Kingdom Hearts II

"A Disappointing Sequel To A Golden Game."

An Introduction
As we all know, the original Kingdom Hearts was nothing to be ashamed of. It combined adventure with action, as well as all the aspects of an RPG you could ever want, thanks to Square Enix. Unfortunately, I can't let the same saying be applied to this… horror of a game. Why should anyone trust me, or read my review (when I go against the flow)? Because I'm 18 years old, my goal in life is to be a programmer and a professional tester and reviewer of video games, and I've been gaming since I got my Atari 2600. My specialty: RPG's. I dedicate a lot of my time to video games; I am not uninformed. Other people write a review because they fell in love with it; but these are the people who have not yet experienced all the fruits available in the gaming world.

The Story
The story starts off with the main character Roxas (my best friend was over when I started the game, and both of us immediately noticed the anagram for Sora X), who lives in Twilight Town. He hangs out at the “Usual Spot” with 3 friends, and school is about to start again. About 3 hours of an introduction hits you before you're independent with the keyblade; you have to toil through 5 days of the town, including one tournament. Eventually you take control of Sora with Donald and Goofy, and find out there's a new type of enemy in the universe: the Nobodies (Headed by Organization XIII). Nobodies are the empty shells left behind when a strong-willed person is turned into a Heartless. Apparently, Sora's been asleep since the first game, and once he wakes up, all the strength he gained and all the abilities, every single last one of them, have disappeared. I suppose there was no point aside from bragging rights that I buffed my party to 100 with maxed stats before, eh? Anyway, guess what the object of the game is? Did we ever get to see a reunion between Sora, Riku and Kairi? What of Donald, Goofy, and the King?

The Good
I suppose I'll list its most positive points first. To start off, the graphics, especially in the beginning and the end, are stunningly beautiful. Again, this is the computer generation we expect from Square. In-game, the graphics were slightly better than in the original; when it comes down to summons, bosses, or Drives, you should be drooling. I'm a big fan of seeing Sora's heartless form, which seems to be randomly chosen when using the Valor Drive. Second, it's always nice to see more cameos from non-Disney games, or simply seeing Cloud in his Advent Children outfit. Sad to say, though, some persona were modified greatly (e.g. Vivi doesn't really cast any magic at all.. though it still bothers me that Aerith is still in the game… She is dead!). Third, the programmers added in multiple new aspects, all of which had great potential.

1) Dual-wielding of keyblades in Drive form.
This is the most interesting to me; the thought of being able to have two weapons with different powers at my disposal just seemed great. Naturally, I expected heavy resistance somewhere in the game so this aspect would actually be used. That resistance never took root. And, whenever you do use a Drive form, you rarely have to do anything other than mash X.

2) Use of a new command button: Triangle. (Reaction Commands)
Another interesting battle tactic is to, in the heat of battle, press triangle whenever it lights up above your attack. Depending on the enemy, you unleash a unique attack. While it deals little damage, it's quite fun to watch Sora ride a heartless, or hang onto a flying enemy until it smacks itself into the ground. If you mash Triangle long enough with one of the enemies this can be used for, you'll likely perform the attack. There's no penalty for hitting the Triangle button when it isn't ready.

3) Limits.
Yes, my friends, they have added limits. Something that should be in any final fantasy-related release. However, they consume your entire MP gauge, and do little damage compared to what normal attacks would do. Limits also don't require you do anything other than mash Triangle or X. Fun to watch for the first few times, though.

4) More Gummi goodies!
Not only are there more things to customize your gummi ships with, but there are melee weapons, as well as those that damage anything that runs into you. This part was very well done, though a person can only take so much gummi at a time. Another great part of gummi building is the Teeny Ships, additional wingmen for you that are, as the name implies, quite small in comparison with the base ship. And, thanks to the new system, you can have more than 8 weapons on, if they don't take too much of your ship's remaining cost away. Missions on gummi flights are also available.

The Bad, And The Ugly

Battle:
This has got to be one of the worst battle systems I've seen as a gamer – and I own every system. At first glance, it mimics the original Kingdom Hearts. However, once Sora learns his first few abilities, the person with the controller simply needs to hit X. You don't even have to move! How wonderful! Sora will close in a large distance with one attack if your opponent is too far away, and there's one for them in the air too! There is no challenge behind the battle system in this game. The only times I failed in battle were in the Coliseum; I failed simply because I ran out of time (due to a low level). Lastly, the magic in the game is utterly useless; the same applies to summons. The only good spell is cure, which consumes all of your MP, which starts out at 100 (enough to cast 10 fires). After a short while of being depleted, your MP gauge will be completely refilled. I already went into limits and reaction commands. Keep in mind that it is unbelievably hard to die – my mother could still beat this game without a single death. And I, unlike many, was a fan of Atlantis in the original. I enjoyed the three-dimensional fighting, which you don't truly experience here. And, if you manage to get an enemy airborne in Kingdom Hearts 2, the battle's practically over.

Story:
I suppose the story was alright… it delivered what it promised. You get a lot more of the Disney “nothing can beat friendships” lines, which made me want to skip the cut scenes. Most of these occur after you complete a stage, much like the last game. I already explained the basic story, and I'm not about to give spoilers. And, if you want to see why Cloud changed costumes, or why he's looking for a silver-haired man carrying a long sword, watch Advent Children. In fact, come over to my house; I've got a wall screen. That's the true storyline for our spikey-haired favorite. Most of the story revolves around Hollow Bastion and Twilight Town; not much else.

Adventure:
This game has quite literally no adventure in it at all. The worlds aren't expansive in anyway; you may as well just walk down the hallway of your house. Walk up and down your street and you just had more freedom than you did in the game. The programmers must have grown tired of people complaining that they got lost; that they didn't know where to go next. The game was perfectly clear on where to go and when. For instance, if you tried to go to Station Heights in Twilight Town first, you would get a message telling you that's not the way to the Sandlot, or the Commons, or wherever it wants you to go. Not only that, but the worlds are much smaller than before. Halloween Town was only 3 screens, not including buildings. Oh, and as if that wasn't bad enough, you get a map of the area in the large chests. Maps are completely unnecessary; nothing's large enough to get lost in as is.

Play Time:
I read everywhere – in all my gaming magazines, from all my friends, even from the two employees at GameStop – that Kingdom Hearts 2 had over 100 hours of game play. What a fallacy. I was working my rear off on school until a Friday, which I promised myself I would take a reward in opening Kingdom Hearts 2. Now, I didn't start playing until 10:00 PM. That's my ritual, I don't play any kind of game until late at night, after I've finished all my obligations. Therefore, I didn't play until after 10 the rest of the weekend, too. I would say I got in, oh, about 3-4 hours per night. It only took me 4 nights like this to actually beat the game. That's 16 hours; maybe a little longer since I'm a night-owl. Expect 20 hours out of this game if you were any good with its prequel.

Worlds:
Many of these worlds you already know. Hollow Bastion is one of the first levels in the game, Pooh takes part, the Coliseum, Agrabah, Atlantis, and Halloween Town. The only 3 true original worlds are Space Paranoids (Tron's level), Port Royal (Pirates of the Caribbean – if I had to pick a favorite this is it), and the Timeless River (Steamboat Willie's level). The rest are either too short to be considered a world or are just one of the Disney movies coming into a game (For instance, you fight alongside Mulan, who shoots a cannon/firework into the peak of a mountain… and you eventually have to save the emperor).

Miscellaneous:
I forgot to mention that, unlike most RPG's, there aren't any hidden mysteries. You aren't looking for 99 dalmatians for special bonuses, no secret puzzles to figure out. I never even had to think about using a strategy guide for anything. And usually, in any good game, there's some incentive to sit around and kill stuff until you can kill a boss in one hit. This game didn't inspire me to do anything like that, save the gummi ship.

Overall:
Don't buy this game. If you must play it, simply because it's the sequel to a golden game, borrow it from a friend who was suckered in. Or, better yet, just rent it. I guarantee that if you rent it over a long weekend, or even if it's a light-loaded weekend, you'll beat this game and you'll know just what I meant by this entire review. I could suggest RPG's infinitely better than Kingdom Hearts 2. In fact, just go get one of the Xenosagas instead. Kingdom Hearts 2 felt exactly the same as the first; you look for your friends and fight off the Heartless and their counterparts, the Nobodies. Furthermore, the storyline seems to break up frequently, only picking up in Hollow Bastion and Twilight Town. This game lost my interest before I even got Sora, but because I'm me, I forced myself to sit down and beat it, like I have every other game. I simply hope that they don't make a third game, or if they do, I hope they change it drastically from this garbage.

My Overall Ratings:
Originality: 3/10
Battle Sequences: 2/10
Graphics: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Character Development: 2/10
Difficulty: 2/5
Entertainment: 1/10
Replay Value: 0/10
Overall: 24/75

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/06