The best thing I can say about God of War II is that it's better than the first one. By the time I actually beat the game, all I felt was relieved that I didn't have to play this game any longer.
God of War II's gameplay is very akin to the first. The Blades of Athena are the exact same as the Blades of Chaos, and because of that the majority of combat is fun. And the addition of new subweapons like a spear and hammer are fun additions, even if I rarely used them. The enemies as well are a lot better balanced than the original, rarely ever feeling like damage sponges.
The bosses were undoubtedly one of the most lacking aspects of the original game. Though they weren't bad, the original game had a total of 3 bosses. It was such a low number for the type of game God of War is, so it's nice that this game more than doubled the number of bosses. On top of that, the bosses were easily some of the best parts of the game, and all felt unique in their own right.
However, with the positives aside, there's still issues with the game that keep me from properly enjoying the good. The platforming and puzzles are still iffy, and even though there are less frustrations than the original, I'd say they haven't much improved. They did another "push a block to the other side of the room while enemies continuously spawn" type of puzzle, which is just more annoying that anything else.
And I feel like I'm just going to repeat myself here, but god, the QTEs in these games are the parts I hate the most. They may not be as bad as the original game, but the issue still stands. There always feels like there's too little reaction time when it comes to them. And I do have to say, it was an inspired choice to make the last phase of the final boss just a series of QTEs, it soured what was otherwise an amazing boss fight for me.
And much like the first game, I don't know what I'm supposed to take away from the story. Is it trying to say something about violence and the lust for revenge and how that destroys someone? Because if so, why is violence so glorified? It feels like if there is a message, it's drowned out by the game's lust for violence and gore. And if there isn't a message, than the violence for violence's sake just isn't something that vibes with me. You could say I'm looking to into things, and you'd be right. That's just the type of person I am.
Ultimately, I think God of War II is fine. It's better than the first game, but even then I still don't like it. God, I'm dreading playing God of War 3, but I need to play the original trilogy before getting to 2018.
God of War II's gameplay is very akin to the first. The Blades of Athena are the exact same as the Blades of Chaos, and because of that the majority of combat is fun. And the addition of new subweapons like a spear and hammer are fun additions, even if I rarely used them. The enemies as well are a lot better balanced than the original, rarely ever feeling like damage sponges.
The bosses were undoubtedly one of the most lacking aspects of the original game. Though they weren't bad, the original game had a total of 3 bosses. It was such a low number for the type of game God of War is, so it's nice that this game more than doubled the number of bosses. On top of that, the bosses were easily some of the best parts of the game, and all felt unique in their own right.
However, with the positives aside, there's still issues with the game that keep me from properly enjoying the good. The platforming and puzzles are still iffy, and even though there are less frustrations than the original, I'd say they haven't much improved. They did another "push a block to the other side of the room while enemies continuously spawn" type of puzzle, which is just more annoying that anything else.
And I feel like I'm just going to repeat myself here, but god, the QTEs in these games are the parts I hate the most. They may not be as bad as the original game, but the issue still stands. There always feels like there's too little reaction time when it comes to them. And I do have to say, it was an inspired choice to make the last phase of the final boss just a series of QTEs, it soured what was otherwise an amazing boss fight for me.
And much like the first game, I don't know what I'm supposed to take away from the story. Is it trying to say something about violence and the lust for revenge and how that destroys someone? Because if so, why is violence so glorified? It feels like if there is a message, it's drowned out by the game's lust for violence and gore. And if there isn't a message, than the violence for violence's sake just isn't something that vibes with me. You could say I'm looking to into things, and you'd be right. That's just the type of person I am.
Ultimately, I think God of War II is fine. It's better than the first game, but even then I still don't like it. God, I'm dreading playing God of War 3, but I need to play the original trilogy before getting to 2018.