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Kingdom Hearts II is # 1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Kingdom Hearts 2 takes the three main characters from Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, Sora, Donald , and Goofy on another adventure. This time though, the group is fighting heartless and a new form of creatures called the nobodies. Along with fighting new creatures, Sora , Donald,and Goofy will travel to new worlds like the Pridelands. There the group team up with Simba to defeat Scar. There are also some worlds re-visited like Atlantica

Sora now has a new look and a new power called the Drive. The Drive has four different forms, they are Valor, Wisdom, Master, and Final. These forms can be leveled up just like Sora does when fighting.

This game is a must buy for any Disney or Final Fantasy Fan.

Very So-So

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

So I know when I got Kingdom Hearts (the first one) I couldn't wait to play it. I couldn't wait to see what came next. The video scenes seem so rare that I loved them when they actually appeared. Anticipation was the word for the first game.

But in Kingdom Hearts II, I actually became more and more dissapointed as the game went on. The movies were sometimes way too long, too often, and sometimes pointless. I felt like the game was more of a movie, than an actual game.

There were some improvements:
1. You could opt out of watching the movies
2. Combat became more complex, with specials and different forms available.

And some not-so-great changes:
1. Too many movies
2. The game kind of forced you to play certain worlds and events in a certain order
3. There isnt even the illusion that there are chance events, it all seems like it'll be definite no matter how good or bad you are playing.
4. No hidden places
5. Summon command became less useful

The cons just out weighted the game too much for me. I went from wanting to play everyday to having to force myself to play.

Best RPG in this generation!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Square Enix has done it again.

I can't seem to praise them enough for how great their RPGs have turned out.

I'll break this game down as I've done with many others.

Graphics:

10/10

I wish I could rate this as infinitely as possible.

My god, the cut-scenes in this game are simply beyond our time.

It's scary on how human-like some of the graphics are in this game.

While sometimes the words don't quite match up like usual Kingdom Hearts, the rest of the scenes are dead on.

Sound:

10/10

New music in every level.

Characters:

10/10

Gotta love the corny puns of Donald and Goofy.

Controls:

10/10

Pretty easy to master

Difficulty:

10/10

If you favor under-training, then don't play this game. The bosses are challenging according to how much effort you put into training.

Side-Quest Activities:

10/10

Who couldn't resist making a Gummi Ship and battling your way through gateways.

Or who couldn't resist taking on the almighty Sephiroth?

Either way, you get to be creative or challenge your senses with this One-Winged Angel.

Playability:

Very-High

Overall:

9.5/10

The only reason this game isn't perfect is due to the fact that the game boy game resembles this game partially. And I don't like playing through one and then having a similarity complex in the other.

However, the story line is what gives this game such a great rating.

My recommendation:

Invest your money in this timeless classic.

Even if you aren't a big fan of Disney Characters, you will surely get a laugh with Donald and Goofy by your side.

Like following a leader dog

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: February 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After playing Kingdom Hearts, I thought this would be a great follow-up. I was disappointed. KHII is pretty much a straight line game. You won't need a walkthrough for help--so if that is a bonus for you then go ahead. The graphics are beautiful, but I have come to expect more from Squaresoft.

Very Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 14
Date: April 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm not gonna say this is one of the worst games I've ever played, but it is the most disappointing game I've ever played. I am a huge fan of the original Kingdom Hearts. One of my favorite games of all time. I was stoked when I found out they were putting out a sequel. I ordered my copy months in advance and waited patiently until it was delivered.

That being said, this game has lost touch with what made the original so good. First, the game is very, very linear. In the original, the worlds were expansive and open requiring a player to explore, kinda like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. You could spend hours exploring every nook and cranny. In Kingdom Hearts 2, you run down narrow paths from checkpoint to checkpoint, fighting scripted battles at each stop. There's no exploring or thought required. You can't get lost because there's nowhere else to go. You'll completely explore and beat each world in under an hour.

Secondly, they've lost the feel of the original. Kingdom Hearts 1 had a very Disney feel to it. This game (aside from the Disney characters of course) looks a lot more like Final Fantasy than the first game, especially monsters you fight throughout the game. That was part of the charm of the first game; it had a distinctly Disney in look and feel.

The battle sequences are very different from the original. They have a much more anime look to them. There's a constant prompt to hit the triangle button to unleash a weird combo move. You'll think you're watching a futurist anime kung-fu movie. They added numerous gauges that you have to monitor, not just HP and MP. They have this one gauge that monitors your party's morale. If your party becomes demoralized during a battle, you die. Even if your have all your health. It's lame.

This game has a lot more animated sequences than the first. You'll spend most of your time watching cartoons instead of playing the game. The first had a lot of animation too, but not nearly this much. I'd say this one has 5 times the animated sequences per world. I think I'm even being generous saying that, it's probably more.

The story line is hard to follow, but it was hard to follow in the original too. It just shoots off into so many directions.

Like I said at the beginning, very disappointing. It's a completely different game. Aside from the main characters and story line, there is very little in common with the original. I hope if they do put out a third edition, they go back to what made the first one so special.

Another Masterpiece

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game had everything I had hoped for. It had some new worlds, new characters, new moves, and a ton of new gameplay features. The drive command is probably the best part of KH2. Though the game has roughly a 3 hour long intro, and makes you revisit some of the worlds that are in the first KH, this game is still better than the first. Some people are upset about these things and that there is more Final Fantasy stuff in it, but that shouldn't take anything away from such a masterpiece of a game.

A sequel that falters but does not disappoint

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The first Kingdom Hearts was and still is one of the best games I've ever played. Using an innovative real-time battle system, a story mixing Disney quirkiness with Final Fantasy depth and astounding presentation, Kingdom Hearts became a stand out title that falls in with Zelda as a game that succeeded beyond all possiblities. The game was campy enough for the younger audience while involving enough for the more mature gamers. And now the long awaited sequel has come and it manages to fix all the problems of the first game, while adding only a few problems of it's own.

First, the graphics are truly something to discuss. The in game graphics capture the cartoon feel of the Disney worlds but in completely rendered detail rivaling any game on the PS2. However, it is the opening and ending cutscenes that are truly impressive. Forget the 360, these scenes use the same technology as the FFVII movie and that is impressive. You can actually count each individual hair on Sora's head, if you wanted. Unfortunately, these scenes only appear twice and they sort of overshadow the rest of the graphics.

The voice acting is somewhat mixed. The first thing you'll notice is that the star quality has improved over the first game. While Osmon still plays the title character, you also have Star Wars veterans James Earl Jones as Mufasa and Christopher Lee as the mysterious Diz. However, some of the voice acting is a little disappointing. I mean, Sora is supposed to be the savior of the universe, but a few of the characters are less than enthusiastic to see him. Seriously, is everyone in this game on Nyquil. Still, the characters still come from Disney and SquareEnix so fan boys should spot them easily. And that's not all, you actually get to fight alongside them now. I mean, in the last game you fought among Peter Pan and Mushu, but how often did you get to fight with the big mouse himself. And that's not all, there's Cloud, Leon and Auron just to name a few.

But I know what you're thinking, presentation is all well and good but how's the gameplay? Well, the jumping and camera controls have been greatly improved over the first game. No longer will minor jumping puzzles or fighting several enemies at once drive you to insanity because you can't move the camera where you want. Also, the game style is a bit different. Now, mashing the attack button and timely dodges will not be enough to stop the heartless. An astortment of combos and rythm based attacks have been added to keep you on your toes and new team moves add a little strategy to the fighting.

With all this new strategy, you'd think the game would be difficult, just like the first game right. Sadly, here's where they game slips up. The game is really easy, like getting a date with Pam Anderson easy. Your enemies aren't very smart and the time based attacks deal a lot of damage.

Also, you don't start out as Sora. Instead you begin the game as Roxas, who is really annoying. All he does is complain and mope, like I don't have my own problems. Also, while playing as Roxas, you'll spend more time doing peoples' chores than actually fighting. Fortunately, you won't play as Roxas for too long and will be back with Sora before you know it.

Finally, the game has one last problem. It's way too short. RPG veterans will beat this game in about a week or two even with all the side missions. But it's so much fun, you can't help but play it again. The game is fun, all problems are minor compared to the level of enjoyment. Go off and kick a** young compadre and have fun doing so.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy.."

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The first three hours of the game is long and drawn out. During those first three hours, you get to play Roxas. Roxas is a kid that lives in Twilight Town, along with his friends. As you play on, you discover that Roxas can use the Keyblade. But, it's soon made clear that Roxas is Nobody special.
The game really speeds up when you get Sora, Donald and Goofy. You are once again sent to other worlds to defeat The Heartless....and the Nobodies, and a mysterious group called Organization XIII. You go to new worlds this time, like the realistic Port Royal, and the word of Mulan (which is called "Land of Dragons"). After beating the game, you assume there's going to be a Kingdom Hearts III. The story isn't over yet!

PROS

Drive: The Drive system is awsome, allowing Sora to change into a uber-powerful version of himself. The only drawback to it is that one or two characters are needed to pull this off.

Limits: You can perform special moves with the native people of each word (like Mulan's "Red Rocket" attack)


Cons

The Gummi ship is the bane of this game, and it was the bane of the first one. It's out of place, it's boring, and takes far too long. They've improved it slightly from the first game.

The game was too easy. The only trouble I had with it was that fight with Xaldin in the Beast's Castle (he's one hard boss, even on beginner mode).

Beautiful

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Whether or not you liked the first game, Kingdom Hearts II will take your breath away. To start, the music is perfect; the lead track, Sanctuary--yet again an Americanized version of an Utada Hikaru song is pretty and fits well. The rest of the soundtrack is done by Kaoru Wada and Yoko Shimomura, who are now geniuses in my mind. The animation/art is spectacular, and there are some visuals that simply leave me dumbfounded. The newer version of Sora is nice as well, a more confident 15 year old boy who is very cool-looking in his new black duds (Note: YES! He's still played by Haley Joel Osment). The voice acting also includes a couple of stars, including Christopher Lee, and is very well done.

The thing that really separates this game from the last, however, is the more adult storyline. It's rich with twists and backplots and has everything you could ever want. A lot of the kiddiness was taken away, though Disney fans will still enjoy visiting the worlds they have come to love. A little bit goes a long way to make the storyline better, just by making it more adult.

The gameplay itself is interesting, with a newer system that both holds true to the original and does not. You can do everything that was possible in the first, but it adds a couple touches. For example, there are now limit breaks and a "Drive" setting, which both add more choices to the ways it's possible to fight (oh, those Square-Enix guys; guess they wanted a throwback to the old FF games). There's also an interesting reaction command, which you must time correctly to make it work; the timing is pretty simple in the beginning of the game, but near the end you have to be on your game.

Overall I believe Kingdom Hearts II to be a stunning improvement on its predecessor, though I'm still an avid fan of the first game. Try it on for size and I can nearly guarantee that you'll be pleased.

Fluffy Fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Despite the fact that I really enjoyed Kingdom Hearts 2, I can't get over the fact that it was, when all is said and done, too easy. Don't expect the same level of challenge as any Squaresoft games, despite the inclusion of many Final Fantasy characters. This plays more like a Disney movie tie-in than anything else, and the difficulty curve seems (at the beginning, at least) to be set at pre-teenager level. In my view it's also easier than the first Kingdom Hearts.

It sounds like I didn't like the game, but let me assure you that I did. As a gaming experience goes, it's pretty engrossing. No to mention the fact that it's also extremely long...the prologue to the game proper (by which I mean the appearance of Sora) is drawn out into an entire game in it's own right, consisting of exploration, mini-games and travelling around several locations which takes you into multiple hours of gameplay before you've even really started! Having said that, though, the gameplay with Sora soon pitches you into lots of Disney themed worlds that are actually pretty short chapters when viewed individually. I was expecting big, explorable areas like the first game, but I usually finished a whole "world" in a single sitting, which is a bit of a shame. The worlds are quite compact, and the ones that appeared in the first game such as Halloween Town are now disappointingly small. There isn't even a nice big hub town like Traverse Town with all those hard to reach secret areas any more. But there's always plenty to do.

So what's going on then? Well I have to say you may be hard pushed to work out the plot a lot of the time, but it seemed to involve Sora, Donald and Goofy fighting famous Disney bad guys and activating (or unlocking) a keyhole in each world they visit, while all the time being observed/hindered by a shadowy sect known as "Organisation XIII". Along the way there are sub quests and optional arena battles, as in the first game, and even if you struggle with some of the more obscure parts of the plot, you'll (nearly) always know who's good and who's bad.

Fighting is a breeze, in fact I'm sure they have simplified it, because there aren't many battles, even boss fights, where you have to do much more than run up to the enemy and whack the X button as many times as you can. This is a shame in the boss battles in particular, as you will very often miss out on a lot of the character of each boss fight because you are primarily concerned with bashing one button as fast as you can, since that's simply the most effective way of winning, regardless of what a boss's signature moves or spectacular special attack is. The menu also offers a whole host of tempting battle abilities to be assigned to Sora, but in practise it only means that mashing the X button even more times leads to better, longer lasting attacks. Using magic is also very much a secondary thing in battle. The access to the magic shortcut involves just too much finger fiddling for me and I don't think I ever used it except for some curing in the very end boss fights.

There is, however, some fun to be had in the new "Reaction Commands" function, in which a special battle option pops up in cases of clever positioning or successful parrying. In these cases, a swift bash of the triangle button gives you a special scripted move which can really turn the tide of battle in your favour. Although you don't have to worry about this too much, it's easy to use (there's a huge prompt on screen when the command is available), and fun to test your reflexes too, as the windows of opportunity for the command can be very small.

But for the main bulk of the story, things never get too difficult. I scarcely broke into a sweat on any bosses, time-attack fights or mini-games. And whilst on the subject of mini games, let me warn you now - the optional stuff can be scarcely above pre-schooler level. Tapping out rhythms along with the Little Mermaid, or flying through the air and avoiding obstacles with Winnie the Pooh had me in serious boredom territory. This is for 5 year olds, the kind of stuff that comes with those educational games that generously reward the barest challenge...OK, maybe it's me, maybe I'm too old.

However, I will say that as you move into the final stages, some stiffer challenges do start to come up. The toughest fights of all really have to be searched for, though, like the Hades Arena battles that open up MUCH later on, but finishing the game story is not too much of a struggle. I will say though that they really do save the hardest for last, with the final battle being pretty long and quite meaty. It also looks fantastic, and, like the castle in the first game, you have an impressive celestial stronghold to ascend before you reach this showdown. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the last few hours of playing time, from the entry to The World That Never Was onwards, to be quite spectacular. With this ending taken into account, I can't really complain about the easiness too much.

What I can complain about, though, is the Gummi Ships. Once again, the Gummi Ship creation mode is totally indecipherable. I was told this had been improved since the first game, but I got absolutely nowhere with creating new ships, as the menu and instructions are the most bewildering thing I have ever seen...just like the first game. Thank goodness it was all optional. That said, the actual flights in the ship through battles in space were much better this time around. But I never wanted to do them more than once. Sorry, Chip and Dale, you may be cute, but your Gummi world is beyond my patience and understanding.

So I'll stick to the good aspects. There's a lot of fun in the details of this game. A LOT of work has gone into it. In every world you go to, your party (and the little HUD) changes slightly in appearance, from the "Steamboat Willie" stage where the three heros appear in black and white, looking like they might have done if drawn in 1928, to the Lion King world, where they appear in the shape of jungle animals! The worlds are all impressively detailed, with some lovely scenery and distant views - notably in the Lion King world - although you are quite tightly limited with regard to where you can actually go in all these world, inviting as they look. Another improvement is that the behaviour of your two partners Donald and Goofy has been made much more customiseable this time round, with lots of options to set to your liking. Although they still waste your best items with little regard for economy if you let them. (I was very mean and stopped them having any itmes most of the time!) Sora too, has a very long list of abilities, and although I just turned them all on and hoped for the best, a dedicated player could certainly cusiomise his favourites into some killer combos.

To wrap up, this is a game that plays best for the story rather than the challenge. If you enjoy a sightseeing ramble rather than a steep painful hike, then this is the game for you. The characters are still very likeable and not too sugary (except the terminally annoying Winnie The Pooh - if it wasn't for getting the reward items I would have glady seen that 100 Acre Wood burned to the ground!). And there is a lot of comedy to be found, although I didn't find the finale to be as moving as in the first game, its still got a nice ending. All in all, it's a solid, quality game, and adding the fact that playtime can last well past the 30 hour mark makes it worth a purchase.

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