:: Reviews :: Rants ::

Kingdom Hearts II is the successful game released in 2006 by SquareEnix. As most sequels are infamous for not living up to the first, this game is a huge exception.

The story of Kingdom Hearts II is a lot more complex than the original game. The beginning of the story is well put together with various cut scenes with a new character, Roxas. If you haven't played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, it can be a little confusing. But even so, it adds to the suspense of the game and keeps you playing. As the storyline is complex, the introduction is long, approximately five hours, and during that time frame, it makes a recap in the game, and introduces a new enemy known as the Nobodies, and pulls in the group of mysterious people known as Organization XIII. The introduction was not bad all in all, at times tedious, but recapped the previous game in an entirely different perspective than the first, and brought completely new elements into the game.

The storyline was very well thought out. They incorporated all the characters together wonderfully. Ranging from the original trio, Sora, Donald, and Goofy; various Final Fantasy characters; and well known Disney characters, all incorporated very well to tie into a compelling storyline. I credit this game to having the ability to be both fun, and somewhat serious. The game seems to take it all in, as well as attracting from various age groups.

The gameplay for Kingdom Hearts II is fairly easy to grasp. It's nearly the same from the last game with some new features. The game has a selection of modes in which you can play, younger ages can play on the Easy mode, some can play in the Moderate mode, and if you're feeling really lucky there is even a Proud mode (not to mention if you beat it you automatically get the secret ending).

The battle features are unique, almost taking a similar concept used in Final Fantasy X-2, your main character, Sora uses the drive attacks feature using a set of "magical" clothes (given by the fairies, of course) to transform into and amplify your abilities. Your character can also use limits with other characters for a special attack, although it has a downside in using your MP and inability to cure. The difficultly of the battles got extremely harder from the previous game, and strategies are almost needed to be thought out for a good portion of the boss battles.

Say you have a small remainder of HP on that boss, and you end up dieing. Who will save you? Why, Mickey Mouse of course! You have the choice to either give up or... not. If you chose to keep going, Mickey will help you. From there you are in control of Mickey, and the sequence looks very much like the Yoda vs. Count Dooku scene in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Not lying. You'll probably have to pause quite a bit to contain your laughter, but that's okay, it's always a plus to getting your butt saved, right?

The graphics in this game are superb. Beautiful. Stunning. I cannot begin to imagine how long this took them to do just the beginning sequence. It was put together very well, with a new song by Utada Hikaru, giving the game some what of a familiarity as the first one. The first minute or so does a short recap of the original Kingdom Hearts, then quickly goes into a recap of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. As stated, if you didn't play that, you're going to be confused for awhile. If you haven't played it, you're given your first glimpse of Organization XIII, Naminč, and Roxas.

Graphics featured in the cut scenes are just as smooth, although I do have a problem with the artists not going back and fixing the characters crossed eyes whenever you talk to certain characters... The characters run fluidly, pixels rounded and not jagged. Not to mention the mouth movements were matched nicely with the voices, which takes away from common distraction.

I seriously thought the music would go to hell since Nobuo Uematsu, the grand composer of all Final Fantasy games, was no longer affiliated with SquareEnix. The original Kingdom Hearts OST (original sound track) had some good selections, but just didn't live up to what Nobou is known for. I was blown away by this OST however. The OST is two discs, and is composed by Yoko Shimomura.

I was already immediately attached to the first song, a new version of Dearly Beloved, the loading screen song, which in the first game was already beautiful with it's quick triplets on the piano. The reversioned song in this game changed tempo greatly, took out a few notes, and was just as lovely. The majority of the songs, even some battle themes incorporated a classical piano with genius scale work. It fits in so lovely, giving just the exact emotion intended, battle themes conveying a sense of desperate need, or themes which are needed to convey a serious mood.

I liked a good majority of the soundtrack, however the songs featured in Atlantica, were a tad too much. In Atlantica you take a break from your constant button mashing and help out in a musical! You'll either find it a bit awkward and just stare at the screen, or you'll probably laugh until pee your pants, or if you're a dork, you'll probably be singing along to it.

SquareEnix surprised us on this one. As the OST to Final Fantasy X-2 wasn't completely what people imagined it to be, the Kingdom Hearts II OST was certainly a huge success.

Kingdom Hearts II was superior to it's predecessor. Although the gameplay was much harder than the last game, the storyline made it all worth while. With awing graphics, stunning music, compelling storyline, and hours of fun filled button mashing, what else could you wish for in a game?