The Legendary Sequel | Sly 2: Band of Thieves

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you for watching! If you'd like to further support the channel, please consider subscribing and becoming a Patron on Patreon. Also, social media links can be found in the description. Your support means a lot to me!

[@ethantidlund6388]

Personally I think Sly 2 is just good. I do like the small yet subtle glimpses into Murray's character, Neyla being a villain I like to hate, The writing and Bentley's small character arc. But there are a number of things that I don't really like. One of the biggest things is while Bentley's arc is effective it also feels underutilized and overly simplistic to the point where it just doesn't feel special. I feel like they could've gone a little deeper with it because after his arc and for the rest of the game they do nothing that challenges his character. Another thing I feel was wasted was the theming with the villains. What I mean is with the first 3 members of the KLAWW Gang I notes that they all seem to represent the theming of power hunger. Dmitri wanted money (which could be considered a form of power), Rajan wanted to keep his states as a spice lord because it made him feel like a king and the Contessa having already obtained so much power that she looked at herself as "above good and evil". What I believe Sucker Punch did with these three villains was take the theme of power hunger and have it get more extreme with each villain. Though this kinda gets ruined with Bison who doesn't really represent power hunger atoll and when we get to Arpeggio who I believe was meant to be the culmination on the theme of power hunger. It just feels to disjointed seeing how Bison comes before him and like I said before he doesn't really add to the them of power hunger. I am not a fan of Arpeggio ether seeing how he is barely in the game, name dropped only once and overall just feels like a Azian wanna be without the bad ass moments but he still ads to the theme of power hunger while Bison doesn't. For me what saves the games short comings is the gameplay and the writing. Overall its still a good game its just not a great game in my opinion because of these and some other problems I had with it. Sorry for this overly long comment.

[@researcherchameleon4602]

I have no idea what you were talking about the clue bottles being hard to find, I never had a problem finding them, you probably just have a skill issue

[@ThatTravGuy]

Please call your Doctor if your Sly 2 review lasts longer than 4 Hours

[@CloudxBoys]

☠️☠️☠️

[@SailorMoon998]

Dr M?

[@shaunmiller442]

Please call your doctor if it doesn’t

[@franciscocarneiro5788]

@@SailorMoon998❤

[@LunchtimeFilmsInc]

this is my favorite game of all time, and i feel like no one even knows about it! amazing video mate, you're a legend

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you so much!

[@mediocremedia9219]

I feel u there dude. 1000’s of hours and no one to talk with about it

[@Hunter-hf4eq]

@@mediocremedia9219 I couldn’t even count on my hands how many times I’ve played this game

[@TYLERORTIZ2021]

Nah idk about that! Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank. That’s the big 3 right there all those games made PS2 timeless

[@NamelessKing1597]

Same

[@tinguspingus2068]

Am I really going to watch a four hour long video about a game from 16 years ago? Absolutely.

[@cliffturbo2146]

Woah, 4 hours video... And it's for Sly cooper! I love that the series has never been left out at all, even though it's been 7 years we got Thieves in Time. Huge like!

[@Tomiply]

It'll be 11 years this year. Crazy.

[@cliffturbo2146]

@@Tomiply Gee, yeah 😬

[@Blunt_Spartan]

I get an itch to watch hours of sly cooper content a few times a year. This is like my 5th time listening/watching this entire video. Sly Cooper is my favorite game of all time and I like many others feel like no one knows about this game.

[@IKGProductions]

Your dedication and appreciation means a lot!

[@angietictacdork]

As someone who has had this as my favorite game since 2005 and never seeing anyone appreciate it like many other games like Crash/Spyro/Jak/Ratchet & Clank, this review series has really made me love the game even more. Sly's story in each of these 3 iconic games, the soundtrack, the opening scenes before you enter a new area, everything about it is just so unique. It has a charm of nostalgia and in general the reaches out more than any other game I have played. Each area in each game also brings its very own depth each time you enter it. Whether its a city in the day, or a swamp at night, or the mountains of China, or the airfields in Holland. God this game just speaks for itself, and each character's personality through how they talk and how you play them. Sly being the most agile and swift with climbing and jumping, Murray being a heavy hitter and being the brawn of the group, and Bentley, while not the most strong, makes up for it with incredible gadgets. Each character makes the world around them feel different each time you play it which is incredible. Anyways, at the end of the day, thank you for these amazing throwbacks and retrospectives of these amazing games. For years I had no one who shared the same level of interest and love I had for the Cooper Gang until now. They deserve so much more and you really did it justice here.

[@Skip2105]

I think that The Contessa used information from when she analyzed Sly’s psychological profile. Her guards look, from behind, like Clockwerk

[@MitchellMeyer702]

3:32:23 I’ve always assumed that the hate chip was an addition by Arpeggio to act as a battery of sorts. Clockwerk cultivated his hate naturally, and while he is an antagonist, Arpeggio doesn’t seem to hold any particular animosity towards anybody with the exception of his own feeble body. Sly himself said that you can’t just make people hate- that’s why Arpeggio made the blimp to be able to hypnotize people into hatred, so that he can feed off of it, charge the chip, and allow Clockwerk’s apparatus to continually function.

[@thesun5275]

Makes sense. As you said Clockwork was built up naturally through centuries of hatred against a single family and his desire to prove his superiority. And there are stark differences in the design of Clockwork in the first and second games, it makes sense that Arpeggio would have to alter the design as it is no longer built around an organic being

[@HeyJes]

This argument honestly falls apart once you consider that when destroyed, the "hate chip" causes all the Clockwerk parts to immediately age. Though I like the theory.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Could have been modified by Arpeggio from the original. That could work as an explanation?

[@peytonreed937]

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if arpeggio did actually end up using clockwerks body, and forced to align with us, Neyla tells us about the hate chip, about how arpeggio added it.

[@megabusterm17]

At least it's not Square-Eyed Jak's review that essentially boils down to 'this game is bad because I have the patience and dexterity of a goldfish.'

[@PhoenixGamerxx96]

Tell me about it.

[@obiwankenobiepisodeI]

Right? I literally unsubbed to him because of that😂

[@Furigou]

Eh, this isn't much better, he spent a lot of time complaining about the game being "too easy", and even more ranting about the optional clue bottle sidequests. Many of the criticisms were just there in order to not have an overwhelmingly positive review, i feel.

[@acebi_ly9246]

@@Furigou Also complained about no checkpoints in the lightning rod mission. Like ? How the fuck do you fail such an easy mission ? Just follow the lightning and press circle 3 times. And there are only like 4 ou 5 rods. Really most of the complaints where about nothing

[@jakethejax]

@Furigou also kept complaining about Bentley and Murray not being able to get around, when he never even bothered to buy the jet pack or turnbuckle launch. Almost like when you speed through the game avoiding all the bottles and upgrades you miss out on stuff, huh. Also also about those bottles, there's literally a sound effect they make that makes it much easier to locate them by just walking around between missions.

[@23gameoverlord]

Out of the Sly Cooper games, this is in my opinion the BEST. None of the other games have it's well-balanced gameplay, story elements etc. The 3rd tried to a little to much with excess characters that don't get a lot of fleshing out. And the 4th game while it had good ideas I think it falls short in how it Handel's it's story, the relationship with the characters and again having excess characters that don't utalized enough to warrant their inclusion.

[@kaylabivins]

A four hour analysis of Sly 2 is all I ever wanted in my LIFE! What a fantastic video, it deserves way more visibility. Great job!!!

[@DS-dt1sy]

You mentioning the timpani for the Jailbreak track literally made my heart SING. It's such a beautiful percussion instrument that can embellish complex emotions SO well. Sly 1 has EXCELLENT use of timpani during the Mz Ruby fight, instrumentally I wish the Sly collection was in time, because it's truly beautiful music and soundtracks remastered, they just,, need better percussion in time. The Sly Trilogy(and the fourth game) have always had excellent music that tells it's story for it, but I'm so glad you pin pointed what truly deepens the feeling.

[@vintageiguana2291]

I would like to say hats off to you for the quality of this review. It takes someone with serious skill to be able to do the Sly games the justice they deserve due to how dense they are (especially Sly 2 & 3). I think your opinions were very well articulated and stood up on their own merits. I especially appreciate your critique of the composition of the sound track because as someone who isn't an expert on composition, I like being able to learn things about that and that is one of my favorite things you do in your art. I always thought the story in the Sly series (except for 4) was written at a master class level. That's why me; an adult in his early 20's can still find so much enjoyment from these games. The gameplay is great and all, but I wouldn't find myself coming back to this trilogy every year or so if it weren't for these great characters and the great writing. I wholeheartedly appreciate all the time and effort you put into this project, and I will be subscribing to your Patreon account as well. Thank you for this, and I can't wait to see your review of Sly 3 as it is my favorite game of the series (a controversial opinion, I know).

[@IKGProductions]

This comment made my... week! Thank you for your feedback. I’m happy to hear that the review was well written and that it did the series justice above all else. And I have to give a special thank you for becoming a patron on Patreon. I’ll be getting to Sly 3 in no time!

[@stealyourheartz]

....four hour long video on one of my biggest hyperfixations? count me in.

[@mayorofbagtown9097]

Buddy, I can't stress enough how much of a mess this video is NOT. This was great! I especially loved the parts where you analyzed the music. You did great work here, my guy.

[@Tomiply]

Huh, I completely disagree about the clue bottles. I found them pretty easy to find. You can hear them a mile away, so I always get like 25 of them from doing normal missions and just seeing them around, then I look for the remaining 5 and it's usually pretty easy. What a different experience. I always play with headphones though. Maybe it's just very easy for me to hear them. Also, some of them being hard to reach is a negative? Those are the most fun to me. It's like, "How do I get up there...? Oh! I see the route. Nice." Makes you plan around and appreciate the design of the environments if you ask me. 56:53 I found many of them very useful for Sly, like being able to hide instantly with smoke if you get detected, the alarm clock for distracting guards, and the stealth slide is extremely useful for getting around fast or moving closer to a guard quickly when you can't sprint. 1:50:57 I mean, you can also use the glide powerup that's already a thing built into the game. Knocking the game because of an exploit makes little sense to me when you can buy a powerup that lets you glide up to enemies fast without letting them hear you. Like, it's not much of an exploit if there's already something in-game that let's you do the same thing. It's satisfying to use too.

[@t-rexcellentreviews1663]

I gotta give this guy some serious credit, he covered basically every single aspect of this game in a four hour video and he didn’t lose my attention for a moment, great work mate, seriously I am impressed.

[@t-rexcellentreviews1663]

This easily rivals B-Masks review of Sly 2: Band of Thieves as one of the best reviews of this game, you guys are both awesome, but the fact that yours is nearly 3 hours longer is very impressive, from one KZbinr to another, you guys are masters of your craft, you should be very proud of your work.

[@arcaedonluminos666]

A 4 hour video review of a SINGLE video game with tons of editing, analyzing, and sheer dedication, holy crap. That must've taken ages, and it paid off brilliantly! There's no doubt in my mind that you're a great critic, let alone content creator, to be able to do this much and with so much precision. I barely ever hear in depth analysis for music in games, and I wouldn't dare attempt it myself, as I'm not well versed in that area haha, but you did it so effortlessly. Also, I agree with most of what you said, you really did justice to this amazing game, which is among my 10 favorite games! No matter how long the Sy 3 review turns out, I'll be there for it.

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you for taking the time to write such wonderful compliments. “Precision” is really what I’m aiming to do with my content, so seeing you claim the review as such is WONDERFUL! With the right amount of time under one’s belt, I’m sure 4 hour reviews can exist, but the key is not to be long, it’s to be thorough! I’m thrilled to know that someone admires the encompassing dedication I have to my work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@arcaedonluminos666]

Oh for sure, there are ironically enough plenty of videos that are long without much to offer, but yours is not one of them. This video being 4 hours with so much depth is really mindblowing to me, especially since it's only dedicated to 1 game. I was blown away when I saw a different video at 5+ hours that covered like, 6 games, so 4 hours for 1 really is an accomplishment!

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you!

[@RGBtheRhinoOverwatcher]

@@arcaedonluminos666 This and Saints Row 2 are different take to the GTA formula.

[@aurthurpendragon1015]

It's also worth noting that Neyla was originally going to be the daughter of Rajan, but they cut that idea to simply the story a bit.

[@RunRecoverRally]

Personally, I find the clue bottles were great in their application in this game. Considering the "heist setup" aspect of Sly 2's open world design, the clue bottles is used as site survey for the heist.

[@vintageiguana2291]

Wow a four hour video!! I am very excited because this is one of my favorite franchises ever and I love seeing it broke down layer by layer. Time to grab a snack and a few drinks and enjoy this one!!

[@cliffturbo2146]

Now I am suddenly hungry XD

[@blankblankness2971]

This is certainly the longest review for this game that I’ve ever listened to.

[@warshaddow7977]

Lets be honest. In terms of simplicity (or how easy the missions are), you gotta realize these games were made to be played by 5-10 year olds. When I was 5, I got a ps2 and first game i got with it was Sly 1. Playing that game at 5 years old was difficult asf. Going back and playing it when im 20 something, the game is an absolute cake walk. All of them are, but yah know what? It's still fun. It's engaging, witty, comical, and more. Its overall just a great game that I could replay and visit and never get bored of it.

[@jafarohlala9936]

Chapter 4 ended perfectly at the halfway-point of the video. Nice touch.

[@franciscoschai4108]

Men, after B-mask masterpiece essays about this amazing franchise, it's so awesome to see more passionate fans doing incredible work. As a portuguese, I feel like the only one that cares about Sly here! You articulate, detail by detail, why Sly 2 in particular is such an immersive game, a masterpiece in storytelling, character development, atmosphere, art style, music, gameplay and level design. Congrats!

[@carsandzombies7606]

The Sly trilogy is so legendary. The amount of care that went into these games was astounding. Too bad Sly 4 wasn’t a worthy competitor (in my and many others opinion) as well as Sony pushing the IP to the side for 8 years and still running. At this point Sly is dead in the water and it hurts me so much. There will most likely never be a Sly Cooper game ever again.

[@nathanbarrels3463]

Honestly would just be happy if they remade the Trilogy like resident evil has been doing with their games

[@MrX626]

@@nathanbarrels3463oh jeez a version of sly 1 like the other 2, that would be great. Kinda confusing in execution I’d think but I wouldn’t complain

[@hansgretl1787]

Me: Nothing can top three hours of AAA 3! IKG: The 4 hour Sly 2 video. Me: THE! WHAT!

[@IKGProductions]

I think they were just talking about my past “records”, but yes, you are correct.

[@hansgretl1787]

@@IKGProductions Yep, just referring to IKG specifically. Imagine the people that call their videos long, and then they just turn out to be 20-30 minutes long.

[@L00SEG00SE]

What's fascinating to me is how a single Sly Cooper game could justify a 4 hour review yet not even the densest Ace Attorney game can come close to it.

[@hansgretl1787]

@@L00SEG00SE Part of it is probably IKG's evolution. The longer he's been on YT, the longer his videos get.

[@L00SEG00SE]

@@hansgretl1787 In all seriousness. When I started making content on KZbin back in 2012, people were mostly interested in shorter videos. However overtime I've noticed more and more interest in longer videos. For example, let's play videos used to be like 15 minutes on average. Nowadays? The average length is closer to 30-45 minutes or more, depending on if it's a stream archive or not. I think part of the appeal is for viewers to not have to track down as many individual videos. On the editing side of things, larger single videos take up slightly less space than if it were split up into smaller chunks. So going for longer videos seems to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. At least, these are just my assumptions and observations. I went from uploading segmented gameplay videos to doubling down on Longplays/Speedplay videos. Those have always gotten more views than the segmented versions. So, IKG and his colleagues are on to something. They've noticed a trend and are riding it. Larger KZbin channels have as well, though they seem to be slower to adopt. Chuggaaconroy for example still seems to shoot for shorter videos.

[@kamerynhaynes7076]

I grew up playing this, it's my absolute favourite! I play through it at least twice a year. I work from home and have been playing this in the background. Now all I want to do is play this again. What an absolutely amazing upload. Thanks so much!

[@pat3ntedthe2nd73]

1:19:52 "This mission suffers from an easy difficulty," my fucking ass! It's honestly the most difficult mission in the entire game for me!

[@nobo6162]

You sir, have earned my subscription from this concise and well written video document of one of my favorite games of all time.

[@boonegrigsby]

This was the first game I bought when I was a kid and I still play it to this day with my PS3. I will say, with the clue bottles, I can understand the insanity of taking so much time out of actual game play to find that one clue bottle that just keeps eluding Sly. Instead of skipping them though, before I even start the main missions, as soon as I get into the hub world I start looking for those clue bottles so all I have to do as Sly is find the safe and get the item inside. I also gotta say, I love this review of the game. I know I'm two years late on saying it, but seriously, amazing work with this.

[@lennylime7953]

Watched this in the background while I worked and the time flew by. This video felt much shorter than 4 hours. Great review on one of my favourite games ever, makes me want to replay it for the 100th time 😅

[@Nulono]

It's so bizarre seeing the characters bundled up in hats and coats in the snow, but still not wearing any pants.

[@maxcasteel2141]

I thought it was wack that I'd watched all of B-Mask's videos on sly twice, but now I've watched this video that's longer than B's whole retrospective. There's not a lot of things I would watch that are four hours. This was worth it. Kinda wild that you played Sly 2 without smokebomb though ngl

[@TehSkullKid]

I got this for my birthday when I was like 8 and it blew me completely away. I liked the first one a whole lot, but this was something entirely else. It's, imo, the best game on the PS2.

[@marceloportela2237]

Watching This video was honestly therapeutic , thank you for all the time and effort you put into it

[@Kikidium]

I'm in love, this game is one of my favorites if not THE favorite and I'm so glad you were able to get it out there, no matter how trying it was. The music, the cut scenes, the villains! are all amazing and I know you did this game justice. I'm off to go touch grass and then I'll be right back to watch the third video in this series! Definitely subscribing!

[@ThatGuyThatGames24]

Man, your take on the clue bottles is paaaaainful for me

[@dogman-fx9ub]

Good analysis. Nice work bro.. As a long time fan I'm very impressed. Video felt like a series of university lectures on the game.

[@TheRiddler6129]

12:31 How the heck did I not notice Sly here before?!

[@BowJish44]

I actually think there's quite a bit to analyze about the prequel comic. It really gives Sly a lot of time to narrate his inner views on the world, especially on himself, and it shows that while he acts quite cocky and full of himself, on the inside he's very judgemental and critical of his faults and missteps, constantly thinking about and comparing himself to his father. Particularly in how Sly himself is lacking and how much better his Dad was, so talented he apparently could have done the job by himself entirely, without rough landings or getting caught by security. It's a fascinating moment of reflection and a real peer into the true Sly Cooper, no haughty showing off, boasting and bragging or sarcastic, cute quips about the opponent's flaws. One moment I was particularly interested in when reading it myself was the way Sly remembers Bently's first cookie stealing plan hinged on getting away and making it seem like they'd never been there to begin with, and how Sly wistfully wishes his friend's plans were a tiny bit more like that in the present day. It's such a small, tiny moment that speaks so loudly and says so much. I also think the back and forth between Sly and Carmelita, offering different perspectives on the situation they both recall, really just highlights that no matter whose voicing them, they always have great dialogue together. The two play so well off one another and constantly reaffirm to themselves that the other is obsessed with them. It's charming and simple but does so much in so little time to establish who these people are, what they value, and how they view the world. It's absolutely, in my opinion, a perfect and worthwhile read even for a casual sly-series enjoyer. And as an unrelated aside, I don't think the Clue Bottles are that hard to track down. It gives a player good reason to scout out and traverse the world and learn its layout before you go barreling into mission after mission, making you more confident in navigation overall, which is something I think Sly 3 desperately lacks. They're challenging to find, but that's the point. If they were easy or simple to find, why bother putting them in at all? They aren't necessary to get but are valuable if obtained, and no safe you find is unobtainable after you first find it, so even if you don't grab it then, you can always come back later outside of a mission with very little effort. The bottles themselves are well hidden and ask not too much of you; explore the level, learn where things are, and get good at finding where they could be. As for the abilities earned from gathering them all, I find the majority useful or at the very least charming to use when you wanna spice things up. The only really bad one in my opinion is the knockout dive since it's not hard to dodge and keep away from enemy attacks, so you rarely need a move to knock them away with Sly. The Insanity Strike is a nice little diversion move to change up prolonged fights with multiple enemies, same for the Rage Bomb. Long Toss is fairly useful as a passive upgrade. But it's Voltage Attack that especially shines through as a worthwhile ability worth getting. It costs very little to use, it's silent to activate, and makes killing those flashlight guards a one-hit breeze if you just wanna silently blow by without effort or if you get spotted to quickly end a possibly long confrontation. Same feelings with the Lighting Spin Move, just that it works better in multi-guard fights for fast, quick kills since Sly isn't built for prolonged confrontation like Murray is. The Shadow Power move is especially useful for the level you get it in, where guards are maxed out, annoying to fight, and the margin of error is slimmer than even before. But in my opinion, the music box is hands down the most busted, broken and overpowered ability in the game. Wither you're still hidden from enemies or in a fight, the Music Box can quickly put multiple guards to sleep and allows you to sneak past, get in easy pickpocketing with no challenge, or take the enemies out easily. It's honestly just a shame you can't get that one sooner, it makes so much of it's chapter a breeze to deal with, especially the train sections with Sly. It's all the beauty of using Bently's sleep darts to give him room to breathe with the mobility and access to the level proper Sly has. Why bother waiting for guards to move their flashlights out of your way on a tight schedule or risk getting seen when you can silently toss the music box in and knock them out so easily, it makes playing with your eyes closed possible? Take out the guards and you'll probably get a health pickup to restore what you just spent back as well, to boot! I only wish this busted ability, if none else, came back in subsequent games. But, yeah, these definitely aren't mostly useless, as you claim.

[@IKGProductions]

Well, I can certainly respect the depth at which you explored our disagreements on the topics in question. :)

[@cameronsunken844]

Still my favorite game ever made. You definitely did it the justice it deserves as well. Can’t wait to watch your other Sly videos!

[@thesun5275]

To be brutally honest, this video is providing me my entertainment for work. You are doing gods work.

[@plasma_hound1199]

Another great thing about the rajan fight is that you can knock him off his feet and pick him up. Adding a bit of variety to your fight. You can throw him into the fence for more damage or his minions to help clean house. Also it’s hype as shit to have Murray lift rajan like he’s nothing and throw him around like a rag doll. Adds to the “One thing I’m not is weak!” Line

[@msf7699]

I don't believe you

[@arranisnailo7795]

He's better and back than ever

[@CooperGal24]

I know this is late, but prayers for the voice actors of the Contessa and Panda King/Muggshot. They brought the villains of the Sly Cooper games to life with their talents, and many more. Bless their souls forever....

[@Geomaster97]

Aleisa Galdwell is dead?

[@CooperGal24]

@@Geomaster97 No, the voice actress who voiced the Contessa, Miss Gail. She’s known for her roles in movies, too, but she’s the lady from a scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, whose husband was held ransom for the Wonka Bars.

[@Brother_Meatball]

I loved collecting all the bottles in the hub world. I was sad when I played Sly 3 and they removed the bottles

[@DemonKingCozar]

I actually wonder if the counter in the jail block can be explained by it being an experiment. We know the Contessa loves using prisioners as a test subjects and spice cause rage. So it's reasonable to assume they actually want Murray to go into a spice fueled rampage and keep track of his combat effectiveness. That might explain why there is all the traps and stuff in there too. It's actually a death game, Murray is in. We just had him go into a rampage before everyone went under the effects of the spice.

[@mitchellreiner1271]

Dude this review was great; meticulous thought and detail throughout. Great homage to one my favorite game series of all time. Glad I stumbled upon this! New subscriber. 👍

[@Nulono]

I actually found the water bug and dam demolition missions to be some of the hardest and most frustrating ones as a kid, so maybe it's better balanced for the skill level of the target audience?

[@nathanbarrels3463]

yeah he definitely critiques the game as if its made for adults. Which yeah it is rated E but you can tell it's targeted towards younger people. I just replayed this game recently and the last time i played it before this was when i was like 7 or younger so when i got to the water bug mission i was dreading it because i remembered how difficult it was but it turned out i was just stupid because i was young lmao.

[@blankblankness2971]

The PlayStation 2 era is known for having some of the biggest video games in history. This one is certainly the biggest one that I have ever known, and it’s certainly not a game that you should play in one sitting... unless you’re a speedrunner. Even then, speedruns take between five and six hours to finish. I know that this is one of my favorite games of all time, and certainly the best one on its original platform. Other games from this era and platform like Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom certainly came close, but they were no match for such a game like Sly 2: Band of Thieves. It’s the 23rd highest grossing game made for the PS2, and it should never be forgotten.

[@hunteraldridge929]

I like this little detail in Jailbirds or episode 4 when first loading in Bently is staring at the computer then you haft to turn around and realize that yes you are alone and helps motivates you to save them

[@NamelessKing1597]

I've actually owned 3 different copies of this game. It was the only Sly game I owned for PS2 as a kid, played it so much it scratched to the point of being unplayable, got the collection and played the other 2, got the fourth one, my PS3 melted internally from heavy use, then I re-bought Sly 2 and then 1 and 3 individually for my PS2 slim which is still chugging. Favorite game of all time.

[@andywoo0]

i've been waiting for a review like this since the one B-mask did

[@IKGProductions]

It’s an honor to have my review be compared to video on Sly 2!

[@andywoo0]

@@IKGProductions thank you for putting in so much time and effort into this video. im glad sly 2 still gets the recognition it deserves

[@stevesamuals2651]

You seem to have omitted the fact that bentley gets crippled by clock la's smashing his legs as he gets out of her beak

[@rshadowsail]

I feel that Clock La was just a trash version of what Clockwerk in Sly 2 could've been. Also, this is one of the best reviews KZbin. Thanks for making this, it was worth spending 4 hours watching it.

[@williamdecker3123]

Looks at video length: ... Looks at watch: Yeah I've got time...

[@xebninmajsark4344]

Your hate of clue bottles, denies seeing the thing behind them. Clue bottles are the thing that makes you explore every area on map. The are the thing you can do after doing all missions and sly 3 suffers this cause it dosent have clue bottles so player dosent have reason To explore sly 3 world More than is nessecary for the story.

[@pieexplorer]

i agree, it’s nice bc i would spend my first bit of time on the hub world looking for the bottles, in turn learning the ins and outs of every one, while also satisfying that “collectors itch” feeling

[@jabrark5828]

The only issue is that they're fr hidden a little too well. There's no reason I should be staring at a single bottle for 5 minutes failing to acquire it.

[@jabrark5828]

Imagine being completely humbled as a gamer when one of the missions you struggled on the most in your childhood being called easy. Waterbug mission. 😂

[@cherriblossom9401]

oml i love "Come in "little friends" the way he said little friends made me laugh to much xD

[@hadinasrallah8928]

damn this was good subscribed,rang the bell and now im off to watch all your videos you earned yourself a fan (also the fact you did a playthrough with j's reviews suprised me

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support.

[@LieutenantP1ckle]

and here I was writing a script to discuss this game.... right-click.... delete. Great work man, really

[@mellangard]

Absolutely amazing video, I didn't even realize it was 4 hours long before it was over!

[@LieseFury]

Great video even though you're wrong about the clue bottles 😜 Thanks for making such a fantastic video about one of the best games.

[@thegamemaster9430]

Just a little Headcanon idea I had that sort of makes the hate chip not be so bad. Instead of the hate chip being the sole reason for clockworks hate What if it was more along the lines of, being a source to *channel* clockworks hate into immortality. Clockworks hate can still be sincere and the technical reason for his immortality, but the chip is merely a tool he uses to make it possible, if that makes sense? But yeah, just a idea I had.

[@BoredMan0]

I want to mention there are some very useful power ups for all character Bentley has speed adrenaline makes run fast and Murray has one allows him to jump higher There is a lot of good power for them all that makes playing and exploring with them more fun and not make Bentley and Murray feel like boring when exploring

[@IKGProductions]

This is a very valid point!

[@MsBrendalina]

That four hour length is pretty daunting! I'll have to set aside a good chunk of free time and watch this later!

[@IKGProductions]

Hopefully the timestamps will help!

[@technotoy16]

Wow! I loved this video, the editing was absolutely phenomenal. On the other hand I hope you have learned a bit on your scriptwriting since, there are parts where I thought you were a freshman English major who just learned the word ludonarrative and many parts of the script just screamed "I think im smarter than you"

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you for the feedback. Oh, I never intend to portray anything other than a really thorough look at how *I* feel about something. I do not claim or try to present an image of someone who has studied game design or has extensive experience with scriptwriting. I do use terms associated with storytelling to explain what I mean, but the intention is not to somehow elevate the importance of my thoughts by using them. I hope that helps clear that up, and I’m glad you enjoyed the video overall.

[@AD-nv7nw]

I like how you point out that sucker punch is worrh liking and aupporting, they did a good job.

[@heatblast75]

I love this game but the one thing I hate is that you couldn't replay the missions unless you started a whole new save file

[@eyecontrol4900]

im glad they fixed this issue in sly3

[@tommylee5489]

hey just wanted to say that this was an astonishing review and you really took the time and effort in to each second of this video. hats off to you! i know im really late to this topic but i will definitely check out the rest of the sly cooper videos!

[@Tomiply]

2:42:26 It's also that Sly isn't afraid to call for help right away, even when she's mocking him for it. He doesn't have an ego and he believes in the teamwork.

[@mmx3backup606]

Never Before Have I Ever Wanted To Marry The Words 'Ludonarrative Synchronicity' Until Now.

[@UberMozzie]

replaying the original trilogy on my ps3 emulator and let me tell you its been a journey. first game i ever played growing up and still one of my favorite series

[@acebi_ly9246]

My take on the Clockwerk plot hole : Clockwerk WAS immortal because of his hatred for the Cooper family, but his metal body wasn't. The metal was destined to get rusty and fall apart. The hate chip is what converted Clockwerk's hate into energy to keep the physical metal body "alive". Now, whoever made the body and the hate chip for Clockwerk, it probably happened quite recently in time, and why not ? There's nothing proving that Riochi (for example) was terrorized by a metal owl, we only see an owl on the picture. Now, what happened to Clokwerk's (and Neyla's) soul ? Well, i'm gonna say they both lived in the hate-chip (as fuel as formerly stated) and were both destroyed by Carmelita. (or became ghosts, whatever you like the most...)

[@acebi_ly9246]

also, Arpeggio probably modified the chip to be able to use outside hate (from the people of Paris). Why not.

[@kwk-r7x]

this game is definitely in my top 5 games of all time. I bought it on a whim as I didn't know anything about the series, and I was really taken aback by how fantastic it was. The other games are nice too, but to me this was peak Sly

[@Braylon1997]

I haven’t played the thievious raccoonus but I love band of thieves; honor among thieves was alright and thieves in time was very disappointing

[@Tomiply]

@@Braylon1997 I actually replayed Thieves in Time twice, so I've beaten it three times now. It gets better every time. I was also disappointed the first time, but I've grown to appreciate the gameplay, plus Sly's ancestors are charming as hell. The story has a couple of really dumb moments, like Penelope turning into a villain and the cliffhanger at the end (tbf they were supposed to make more games), but I genuinely like the game overall now. Not as much as the others, but I at least think it's good.

[@nicklessSSHG]

Very, very well made video, my friend 👏👏👏

[@neodaltiair8624]

Door into Summer in the background nice touch.

[@LadyEmaSkye]

Imagine when my surprise when I see an IKG vid in my feed. Fun days~

[@IKGProductions]

Lady Ema Skye I’m back!!

[@ifranco0202]

Ya know, i honestly think sly’s barrel thing could be considered his cooper thief technique he made. Even if it doesnt use the blue sparkles

[@DanaCarroll2000]

The Red Guy sent me here and I’m sure glad he did!

[@IKGProductions]

Dana Carroll Well, I’m glad he did too!

[@gavatundejr4986]

@@IKGProductions if the red guy is so good why isnt there a red guy 2?

[@marmur2909]

I do have to agree about the point you made in Episode 5 about the repetition of a lot of missions in Sly 2. The thing is, it doesn't bother me because I have such fond memories of the game that I really do not care about the repetition. Buuut the hacking minigames are an exception...

[@SinCity2100]

As stupid the name Clock La was, and how her motive was kinda cliche, at least she's a lot more credible villain than the villain from Sly 4....

[@playerback7722]

True

[@BrennySpain]

what I really like about a tangled web is that in each set of missions, sly, Bentley and Murray each get a fair go. it's a between which one I like more out of that and the predator awakens. they're both very unique I think...

[@felonyx5123]

I really like your more in-depth musical analysis of Sly that other videos on the series haven't touched as much. I'm pretty much fine with the hate chip. It helps that it's ambiguous what exactly it is. I don't interpret it as an endless well of hate that was brainwashing Neyla and fueling Clockwerk itself, more the thing that converts the abstract concept of hate into the fuel of immortality. The hate itself still came from Clockwerk's own personality, and I like the ambiguity as to whether Clockwerk's frame was influencing Neyla or if her raving was her own true personality with a possible side of going mad with power. As for how a microchip could exist hundreds of years ago, how could any other robot parts exist hundreds of years ago? In general I like how the Sly setting casually throws in wildly fantastical and unrealistic elements as if they were a normal and obvious part of the world, it fits the Saturday morning cartoon feel. Necromancy is real and banned under international law, bad mojo is a tangible and weaponizable force, the cops throw around mercenary tank armies and there's a dedicated online marketplace/social media network for thieves. The hate-fueled immortal robot owl having a microchip doesn't feel out of place in that world.

[@thesun5275]

Tbh i felt as if the chip wasnt originally part of the design but something added by Arpeggio while rebuilding it due to the fact that originally Clockwerk's hate for the Cooper family is what lead him to do what he did and fueled him to live forever. However the frame no longer had the same personality as it once did and Arpeggio knew that if hate was to fuel it he would have to design something that would be able to absorb the hate as he didnt have that kind of hate needed to fuel immortality on his own. He couldnt cultivate it the same way the original Clockwerk did.

[@newyorkgirl1997]

Totally disagree on the clue bottles. I thought it was always fun looking for them and gave you a nice feeling of satisfaction each time you found one. While yeah, the special abilities you earn are at times incredibly useless, it’s still fun to have this little voluntary side quest you can do if you don’t feel like playing the missions yet. It also gives you an opportunity to explore the hub worlds in a way that maybe you wouldn’t if it wasn’t for the fact that you’re looking for something. Sly 3 not having the clue bottles actually felt really weird.

[@TcKatfish]

This is one of my favorite franchises of all time. To be honest I enjoyed listening to your takes on a lot of the video. I feel that you identify the most with Bentley and that may be why you enjoy most everything he is apart of. Not to say they are weak by any means I just felt like as I came across chapter 2 I noticed a theme that you enjoyed most if not all of Bentley's story arc, missions, and voice lines while being more critical on Sly and Murray's respective. A few people I have watched have done similar with the other characters and even myself tend to do that with Sly being my main outlet for appraisal. Funny to see how different people respond to the game and their enjoyment from it based on how they identify with the characters. Can be said for any story be it show, game, book. Well done on the video nonetheless.

[@michaelpaquette7776]

Riddle me this: How did Arepeggio acquire the clockwork parts prior to getting to the lumberjack camp? I'd assume there's no mailing address to a ship and I'd also assume that he didn't have the cooper gang knocked out for long. Just some continuity questions to think about

[@millenniumvintage9726]

FedEx

[@LoraLindemann]

If you're here it's because you have excellent taste, congratulations!

[@lakalester]

Hey just wanted to say that i really enjoyed your video, its pretty obvious that you are verry passionate about this series and this game in particular. In fact its given me some video ideas to pay my homage to the series. The only question I have is where in sly 1 did they mention the world peace act thing (timestamp: 2:28:48)? have played through these games countless times but I cant recall ever hearing this mentioned in the first game. Anyways looking forward to seeing your review of the third and maby even fourth game at some point. Have a great day.

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you so much! Sorry that the Sly 3 review is taking so long! I can’t recall specifically when the World Peace Act was referenced, but I’m 90% sure it was in Chapter 3 of Sly 1.

[@MrPaws54]

I go to sleep listening to this

[@SymmRTA]

I quite liked the Clue Bottles in this game. Whats the point of having collectables if they are all easy to get to

[@TheRedGuy]

At last, the prophecy has been fulfilled! Took a bit for me to get through, but you did an excellent job on this, well worth the wait. I was writing down some notes to bring up in this comment, but I didn't have all that much to really contest with this. There were some disagreements of course, but I feel you explained yourself well enough that even though I disagreed with a point, I understood where you were coming from. The only thing I could really argue would be the clue bottles. Perhaps it's because I'm a fan of collectathons, but I never had much of an issue finding them, and really like searching for them. And I think they add to the game by rewarding you for exploring the hub worlds, it also helps you get accustomed to the layout of the hubs which obviously helps with some missions. Also I've heard from others as well that this game is a little too long, and I never really felt that, I've always felt it was just the right length for it to explore all it's concepts, and I've never really felt fatigued with it. If anything I think 3 could have been a little longer. You also mentioned that you would have combined episode 6 and 7 in some way, I actually think it's rather important that they are separated. 4 and 5 were the hardest trials they've faced up to this point, even though they walked away victorious at the end, it still wasn't without it's hiccups. At the end of 5 they weren't celebrating or having fun like in the first 2 episodes, they were laying low. I feel like having another episode in between that, and the complete failure of 7, where they have a complete victory with no problems was very important. But anyways, that's all I've got for disagreements that were worth mentioning, and as I said even if I disagreed the points were well made, definitely not an issue with the review. I will say I appreciate that you liked episode 8, I've never really got why some people didn't like it, when it's one of my favorites in the game, and probably my favorite final episode in the series (gameplay wise). For one, I love that it is structured like the rest of the game, it always annoyed me that I couldn't explore Clockwerk's lair, or Kane Island the same way in 1 and 3. And I love how each mission (except the tnt one, though I don't mind that one) has the team working together, really shows that they need each other especially for this situation. And I just love the level design of the place. I don't have any fancy tale about how this game saved my life or anything dramatic, but Sly 2 is still a game that means a lot to me, and you absolutely did it justice with this review. I've probably already told you this at some point, but one day I was watching TV and suddenly, a commercial for Sly 2 came on. I didn't know what Sly Cooper was, I'd never heard of it before, I didn't even really know what a Playstation was, let alone that there was a second one. But something about it fascinated me. I don't know what it was about those commercials, but I just wanted this game. Only problem was we didn't have a PS2, so I saved up my allowance, and bought one myself with a copy of Sly 2. This was the first time I bought a console myself, every other console I got was either a birthday or Christmas gift, and I got this just based on some cool looking commercials. And it worked out, I instantly fell in love with Sly 2, even back then before I quite understood all the details, all the intricacies, I still knew there was something different about this game. For the longest time, hell maybe even still to this day, I've felt this was the closest to perfection a game has gotten. Obviously it isn't perfect, but it's one I have a hard time coming up with criticisms for, even the one game I like more than it I can't say in good faith it's nearly perfect. I just love Sly 2. Ya did good, looking forward to Sly 3. Now I want to play Sly 2...

[@IKGProductions]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and feelings on the review. I’m really happy to read that you enjoyed it so much, and felt it did the game justice.

[@VaryaTheVillain]

thank you very much for this analysis/retrospective on Sly 2!! 4 hours of doing my chores while enjoying the vid spent well and productively. my only personal nitpick is your dislike of how clue bottle mechanic is redone in this game, and it's probably because of one major factor of how I played the games... because I started my introduction with Sly 2 demo that was on a Ratchet and Clank 2 disc. the clue bottles were already there, but in a slightly more clunkier design, iirc, and I did not treat them as the collectibles I did in Sly 1... because they weren't something to really collect, since demo only had what, three missions, I think? not to mention you couldn't get to the safe. instead, they were akin to runes in Dishonored 1 (again, probably just my personal factor) - they were a good addition to gameplay while also allowing the player to see new pathways to maneuver. instead of making these collectibles feel like you have to RUSH and collect all of them to get your prize, the page with the ability, in the end, like in Sly 1, Sly 2 makes you accustomed to a more chill and progressive way of collecting. sure, you can rush and find them all, but 1) you spend too much time on it 2) it's not just as fun as just picking them up alongside your missions. here's an example: the "break the electric boxes" in Paris outside with Murray had made me find out how to access an area I thought I couldn't with neither him nor Bentley! I heard a tinkle of the bottle, looked around, and wow, just behind the breaker box I see the bottle on the boat, and jumping into it lets you see, hey, that walled off park/scene area you get to (later on, or I think within that same sequence of missions) while chasing Neyla with Sly? here's how you can get to it easier with the two other characters!! you catch the bottles as you progress through the missions, no rush, finding pathways you as a first time player could've missed, and it feels natural, awarding you for your curiousity and search for clue bottles. the only outlier for me was Episode 5, some of the bottles there are. uh. REAL BAD. but that's also because I might dislike ep5 the most with the tanks in it, and tend to remember the bad moments the most. my littlest sibling has, apparently, the similar approach: they're playing the collection for the first time and, unlike in Sly 1, now squeak with DELIGHT when they find that the bottle also shown them the different way to the different locations... I think that it's not a matter of good or bad game design, but just different compared to Sly 1. I can't wait for my sib to finish the game and enjoy everything about it. thank you again; now onto the Sly 3 for me!

[@IKGProductions]

I learned a lot of new info from this! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for supporting me.

[@aurorasowerbii]

Ngl, while looking for clue bottles aren’t the highlight of my playthrough, I still had a lot of fun looking for all of them! They’re a great way to learn the map and they’re cleverly hidden. Sorry that you hated it so much but I seriously disagree that they’re one of the worst parts of the game.

[@Flipitmixit]

GRAB THE DAM CLUEBOTTLES !😂😂

[@kalletyrni8897]

in my opinion the clue bottles are great. i collected them before doing many missions so when i had them all and resumed missions and looked where the markers are i knew immediately which route to take to get to it that didn't happen in the contessa worlds though because i used a guide in them and didn't pay attention to where i had been.

[@chrisbetancourt7111]

1:45:10like when cadicarus played the legacy collections back to back and he got megaman fatigue

[@sigmapopsical272]

I collected every single bottle in the game and opened all safes 😅

[@supersaiyan6241]

Sly 2 band of thieves is also my fever games