This week I take a look at the second title in the series and pick apart each aspect of its design to see if it lived up to the expectations set by the first.
I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to get this video finished by today, but seeing all of the incredible feedback you guys left on the first video, I knew I had to get it done and get it done right. I did my best to use the suggestions you guys had from the first video to make this one better, but please let me know if there's anything else that could use a tweak in the comments. Enjoy!
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:14 - Development History
02:43 - Opening Sequence
11:00 - Story
22:32 - Characterization
27:50 - Presentation
33:04 - Combat
39:40 - Enemies
43:27 - Bosses
52:42 - Platforming
55:13 - Puzzles
59:49 - Level Design
1:05:09 - Final Thoughts
QUICK CORRECTION: In both this video and the first retrospective I referred to Kratos's voice actor as Terrance C. Howard. His name is Terrance C. Carson and I'm sorry for this silly mistake. It will be fixed and addressed in the third video.
Outro Song: / adhesivewombat
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Damn, those prerendered cutscenes blew my mind back in the day.
That and Mortal kombat shaolin monks were my favorite CG cutscenes from that generation
They’re shockingly good even watching them today
@@christopherkinsella3912 Especially when Zeus or Rayden are on screen!
@@mojosiesta9821 shaolin monks was awesome
"the only person I've heard complain about getting eaten out"
*liked and subscribed*
TC Carson voices Kratos, not Terrence C. Howard.
God of wars 2 opening section from Athena to Kratos walking out of hell
Proves to be one of the best gaming opening segments
The reason the Kraken shows up is because the devs are big fans of the original Clash of the Titans film from 1981. The Kraken was the final monster of that film, with a visual design similar to how it appears in the game. They even got Harry Hamlin, who played Perseus in Clash of the titans, to voice Perseus in the game.
The kraken is referenced in the oddysey. A beast that in an island with pilars. Not by that name but yeah…
i love that in the first game, the commentary said "maybe we'll do better next time with more powerful hardware" and all they needed to make this game was a little more time
One of the best games of all time. The best in the series. The greatest PS exclusive of all time and that's saying something
How do you only have 200 subs? Your stuff is really well done.
Great video by the way. I watched KinK's retrospective on God of War and was sorely disappointed in how vague and short it was, so I was especially happy to see someone else had tackeled the same games, and in fact did them far more justice. Good shit man, good shit.
Thanks so much man! I'm a big fan of KingK's videos so I take that as a huge compliment.
This game was my entry point to GOW. I forgot about a lot of these plot points, so this video is a great refresher! I'm definitely looking forward to part 3! GOW 3 is my favorite part of the OG trilogy.
Glad to hear it! Although the third video miiiiight be a bit more critical haha
MightyNifty No worries, lol! I mainly enjoyed it for it's violence
Zubatticus I hope you acknowledge how Athena is basically a different character with a bad actress
Honestly, it's a pretty good starting point in the series, I recommend it over the first game because I feel like it has aged better.
My entry to the series too, though, never got to the end of the game.
So, I know it's not exactly accurate to *actual* Greek Mythology, but pretty much the main reason the Kraken is there is to be a callback to Clash of the Titans, seeing as in the movie, the Kraken was Zeus' lackey. A blemish in consistency with the actual mythos, to be sure, but a nice callback nonetheless.
Daddy Long Legs Man They also brought in Perseus’s voice actor from that film.
Ooooooooooooooohhghh
I mean the after the sisters of fate boss fight you find a reference to the three wisemen from christianity so i dont think its out of place
God of War 2 did an amazing job following the first game, but I was incredibly surprised with the PSP games. I hope that you get a chance to dive into those, even if it's just a step back after analyzing Dad of War.
Yeah, I'd honestly love to, but man that's a lot of hacking and slashing, so maybe after a while I'll come back to them and Ascension.
What's God of War: Ascension? /s
Timothy Scribner prequel
Good video, but you got one part wrong being that kratos encountered and dealt with atlas in “Chains of Olympus” not in “Ghost of Sparta”.
Ah, you are correct. Not sure if that was a typo or if I just got mixed up, but thanks for pointing it out!
MightyNifty no problem dude, good luck with your retrospective for god of war 3
Kind of dumb having Kratos surprised for a titan living (Cronos) in GoW 1 when Athena names him. But Chains of Olympus happened before and he already met Atlas who is another titan. Point being, it lacks consistency.
You stupid mighty shitter
@@damsen978 he was surprised there were more titans around
Personally THIS is my favourite of this series and thanks to you i know why thank you for this video
Wow this video was even better than the previous retrospective. You really deserve more subs. Your quality is on par with the gaming brit, mathewmatosis and Joseph Anderson.
Thanks so much! That means a lot 😁
I think the reason why Kratos doesn't react to Zeus being his father is because he already knew about it since Ghost of Sparta
@@j.d.714 But chronologically,that game takes place between GoW 1 and GoW 2
My thought was it didn't really matter because he literally killed kratos son or not it like oh the guy who killed me was my dad. Now I have even more drive to kill him.
Everything in this game makes so much more sense after playing ghost of Sparta, for example the reason the big reveal wasn’t that surprising to kratos about Zeus being his father is because he already knew that which he had learned in ghost of sparta
This was my favorite of them all even after god of war 3
But then I learned to love god of war 3 more. But this is still one of my favorite games of all time
Same here. My second best game of all time and my favourite Gow ever! I just love this game. I'd love to be able to play it on my ps4
that's first time i'm watching you and i like the video! After this video i like it and subscribe. I'm too happy to find a channel like this
15:13 It's chains of olympus actually.
"Why doesn't the giant punch through the wall?" 5 seconds later "the giant then punches through the wall".
Zeus isn’t the only god with lightning powers, Poseidon also has them so it’s not a stretch to assume he figured Athena had them too.
I think smiting is a general ability they all have for the most part
The sequel out did the original so much fun so many memories and man oh man those high resolution movie-like cutscenes were out of this world greatness and ahead of its time beautifully made second edition to this franchise
Indeed. I have to say however, I preferred the spells in the first GoW.
Yay retrospectives
Went and looked at each game before the newest one and it made me appreciate those points
Kratos is just so nicely fleshed out that when I hear new Kratos praise to those things I realize how little people recall him
Nice having more side characters and depth, again not new but forgotten in general consensus
It does nicely as a sequel and it's style, art and design and world building It all well done even now
I'll miss this style of GoW, it did a good amount well and it's lost a lot in ps4
Kratos didn't think Athena was the bird who struck him, Athena simply warned the gods of what Kratos was going to do, she even said "you leave me no choice", so she did what she said she was going to do and told Zeus.
Awesome video, man. You clearly put a lot of thought into its construction and editing.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :D
this game is hands down the best video game sequel of all time. great work on the documentary.
I subscribed after seeing the sped up Prometheus dialogue and the satisfying burning scene when you just feel the "by all the flying fucks ever to fly, shut up already" moment of relief. I haven't subscribed to a channel since I was 12 or something, so at 25, thank you for making my day. Greatly appreciated, sir.
Gona be enjoying all your GoW reviews over the weekend, great work
You just had to put that eating out line in there didn't you? Hahaha I laughed more than I should have
Team rocket insert made me lol at work just now.
Thanks for the video! Made me appreciate God of War 2 that much more.
This game is soooo goood. It’s no masterpiece but a great swan song for the PS2.
SaberRexZealot no masterpiece 🤣 you probably think the 2018 game is one tho, jog on tosser
@@bigpoppapump430 it isn't a masterpiece because 1 exists
@@slowmercy69 2 is slightly better than one imo. the Atlas level design is very nice
@@Thatguyy002 oh yeah? Remember Athens, or Pandora's Temple? Now, that was a "nice" level design 2 desperately tried to emulate
It is a masterpiece are you okay ?
hey man, nice video. have a merry christmas
Another fantastic video man! Glad to see you’re getting a lot of views and growth from these, too. You totally deserve it!
-Ratter Tatter
Thanks! Hopefully I can keep it up, but after this Monday it might be a while before another of these lol
MightyNifty haha understandable! I don’t know how you’re even releasing these a week apart! They probably took forever to make!
-Ratter Tatter
Yeah, I had a bunch of videos already scheduled so I figured this would be a good use of the free time... I may have gone overboard, but it's a fun experiment :D
Fantastic and well written video. Shocked it doesn't have 1m+ views
I prefer the Lance of Theseus as a new weapon instead of the Spear of Destiny.
The purple ice covering the Phoenix statue shows how the weapon would have evolved.
loved the video! the whole in depth analysis and breakdown is really on another level. Subbed! especially helping me and my team, a bunch of young beginning game devs who are inspired by these games. Sent your video to a lot of people, please make more of these!
About the kraken from scandinavia comment they possibly took from the old movie clash of the titans where the kraken is called upon and is defeated by Perseus using the head of Medusa to turn it into stone.
Interesting. I always thought of God War 2 as all of the same with minor improvements. Hence I thought you wouldn't be too impressed with it after watching your first video. I didn't notice some of the smaller changes like Kratos being able to push objects faster. Or I don't remember noticing them anyway.
The first time I played these games I definitely liked the 2nd one better. After I replayed them, which was still several years ago now, I wasn't so sure anymore. The first one felt more cohesive overall. The story in the second had more spectacle and just more stuff but the plot was better though out in the first I think. I also really enjoyed the concept of the architect getting progressively mad and hence the challenges in the temple getting more and more insane.
I'm definitely gonna play them again some time. Probably gonna get a PS4 at the end of its life span when it's cheap. I want to go through the exclusives and God of War 3 in solid 60fps is on the list. It would be good opportunity to plat though the original trilogy again.
I really love the first game, and liked the second at first, but as a completionist I realized that a lot of this game's core problems are only visible in the harder difficulties, how you can easily exploit the enemies and how some scenes can go on for way to long, and when the gameplay on Titan requires you to avoid damage and play more defensively you realize how imprecise the gameplay really is and how poorly telegraphed some of the bosses are. It's almost as if this game was designed around easy mode where you can tank damage and experience the fun part of being an overpowered badass, but when that power fantasy is taken away you're left with just the core gameplay and it's really frustrating. Which is a shame considering the fact that GoW1 God Mode was really the way the game was intended to be played.
This explains why I like the first game and third games in the main trilogy hardest difficulty much more than gow 2s.
I love this game the most the screaming the killing and the gameplay really fun it’s my favorite god of war
Good review, but I think I can tell you why they used the Kraken. It was in Clash of the Titans, which is one of the movies God of War was inspired by. It being in this game's likely a homage to that film.
They also brought in Perseus’s voice actor from that film.
Kraken was a good boss, love the death, but I will say this game was pretty easy...
@@improover113 I always play normal, I only do hard or hardest on a second playtroug
Yay I loved god of war series
Masterpiece. In my opinion the best GOW.
This channel deserves more subs
Love this retrospective. I am in love with the god of war games. Probably played through the series 25-30 times. I think you did a good job with this. If you ever play the game again, I want to say that with the Gorgon boss fight. When she freezes the full arena you can use the Golden Fleece to throw it back. No need to jump. Hope it helps on a second play through!
I've played each game twice and some more than others (except I'm still only on my second playthrough of GOW 4 though) but running the series again in timeline order (Ascension through Gow 3). I can't rank them all in order honestly, but I can separate the trilogy and the prequels and rank them that way, while saying the newest GOW game being my favorite. Such a magnificent series
@@mojosiesta9821 I think my favorite is either god of war 2 or the original god of war. I’m not a huge fan of the new one. But that has to do with the fact that they changed the series so much gameplay wise. I enjoy the game. But not so much as a god of war game.
@@haydenddddd I understand
Beating the game on titan mode was so satisfying, not really for the new game+ unlockables but the sense of mastering even the most minute timings in combat was so gooood.
Even tho it is not really a difficult boss, the Theseus was like top 3 in terms of difficulty for me because you are very early in the game with low health and mana and 2 hits can drop you, while also having low damage because of the same reason; i don't know if it was intended this way but i only managed to kill him pushing and maneuvering the Minotaurs into the Ice Spikes that came from the ground as i saw it damaged them quite a good amount, while dodging, learning his stick rotation QTEs and perfect blocking his other attacks.
The sisters although hard to battle didn't feel as frustrating as Theseus fight, mainly because your far into that story-point, due to beating the game multiple times you know already all the Gorgon and Feather Chest locations and you come prepared, stacking levels into only weapons and abilities matter.
The Gorgon Sister was another one i felt was very hard due to her being a lot more agressive and using that Stone Gaze a lot more meant i couldn't riposte as much.
I think i had more trouble with the mini-bosses like the boulders-made ones or with the "constant spawn-in of mobs" fights like the one after you end the Atlas arc and reach spiked room entrance(above the surface) where you have to move a lever from a side to another to match the gate entry.
Defeats Aries - escapes hell - is taken down by a giant hand ✋ 😂
I think the reason Kratos didn’t go further back in time wasn’t because he was blinded by revenge but rather that he knew that tweaking the past alone is dangerous enough never mind rewriting it entirely. Hence why he didn’t use it to stop himself from selling his soul to Ares and instead only went back (now fully powered) to just a second or two after his death when Zeus was still there to kill him this time!
I know i'm super late to this:
That He thinks Athena is the evil-doer at the start makes sense. In his perspective, he has no idea why Zeus would do anything, his arrogance is only carried by the thought "there's only one 'person' that would do this" And with you getting other gods powers left and right (first game you got Lightning circle from THE water-god(?)), it makes sense that he thinks that in this moment.
One of my only criticism with the game is that I wish the Sisters of Fate had a shared design theme . Like Lachesis looks like an ordinary woman, Atropos looks like a Wraith and Clotho looks like a giant silkworm. Individually they look great but together you'd never think they were meant to be a set.
The threads are probably limited in how far back they can reach.
The kraken climbed up the mountain because the statues/pillars that the phoenix push out landed on it hence why it wounded and pissed off
Great content. I'm playing this trilogy for the first time. This game truly has one of the best openings ever.
your videos are too good mane. Hope you make a god of war ragnorak.
You know if the Gods and Titans just raise their children instead of making each other suffer the prophecy would not Exist
GOW 2 has my favorite opening to any game I’ve played
That eaten out line was way outta pocket lol
Dude, these retrospectives ate brilliant. Your view chubby should be I the hundreds of thousands. One small nit-pick. Don't use "leviathan' as a synonym for giant or colossus. A keviathan is just a serpent of the deep waters. Yes, some mytgs, like the norse sagas have giant leviathans, but not all. Sone sources have them be human sized or smaller. After all, they're based on the primordial fear of snakes.
Keep up the good work. Your videos not only helped mere get a refresher on the plot of the original trilogy, but also made me want to pay them again. Cheers!
31:40 actually I didnt mind Prometheus's excessive wailing. This is what the Greek saga of God of War was characterized by: constant agony, misery, suffering, and torment. It makes Kratos' destruction of the world a little more morally gray seeing what pricks the gods are in this world.
Gow 2 vs 3 is tricky. But if I had to pick one I would have to pick 3. God of War 2 is my favorite game on the PlayStation 2 but God of War 3 is my favorite PlayStation game of all time.
Haha to each their own. Personally I love both, but when next week's video comes out, in excited to hear what everyone has to say about the third game.
Great vid, although for me, it felt as if the enemies were more bullet spongy than before
Holy shit IKR when i played in god mode, the last section of lots and lots of enemies before the last sister was hard af
God of war 2 the masterpeice of the PS2
Architecture! Seriously the island of.....creation is the best set piece
In regards to the appearance of the Kraken in the game, it's most likely due to its appearance and key role in Clash of the Titans, a movie that is also based in Greek mythology (and an iconic one ag that).
11:11 - Kratos doesn't escape from Hell. He doesn't escape from Hel until 2018.
My Second Favorite Game of God of War
One thing about the fight with the sisters, you don’t have to reflect her balls, if you just shoot her with the bow she won’t be able to do enough damage before you kill her
Gooodd you are underrated...
I fell like god of war 2 is perfect in the same way re4 is. It's paced perfectly it never loses steam while playing, and there's always an interesting moment.
Good video keep it up
Thanks! Really appreciate it :)
19:28 Because Kratos was consumed by revenge at that point. He didn't have a clear mind, so he didn't think of that, he was all about killing Zeus once and for all. It does make sense in his mind and story-wise it does make sense too.
Everything that was good about God of War was great in God of War II.
What I would like to know is how strong was Kratos before he gave his power to the sword? And could he defeat Zeus with out opening the box again.
2:24 Wait, that's the same person? WOW. Also no wonder god of war was so good then.
Out of all the UA-camrs, you gave the God of War series a fair review. I can list several other games for you to do a review on that way you can gain more Subs. Here's a few. The Tenchu series. Twisted Metal series, the RE series. RE means Resident Evil. Do a video on both the original and the gamecube remake. Although the remake's everywhere. Same with RE2 and it's remake. Another old vs remake you should do is MGS vs MGS The Twin snakes. The Twin snakes only came out on gamecube. Playing it on a Dolphin emulator fixes that. That's about all I have here for now.
im not sure if it was planned to be like this, but it works well either way, since gow ghost of sparta takes place before gow2, and in that game kratos's mother tells him zeus is his father, so with that context, his reaction doesnt seem all that nonsensical, even if we wouldnt know of the fact ourselves at that point, not sure if it makes sense from a story telling perspective, but from the full story that we know now, it makes more sense than it otherwise would have
When Zeus and kratos first fought, the best part was when the soilders were saying in the background, what has happened to the God of war
I played this too many times when I was a kid in 2009
Still absolutely criminal that there are so few subscribers on this channel and so few views on this video
Maybe Kratos didn’t go back to the battle with the barbarians because in the current timeline he figured that the gods were no good anyway and instead of preventing the whole debacle and living blindly under the omnipotent rule of the gods of Olympus, he figured that the world would be better off without them.
Besides, the gods would probably know that Kratos changed his fate and wouldn’t let him get away with it. How would they know that? I dunno. I’m sure someone would know, they’re omnipotent after all.
Maybe but the game never brings that up. I don't understand why time travel was even needed. they should have just left it out
What kinda dumb take is “why time travel is even needed…”
If you okayed the game you’d know exactly why it was needed, the video even explained it.
Why did the avengers have to time travel to stop Thanos after he “won”
The thing with time travel is that no one person in our reality has ever done it so when it’s used in media it’s a hard concept to try and understand but just as with anything in life that doesn’t exist in reality you just have to suspend some sense of disbelief and just accept it as fantasy
Undoing something that is already done - reversing time
Lots of us wish we can do that in our real life
Always considered that pendulum to be the colossus' uvula.
Hey, probably don’t know this but you can you the Fleece to parry the attack that covers the entire room
I feel like kratos represents the anger of athiesm in a way. The gods are useless and have no love for humanity because they are not real. Kratos' anger also shows the anger people have when people with power and influence choose to not help others or use their power and influence to subjugate and abuse the people "below" them.
God of War 2 is the one that made me interested in reading Greek Mythology .
I remember coming home after a long trip and my oldest brother was Playing God Of War 2
I remember thinking "will I get In trouble for playing this ? Its bloody and violent and has boobs"
By the ending,and seeing Kratos sit on the throne of as The God Of war is easily one of the most badass video game moments.
After fighting and killing Ares
The Reward of Taking his Throne is awesome
But God Of War 2 made me a playstation fanboy for the rest of my life
I bought God of War 3 day 1
I waited on The reinvention of God of War 2016 but damn was game better in every way I thought it would be
I do wonder what happens if a sequal has you full powered, enemies are even more powerful later on, and you only gain abilities rather then loose them at the start. That would be interesting to see. It would be less jarring and might force the developers to become more creative with what they add
7:51 it was at this moment that he knew he fucked up
Anyone who says Kratos was a one-note character in the originals either remember these games poorly or talking out of their ass
the complaint about the kraken being there is actually the cetus. it's the same monster from clash of the titans that they call the kraken. "Release the cetus" doesn't sound as good.
That final gauntlet before getting to clotho beat my ass on normal for some reason.
I was thinking about replaying the games before I played Ragnarok, but your videos are so well done and detailed that I don’t feel like I need to play them anymore! Thank you.
Funny enough I didn't even know The Kraken was Scandinavian until you pointed that out in this video. It's so closely associated with Clash Of The Titans for me that I always assumed it was from Greek Mythology. The more you know I guess.
Still the greatest god of war game ever made
24:20 Because of what Athena said by "Then you leave me no choice.". You think he didn't hear that?
Here's a bigger plot hole with the story of GOW2. The Fates control...well, fate. They have full control over everyone's destiny. So if they didn't want Kratos to get to them and succeed...why did they even let him get this far? Why didn't they just cut his life thread?
Yeah. I just played the first two games on ps3 for the first time ever. I love them even with the holes.
My memory is a bit cloudy, but didn't we find out Zeus was his father in one of the endings of part 1 where he kills his mother? Anyway, awesome vid.
That was in God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010). Chronologically before God of War 2 (2007), but actually came out 3 years after in our time. :)
It's no DMC 3 but it's still pretty great lol. Great review and fair explanation of what makes this game a classic
God of war 2 is waaaay better then DMC3 lol
Never played a single DMC game. Maybe that could be another retrospective in the future.
@@ChestofGold I adore God of War, but that is laughable. DMC3's combat system makes God of Wars look like kids stuff.
I've never really compared the two series. But at the very least, there's a lot more depth to the combat in DMC 3 by far, mostly because of the different styles and their upgrades and combining those with the various weapons in the game.
I like the simpler combat of god of war because it allows you to focus more on the story. Not a big person for fast paced action like this anyway.
I'm sorry, but the "aspect ratio" is because you didn't go to the options menu to resize the screen. It's something that happened occasionally with remasters on the ps3. They are not cinematic bars, this is also in the psp remasters, it baffling that so many reviewers never resize their picture.
I saw the option to resize. I was praising the aspect ratio because it makes the game feel more like a movie. The options have choices for cinematic mode and full screen. Hope this explains more clearly!
Maybe Kratos thought Athena ran to complain to Papa Zeus
Oh man, I forgot gow2 came out on ps2 after ps3 was out 😄 it's so so good
Its Terrence C Carson lol but great videos brother
Thanks! And yeah, I made that correction in the description of the first two videos and in the third game's retrospective, but good catch!