God of War Retrospective
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- Опубликовано: 4 май 2018
- Instead of looking at the new one, let's turn back the dial and reflect on a 2005 Playstation classic. There's lots of violence in this one, dang.
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Sources:
Making of God of War: • The Making Of God of W...
Cory Barlog Interview: • Making God Of War on P...
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God of War 1. HD. PS2. PS3. PS4. KingK. Review. Critique. Retrospective. 
Игры
Kingdom Hearts 2 is still happening, but it'll take a lot of time to finish. I plan on making it a very special project, so expect some other videos like this one in between that time.
Hope you enjoy!
KingK Awesome video man. I just finished a God of War retrospective too and I agree with a lot of what you said. And fuuuuuuck that sword pillar. Looking forward to the other videos! Also, did your game have the issue with audio being way too loud too? I thought it was just my copy, but sounds like yours had the same issue with sound balancing.
KingK will it come out b4 kh3 tho
Jon Brown 🤔
KingK I literally can't wait
If Kingdom hearts 2 gets me laid than I can’t wait
The funny thing is my dad did buy me this game when I was 8, i admit i was a spoilt kid
dude same here hahahaha
😆
SAMMEEEEEEEE
I played it when I was 13 I played the HD version on PS3 because I was 5 when this game came out
Same
"God of War is going to get you laid." could be a good quote in the back of the box. Holy shit.
"You should play God of War cause it'll get you laid."
This right here. This is the statement that exemplifies just how... young the team was back then.
@Frankie Basile or maybe because that line is, y'know, cringy.
@@dzagoproductions3450 or you know ummm I want play a game to get laid... hasn't work maybe I need play more difficult mode.
@@dzagoproductions3450 Its not cringey, it's kinda funny tbh
by young i think you mean based
@Frankie Basile Bothered? Lmao It's cringy and juvenile as hell. A line that could have been written by an edgy teen. Yes, I agree. It's a *stupid* joke.
This game isn't perfect, but I still ~love~ the level design. The temple of pandora feels like a giant puzzle box, and slowly making it come together felt really nice all three times I played it.
I fucking hate its cheap puzzles like the balancing puzzle, spike room puzzle and the Hades spike puzzle. There's nothing strategic about them, they're just fucking cheap.
@@goldpieceleo all of those sections can be cleared in a few attempts they really aren't as hard or cheap as you make it out to be.
@@naytny5819 Bruh it's cuz he never finished it so he wanted an excuse like 'cheap'
@@naytny5819 I finished it but it really wasn't that fun lmao. I love god of war but I will never play the first again.
@@ozziey52 thats fine, but people are acting like the game is on dark souls/elden ring level of cheap when it is just a few short challenging platforming sections, people just want the platforming to be braindead easy like its in the newer mario games.
15:45 you have to dodge to avoid the "stoner beam", not jump
I don't know how he didn't have a hard time with the fighting on this game without knowing that.
I just used the square square triangle combo
@@dm.3145 I got my ass kicked doing that after the first level😂
@@sheriefwoodard8686 WHAT?
@@dm.3145 Yeah the US ver I had to dodge and roll on Normal mode and beyond to avoid getting hit rapidly by the plethora of bullshit thrown at me
>Tries to dodge Gorgon attacks by jumping
>Says it's the game's fault when dying
Not the best take there lol
A tip for future games: to avoid getting stoned by Gorgons, just keep rolling around with the right stick until their beam stops. The roll is actually a better defensive option than blocking in many situations, as it makes you mostly invincible and you can cancel into it out of basically any attack.
"kratos has almost too much at his disposal"
judges game on being too easy but doesnt play on hardest mode LOL
The hardest mode is cheap as all hell. Soul crushingly difficult
I was thinking the same thing lol, I'll NEVER do that again good christ
Fuck God mode, play Spartan.
@@dragoonunleashed9962 Play whatever you want. But if you play Spartan, don't complain about the game being too easy XD
I can see why this didn't blow you away. I played it in 2006 and back then this was such a fresh breath of air. I instantly became a diehard fan of God Of War, and to this day I am a big fan. Ascension disppointed me a lot story wise, but overall the series is cool.
Ascension needs a remaster. It's currently the only entry in what now can be called the "classic series" that has no option to play at 60fps. So important for these types of games.
@@SlyBeast It's also annoying to play if you come from the other games. They took away core mechanics and tried making it unnecesarily complex to use some moves. Then you've a mixed bag of some cool and some lame enemies...
@@SlyBeast Technically, RPCS3 allows you to run it at 60 fps
That scene where you sacrificed the dude in the cage is actually censored in european versions. It's just an undead soldier.
Not in European versions, sir. Just in Germany.
@@jackhnatejko8830 Im from the UK and the version here is censored as well
@@STRING3R Yep, me too buddy. Weird, they must have changed it in the UK release of God of War Collection on PS3 then... Completed it yesterday and I swear that poor dude in the cage was alive and screaming. Love your avatar btw, Cuphead's awesome
@@jackhnatejko8830 Thank you! There's a lot of reaction worthy pics in cuphead lol.
Im not sure if they actually change it for the hd collection, because I'm sure there was still an undead soldier in the original ps2 release over here.
The terrible audio mixing was my favorite part of the game
I see you are a person of culture as well!
Having just finished the PS2 version, I think this was a HD collection problem. It sounded fine for me.
God of War 1 definitely suffers from first game syndrome hard in a lot of ways. Thankfully Santa Monica is pretty good about polishing the series, and even the psp games from Ready at Dawn don't really suffer at all in terms of spectacle and action. God of War may not be the deepest series mechanically, but it always knows how to be satisfying, and that goes a long way. It is nice to see someone actually sympathize with Kratos as well. He may not be the best man ever, but he really got a hard deal, to the point where the gods won't even let him kill himself to get away from everything. There are characters who are deeper, and more developed, but he definitely is a pitiable figure, who really didn't deserve how messed up his life got.
@01ChaosWarrior. God of War was designed to be Hard and difficult. It's not for the causal gamer. Yeah sure. There are some dated aspects of it. But it shouldn't be a considered a flaw if the game's difficult. I personally don't mind it.
@@douglasmonroe7417 Really find it funny when casuals whine about old ps2 games.
@@விஷ்ணு_கார்த்திக் Yep. They didn't grow up playing these kinds of games. They like their CODs or Fortnite or PUBG.
I understand your frustrations with the game. I think it might be a generational thing. If you grew up in the 90’s you grew up playing beat-em-ups, games with little depth but simple and satisfying gameplay violence. When this came out it was basically a beat-em-up cranked up to 10. I see this game as being the natural evolution of this genre which retains the simple gameplay, but adds huge set pieces and high production values. Growing up playing games like Streets of Rage and Final Fight, this game was like a culmination of that design philosophy to me when it was released. It probably hasn’t aged well to gamers who hold no nostalgia for this genre and expect the kind of depth that most modern games offer. Enjoyed the review and your perspective as always, though I don’t 100% agree with everything you said.
goodenstuff Couldn't of said It better myself!
"Nostalgia" or it could just be that preferences for styles of gameplay change over time.
God of War being the ultimate realization of beat-em ups.
I've never thought of it that way, but you're totally right.
Jason Gibson Same here. I recently played through the first two games and was struggling on where to really put God of War because the combat system was very different from your usual DMC or Bayonetta-fare and beat ‘em up, I think, fits perfectly whem describing the old GoW mechanics.
Actually most of the recent games of this generation are not so depth, they are like too much cinematic, and less gameplay than everything, they're interesting the first time, but they don't have a replay value that interesting, also games of today solves you everything without letting you think for yourself what to do next.
And actually, it really doesn't matter the generation of gamer you are, because I was born in the year 2000 and I consider this very first God of War one of my, if not my favorite game of all time.
I think it depends more in the kind of genre you prefer, if you like action/adventure titles with puzzle solving and tons of combat, this is exactly the experience you want.
Also I think it depends on the skills of the gamer if they like old games; if you can play and adapt to old games as you play new games, it means you have more adaptive skills, which I think is something essential to really experienced gamers.
Also like I said, newer games are really not so depth, the stories they try to tell are pretentious, and it feels like the story moves everything instead of the gameplay itself, which is how is supposed to be; and in the end the story is not even near depth, is just like a typical blockbuster movie, that's it.
At least old games knew what they were and they were focused more of actually having fun more than just putting up dialogues and cinematics.
Why do you complain so much about being stoned trying to "dodge" jumping when the only way to actually dodge is to use the right analog stick. Jumping is not a "dodging" mechanic xp
Well if you are used to devil may cry games jumping to dodge is second nature
Thought the same thing.
@@GRNexusTeam this isnt devil may cry though
idk cuz the game makes u jump so many fucking times in the game and makes u get used to it
was clearly to demonstrate dieing to stone
This is such a halfhearted analysis of God of War. It gets so many things wrong. Like Why do you thing its BS that you get turned into stone and instant killed when you stand in their attack radius or jump up and down infront of their face ? the gorgens dont turn you into stone when you actually dodge their attacks. there is no point to combos ? No, the Game rewards you for mixing up your attacks and doing well in combat with xp. And the whole "I only use one combo its so boring and easy" is such a tired non criticism: The Game gives you a variety of Tools and Magic to play around with, that are actually useful for different enemy types, the fact that you choose to only use one combo is not the Games fault. Looking at the footage it seems like you didnt even know there was a Dodge button. I mean I like GOW 4 but the original trilogy is still way better and infinitly more replayable.
Not that serious
I always enjoyed the battle mechanics and found they had depth. However, not on the normal difficulty. On the higher difficulty, it matters; button mashing won't do.
Yes, on God mode you have strategically figure out which combos or moves would work which is why it's my preferred way to play.
@@disturbedhalo117 I could never beat God mode. Ares and the clones were just too much
Graphically it was really impressive back then. The scale was huge too for the time but it hasn't aged well in a lot of areas. Platinum Games took the genre in better places imo with Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising.
Oh man...
First, I can understand you not getting these games, because either you are 20 (and didn't play them at release) or you've played better games. In that sense, you made some great points. And I also understand you were not as impressed with the game, hence you focused more on the negatives
That said, I have a few things to say...
* As others have mentioned, you need to use rolling as a defensive option. Despite a fairly long time to recover, was a viable defensive option.
And I wouldn't call it lack of polish.
* You can't call the combat shallow simply because of limited moves, when devs aimed to built said amount of moves. It's saying older 3D Zelda's combat is shallow because all you do is mash button there too.
* You didn't mention how Kratos got upgrades, and how those upgrades opened up previously inaccessible areas.
* You are correct on Kratos being a more complex character than it seems, but I wish you elaborated on the series of events that lead to that (families death, getting into Ares slavery, everything leading to the final confrontation)
* No mention of the puzzle box like design of the Pandora's Temple level
* This is a God of War game, how come you didn't mention the epic scale of scenery? The first time you see Pandora's Sword Bridge (which you then later use against Ares) or first time you enter Pandora's box. (And the music that goes with it)
* On a similar note, no mention of the moments like finding Sirens by the sounds, or during the finale when Kratos fighting his own clones while defending his wife and daughter, and where you hug them to get them your health.
Those kept the pace of the of the game consistent (minus some annoying puzzles)
* Minor point, but you should've elaborated on execution of QTEs. GoW popularized QTEs in a big way (in which the imitators almost always get in wrong). Not combat ones, but the cutscene ones.
Say what you want about the combat QTEs, they nailed the cinematic QTEs.
Except for a few, I agree with the points you presented.
* Game is a spectacle, first and foremost. Having just enough moves to make your action look flashy, interspersed with cool moments and puzzles to break the monotony of combat.
* Game's goal was definitely to make you look cool, whether you be a casual or hardcore player (hence being accessible), hence "getting you laid"
* Puzzles and traps definitely felt like they didn't stick the landing. Most people didn't like the platforming sections, so they improved on that in sequels.
* Compared to it's sequels, it's rough around the edges, but considering the action games at the time (particularly western ones), it's much more "fun"-er.
This game is, by no means, a classic.
You made some nice points, but I think you overlooked a lot of other aspects. As a retrospective, this felt insufficient.
Yeah, i only saw less than 10 min, feel the same and stop
This "retrospective" felt less like his previous in depth videos and more like an outlet to nitpick the hell out of the game, as if he has something to prove. Unfortunately, this is clearly affecting KingK's video quality and ability to actually do game design analysis, instead falling to criticizing any and everything in a game. Which is a trend I'm sure we'll see on many videos from now on. Its a shame, way too many youtubers end up falling to this point. He once showed promise for critiques on games and their design, how they hold up, judging them by their merits and being fair where they fall short.
The new one (God of war 2018) is especially popular, selling tons and getting lots of legitimate praise so I can imagine a 20 year old eager to rip it a new asshole because it would be edgy. Gotta hop on that "(X) game is good so better whine about it being overrated" bandwagon.
Jordan .Lacroix I like the new one: sorry to poke a hole in your conspiracy theory
Hemang Chauhan Fantastic comment
Zelda combat has always been extremely shallow, and is still so with Breath of the Wild. It doesn't matter what you "intend" with your combat, you can still reach all your intended design goals and make shallow combat.
>"You can just spam"
>Compains when you can't
This analysis was really lackluster as it was overly negative with almost no regard to the game's age, it also didn't mention what made GOW so special and popular when it came out, it's about the journey, settings, the sense of scale,the violence, stylish action and the main character kratos.
No other game managed to combine all of this in a single package like GOW did. Yes, ninja garden and DMC3 had much better combat and controls and Prince of Persia had better platforming mechanics but none of these games were as epic and grandiose as the first God of war was..it still is my favourite in the series...
Fadi299 Ali Chances are when he says "Done in better games", it would not surprise me if he was talking about younger modern games
he's talking about modern games. This dude is a know nothing millennial who really only shits on old games because he's comparing them to newer games that have more technology backing them
this guy is a fucking idiot. i played this game back in 2005, when it came out. the graphics ,the storytelling ,the music ,the puzzles were fucking amazing. fuckin disintegrated my mind. OP is a fuckin idiot I'll leave it at that.
This guy is a typical millennial douche. Fuck him, I’m done giving his shit videos a chance.
I totally Agree with you guys, God Of War was the best of its series, and this review wasn't that good , no other game did as much for its era ,and while the newer ones are doing better at it, it is simply because they have more things to work with.. You just can't beat The OG GOW. :)
I'll always love this series. I remember though, the reason I liked the second one so much better was because it did away with a lot of those annoyances. There were still a few, but nothing compares to that god damn Hades climb in the first game. Glad to know you had to suffer like me lol
You complain the enemies don't do much to stop you and that they can be predictable, and that combat is a question of "can you press the block button in time?" but you complain about how the gorgons can turn you to stone and if you dont break out fast enough its an instant kill. (Which by the way, you must roll to avoid the beam and not jump around or run around). First of all, the footage seems like you are playing in Easy or Medium, which in itself is a joke, since Kratos becomes really tanky and enemies go down easier. A piece of advice I can give you is to play the game on Hard or Very Hard only - then you will not say that you can just spam buttons to win. Enemies will actually feel deadlier and Kratos will go down with only a few hits, although some parts in the game can become a nightmare. My point is, on Very Hard (which I believe is the difficulty such a game is meant to be played) you must rely on timing, evading, being precise and perfectionist. You complained about the rope segments, where you go one direction and spam SQUARE to win - in hardest difficulties, those segments become seriously challenging, because you must time everything perfectly, because you will go down in about 3 or 4 hits, that is if you are not low on health. Playing any God of War on a higher difficulty will make the gameplay feel so much more satisfying and rewarding.
The segment at 5:50 is a total nightmare on Very Hard, I guarantee, encounters such as this one feel so frustrating but once you pass them, the joy and feeling of completion is unmatched
I didn't die once on the tower with blades when two steps forward and one back so you can get up without any problems and you have to look exactly how the blades are positioned because there is a place where you can easily climb through without being damaged
I like many of your other game critiques, but this one felt forced. I’m not going to reiterate everything that has been said by other commenters, but I just don’t quite like the way you position your dislike of the puzzles as the game being unpolished. The spike pit/boulder kick sequence isn’t that difficult once you attempt it a couple of times, especially since you don’t need to position it right under the ledge. The spinning spikes just take some patience, and while probably not being necessary as a “puzzle”, they serve to showcase the size of the chamber and how far you have come. The atlas puzzle serves as a way to encourage the player to explore fully, and isn’t a problem if you do. I also don’t understand your point about the game being instinctual. Does that mean you wish the puzzles were more complicated, or had more hints/gameplay cues for completing them? I don’t mind if you didn’t enjoy the game, but you come at it from the point of view of a modern gamer nitpicking any differences in how the game presents itself, vs current titles. These games aren’t perfect, but I think they are, and we’re, presented in a much better way than you make it seem. Looking forward to your thoughts on the new one.
Hi KingK. Just discovered your channel this week. I've already sat through some of your retrospectives. I sat through them in spite of having played through the same games recently. In one way you don't offer any new or groundbreaking insights and analysis. But you deliver it so well and in your own unique way. You have a new fan.
I tried really hard to understand the point of your video. but I couldn't. I was 100% lost when you compared a mid ps3 game by a well established dev to a an early ps2 game.
God of War is not an "early ps2 game". It came out 5 years after the launch of the PS2. One year before the PS3.
@@bk_bergerz right
First I learn you're a zero escape fan and now I hear you love Percy Jackson? We have more in common than I thought.
Gow was and is a classic and back when it came out, most of that stuff hadn't yet been done better and certainly not on the scale Gow did it on
I love these retrospectives. I always think it’s fun to look back
God of War and Fallout are my favorite game series of all time, along with Devil May Cry, GTA, Metal Gear Solid and Dead Space.
This makes me so happy you're doing this series. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on specific parts in each game, particularly the Trial of Archimedes in Ascension. Maybe if you can touch more on the stories perhaps? Much like Zelda and Dark Souls, the God of War series is a very near and dear series to me and I love your retrospective videos on those games, and hearing more detailed views from you on the stories would be a treat.
The story of these games is on par with a lot of epic fantas(ies?) Great comment x
I think this review, like your other ones, is superb. Really well done and enjoyable. Good job!
Who uses block in the original God of War. Flick that stick boi
Your editing improves with each video! Glad to watch :)
I was surprised on your thoughts here. I disagree with some of your points here, the combat I think is as deep as it needed to be. There's enough combos to get you through and tied in with your defensive options of rolling, blocking and the magic spells? (some of which I took to be more defense as some make you invincible). Dark Souls sports the same kind of combat mentality, simple combat options that make it more about the enemies on offer and how to use your limited arsenal of moves/abilities. A lot of games sport limited combat mechanics, long games and short ones.
The game manages to be a hell of an adventure with big, grand things happening as you explore Greece and even a dungeon on back of a Titan. It brings you into the world of Gods and ...actually ENDED with the first game as they had to pretend never happened. You know since they said Kratos reined as the God of War and watched all war till the end of time. Crazy to see a game that didn't end with sequel bait. That said, 2 did have a really good lead into 3 since it worked straight into the next title.
I was disappointed with the new game, it just felt like ...them cloning the Last of Us and trying to make a movie out of a game. Ratchet and Clank's remake suffered a similar fate ...just in a different way. I dunno whats going on with SONY's games recently but I haven't been liking them...Which has me really worried about Uncharted 4 which I haven't even opened yet....
I dunno, I think God of War is a pretty stellar gem that despite being rough around the edges, it manages to be fun and pretty incredible ...well for the time. Now it's more impressive that they did it on a PS2 I s'pose.
I'm curious...played Uncharted 4 yet?
@@ThatGuyThatGames24 Yeah, but not the expansion, I do have it just never got to it yet.
It was alright. Visually very impressive, but the story was a bit odd and the ending was not great, or disappointing if I'm being kind.
Surprised to see anyone care about this 2 year old post haha.
Snotnarok Ha yeah well it’s interesting to hear your opinion!! I’d have to agree. In my opinion the expansion is nothing much to write home about, but of course, journalists went gaga over it because it was centered around female protagonists 🙄 really it was just more of the same Uncharted spectacle
@@ThatGuyThatGames24 Which is funny given the genre basically blew up because of Laura Croft who still got games even recently that have been impressive.
I haven't gotten to it yet, still sealed in plastic wrap but I do look forward to playing it.
Uncharted is fun, basically a bigger more advanced version of an old time favorite: Flashback Quest for Identity.
I just wish Sony's other stuff kept being it's fun self instead of going all cinematic. Everything I see of the God of War reboot looks uhh...Not God of War. Nor fun & replayable.
Well that sucks I liked god of war 4
Percy Jackson got me into Greek mythology! Haven't played the older games, but I played the 2018 GoW and man, it was amazing. Looking forward to your video on it!
Honestly. I was really disappointed by not seeing a continuation of the Legacy of Kain series and this is where GOW comes into place. It fits very well. Those games are important. I dont know what made the developers of the last GOW to change it so dramatically but it's ok. It's their game after all.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver desperately needs a remake.
SlyBeast i couldn't agree more. They actually have but i forgot the name. Its multiplayer tho
Here I am all like
"Dude, you can roll from the eye beamy thing, how are you not bothering to do that?"
I love Percy Jackson.Combine Percy self aware and oblivious nature, with Stories that are not afraid to talk down to kids and you have a great series
GoW1 is the roughest in the series and your review is fine I just question the lack of Dodge rolling using the right stick Medusas can't stone you if you keep moving around through the dodge roll.
The Kingdom Hearts music along side God of War visuals is something I never thought I would see.
I just recently replayed this game on hard. Sure, the ending actually felt rewarding when your character becomes the new God of War, but daaamn what a hassle the whole playthrough was in a second hardest difficulty, and it feels like it was hard for wrong reasons.
Hard mode felt really unbalanced with the overabundant number of enemies you need to kill before you progress further, checkpoints are awkwardly placed, health and mana boxes are placed in wrong areas, I also had problems with the unresponsive button mapping where you fail to make a contact with your enemy while activating a command to a big button prompt and the hit detection is wonky as hell.
The moving platform level in Architect's Tomb where you have to fight those damn harpies and archers, which also happens to be the last challenge in order to get the Pandora's box, almost made me throw a controller on a TV. I don't know whether this or the spiked columns in Hades' Underworld is the worst aspect of the game.
It's not the challenge that makes me hate that level. I mean it's good that the moving platforms give you the incentive to become more mobile instead of button mashing through it. It's that you come in unprepared to solve that challenge that you go on without the ounce of mana because they failed to place the mana box in it, and to add that, the checkpoint is terribly programmed in. Magic is the most viable option to pass that area unscathed, but instead, I had to reach to the archers first before I deal with craptons of harpies. I died in that area multiple times because of bad programming.
The Medusa's aren't an issue to me since you can basically dodge roll through their beam and avoid being turned to stone.
If the Spartan Mode in that game is unbalanced, I don't know if I should try the God Mode difficulty. But if I play it in normal default difficulty, the experience is rather dull to me.
Thankfully, God Of War 2 is more balanced and received a better amount of polish which adds to a better overall experience. And the controls are overall better too because now you can navigate through ropes and edges lot faster. That's why the first game in my opinion is mechanically the weakest of the series.
Currently replayed it now on hard and you're right
I have a lot to say. I think you're kind of spot on. But also, I don't think you're giving the game enough credit.
This dude is clearly smart and understands video games, but definitely missed the mark on this one. If you're too young to understand why God of War is great, be upfront about it. If there are so many other games that do everything this game does so much better, maybe mention more than one in passing? I'd love to hear an actual detailed comparison of the mechanics to similar, "better" games and their comparable mechanics.
I tried to emulate this game a few years ago cause I was also too young to play it back in the day. I didn't think it was anything special either tbh. I don't know why people are getting upset in the comments, not rolling is one thing but this is a retrospective, we're not suppose to be getting blinded by nostalgia. There are plenty of games made around the same time as this GoW and before that hold up better. I feel that people are more butt-hurt, but they can be proud that this game ushered in an era of QTE's, and massive scale in video gaming.. well if QTE's are something to be proud of XD.
Was gonna comment... but just gonna pour some salt :/ nostalgia is good though x
You raise a lot of good points, honestly. I don't want to admit it to myself because I'm only one or two years older than you are and played this game to death in my teen years, but I can definitely see the criticism's merit beneath my nostalgia filter.
Solid vid, man. Got me thinking a lot more deeply about the medium as a whole than I expected.
I know you generally don't subscribe to the "you need to play it on hard for it to be challenging" mentality; but as someone that generally respects and often agrees with you, I think you kinda missed the mark here. God of War played on the harder difficulties definitely makes all those upgrades a Godsend and the enemy subtleties very important. Dodging and blocking and managing multiple enemy types that complement each other is a tall order. Heck, in the hardest difficulty I was never able to defeat the attack of the Kratos clones.
As far as the fun philosophy, this isn't an open world game, but the freedom still comes in the freedom! The freedom of disposing of your enemies in whichever way you choose! The fluidity in which you can perform the attacks, watching that satisfying quick time event, trying that one move on that one enemy, trying to juggle them in the air without touching the ground, juggling them from the ground without letting them escape, throwing one enemy at another, launching things into the air and quickly turning them to stone, etc. There's plenty to choose from.
And that one caged guy section- That IS the challenge! Get this guy up here while managing these annoying s.o.b.s. Nothing more, nothing less. But that feels very Greek God punishment-an annoying menial task over and over, therefore I find very fitting with the theme.
I suggest coming back to it and trying a hader difficulty.
I love this game but I feel that all your critique is 100% valid. Great video, as usual. This channel has quickly become my favorite on RUclips and I giggle with excitment everytime you post a new video. Keep it up!
I just recently have gotten into the God of War series. Played the first two games, working on the third. I thought it would be like you said. Mindless fun. So I decided to go for hard mode in the first game. I died so many times. However I will say that’s definitely because of the number and health of enemies. But it wasn’t as shallow to me as you think it is. First of all not once did I see you dodge. That completely gets rid of the gorgon problem. The game gave me a genuine challenge as well as the spectacle. It forced me to really get good at the game. Almost to the point of ruining the combat in the second game for me.
Talk about the Ninja Gaiden Franchise?
RUclipsrs NEVER talk about it.
This video was amazing glad this was recommended to me definitely just got a new subscriber
Another top notch Retrospective by KingK saved my Weekend!
I just came here to say how awesome it is that your father supports your Patreon. I know parents often have their kids in their hearts, but that's a really cool form of support.
Anyone else here an actual "casual gamer" I can maybe only sit down 1 hr a day at most to play due to both attention span and schedule, so I tend to always play "easy" games. I need a sense of progression that isn't hampered.
I was 12 when the first game came out and I was lucky to get it on release. My favourite series since then.
Back then this game was mind-blowing, the graphics, the scale of the battles, those cinematics were insane for the time being.
That description of it being a gritty game that's trying to be the egdy game you're not supposed to play as a teenager but really want to play to be one of the cool kids perfectly summarizes my experience with Devil May Cry 1. I played it as an adult, and it felt like the game middle schoolers would be talking about how cool it is while you sat on the outside of the cool kid circle imagining how badass the game must be. In reality, it has laughable cutscenes/voice acting, and the gameplay has since been surpassed by many other games in the genre.
I'll always remember the first God of War as one of the first action games that dared to take itself pretty seriously while also being able to be totally crazy. Dare I say it: MAD MAX!
Something I find incredibly awkward about the God of War Remastered Collection is how easy you can tell these games were not created for a widescreen aspect ratio. Literally everything besides the gameplay is unnaturally stretched out. Why didn’t they do something about it like the Kingdom Hearts ReMIXes did?
This game can be bullshit sometimes but still fun and satisfying
An ad for Rockstar Energy started playing JUST as you called the combat shallow and the over the top action was on the screen and if that isn't the most perfect coincidence ever...
"the the sequel", lol great review though!, I personally loved god of war when I first played and completed it, but watching the spinning blade pillars and beam walking section brought back some rage memories.
You want to dodge roll to avoid the Medusa gaze. I don't even remember that climbable Spike cylinder...
I always found the original God of War as a game that mastered anticipation through mediocrity. In a way, "getting you laid" is probably the best way to describe the feeling of playing the game, with just passable puzzles and enjoyable but repetitive combat serving as foreplay. Hell, the specific example of "sacrificing a guy in a cage by fire" has this perverse sense of joy in "heehee, I am protecting you so I can kill you", with the release being horrible audio. You get through stuff like the pillars and the gorgons to get to the point where you do the big stabs and cool animations and feel like the big man killing all the people because fun time. And then God of War is like "ready for another round?" and either you have great stamina or you go "no that's enough for today" and crawl into bed somewhat happy but mostly feeling weird and ashamed.
... this comment wasn't this weird in my head when I started writing it I swear.
Uh...
... good video, much like!
pyrrhickong you always leave my favorite comments, just so you know
Well you make some of my favorite videos. I think it's a fair trade.
(But thank you = ) )
pyrrhickong I'm not ashamed to say this comment made me laugh.
pyrrhickong beautiful comment
Yes comment good x big brain x
I think it's the most precious thing in the world that your dad is one of your patrons.
Completing the first God of War on the hardest difficulty as a kid felt thrilling and was my first Dark Souls like experience. Yes it is not perfectly polished, but this was 2005 on the PS2. If you feel you are just spamming the buttons and blocking, then you are either not playing on the optimal difficulty or you have just gotten old and good at video games, so you are out of the range og the target audience at the time. It seems you never rolled but just blocked and that is a mistake. The game could punish you for mistakes and felt absolutely awesome as a young kid - definitely a superb title at the time.
I like how the old guy you plunge into river styx shows up in the second game just so you can kill him for the third time.
I just beat this for the first time last night. I figured it was janky and unpolished because it was old, but then I remembered that DMC3 came out the same year... GoW had no excuse for being so unpolished. I hope the GoW2 is more polished.
I loved playing around with the blade of artemis, its moveset is much more complicated than the blades of chaos' and I really enjoyed that
Edit: I agree with almost everything you said in the video although I wouldn't have been that harsh
This game was so hard in some area and killing the fun of the game. But still a very good game i love it.
Play God of War 2 on a non-casual difficultly and you’ll find button mashing very ineffective. Combos feel very rewarding cause if u get one off u feel really rewarded for knowing enemy attack patterns and when they are vulnerable.
I just watched the first minute about Percy Jackson and Harry Potter and I have so much more respect for you now
Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Thank you.
No offense, but if you're playing in the normal or easy difficulties and still are having problem, the game either isnt for you or you just dont want to get gud, every single combat and enemy related "frustration" you had with the game is easily solved by just doing what the game offers, if a gorgon tries to stun you, just roll, in between enemies attacks you can make 3 different repost animations, every enemy has a quirck, every puzzle has a way to be beaten easily, proof of that is that me, wich isnt even trying hard am beating the game on spartan mode with ease, the game just demands you get gud, nothing more.
Specially considering the only combo you've tried is square x4.
More God of War retrospectives please! Love your channel and your work.
love your vids Kingk
Ok. I dopped out after the block pushing...you're not even trying.
The part @ 4:10 made me laugh hard as hell when I first played this game. The guys face! 😂
The original game has a lot of problems. There are actually a lot of really fun and cool ways to take out enemies by ring out but unless you are doing a challenge run on the hardest difficulty then you're unlikely to ever need to figure them out. Fortunately the second game improves on the first in every way.
What difficulty did you play? On normal difficulty you can just mash through God of War 4 too.
The climbing in God of War 4 is WAYYY worse than the other ones, it's completely on rails.
Block button ! Bat man has fucking spider sense, at least you have to pay attention
Yes I did enjoy, thank you fun vid x
Oof that gorgeous Kingdom Hearts ost at 14:30. Goddamn i love that series's music
Aw, shame you didn't like it. I did play it back in the day and enjoyed it a lot (though even back then I used to think the game was hilarious instead of "edgy" and "cool"), and honestly, replaying the trilogy in preparation for the new title I was actually pleasantly surprised - they're all extremely good even today. They're so good I even went out of my way to play Ghost of Sparta even though I was not planning to.
Sure, the entire series up to Ascension reeks of early 2000s teen angst, but damn are those games fun. Though my favorite is the first one, I hope you find 2 and 3 better and worth playing :)
This game is greater than the sum of its parts. Its hard to experience it for the first time nearly 20 years after its release and see it through the lens of when it was released. As far as early 2000's edgelord games go, its S tier.
I don’t really care too much for this series, myself. It just tries to sell itself on being brutal and really nothing else.
DMC was just as brutal, but it tried to be flashy and stylish about it. Dante’s motivates for killing things was a lot more sensible. He liked living in the human world and didn’t want demons fucking it up, so he became a demon hunter.
oh damn i felt that into with the harry potter & percy jackson comparison. literally word for word the same thing id hear in high school lol.
The timed spiked floor "puzzle" was so much bullshit. That was the only real hurdle in this game for me.
This is fucking hilarious, more funny than I expected.
After hearing that you're 20, I feel guilty for looking forward to you're videos slightly more than before. I wish I could support you more, you're a big inspiration to me.
Man this review misses the mark HARD for me. Try to 100% this game and then tell me there's no depth to the combat. Learning to parry attacks is invaluable on higher difficulties which you didn't even mention. Besides even if it isn't as complicated as other hack and slash action games the puzzles and platforming help make up for that creating a great memorable experience not to mention this is arguably one of the only video game franchises to use quick time events well. Sure they're not the most challenging puzzles in the world or anything but if you're playing these expecting them to be on par with something in Myst you're kind of missing the point lol. The music and sound design for the time is outstanding and it's amazing that they were able to push the PS2 to its absolute limits with these games. In terms of getting the upgrades for health and magic, those extra red orbs are a GOD SEND on higher difficulties since you get FEWER red orbs from breaking items and killing enemies. Actually checking every nook and cranny to get these upgrades as soon as possible and leveling up your weapons and magic attacks as much as you can as early as you can is vital to even standing a chance on God mode for example. I'll concede with the checkpoints as they can be very frustrating with the sections you mentioned. In terms of that block puzzle you just have to hold the charge until Kratos stops grunting then release. That makes him push the block the maximum distance. ROLL TO DODGE THE DAMN GORGON FREEZE BEAM. You're correct on the QTE kill/grapple thing but this was rectified in the sequels. Even if you judge based SOLELY on the normal mode (or easy) as a simplistic journey, doesn't that represent Greek mythology (or at the least the popular perception of it) well? A LOT of Greek myths and epic poems are EXTREMELY simple yet captivating. Ultimately God of War is about the overall experience even if it's biggest focus is on combat which I feel you heavily understated. In terms of the nudity, I mean dude the Greeks were some kinky folks lol I don't find it out of place at all. I don't find it a coincidence that that stuff has been severely pulled back on the recent Norse installment, a society that isn't as known for it's sexuality as the Greeks (at least as far as I'm aware). Idk man, this kind of comes across like you just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible and not put the work in. Sorry if I'm harsh.
I’m 5yrs late, but well done. What a review.
I played these upon release and they are the college frat boy of videogames. They can be fun, from time to time but they don't hold a candle to many other games. Some people want that, and that's fine. Like what you wanna like. But the GoW series has always been a second tier series.
Any chance of a God of War 2 Retrospective before the PS5 game comes out? Another Cory Barlog romp that pretty much fixed most issues with the first game.
To avoid medusa's gaze you roll. Not jump. It makes since for you to instanly die if you're in the air while it happens. Petty complaint.
Awesome video analysis!
15:33 what about, not jumping? Or instead of avoiding been transformed in stone by jumping or dodging, use your triangle attack to stun the snake girl? Is not bad designe, is that you haven't explore that same enemy designe. And btw you can use your grab attack in multiple ways, that I haven't saw you using, that make the combat more complex to players that want to use them, like every time that an enemy is on the air you can hook I'm infinitely or jump with him if you hold triangle for to long and the with kratos and him in the air grab him, and it's different with every enemy, etc
It was his first time playing give him a break……….. wait if this is a review he would played more than once that sounds like hell
Oh look, a review that's actually of *REASONABLE* length. (*Cough--ExoParadigmGamer--Cough*)
years later i can confirm the black bar is also still there during cutscenes on PCSX2 in widescreen.
I thought "my own father" was just an amazing user name lol
Having played this when it first came out it was amazing but all your fury at the annoyances is what they fixed in the sequels.