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Godskeybladewarrior

KH2 Kingdom Hearts II Review (written for Eng 1301, 1100 word limit)

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Authors Note: Considering I just gave this Rough Draft of my KH2 review to my professor on Thursday, this is still yet to be finalized. Plus, given the fact that today was march 28th, the day KH2 released in the USA I figured I would post this to get some opinions. Another thing, this was written for NON Kingdom Hearts PLAYERS, just a general audience so that is why the section about plot is so long. I was allowed to voice some of my opinion in this review but ordered to keep it hidden without saying the words I. :D Enjoy! 

 

 

Kingdom Hearts II Review

  The Kingdom Hearts series debuted in 2002 with the game by the very same name. Developed by Square Enix in partnership with Disney, they introduced to the world a game unlike any other. Featuring Disney films as individual worlds, separated by the vastness of space, Kingdom Hearts put the player in the bright yellow shoes of the series protagonist Sora on his home-world of Destiny Islands. Traveling to various Disney worlds with Donald and Goofy to find his friends, Sora learns to use the keyblade, a sword like weapon that looks similar to a key. Along the way, the trio help the denizens of the worlds. Then, on March 28, 2006 Square and Disney released Kingdom Hearts II for english speaking audiences. The new game continued the story from the first installment, added new gameplay elements and improvements in vital areas.

  The story of Kingdom Hearts II picks up right were its predecessors, Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories left off. At the end of Kingdom Hearts I, the player is left wondering what lies ahead of the main trio as the ending cinematic cut off with them chasing Pluto down a dirt road in green grassland. Those questions were answered in the pseudo sequel, Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories in which Sora stumbled upon the mysterious Castle Oblivion. Once inside, Sora faced memories of his past and the shadowy new antagonists who called themselves The Organization. Due to events inside the castle, Sora, Donald and Goofy were placed inside pods to restore some important things they had lost. But in order to fix what was broken, they had to lose their memories of all that had transpired. Skip forward a year and the story picks up with a teenage boy by the name of Roxas. Having only one week left of summer vacation, Roxas and his friends try to make it the best week possible in their little world of Twilight Town. However, when mysterious white creatures start to appear, his world is turned upside down. Soon enough, a member of the Organization shows up in his town. The member turns out to be the only member from Castle Oblivion to escape destruction. Roxas fights him twice, the final time right before the player gets to control Sora. By that point in the story, the player is left wondering what is going on. Interestingly enough, the very same thought goes through the protagonists’ heads after they wake up from their year of sleep and decide to find out what all had happened. Once the beginning sequence of Kingdom Hearts II ends, the real story begins. The story then revolves around Sora and co. journeying to different worlds and facing off against the games two enemies, the Heartless and Nobodies. He also searches for his friend Riku and King Mickey, better known as Mickey Mouse. The Heartless are beings made from the darkness inside peoples hearts. Once a persons’ heart is filled with darkness and past the brink, a Heartless is created. However, with Kingdom Hearts II another enemy was added into the game: the Nobodies. Nobodies are what can be considered a bi product of a Heartless when someone with a strong heart is consumed by darkness and is turned into a Heartless, the persons body gains a will of its own and becomes a Nobody. This fact is revealed not long after Sora, Donald and Goofy are awakened. Slowly but surely, the plot thickens when Disney villains Maleficent and Pete begin to assemble an army of Heartless while the Organization starts to become more interactive with the worlds visited. Speaking of worlds, the ones in Kingdom Hearts II were chosen perfectly. Adapting classic Disney cartoons with the overall plot was no small feat for sure but with each world visited, the plot moves forward. Moving on without going into too much detail on the spoiler filled plot points, the story stays true to its Disney roots. Every world visited and cutscene watched is filled with nostalgia, showing the deep care the developers had for the source material. When entering each world, it feels as if the player were stepping into the very movies the worlds were based on, such as Little Mermaid, The Nightmare before Christmas and Lion King. Overall, the story of Kingdom Hearts II is filled with moments of excitement, sadness, anger and happiness. Each of those elements makes for a great story experience and an engaging game. But watching only story cut scenes would take away from the gaming experience, because people want to play the game.

For Kingdom Hearts II, Square Enix exceeded expectations in the realm of gameplay. Keeping the traditional magic and ‘sword’ combat, Kingdom Hearts II exceeded its’ predecessors. Through leveling up, the player slowly gains more abilities and a variety of moves. Each new ability learned enhances the fast and fun gameplay. Other than the basic attacks and magic, players gained the option to wield two keyblades temporarily along with a boost in damage and mobility through Drive Forms. Each new one unlocked increases in power, and can be powered up even more by fulfilling specific requirements such as defeating an x number of Heartless while in y Drive Form. This new gameplay mechanic dramatically changed the way the game is played. However, by the end of the game these Drive Forms can be seen as unbalanced and overpowered. Even without the help of the forms, Sora is able to take on scores of Heartless without taking little or no damage. But that is were the Drive Forms come in yet again because once transformed, the players health is restored along with their magic meter, but their Drive Bar goes down as they use it. The full restoration of HP and MP is handy when playing on the games higher difficulties. In summary, the gameplay can be considered a hack n’ slash with bits of strategy mixed in once on the Proud and Critical Modes, which are the Kingdom Hearts series equivalent of Hard and Very Hard. Looking back nearly a decade later flaws can be seen if scrutinized, but in comparison to Kingdom Hearts, the sequel is more successful than it ever was.

  Kingdom Hearts II is a large game, taking nearly twenty plus hours to complete, and that is only by playing the main story. Improved controls and camera added to the experience but it was truly the enchanting story that captured the hearts and minds of gamers many years ago. Now, with four more games made and two HD remakes, fans are ready for Kingdom Hearts III.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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