Let's get something straight right away. I did NOT like the first Kingdom Hearts for the Playstation 2. While I loved the cut-scenes, the voice-acting, the graphics, the world, and the oh-so-awesome opening music, I found the tedious battles, frustrating platforming, horrendous level music, meandering story, and lack of any drama just killed the experience for me. Truth be told, I bought the game twice and sold it twice, and never did beat it (I got to Hollow Bastion and just couldn't take it anymore). I saw this game on sale for $10.00 and picked up a copy. It sat on my shelf for months until I decided to pick it up for a brief play. Oh....my....goodness!!!!!!
This game is not only one of the best RPGs on the PS2, it is one of the best RPGs ever. Seriously. Right up there with Xenogears, Xenosaga, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, ect. The graphics in the first game were good. The graphics in this game are outstanding. The opening music in the first game was amazing. The music through almost this entire game is fantastic (there is some lame music from the first game, and the first world music is just passable). And while the first Kingdom Hearts was mostly just a tribute to all things Disney, this game is also a tribute to things Final Fantasy.
The new plot for this game manages to take what was basically a gimmick in the first game (world-hopping to find your friends and a mysterious guy named Ansem whilst fighting the heart-devouring Heartless), and turns it into a bonifide epic as a mysterious organization, armies of darkness, and classic Disney villains all clash to accomplish their own objectives. The plot of this game is amazing, absolutely fantastic. And all the new Square characters from the Organization manage to be both compelling and cool almost instantly, which each having signature weapons and personality that makes you immediately accept them as part of the story.
The gameplay of the first game was a good idea, but EXTREMELY poorly executed, as you would basically fight hordes of identical or nearly-identical Heartless for hour, upon hour, upon hour, till you wanted to pull your hair out (try mashing the X button for 10 hours straight and falling over and over again on the platforming elements). In this game things are nicely mixed up by improving the overall flow of the fights, making your comrades more intelligent, and giving you lots of battle options (limit-breaks, summons, forms, and the awesome reaction commands). The reaction commands in particular make the combat much better. At times they are just quick-button-press-events ala God of War/Spiderman 3 where you press the triangle button at the right time to complete attacks. But later on they trigger combined attacks, other character's special attacks, and your own special attacks, giving a gee-whiz ultimate move feel to battles that would instead by infinite X button presses (at certain times these attacks will become Dynasty Warrior's style uber-moves that annihilate swarms of Heartless among a sea of enemies {unbelievable as that sounds, it's even better than you can imagine}.
While most of the battles of this game are easy, some of the boses are actually quite difficult due to massive damage caused by their moves and the difficulty in executing needed attacks (but the game never cheats or feels cheap). One time I actually was KO'ed by one of the bosses from Organization XIII, but instead of starting the encounter from the beginning, I was immediately assisted by a hard-core Mickey Mouse who did massive damage to the enemy and then revived my entire party. At that point I realized that this was just just a good game, but a GREAT game.
I cannot overemphasize how much this game is improved by dropping all the pointless back-tracking and bang-your-head-against-the-pavement platforming of the first game. Half of the time when you are told you need to go somewhere it immediately triggers a cut-scene where you are ALREADY THERE! If you tire of pointlessly wandering around dungeons in most RPGs you will find the incredibly elegant (yet simplified) interface and game design of this game a breath of fresh air. Very enjoyable.
Again, the whole Disney universe feel of this game is used to great effect, and the unique attributes of each of the Disney movies are used to a much fuller extent. In the Little Mermaid World you will play a music mini-game, you'll fight Heartless on Light-Cycles in the TRON world, and you'll be thrust straight into the climax of Pirates of the Caribean, Mulan, and other favorites. Even the lame shooter from the first Kingdom Hearts gets a massive upgrade, becoming a part of the game you may actually enjoy thanks to its infusion of Panzer Dragoon-meets-F-Zero style. The interplay between the main characters is so good in this game that I actually realized I was growing to love Donald and Goofy in a way I hadn't felt since I was a kid (they are way more lovable in this game than the first). And then there are the stand-out moments like when you go into the past and Donald and Goofy look exactly like they did in the old black-and-white Disney cartoons. There are so many great moments in this game that there is bound to be SOMETHING that makes you grin like a pumpkin.
The beginning of this game, the first couple of hours, is by far the weakest part of the game as far as compelling gameplay and wow moments, perhaps deceiving you into thinking the game will be boring and weak. But just wait. As soon as you go to the first world the game kicks into high gear. And all the strange confusing things that happen in the first few hours are important and contribute to one of the best stories I have ever seen in an RPG. No joke.
If you liked the first Kingdom Hearts you will love this game. If you hated it you may still love this game, because it is absolutely amazing in every way that counts. Awesome story, awesome characters (Kairi is much more of a character you care about this time around, all the Square characters are great, and the dialog spoken by all the Disney classics is great stuff full of humor and drama), great graphics, outstanding muic, a fantastic battle system that never gets old, and plenty of the Disney charm that has kept fans loyal all these years. Oh, and Maleficent is the greatest villain in history. You can pick this game up for cheap, but even at full price it's worth every penny. A must-own for RPG lovers, and one of the greatest RPGs ever made without a doubt.
Get more detail about Kingdom Hearts II.
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