Reviews from

in the past


PSTV version sucked so much I had to emulate it

the first god of war game to really turn things around. god of war seemed to have a future of mediocrity until cory barlog took it by the goolies and decided that it should be one of the best action franchises ever instead

If you're following me, you probably know that I found the first God of War to be a big disappointment, with the moment-to-moment gameplay being the biggest sinner. Tedious puzzles and platforming, and an overreliance on QTE's that made the already sluggish combat feel even more meaningless. Needless to say I wasn't exactly looking forward to this second installment, but now that I've played it…eh? It's honestly not as bad.

The first game was almost entirely carried by its story and setting. Such a delightful tale of revenge and sorrow set to the backdrop of gods and myths. It's hard to make a followup story that continues in the same vein, and overall I don't think they did quite as good a job in this game. Whereas Kratos's motivation in the first game was a "You made me your humble servant and dealt me irreversible emotional damage, therefore you have to die", in this game it's more "You made me angry by playing on my hubris.", which isn't nearly as compelling. The story in general feels way more like generic here, and it's not helped by the abundance of greek myths present. In the first game, every mythological element served a clear purpose, but in this one it kinda feels like they just threw as many in as possible to make the story feel grander, a tactic that didn't really click with me.

While the story in GoW 2 is notably weaker than in GoW 1, the gameplay has had some very important upgrades. First of all, you now get an item that lets you parry with every weapon, and that's honestly a godsend. One of my biggest complaints in the first game was how the slower weapon was basically useless against multiple enemies because you couldn't parry with it, and I'm glad to see it was fixed here. Granted, there is a little stretch after you get the hammer but before you get the fleece, but the second half of the game had infinietly smoother combat than the first game. It's not just that though, I also got the feeling that the enemies weren't as tanky, and I certainly had an easier time against smaller foes. Unfortunately, while it does improve on the first game's combat quite a bit, there are still imperfections. The QTE-heavy bossfights are still there, and the hitboxes are still really janky. Still, it's a vast improvement over the nightmareish grind the first game threw at me, so overall the combat is a success.

There are other improvements as well, most of them being small, but together they accomplish quite a lot. The way you progress in this game feel way more fluid, the levels loop back around more often, and every task feels like it has purpose, as your goals are typically tied to finding a path to the next areas. I also really liked the wings you get, they make the platforming a lot more managable. The puzzles are better in this game as well, I didn't get stuck nearly as much. Granted, there were still a few times where I had no idea what to do, and often it was tied to the game being really bad at communicating what parts of the environments can be interacted with. This has mostly to do with some blurry visual designs, but it's a shame that some conceptually clever puzzles were butchered by some pieces blending too much in with the environment.

Other random thoughts: I like how a lot of the items are taken from bosses, it makes them feel more grounded in the story, rather than just being given to you for plot convenience. The game has a similar difficulty spike problem as the first, with some late game challenges being absurdly hard and tedious to do. The ending suffers a lot from being in the second game in a trilogy. I assume the somewhat meaningless elements in the finale was added to avoid clearing up too many plotlines before the third game, but at the same time the ending didn't really get me that interested in playing the third game. Too many characters have reached a logical end to their arc, and that left me feeling disinterested in the story moving forward. Still, I am somewhat curious as to what happens next, so I suppose the game did its job.

I don't have much else to say, just that I was very happy with how this game turned out, it's much better than the first in most ways, and I actually feel optimistic regarding the later entries in the series. Time will tell if my interest is misplaced, but for now I don't care.

Played on PS3 as part of God of War Saga. Loosely assembled notes, video to follow eventually.

I gotta chuckle at how fast the story set up is. “How do we knock Kratos down from his god status and create a conflict and challenge for the player?”

“I don’t know I guess have him piss off the other gods by being good at war.”

“Okay word that’ll do.” And that’s ALL they say hahaha.

Well the combat certainly feels visceral. The rumble feedback is tremendous. And the controls/combos came back to me pretty much instantly.

The gameplay graphics looks surprisingly good. The cutscene graphics still look clunky af.

Writing this note in Rhodes still, but running through corridors and hearing distant battles and muted noises is a great touch.

And there’s the way they reset all your abilities and progress! Lol!

The outside moving by as you watch from inside the Colossus is fantastic.

Dang, Gaia is the narrator and she’s rescuing me from death! This is so hardcore!!

I killed Prometheus to put him out of his misery. I get that this is the God of War shtick but it just makes me uncomfortable as the player. The solution to every problem Kratos has is killing something. Neither I the player nor Kratos the character had anything against Prometheus. Killing him to put him out of his misery is just a bummer. Could this be a meta commentary on how in video games, the answer to any problem is always violence? That seems a little too clever for Santa Monica, no offense. I don’t think high brow intellectualism is what they’re going for here. It’s a little passé to call the God of War games childish, but.

Siren fight hard. But cool floor reflections. And the scene running across the chain to get to the island of fate. Dope. Gotta include that shot in the video.

Wow cyclops battles were a great addition. Tough but fun. At time of writing, the enemies feel 1) more varied and 2) less of a repetitive slog to kill over and over again. So hats off for that.

The chain swing puzzle was cool. Felt like Spider-Man haha. The enemies you kill with the shields by slicing their heads off is a great finisher. Fighting the skeletons is oddly satisfying. The spiral staircase climb up with the top down camera was cool.

I continue to be impressed by the environment design. I’m fighting Perseus in this cool water filled chamber. Some of the areas before this were also quite cool. Nice mirrored floor on one.

Kratos’ various walk animations look dumb as shit. I got to the palace of the fates, the camera cuts to this dope angle, and I try to walk up all ceremonious like. And Kratos just glides like a moron.

I think I finally put my finger on something that bugs me about GoW games. The enemy always staggers you from any type of damage, but plenty of enemies have super armor.

I realized this late into the game, so this hypothesis may not totally check out. But it closes in on what bugs me sometimes. Kratos is supposed to be this fearsome, deadly bad ass. But more often than not, I don’t feel that strong playing as him. Enemies are still damage sponges in II, and it’s really frustrating when you are mercilessly wailing on a crowd of bad guys and one of them gets a hit in on you after swallowing a barrage of chain blade to the face. His hit staggers you, sets you up for follow up hits, and you can’t even finish the combo you were trying to stitch together.

Some might reply with a “get güd” but at times like this, it seems the game wants you to block or dodge. So you mix in attacks, blocks/counters, and dodges, and you just never find a rhythm. It’s hard, but I think the better word for it is annoying.

Puzzle design gets annoying too. There were two that had me beside myself. If the developers’ goal was to make me as angry as Kratos always is, they succeeded.

Have to ding the game for the ice puzzle room. I can climb on that wall? Give me a break. How was I supposed to know?

One of my hottest ever video game takes is probably that I don’t love GoW II. I was expecting this one to click with me after the first did not. But this didn’t either. Oddly, the standout aspect of both games that I thoroughly enjoyed with few gripes is the stories. I don’t always like how Kratos is portrayed and how violence is quite literally the answer to all of his problems, but in spite of that, I love the god/mortal/titan drama, and the team uses Greek mythology for a seemingly endless train of cool ideas, new characters, and surprising story beats.

The gameplay isn’t BAD—I don’t want anyone to think that I think the games are bad. They play well. They feel pretty good, combat gripes notwithstanding. This one is an unmitigated refinement of the first in a lot of ways—stripping out dumb stuff, adding in new abilities, enemies, dynamics, attacks, etc. I think this one is better to play, the environments are WAY better to look at and more varied, and the enemies are more varied and fighting them feels less repetitive. So they did make a lot of good progress from I to II.

But my overall impression of the game is still one of mixed enjoyment and irritation. Having figured out how to best the game now, I’d probably enjoy it more if I ever went back to it. But I’m not sure I’ll ever want to. God of War so far has been less enjoyable than everyone would have you believe.

Maybe III will be the ticket!!

This game finally let us do something else than pushing boxes.

Now here's a good example of a good sequel done right, I honestly don't have much to say about this title other than some stages dragging on a bit at times I think the game should've been a lot shorter and the lack of boss also doesn't help, though it's still a massive improvement from the first game.

Unfortunately, a lot of the bad thing from God of War I comes back in this game though they are not as bad as the original, the first one that comes to my mind are the puzzles, though there are still a lot and most of them sucks but it's still not as bad as the original. The other one would be the forced platforming sections which get old and tedious fast, but at least the combat improved and the storytelling is honestly great I love Kratos's story and how the gods decided to kill him.

Overall a damn fine action game for its time which is a definitive improvement from the first game, though the franchise doesn't peak till the third game so if you are doing a God of War binge, get ready for the third game!


(8.5) Lembro que eu nunca consegui jogar esse jogo, pq quando eu era menor minha mãe não deixava, e quando eu tava mais velho, meu pc não rodava no emulador e eu só tinha um PS4. Mas sem dúvidas, valeu a pena pra caralho esse tempo todo sem jogar. O jogo envelheceu como vinho, é divertido pra cacete e absurdamente brutal. Só achei que algumas partes na reta final fica bem chatinho e desnecessariamente injusto. De resto é uma obra prima dos hack 'n slash.

The true magic sauce binding the God of War II experience together is its pacing. The magic trick is pairing of the loud, brutish and outrageous maximalism with soft and still quiet time.

Your first boss fight starts almost immediately. Its a long, multi stage, multi arena affair featuring gratuitous violence, a towering colossus and combos on combos on combos. Kratos is betrayed and then double crossed by two different gods, shoots himself out of a catapult to stab a giant, kills a few hundred soldiers with flair, and then dies taking a god powered sword to the gut by Zeus himself. This is the opening hour. The game is energy all the time, every which way. But the most striking part of the design isn’t any of that bombast, but instead just how seriously God of War II takes its quiet time and how it weaves those moments into a larger sequence.

For small sections, here and there, the noise and energy of the game’s world will abate. Sometimes to near silence. The enemies stop spawning, the music subsides and a chest usually waits to replenish your health while, more often than not, a puzzle blocks your way forward. The puzzles range from the simple get-the-box-over-there variety to the “What the hell am I missing?” head scratchers. Its a drastic change of pace these quick breaths of safety sprinkled into each sequence and a way to reset the tension to start building it again in a new way.

My favorite aspect of these quiet times is just how sudden they can appear. The very first quiet moment Kratos enjoys only comes immediately after being hurled across the city and breaking through several stone floors to the bottom of some poor Athenian tower. And likewise, rest times can end just as abrupt leading directly into a boss you will fight at least a dozen times, or an intense platforming session. Or it might just be an ambush. Eventually the puzzles may start trying to kill you back. Nevertheless, a true respite always seems to come at the right time. The designers knew when to give the player some relief and when to push a little more. Its these small, quiet times scattered in just the right places that keep the pacing tight and fast without getting exhausting. Its that pacing that, in my opinion, makes the whole thing work.

God of War II is fast. Sequences are dense and constantly trying to outdo themselves . Kratos does not speak. He yells. And the game yells back, but no matter the pressure, you’ll find that next quiet spot right where it should be, take a deep breath and then power through.

You can feel the absolute swap from an original greek tragedy into just pure edgy IM GONNA KILL ALL OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY with heavy coatings of spectacle its absolutely glorious to behold but this also has the effect of gameplay not really like developing at all? its odd

This one was a work of art from the Story to the Gameplay they pushed the PS2 hardware to the limits for sure.

Sensacional! É notória a melhoria do 1° para o 2°, pode-se citar como exemplo: combate mais fluido e dinâmico, variedade de inimigos e ambientação rica em detalhes.

GOW 2 expande o universo da franquia, apresentando o passado de Zeus, a titanomaquia, a visão do Olimpo acerca da humanidade, entre outros fatores.

Ademais, a integração dos puzzles com as áreas agradou-me bastante, eles são mais complexos que àqueles de GOW 1 (não são difíceis, mas mais elaborados).

PS: Essa é a minha primeira experiência completa com o game, estou extremamente satisfeito com o que ele me entregou.

PS2: O cliff-Hanging no final é magnífico!

Overall a good improvement over the first one. The only negative is that I think the new magic spells are lame, with Medusa's Gaze returning as the Head of Euryale the other 3 just aren't as cool as the other 3 from the first game. However the new weapons in Kratos' arsenal are all unique and satisfying to kill whatever stands in your path. While I did like how the first game ended with Kratos overseeing all wars even to this day, it's a great follow up on Kratos' vengeance on the gods of Olympus. The ending directly leading to the start of God of War 3 is also cool, but I guess that's more of a point towards 3 than 2.

Kratos will rip out Atlas' ballsack with his pinky in the cutscenes but needs to solve a dumbass puzzle to open a door he can't break. Everything on this game was made to pad out the run time which was also true to the first, but this one is a constant reminder that you are playing a slightly more refined GoW1 with less iconic bosses, worse level design and writing for 10 hours to undo the first half our of the game's events. It's probably the most inconsequential story ever made for a video game.

One of the best hack n' slash out there.

Please don't take me ranking the second game over God of War PS4 as a knock against that game, instead take it as an indication of what an accomplishment this game is.

GoW 2 blew the first game out of the water in every possible way, and the first game was good! Still, I found 2's epic story, powerful music, sense of scale, and investment with the mythology to be magnificent enough to cement it as the ultimate God of War game fifteen years later!

Gone are the droves of repetitive enemies and static levels which help the previous game back. God of War two is constantly peppering in new enemies, levels hazards, unique set pieces, new weapons/spells, and mythological references which ensure there is something new around every corner. The fact that this game manages to have so much variety and progression without feeling rushed is amazing.

I could nitpick some dated graphics, a few characters who could have used more development, and an ending which I have mixed feelings about, but whatever problems this game has are washed away by a tidal wave of gaming excellence. The only real problem is that Kratos' character in this game feels like a regression from his counterpart in the first game. If he was more compelling and his personal journey more meaningful, we'd be looking at a ten out of ten game here.

Given what a huge improvement this game was over its original, I am all the more excited for Ragnarök.

A worthy sequel to one of the best games on the ps2. This time even more pushing the hardware to it's limits. More weapons, more moves, more bosses and just overall better quality of life improvements make this one of the best games in the series. Plus the epic scope some of these landscapes entail and it's all real time, no loading screens it's still impressive. Again worth the play if you are a ps2 owner

I'm Brazillian, I'm obligated to like this game

I couldn't finish it because the pirate version is broken 😭

Possívelmente o melhor de toda franquia, todo desenvolvimento do jogo é muito equilibrado, puzzles, chefões, história são encaixados perfeitamente.

Estamos falando de um jogo que definiu gêneros e gerações.

The (non Rule34) one where Kratos pouts as the tentacles entangle him

Houve uma boa evolução, melhorou alguns aspectos do primeiro jogo, o gráfico, variedade de armas, cenários e algumas mecânicas. Eu gostei mais desse em relação ao primeiro jogo, a continuação da história foi mais interessante e também mais grandiosa com um cliffhanger gigante no final.



as irmã do tempo são mt dentro

Got to be one of the best PS2 games. So many wild over the top sequences.

explodiu meu cerebro quando eu era criança

"I am what the gods have made me!"

My favorite GoW of the original trilogy. This game had all the best action set pieces, epic moments, and legendary boss battles. The size and scale from the previous game was improved upon even more - it is hard to believe the PlayStation 2 was able to run this game.

This was truly the PS2's swan song. This game is a blast to play, and is one of the greatest action-adventure / hack-and-slash games of all time.