God of War II Retrospective & Development Deep-Dive - The Golden Bolt

[@TheGoldenBolt]

Thanks for watching, and a massive special thanks again to the Patrons/YT Channel Members who helped make this video happen. If you'd like to go above and beyond in supporting the channel, and get early/ad-free versions of videos, or join the private Discord, or more, hit that dumb Join button above or go to www.patreon.com/TheGoldenBolt! An update on plans for the rest of the GoW retrospectives: Due to some very frustrating YT age restriction issues on both 1 and 2 in the lead-up to the public vid releases (more on that below if you want context), I'm gonna chip at the next few GoW vids in the background rather than consider them my "main" project for a while. I'd been using GoW to "buy time" for some of my biggest-scope projects yet - but thanks to having to reupload chunks of 1-2 again and again, to see which bloody PS2 pixel was the one YT thought was too violent, it meant that a lot of my worktime was dealing with that and not the cool other stuff. If you notice any hiccups in the second half of this video especially, you're probably catching moments where for the 40th time I swapped a different clip in to get past KZbin. But hey, this is the first time I get to do the KZbinr Complains About KZbin thing, so I think I get a cool hat, right? So the bad news is that there were a couple big gaps between videos, and I had to rearrange a lot of my planned vid pipeline for my sanity, so I have a bunch of projects both short and long that are partially finished. The good news is that a lot of those videos - Ape Escape, Astro Bot, some _really_ out there ones that I just decided to make, hey, it's been two months so my videos are gonna have to fight to get back in the algorithm, etc. - are close enough that the drops are gonna get more frequent from here. Depending on how this video here does early on, one of the next ones might hit as early as this weekend on the public feed! (Patrons as well as YT Members that are in the Discord will get those earlier, as well.)

[@MrDark086]

Ape Escape you say? I'll be lookin forward to that one for sure!

[@mothersbasement]

the way you weave the story of the devs into the story of the games is top notch every time. This deserves a hundred times as many views as it has right now

[@mandalorianhunter1]

Man growing up around the God of War games was such an experience and knowing Kratos is now a gaming icon speaks volumes to how much of an impact this series was.

[@leithaziz2716]

It's one of the most highly regarded series in terms of reception and consistency. They may not break new ground or innovate in any one aspect/mechanic, but they provide a sense of adventure we don't get much of nowadays. It's also my introduction to Greek culture and mythology.

[@a-rat-with-a-glaive]

Growing up as a greek kid playing the og GoW games made me proud of my heritage. Now it's helped me be at peace with going bald. Truly a series that has been influential in my life

[@arizona-hunter6684]

All the people that are willing to stay with Cory despite all the trouble that the development was. Is a testament to the dedication of the team, also I find it funny how you can see how much Cory's body wants him to sleep and him forcing himself to his physical limits.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

This video is my redemption. God Of War 2 was my first PS2 (and AAA) game and (frankly) nothing has ever come close even today. So it's shocking no one ever talks about it, it's artistic/technical merit and it's incredible pacing. You did an amazing job not just with Retrospective, but also detailing the development too, which only heightened my appriciation for this game. Good work, Golden Bolt.

[@Spubly]

Babe, wake up, time for a new Golden Bolt Retrospective

[@HolySpaceMan]

babe, wake up, a brand new Golden Bolt Masterpiece just got posted

[@LuxBellator92]

My favourite notification on KZbin!

[@victorypudding9627]

"Giant clank form" lmfao

[@rtyuik7]

"normal-sized-Clank Zeus" is a four-word phrase that i thought would Never have proper or coherent context, but here we are... (1:01:45ish)

[@Wayneisboss]

Great work as always man I remember doing a little marathon of the original God of War games before the PS4 titles launched and while I didn't exactly fall in love with them, I do remember having the most fun with God of War 2

[@samuelazzaro]

ZEUS!!!!!! THE GOLDEN BOLT HAS POSTED A NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!

[@BugsyFoga]

I was just playing ascension right before this video came out, great timing

[@savages-on-deck]

It’s 2024 and I can confidently say imo that GOW 2 is one of the best if not the best sequels ever made and still holds up now and deserves a remake

[@johnbutler9282]

These videos are just so fucking good man. There is no one else out there that is covering these PS 1st party games in as informative and narratively interesting.

[@Sephirothmassume]

Hey man, I just wanted to say something about this video and your style. With how you let us veiw into the eyes of devolopers and your style in general, you make it really easy to watch a video like this even if you just watched a similar video. What I meant by that is I watched another GOW 2 video that was equal in length to yours before this video was uploaded. I was thinking it wouldn't be worth it or entertaining to watch another GOW2 video of hat shortly after another. But I enjoyed this, you have a really distinct enjoyable style and you made different points and I appreciate your efforts. Looking forward to your future videos!

[@mfdoomify]

I absolutely cannot wait until the GOW3 review. It's literally my favorite one in the whole series!

[@joshuamarks4425]

The funniest part about Cory Barlog's stint working with George Miller was that Miller had his own game studio that was decidedly cursed in a way, having absorbed Team Bondi who had dissolved upon the released of the equally cursed in development L.A. Noire. So while KMM Studios was toiling away on the L.A. Noire successor that would never surface due to well, the studio shutting down in 2013 , they were also put on a tie-in to Miller's then most recent film at the time. Meaning Barlog ended up being a consultant on the Happy Feet 2 video game. Yeah. That happened.

[@mandalorianhunter1]

Honestly we need a video on Gran Turismo and it's impact

[@iamthehobo]

If I was ever going to watch a video on that incredibly boring series I don't care about, I guess it would be if golden bolt did it

[@TVDentouLiam]

@@mandalorianhunter1 or you could just watch the amazing gran Turismo movie.

[@CloudStrife-h6o]

Great research, analysis, production quality, and commentary! Thank you Golden Bolt for another awesome retrospective

[@garrettsweet9826]

9 playthroughs of this game in one semester and I still adore it.

[@atanas2006]

Such an incredible and interesting video dude! Props to you for mentioning all he hard work that Game Developer go through and when it plays off because they have put a lot of passionate work. I am glad you enjoyed playing this masterpiece. It's my favorite game after all.

[@morrisdennison8039]

Best thing about growing up with the ps2 it was my dads and it was in the living room. so when he was at work I got to play anything and everything. This game was my childhood, well this and radiata stories

[@Riggs_The_Roadie]

One of my favorite details about the fight with the Fates taking place during GoW1's fight with Ares is if you let.the sword be destroyed. Past Kratos just looks at the empty space and gives up. There's also a mention to the Three Wise Men in one of the murals at the Temple of Fates I believe. Which is odd.

[@WinstonWolfe21]

Loved the god of war director’s conference which featured Cory. It’s available to watch on YT and such a great watch, highly recommend.

[@thomaskuzma4360]

I remember as a teen fighting the barbarian and going "okay that was pretty fun" then being slaughtered by the monster that ate Jason. All because I didn't know how to parry. WHICH then became hilarious given the item he gives you helps with parrying 😅

[@KennyFrierson]

I play this game on the PS3 with the collection and its crazy how much better it is

[@WinstonWolfe21]

U can play it with PS+ Premium too the HD collection is cool, still have my ps3 copy but don’t have my PS3 hooked up.

[@Jaksolo]

Man I forgot how good that trailer “Ashes” was, that is the best game trailer next to dead island

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodGeek99]

Any reason to re-visit god of war 2 im all for lol favorite game in the whole series!

[@thatoneguywhoraps]

I am convinced The Golden Bolt needs to become a Persona KZbinr He would be the best one by far

[@WinstonWolfe21]

God of War 2 is one of the greatest games of ALL time and I think the best game of that generation even better than MGS 3.

[@Jose-se9pu]

MGS3 is among the best games ever made (easily top 10, maybe 5), but GOW2 is peak PS2, how the hell that hardware managed to run this, we'll never know.

[@Blankult]

Nah

[@LonkinPork]

One of my favorite games of all time, LFG my gamers

[@nunchuk28]

As usual, appreciate the heavy dive into the development of the game alongside the analysis. I do feel 2 has a few pacing issues due the longer length vs 1 and I find a a fair amount of spots in the temple of fates to be fairly forgettable, but I still consider it a much better game than 1 overall, I go back and forth whether I like this or Ghost of Sparta the best out of the games as I feel the latter probably has my favorite toolkit for Kratos, but it does suffer from some of the unfortunate interactive cutscene-itis Sony has become infamous for nowadays. Love the addition of NG+, I don't usually revisit the game that game when I do so, but it was a fun way to kill time as a kid to mess around with a fully upgraded kit (helping that I dont think you can even fully upgrade everything in a single run this time around so that adds to the value of ng+). Not gonna have as much to say whenever you get to 3, there's just something about the game I find really boring and disappointing, but I could never get around to find out what exactly I don't like about the game compared to 1 or 2 to feel that way about it

[@starrystreams3642]

Can’t wait for the whole series~

[@volpe2077]

Part 2!! Let's goooo!!!

[@aarongill7430]

Great video brotha

[@TurnOntheBrightLights.]

46:31 the cyclops on the right 😅

[@thebrodator]

As a fan of Clash of the Titans 1981 I appreciate all these references, I would even go as far to say that this game is a better Clash of the Titans then the remake movie.

[@Drewgantka_97]

GOW 2’s development is such an interesting story. I always watched the behind the scenes that came with the original PS2 copy. At that time, at least in my experience, it was rare to witness the making of a game. Only other game to think of around that time that did it would be Sly 2. GOW 3 is my favorite game in the franchise but without 2, 3 wouldn’t have had such an epic build up and level of polish that makes it so great. In my opinion the early games only got better with each entry. Including the portal entries into the series because GOW 2 set the standard!

[@Noct_Snow]

GoW2 is an all time great. Loved the video.

[@theone9132]

Not to nitpick, but the fall from the Colossus isn't what left Kratos near death. That was due to the falling Colossus' hand landing right on top of him while he was monologuing

[@LuxBellator92]

Loving this series! Fantastic retrospectives, GoldenBolt! This and GOW 2018 are my two favourite games in the entire God of War series ❤

[@Migiiiii]

Very insightful video

[@McHammer931]

I absolutely loved God of War 2. I don´t know how many times I played it. It sucks that you can only stream them now with PS-Plus or play them on a PS3. The God armor is still my favorite outfit in any God of War game.

[@Calakapepe]

Oh man.. i think I owe it to myself to play the 1st and 2nd GOW games... lol I was too young and unskilled as a kid to be successful whenever I did play back in the day... also interactive x scenes was a little awkward for 10 year old me haha... Also... just to put it in your ear.. Id love if one day you find the tkme to talk about Resistance 1 2 & 3... a franchise too great to be forgotten

[@SieffrePlays]

Talking about the Phoenix, If you want to see how awesome a fiery creature can look on PS2 hardware, check out the Balrog battle in The Lord of the Rings The Third Age.

[@CluckBuckles]

The Golden Bolt jumpscare:

[@tomhibbert6486]

Have you ever considered doing a retrospective on the little big planet series considering that's one of sony's most famous franchises

[@forestchurchill7348]

id like you to cover the ps2 era Prince of Persia games at some point.

[@draculactica]

I'm confused, is there a Jaffe room in this game too?

[@mitch.paulsen]

Lets go!

[@OscarAntonio-t4z]

7:16 just because I love your video essays I'll ignore that corny ahh joke

[@jaylara5495]

WILL YOU MAKE A GOD OF WAR 3???? you have the best retrospectives. Believe me I’ve looked

[@TheGoldenBolt]

I've got the footage recorded for the entire rest of the Greek saga (minus the second half of Ascension), so it's on the way once I'm caught up on other projects!

[@ryannusdbh7163]

Just got the Platinum for this game today :)

[@runekofoed-petersen6578]

Do not play GOW 2 on Vita. That QTE were Kratos swing from pillar to pillar is bugged and have not been patched, I had to find a video too find out how to get passed it, because i thought I did something wrong. I would asume that it is better too stream the game if your option is the vita or streaming: Also it would be insane if that is your only two options to play GOW 2

[@TheBlueLink3]

Personally, I like GoW3 and maybe Ghost of Sparta more, when it comes to just the Greek Saga at least. I do agree that 2 is better than the original, but not by a whole lot. It probably doesn’t help that I didn’t go straight from 1 to 2, so the improvements with game design didn’t hit as hard (though they are still great). The narrative and final boss especially just don’t hit as hard as the first game. The final battle against Zeus is much better done in 3 I think. Losing some of the behind the scenes stuff that was included in 1 was a shame. Some of 1’s more egregious aspects I kind of missed too haha. I didn’t mind that final Hades level. Ultimately, it does come down to small stuff. GoW2 is an improvement, but not a gargantuan one to me, making it a bit overhyped. Still a great game, but short of being a masterpiece.

[@Unoriginal_Man]

I love god of car.

[@Unoriginal_Man]

*god of bar

[@Unoriginal_Man]

*god of jar

[@Unoriginal_Man]

i give up😭😭😭😭😫😩💩😞😣😖

[@Jianichie]

ZUES!!!! IVE COME FOR YOUR CARS EXTENDED WARRANTY!!!!

[@d.valoids]

So Kratos is Sun Wukong.

[@LotteBlueJays]

1:07:55 I have a Vita

[@fanboymaster]

Always interesting research, history and critique even if we came away with very different opinions on the resultant game (mechanically it's a step up from GoW1 in my eyes, but I'd still call the resultant product pretty mediocre). Dropping a comment to help a bit with the algorithm.

[@drewtube6838]

In my top 3 favorite games of all time.

[@leithaziz2716]

I think the thing I find most impressive about God of War 2 is how excellent the pacing is all throughout. Action games usually are designed around being short and offer high replay value since they put all their eggs in one basket, that being combat. This game isn't that long and is usually beaten under 10 hours, but it constantly switches up between different locations with their own atmosphere, puzzles that remain creative and interesting, and combat encounters with an insane variety of different enemies. I love DMC, it arguably has the most in-depth combat system ever, but after DMC3 combat started being the only focus gameplay-wise, and every other aspect got shelved. GOW2 kinda proves that you don't need to do that, and I commend it for that.

[@gorestar216]

Waiting for the jak and daxter retro

[@Jose-se9pu]

Still the best in the franchise, always will be...the definition of what a sequel should be...unlike Ragnarok.

[@magicmamba915]

Ragnarok almost did the same, pacing problems hurt experience to much.

[@atpsoldat6108]

Can't wait for you to reach God of War 3 and cover the fucking mess that is the story.

[@theAG24show]

Sir, please stop making me wanna play old games on PS2. I wanna play through the R&C trilogy after 100% rift apart and I wanna buy Persona 4 as a joke, and now this!

[@dantesreaIms]

Gow 2 is the best in the series

[@RelaxingNostalgia]

Gow 3 and 1 are better. Gow 2 failed to improve over its predecessor,it has less stages,and a worse combat.

[@magicmamba915]

@@RelaxingNostalgia lmao combat of 2 is way better then first game, 2 has more bossess (lakhesis fight still best in the series), better puzzles.

[@JTKcool]

Corey Barlog putting everything he has into one god of war game and then not caring about the sequels seems to be a trend in the two sagas

[@ElderLaFollette]

Nooooooooooooope. Nope. Just immediately seeing the thumbnail has me shaking my head and sighing. GoW 2 has been mischaracterized all these years, and it only gets increasingly outlandish over time. I mean, as I've read/heard plenty of summaries about how supposedly amazing GoW 2 is, I can only think, "WTF are you talking about?" It's like I played a different game. The first and third games far outshine this haphazard shlock with shockingly inferior weapon movesets and combat scenarios. I'll argue that GoW 2 is the worst SMS developed game of series in just about every meaningful way.

[@TheGoldenBolt]

good thing there's more than a thumbnail

[@blastbeatsincorporated7875]

I agree it's the weakest in the trilogy, but tbf this game does have it's merits. It's got some of my favorite environments in the series, and I love certain set-pieces, story beats and boss battles. But compared to 1 and 3 in it's totality, it does feel lacking comparatively as the other games feel pretty fulfilling by their own standards; especially 3. Tbh I'd rather play Ascension over 2 despite it's faults.

[@JoaoVictor-hn8ht]

Wtf? 2 Is the best.

[@Jose-se9pu]

Are you drunk?

[@FelisImpurrator]

Ratio, but also, I see a staggering absence of answers to the question "well why is it bad".