bay Reviews Kingdom Hearts II

[baylaust 2,531]

Kingdom Hearts was the surprise smash hit that brought Final Fantasy and Disney together. Chain of Memories was very much a thing that existed and could be played. But now, three years after its original release, Square Enix released the true sequel to Kingdom Hearts for the PS2, aptly named, Kingdom Hearts II. While Chain of Memories was a very different kind of game from its predecessor, Kingdom Hearts II stuck far closer to the original game's template, while adding its own bells and whistles to build on KH1's foundation.

 

Kingdom Hearts II, like the first game, would eventually be re-released as Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix +. For years, this was exclusive to Japan, but it was recently finally upgraded to HD and brought to a worldwide audience as part of the 2.5 HD Remix Collection, and this is the version of the game I will be reviewing. Kingdom Hearts was a strong but flawed opening, and CoM was an ambitious but misguided bridge game. Will Kingdom Hearts II surpass its predecessors, or succumb to their own faults? Let's find out.

 

Keep in mind this review WILL contain spoilers. You have been warned.

 

Story

 

Kingdom Hearts II picks up roughly a year after the events of Chain of Memories. Riku is gone, Kairi is back at Destiny Islands, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy are finally woken up from their year-long slumber, brought on by the events of Castle Oblivion. With renewed vigor, Sora and his favourite Disney pals continue their search for Riku and King Mickey. However, the trio are quickly drawn into another conflict of world-ending proportions. Between the ever present threat of the Heartless and the return of old enemies, the enigmatic Organization XIII (first introduced as "The Organization" in CoM), and a new threat under the Organization's control known as Nobodies, Sora must fight once again to protect the worlds from the threat of darkness, all while searching for his friends and uncovering the mystery of Roxas, a young boy who vanished shortly before Sora woke from his slumber.

 

So funny story... this was my first Kingdom Hearts game. Yeah, my brother got it for my birthday way back when it first came out. Which meant I was completely unfamiliar with the series and its story. And if there's one thing I can hold against Kingdom Hearts II, it's that man, it does NOT care about explaining what happened in the previous two games. If you're looking for an entry point into the series and you care about the plot, do yourself a favour and stick with KH1.

 

That being said, I loved the story of this game. Kingdom Hearts for the most part was pretty straightforward, and was a relatively lighthearted romp with some dramatic moments sprung in here and there. Kingdom Hearts II still has some silliness, make no mistake, but the story has a lot more drama to it. There are constant twists and turns, characters are put through the ringer on multiple occasions, and it even takes the time to delve into the concepts of identity and free will. Yeah, not exactly things you would expect Final Fantasy mixed with Disney to dive into, right?  But it does, and it honestly does them pretty well. The story can get complicated, but it never goes into "diving up its own ass" complicated.

 

That comes later.

 

Part of what makes this story work so well is the characters and how they're portrayed. Sora is still Sora, yet he also has shown some growth since his adventures in KH1. On more than one occasion, he starts doubting himself, questioning if he's doing the right thing, and if he'll ever see the people he loves again. He also possesses some more aggressive tendencies, and quickly grows to HATE his enemies like he never did with Ansem or Maleficent. Riku and Kairi have also grown in the last year since we saw them, and Roxas (a new character merely teased in CoM) is perhaps one of the most human characters the series would ever see, and has his own story that's just laced with tragedy.

 

And that brings us to our main antagonists. Organization XIII. They have become hallmarks for the series as much as the Keyblade itself, and with good reason. They make the game, they give it life. Kingdom Hearts II (wisely) avoids making the same mistake the first game did. The Organization is introduced as your main enemy very early on, and they stay your main enemy until the end of the game. Thirteen (now eight, thanks to the events of Castle Oblivion) Nobodies, out to spread darkness and destruction to the worlds, in the hopes that they'll finally get to be whole people again. While a force that needs to be stopped, there's a seemingly understandable goal at the center of all their actions, and that is what helps make Organization XIII stand out. Unlike Ansem, who was evil for the sake of being evil, most of the Organization just want to have hearts again. That, coupled with each member's unique personalities and incredible boss battles, ensures that you won't be forgetting these men for a long time.

 

While KH2 falls into the trap of having the Disney Worlds mostly be filler, the second half of the game kicks into high gear, with most of the worlds having a clear purpose and effect on the story (with the exception of ONE, but we'll get to that). Kingdom Hearts II embraces its premise and the absurdity of its concept in a way that no other in the series has before or since, and this leads to some of the best moments in not just the game, but the series itself (The Battle of 1000 Heartless is probably in the Top 5 battles for any Kingdom Hearts fan). While it's not afraid to go full-on anime at times, it never loses the heart and soul that resonated with us all in the first game. It all culminates in a fantastic final battle, and one of the best endings to any game, PERIOD. I cannot say enough good things about how Kingdom Hearts II ends, it's one of the very few games to make me tear up.

 

With the Final Mix version, it also adds many new cutscenes to the mix that help fill in holes in the story and tease future events. These are all welcome additions, and unlike KH1, they are all fully voice acted in English, and despite being voiced roughly 10 years later, most of the cast still slide right into their roles like they were recording in 2005 again.

 

Gameplay

 

Kingdom Hearts II is an Action RPG, much like the first game. You'll run around, cutting down enemies, casting old and new spells, levelling up, and gaining new abilities. There are some new features to help keep things fresh though. The first of these is the Drive meter, which allows Sora to take on a new form with the aid of his allies. Valor Form sacrifices Goofy to give Sora another Keyblade and a rushdown fighting style focused entirely on delivering as much punishment to your enemies as possible. Wisdom Form gives up Donald in exchange for a form that grants you more mobility, allows you to shoot magic projectiles, and significantly powers up your spells. Limit Form gives Sora access to most of his abilities from Kingdom Hearts I. Master Form absorbs both of your allies in exchange for a boost in strength and magic, a new Keyblade, and a fighting style focused on keeping yourself and your enemies in the air. Final Form gives you everything you could ever want, allowing you to attack constantly, deliver extremely powerful spells, and fly. Then there's Anti-Form, a form that triggers when you abuse your Drives too much. It's extremely fast and capable of dealing good damage, but you take far more damage and are completely unable to heal. In addition, you CANNOT exit this form while in combat, so if you get stuck in this form during a boss fight, your strategy basically becomes "pray to your God if you have one." Sora also has access to Limits, special attacks that completely drain your MP, but allow you to team up with any party member (including your Disney allies) to deal a devestating AOE attack to your enemies.

 

Kingdom Hearts had a good foundation, but it still felt a bit stiff to control at times. Kingdom Hearts II, on the other hand, plays like an absolute dream. Combat is fast, fluid, and easy to control. The camera has been totally fixed, allowing you to always have control of your surroundings. Sora very quickly learns a far more vast array of skills and spells that demonstrate his talent and skill in a way that is just gorgeous to watch. Simply put, Sora has never felt as fun to play as, or as powerful, as he does in Kingdom Hearts II. The tradeoff to this is that the game can be pretty easy, especially with the addition of Reaction Commands, quicktime events that require you to press Triangle to have Sora do something flashy in combat. That's why I recommend you play this game on Critical Mode. Your health is halved and you take more damage from hits. When paired with Sora's sheer power, it feels like Critical Mode is how the game was meant to be played.

 

The Gummi Ship, absent from CoM, makes its triumphant(?) return in KH2. I'm confident no one really enjoyed them in KH1. They were slow paced, bland, lifeless, and just dragged the game to a halt. In KH2, however, the Gummi Missions have been completely revamped for the better. Instead of being a poor man's Star Fox, these are basically arcade shoot-em-ups. They're flashy, colourful,  fun to play, fast paced, and still retain the customization of KH1. The world map as a whole is a lot easier to navigate as well, so the Gummi Missions are now something you can actually look forward to.

 

You know what you CAN'T look forward to, though? Atlantica. Boy, oh boy. Atlantica was already my least favourite world in KH1, with sloppy controls in messy environments. Kingdom Hearts II decides to completely do away with that, and it becomes a quicktime event based musical. On top of just not being fun to play, it's the world you visit the MOST in the game, with a whopping 5 VISITS in order to complete it. In addition, you guessed it, the plot does not progress AT ALL when you're here. If you cut Atlantica out of the game entirely, absolutely nothing of value is lost.

 

But I can forgive KH2 for Atlantica because this game is just BURSTING with content. On top of minigames and optional enemies / objectives galore, Kingdom Hearts II adds not one, not two, but FIFTEEN new boss battles, one of which is an absolutely INCREDIBLE story based fight. You're able to challenge all thirteen members of the Organization after you've defeated them, and they can put up one hell of a fight. Finally, you get to fight The Lingering Will, KH2's TRUE superboss. While Kingdom Hearts II can get some flack for being easy, the Final Mix version includes some of the most skill-testing fights in the entire series.

 

Presentation

 

Needless to say, Kingdom Hearts II is beautiful. It takes full advantage of the PS2's hardware, bringing back the vibrant colours of KH1 while adding far more fully animated facial expressions to the characters. Kingdom Hearts was already a gorgeous game, but Kingdom Hearts II somehow manages to top it in almost every way. From its CG opening to its closing credits, Kingdom Hearts II is complete eye candy.

 

Yoko Shimomura knocked it out of the park with Kingdom Hearts I, but she somehow managed to outdo herself with her soundtrack to KH2. Each and every song has a distinct punch to it, old and new, and a large majority of the series' most iconic themes (Organization XIII, Roxas) can find their origins here.

 

Most of the original cast is back for the sequel. Haley Joel Osment returns once again as Sora, and he delivers what is probably his best performance to date, capturing the perfect balance between his youthful optimism and his older, more experienced self that he's become. Jesse McCartney is introduced as Roxas, and boy, does he have a talent. Roxas is arguably the one character you could believe being a real person, and Jesse McCartney plays a big role in that. Organization XIII is filled to burst with vibrant voices, and all of them are iconic in their own right. The only real weak link in the cast is Richard Epcar as Ansem / Xehanort. The loss of Billy Zane in the cast was a tough one, and while Richard Epcar is a talented man and has a fitting voice, he's still very clearly trying to find his footing here. He would eventually fit into the role nearly was well as Zane did, but his first outing leaves a bit to be desired.

 

Rating

 

Kingdom Hearts II is a sequel in the truest sense of the word. It keeps everything that worked about the original, scraps what didn't, and CONTINUES to build upon the foundation the first game built. Even if Atlantica is a slog to get through, and even if the game isn't that challenging (outside of Critical Mode), Kingdom Hearts II knocks everything else so far out of the park that it's easy to forgive its shortcomings. The gameplay is fast and fluid, it nails its presentation in every aspect, it's filled to burst with content, and the story manages to ramp everything up to 11 while keeping it, at its core, a heartfelt story about friendship and destiny. That's why I'm giving Kingdom Hearts II a:

 

9 / 10

 

I cannot sing this game's praises enough. Had the series ended here (especially with that absolutely brilliant conclusion), it would have been easy to see this series ride off into the sunset. But thanks to the secret ending, we know that there was more story to be told. And so it began, our eager anticipation for Kingdom Hearts III.

 

How foolish we were.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Another awesome review, man!

 

Like you, Kingdom Heart II was my first game back in 2006! I was in Sam's Club with my Mom at the time, and she told me to pick a game as a Christmas present! So I went to the electronics section, and out of all the games that were there, the one that caught my attention the most was Kingdom Hearts II. Seeing Disney characters alongside spikey haired characters piqued my curiosity, and when I asked the clerk what the game was about, she proceeded to explain what it was, but she said I wouldn't understand the game if I hadn't played the previous entries. I still wanted to play the game anyway, so Mom got it for me as a Christmas present, and lo and behold, I fell in love! Thanks to that marvelous game, I've been a fan of this amazing series for 11 years now, and counting!

 

Kingdom Hearts II is indeed the best entry in the series, and awesome as it is, the Final Mix version is the truly amazing and must play version of this game! So much lore is added, many new bosses, as you said, and an extra area in the Cavern Of Remembrance! Overall, everything about this game, the story, music, graphics, voice acting, gameplay and the like, are absolutely top notch and a testament to the amazing power the Kingdom Hearts series displays! Your review basically describes how I feel about the game! I'm actually playing through it right now on my PS4!

 

And so, the wait for Kingdom Hearts III continues!

[AwesomeKHfan 1,250]

Kingdom Hearts 2 was my very first Kingdom Hearts game to! I remember I got the game in the year 2006 I believe on December 5:)

It is still my favorite game of all time to this day damn I remember crying out of happyness when I saw the ending for the first time ever hahahhhahhaha godbless my parents weren't around.

I could follow KH2's storyline easily when I was a kid mostly cause well I was obsessed with the game: reading the manual, reading all Jimmy's journals and descriptions on all the Worlds and characters and never skipping a cutscene if I was going to tell why KH2 is my favorite game ever I would still be talking for multiple days.