Umm...the poiint of backgrounds is just that...to make the "back" look pretty *bleep*ing good, Hell EVEN CHAINS OF OLYMPUS for PSP has animated backgrounds...now either you never played the games or you're just plain spoiled but GoW2 outdoes itself in pretty much everything. And the button mashing would make sense if the enemies were easy enough to kill without ever having to block or dodge...again...you probably have not even played the game...so really, it's still talking outta your asses.

I've played and beaten God of War II on normal setting during a 2-day rental period. Yeah. I've played the game so I know what I'm talking about. It's nothing special. Mindless violence with an overrated story, like Halo in the latter sense.

Conveniently forgot the fact that it's got the perfect balance of puzzles and action with nice execution moves to make the combat more brutal. Mindless violence, my ass...perfectly executed violence with a much clever storyline, I really doubt someone that has played the game would actually have the cojones to just blatantly discredit it as some average game.

Then I'll say it again. I HAVE played it. I don't like it. It's nothing special, and once again, it's hardly a technical achievement. Puzzles detract from combat, often becoming tedious. I swear, the third sister of fate is the perfect example.

*spoiler*

Before you fight her, you literally have to go through a miniature puzzle. Then when you get there, you just don't care and you fight a relatively simple fight. The only thing the story itself really gets right is that Zeus was a horny bastard.

Need I point out more worthier candidates? Okami, another award winner, was far worthier of Story and Character. We'll get away from the combat/puzzles since, obviously, I hate it, you love it. In terms of story, Okami smokes God of War.

Yeah, cuz God of War is known for a straight up, linear fight with bosses. If you know anything about God of War, then you'd know that there's never an easy or short way to take out bosses, shit, I'm surprise you didn't complain about Klotho (the huge, fat thing near the end)...which was pretty much half a boss fight and half a puzzle...MUCH more difficult than the Sisters of Fate.

And since when GoW was trying to be the correct mythical story? Once you saw that Kratos was involved in the story...SOMETHING should've told you that this was just twisting myths, not duplicating it. And btw Okami never came close to God of War, especially when one is about to become a trilogy.

The sisters, in both Greek mythology and the game, are a trio. The first two "flying" ones, and the "fat one."

Most of my comment was in relation to the fat one. There just isn't much to make God of War worthwhile. The story is appealing because it's simple. GoWII even more-so thanks to the whole Star Wars moment at the end(no matter how big a fan you are, you have to admit this, it was just a terrible plot choice).

At some point, when basing something off a set mythology, at least stick to it to some degree. I never said I expected absolute correct mythology within GoW, but something within the realm would have been much better than the Star Wars crap at the end.

Okami was innovative, both in terms of look, design, story, and gameplay. Some games don't need a sequel because they're good enough. Ico for example, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami. They're out there. Trilogy has nothing to do with it.

The Father-son plot twist? Oh I'm sorry, I never liked Star Wars, and comparing Star Wars's plot twist (which the plot twist has been used in better ways) is just a bad idea, and of course, that wasn't a touchy moment, as well all know Kratos still hates Zeus despite any relations, that argument just falls flat.

The reason there are trilogies is because the game is too rich to tell in one setting, THAT much is evident in ONE GoW game. And of course, trilogies usually have more epic endings: Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean...etc etc.