God of War II (2007)

The perfect sequel. God of War II raises the bar in almost every way compared to the first game. I played it on Hard, and this time the challenge is noticeably tougher, but always fair. The combat constantly pushes you to rethink your strategies depending on the enemies you’re facing, forcing you to use your abilities more intelligently and at the right moments.

This is something I really appreciate, because in the first game you could get through almost the entire experience relying mainly on the Blades of Chaos and the lightning magic. Here, that approach doesn’t work as well. I often had to combine weapons like the Head of Euryale and the Barbarian Hammer to overcome some of the tougher encounters, which made the combat feel deeper and more rewarding.

When it comes to presentation, this game truly pushes the PlayStation 2 to its limits. The environments are more detailed, feel grander in scale, and the set pieces are both impressive and fun. The game does an excellent job of making you feel like a fallen god facing other gods, reinforcing Kratos’ larger-than-life presence.

I also really enjoyed the story. The characters connect well to the first game, and Santa Monica Studio once again proves how well they can take Greek mythology and turn it into an incredibly entertaining narrative, even using some unexpected mythological figures.

That said, one thing I preferred in the first game was Kratos himself. In God of War I, he felt more human and complex. In this sequel, he’s portrayed more as a fully enraged, almost mindless killing machine driven purely by vengeance.

Overall, an amazing game and, for me, more enjoyable than the first one. I love that the annoying platforming sections were mostly removed, keeping the experience focused on action with very little downtime. The boss fights feel much better designed and never cheap, especially compared to the final fight of the first game. And that ending is excellent, perfectly setting up what is likely the best opening to God of War III.

The writing, story, and cut-scenes are what make this a 5-Star installment in the Legendary Series.

Those 🤬 Quick-Time events can be frustrating enough to make a preacher cuss!

Other than that, for mature audiences, I'd recommend it. Even thought it's almost 20yrs old, I had a version that had some upgrades to the visuals, that made it look quite nice on PS3. Although, it was rather inconsistent. The game play had a complete overhaul, but some of the scenes did not get the same treatment, so they looked like they could have on the PS2. It was quite comical actually, and quite different from the time. During that time, the cutscenes looked like animation, and were fun to watch. With the remake, the gameplay was actually prettier.

This is a masterful sequel that builds on everything that made the original great, with tighter combat, more epic boss battles, and a gripping story rooted in Greek mythology, it pushes the PS2 hardware to its limits. Kratos returns more brutal and determined, and the game's pacing and level design are nearly flawless. Visually stunning for its time and with a thunderous orchestral score, it’s considered one of the best action-adventure games on the platform and also of all time, being a flawless sequel in my opinion.

It is the one that I replayed the most since it's optional content was the best one at the time, not just for this franchise's standards. The story is also a standout for me, with time-travel and several different characters involved, a bigger crowd compared to the first entry. This also has an educational impact since you get to see a lot of mythological creatures, characters and stories being told on one of the best platforms at the time. Out of all the classic God of War, this is my favorite one and the one I recommend the most.

Another aspect that truly elevates this sequel is how confidently it expands Kratos character without losing his raw, vengeful edge. His arc feels more tragic and layered this time, especially as the consequences of his past actions catch up to him. The interactions with the Titans and the Olympian gods give the narrative a grander sense of scale, making the player feel like a pawn in a war far greater than themselves. This added depth makes the story more engaging and gives emotional weight to the relentless action.

As for the gameplay, the variety introduced through new weapons, magic abilities, and environmental puzzles keeps the experience consistently fresh. Each new tool feels meaningful rather than gimmicky, encouraging experimentation and rewarding mastery. The balance between combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving is expertly handled, ensuring that the game never overstays its welcome. Even years later, this title remains a benchmark for how to craft a sequel that not only improves on its predecessor, but confidently defines the peak of a generation.

There were a lot more frustrating bits (the wraiths and harpies are especially annoying) but the new weapons and upgrades are more fun in this one. Also he word building is incredible. As a fan of the Greek Mythology extended universe I get giddy whenever we're introduced to a familiar demigod or character with Santa Monica's spin on it.

My playthrough highlights:

Compared to GoW1, it has better visuals. The level designs are better with better powers. Especially in the place where you use the red orbs to upgrade weapons, this time, you don't have to wait unnecessarily; it upgrades fast. Now, the story is just as good; it expands the scope of the whole franchise. But, I found the final boss battle easy. You are supposed to follow a pattern, and there you go, done. Compared to it in the previous game, it was a lot harder to defeat Ares.

Overall, it has almost all the great things of the previous game, and I enjoyed it a lot!

I finished God of War frustrated with some of the mechanics near the end but genuinely excited for the next installment.

I finished God of War II frustrated with some of the mechanics near the end and really wondering why the dev team hated women and wanted to brutalize them so darn much. I know there’s a third one and I may make myself play it but the violence of the 2nd installment left me unsettled. By the end, I just didn’t want a main gameplay mechanic to be slashing half-topless women who scream in pain as you tear them apart. And the quick time event system was bad too.

I found the combat in this one to be a very large improvement over the first. I also really appreciated the massive set-pieces and just how cinematic it all felt. Lots of very cool imagery and settings.

However, the story is a bit of a step down from the first, with it just being a cut and dry revenge story. Not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but it certainly lacked the drive of the first game for me.

I probably would have given it 4 stars were it not for the awful need to have every interaction with the environment be an exercise in mashing the shit out of the O button. It was at its worst when I would mess up one button input and need to replay an entire button mashing QTE segment again until I got it perfect. It's just a massive stain on what I would have otherwise considered a very fun game.

God of War III is next! I'm really excited for this one with the leap from PS2 to PS3.

Segunda entrega de la saga God of War lanzada para PlayStation 2, está entrega además de traer un tope a lo que era la consola en ese entonces, mejora muchos ámbitos del primer juego que al momento de jugar este notas los cambios y la evolución de un juego a otro, en el apartado de combate no ah habido mucha innovación ya que el modo de juego sigue siendo de la misma forma, pero se le atribuyen nuevas mecánicas, puzzles, armas y magia que hacen que este juego goze de una mayor cantidad de contenido. En el ámbito visual se nota una mejoría pero que a días de hoy no son muy notorias, nada más que decir de este juegazo que para la gente que jugó en su momento fue un verdadero viaje entre sangre y venganza, y para la que jugó este juego últimamente o aún no lo hace, hazlo....antes de que Kratos te corte el cuello.

This game plays a lot like the first. It features multiple secondary weapons to the standard blades, it has chaotic boss fights, and it hosts a long journey through Greek Mythology. This game, however, improves on the first in nearly every way.

First the story. The first and second games have this long journey to complete some quest that stays the same throughout. In God of War II, the overall goal is to go back in time to defeat Zeus before his betrayal in the opening of the game. This plot point never changes, nor does it ever have any twists. The overall plot, because of this lack of development in story, never truly progresses except for the beginning and end of the game. The story is fine enough to setup the gameplay and set pieces for the game to exist. The end does set up Kratos' character a bit more with an out of left field twist, but also is a bit disappointing as the chose to setup the third game then leave a satisfying conclusion to this one. There's not much more to say, as it is clear that the plot is not the focus of the game.

The gameplay is also similar to the first game. So much so that you start the game playing pretty much the same as the first before you get reset. After the reset, the steady progression feels more natural. In the first game you get introduced to a difficult enemy before being given a power to counter them. In this game you simply unlock powers or weapons as you go, normally after boss fights, but you never felt underpowered before the additional abilities. There's a good balance of abilities and weapons to mix up gameplay. I chose to focus on the blades and the earthquake ability as I leveled up, but other options felt viable which I liked. I also appreciated far less enemies that stun you in combat, making combat itself feel more fluid and fun. There are some frustrating enemies towards the end, but this is far more forgivable than the first games unnecessary difficulty.

God of War also focuses on boss fights, which never seem as setup as the first game. You just encounter the arenas as if they were just the next part of the level. You fight characters from Greek mythology like Icarus, as well as characters from the God of War world like the reincarnated Barbarian. None feel as difficult or puzzle heavy as the first, and I never struggled as I did in the first trying to figure out how to beat them. All of that said the final boss can be tricky and take a lot of focus to not screw up, but even still this fight felt more fair then Ares in the first. I did, however, hate the timing of the final Quick Time Event, but that may have just been the streaming delay over PS Plus.

The music and graphics were good, but I don't have much to say. This game is a PS2 game but it's not aged so bad that it's difficult to play or recognize what you're looking at. I thought the visuals fit well for the mythological setting. I thought the music did the same. Sadly, I don't have much more to say on this.

Overall, I much prefer this game to the first one. I look forward to experiencing the future games. Later games will likely play smoother, but I wouldn't mind returning to this game over the first any time. It's definitely worth checking out if you're looking to play the older games in this series.

8/10

One of the most annoying and frustrating game I've ever played. Everything is done to annoy the player, so many things are a chore.

QTE (which are by themselves lame) everywhere, for everything, even as trivial as opening a door. The necessity to maintain a button pressed for something as simple as opening a chest, so many time where we neeed to mash the same button like a retard just because... Bosses and mobs with instakill-like attacks, quite a few times where we are on a rope or climbing and when we have only a few attack, making the said passages extremely shallow and repetitives. Core combat gameplay is okayish, lots of options available but the combat lacks depth. Main character is angry, that is his sole character trait. He's Angry: the man. Grooooar I'm Kratos and I'm angry, juste because. A few bugs that makes some passages even more a chore than they already are. Plot is not very good, The main villain betrays us for no real reason.

I didn't like the first one very much, this one I hated it, it's really a bad game. Cool setting, some spectacular scens and visually nice levels are not enough to compensate for awful game mechanics (f*** QTEs it's the level 0 of gameplay and game design) and bad level design (gameplay-wise).

Bigger. Bolder. Bloodier. Nastier. Smoother. More accessible...r. It takes everything the first game did, examines it closely, takes out all of the annoying bits, replaces them with fun things, and ups the gonzo adventure content to absolutely ridiculous levels. Some of the jank of the first game's combat has been smoothed over, making it flow better and feel more visceral. The new powers also change things up nicely. It would have been easy to keep everything the same, but the tweaked combat retains what worked while keeping things fresh.

Everything a sequel should be so far. My only problem is that some of the conveyance when it comes to the puzzles is a little weird, making them more obtuse than the first game, but there thankfully aren't many annoying jumping puzzles so far.

While I liked playing the first game in the series, part 2 was the one that made me fall in love with the series and honestly video games in general. I had played some games here and there but when I played this one, games just became so much more to me. I started paying more attention to characters, story, and the overall design put into a video game. Kratos was still the angry screaming dude but they added some more backstory and personality here and there. The story was fascinating; can you go back in time to save yourself from death? With that premise and the outstanding game mechanics made for an extremely memorable and challenging game. I can safely say I played this game all the way through probably a dozen times. There were more weapons, more mythology, more gods, bosses, story, and more ruthless killing with updated graphics. It is everything a sequel is meant to do and more.

After playing the first God of War, I watched some of the special features included, in which David Jaffe showed off a bunch of ideas that he wished he could've integrated into the first game, but they just didn't have the ability. While God of War almost feels like a proof-of-concept at times, God of War II comes off like the realization of Jaffe's dream, an excellent refinement on what had come before it.

There's elements like the flying segments, the Icarus wings and the skeletons that feels straight from a Ray Harryhausen film that were all parts that were attempted in the first game, but the technology just wasn't there yet. God of War II integrates those ideas, but also melds the action and puzzles far better than the first. They both flow into each other in seamless ways, making the overall experience more fun to play in long stretches.

My only gripe - and the only weakness of this game compared to the others in the series - is that the story definitely takes a backseat to action. If I'm not mistaken, there's not even any discussion of Kratos's wife and child this time around, and Kratos's rage just seems directed at Zeus simply because Zeus controlled the lesser gods - including himself. I appreciate God of War because Kratos's rage usually serves a purpose that makes sense in the story. Here, it's just seems like blind rage due to a power complex.

Playing this series chronologically, this is easily the finest game in the series and finally feels like the game's ideas coming to full fruition. I appreciate how this series has evolved so far, it's just a shame the story isn't as prevalent this time around, as its inclusion would've made this a truly great game.