"The highly anticipated game delivers."

After playing the first Kingdom's Heart game, I was absolutely blown away despite it's flaws. Chain of Memories on the other hand, sort of disappointed me. So when the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 2 came out, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Though, I was immediately sucked into the game and was once again blown away by a Kingdom Hearts game.

Gameplay

The fast-paced gameplay is back and better than ever. I was actually surprised on how well they were able to add new elements to the game, yet were still able to keep the game's simple gameplay. In the first Kingdom Hearts game you simply mashed X for the whole game, with occasional magic and maybe a few summons. Even though it was simple it was still quite enjoyable. They were able to keep that simplicity in this game, while adding different abilities and such to make it so it wouldn't be as much as a button masher as the first game was. Now, during your combo's you can send enemies flying in the air, slash them from side to side, and much more. You might be thinking "Hey wait a second, they added more abilities that will just make this game easier?" Yes, and no. If you use these abilities right, then you can quickly and efficiently take out your enemies in style. However, if you just use these abilities randomly and at the wrong times, then you might as well just mash X.

There are also 3 different difficulty levels in this game. Proud, standard, and beginner. Proud mode is quite a big step in terms of difficulty from standard. Even on standard you'll have a hard time during certain parts of the game. beginner mode on the other hand is most likely for kids that wanted to play this game mainly for Disney characters and such. Also, the enemies seem harder this time around. For example, Large Bodies will now actually turn around when you try to attack them from behind. Unlike in the first Kingdom Hearts where you could stroll behind them without a worry in the world. I'd also love to see anyone mash X against 3 Morning Stars and 5 Crescendos and come out alive. Even a couple of dancers or assault riders can be deadly if you just run in there and mash X.

Another brand new addition to the series is the reaction command. Basically you can press the triangle button to do animated moves. These moves can range to doing a move that can instantly kill dozens of heartless, to slicing buildings in half. Most heartless and nobodies have a unique reaction command, which you can use to defeat them. You can use reaction commands against most bosses, which can help you greatly. Though the bad thing about this, is that you can just mash the triangle button instead of having to time it. They also give you too much time to execute some reaction commands.

Magic and Limits

They also revamped the magic system in this game. This time along you have a magic gauge that restores over time. This isn't exactly a good thing, or a bad thing. In the first game, if your your magic gauge runs out, well then, it's going to be quite a while until you use magic. In this game, if your magic runs out, you can quickly get it back. If you want, you can even stay there and go to the bathroom or something while you wait for it to restore. It's nice, as you can use magic often, but it can easily be abused. For example, you can run around the area during a boss fight until your magic gauge is refilled. Then you can cure, and repeat if you get low health again. Of course, you won't always have the chance to run around until your magic fills up.

They also took out some magic skills such as aero and added new ones such as magnet and reflect. By no means are the spells "utterly useless" as some people say. Magnet makes tons of fights in the Coliseum much easier. Reflect is also very useful if used correctly...especially in the secret boss fight. The three main elemental spells have also been downgraded in terms of power, though they cost less mp. In the first game, magic was mainly used for outright destruction, since you could take out groups of heartless in one or two thunder spells. In this game it'll take a couple of them to take down a group of heartless. This time around, they are meant to be used a bit more strategically. For example, stopping a certain enemy in the middle of an attack so you can go finish them off with a combo. Also, instead of having to use a finishing attack to take that last sliver of health a boss has left, you can just use a magic spell in it's place.

Magic is also needed to use limits, which is another new addition. Limits can be very useful, but they take up the whole magic gauge. In limits you usually team up with a party member to do a special attack. It's quite entertaining to watch, but some are fairly useless and do little damage. Of course, some can still be very useful especially if your in a tight situation. They aren't at all difficult to execute. All you really need to do is mash either the triangle or the X button.

Drives, Summons, and Gummi ships

The new drive system is a very useful addition. Basically, you have a drive gauge that increases as you complete worlds and events. When you drive into a form you lose the amount of drive bars that the form costs. There are 4 different forms to choose from, well 5 if you count the anti-form. You can also wield 2 different keyblades while in all drive forms, except for the wisdom form. Drive forms are generally much stronger than your normal state. You have many more abilities such as dash, glide, or high jump. Though as you level up your drives you not only last longer in drive forms, but you also gain new abilities for your drive forms and you also gain abilities for yourself, in your normal state. Your combos also are much longer, which means you can easily take out hordes of enemies just by mashing X. Although you look really cool doing so. Plus, the drive gauge takes a while to refill, unless you use the save point glitch, so it really can't be abused too much.

Summons also make a return in this game. There are 4 different summons in all. Summons use up 3 bars of the drive gauge, and just like drives, they last longer as you level them up. Summons can be very useful, for example; Stitch can distract enemies and can collect tons of points in the Coliseum. Genie is also very useful for getting rid of groups of enemies quickly.

The Gummi system is much better this time around. It's much more interesting than the Gummy system in the previous game. You can add more things to your ship such as melee weapons. You can also make Teeny ships that will fight along side you. There are also several missions, such as having to destroy a rare ship. Enemies also come at you from all sides. There are also boss battles to be fought too.

Mini-games, Length, and lack of exploration

Besides fiddling with the Gummi Ships, there's many more mini-games to accomplish. The Coliseum makes it's return, and is better than ever. With many more cups and different rules. There are also many other mini-games such as skateboard mini-games, shooting toys into boxes, posting posters around town, and much more. There's also 2 worlds that are pretty much just mini-games.

The game should last you around 30 hours, give or take a few hours depending on how you play. It's fairly short, but it'll still last you a while. Your time can also nearly double if you try to get 100% in the journal. Even more if you complete more Gummi ship missions. Though if you skip all the cutscenes and take the fastest route through the main story, you can probably finish the game in around 10 hours.

Unfortunately, one small flaw in this game, is that the worlds are much more linear than in the first game. Remember climbing the tree house in the Deep Jungle? Or exploring the Cave of Wonders from top to bottom? Well, don't expect anything like that in this game as there really isn't much exploring to do. If you're missing a chest, chances are it's not on some hidden platform than you have to climb to. It's probably behind a curtain or a building. Though this is also kind of a good thing, as it is nearly impossible to get lost.

Story

The game's story starts out slow at first, but once Sora awakens from his slumber things start to really pick up. Although, as we all know this is a Disney game, so the parts of the story (mainly the Disney worlds) are pretty lighthearted. Though, this story doesn't involve Disney as much as the last game. It still focuses on Disney, but the main story is about the Organization throughout the whole game. Though that does not mean that the Disney worlds are pure filler. There's some Organization action in many of the worlds, and in the world's that there aren't any usually you'll find Malificient or Pete. Sora is also going to these worlds in order to open new pathways.

Though there are quite a lot of cutscenes. If you aren't in this for Disney at all, then you may find yourself skipping tons of cutscenes. The cutscenes involving the Organization however, are quite different. They are darker and much more complicated and deep than what you would expect to find. I myself had to reread the Ansem Reports in order to understand what was going on. In fact, I'd doubt any average little kid would even understand the Ansem Reports. The main characters and even some of the villains were developed quite nicely too. The ending is excellent too, but sort of leaves you hanging...

Graphics

The graphics are pretty much the same as the first game. Though the graphics fit the game very well, so no complaints there. Plus having hundreds of enemies on screen with no noticeable slowdown was amazing. Facial expressions also are much more noticeable and polished in this game. Characters in the game look much like their movie counterparts as expected. Though I was really surprised how well they did Pirates of the Caribbean. The characters there look much like the movie counterparts, and pirates turning into skeletons in the moonlight was a nice touch.

Music

The music was wonderful. Catchy, and not annoying at all. I'm pretty sure some songs are based on those from the movies. Either way, they all fit the worlds perfectly. The opening song was also amazing as I expected. I still have that song stuck in my head...It's not as good as Simple and Clean, but it's still very good, and it fits the scenes they show during the song.

The voice acting was also wonderfully done. Most voices are very much like the movie counterparts. There are one or two exceptions, and even they aren't too far off. There are also many celebrities just as the last game, so good voice acting is to be expected. Though there are some characters that are absolutely terrible. Aerith was probably one of the worst one's. Though one or two bad apples shouldn't bring the whole bunch down.

Overall

This game is by no means flawless, as all games have their flaws. Although, it's simple yet fun fast-paced fights, lighthearted yet deep story, amazing graphics, and wonderfully fit music make out for an excellent game. If you're a fan of the series you should definitely pick this game up. Even if you aren't, I still recommend you give this game a chance. Though if you aren't a fan of action RPGs I suggest you rent this game first before buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/06