Kingdom Hearts II is a fantastic sequel that just about anybody can enjoy.
Plot: The game begins a year after the GBA bridge game Chain of Memories left off. Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been asleep for a year while a young girl named Namine attemts to restore all their lost memories.The game starts with you playing as a boy named Roxas who is enjoying the last days of his summer vacation with his freinds Hayner, Pence, and Olette. While that goes on, Roxas starts to have a whole bunch of strange happenings factored into his life. This prolouge is very lengthy and takes up at minimum, the first 3 hours of the game. Eventually you gain control of Sora and the game really starts from there. The story is very well written and can be very overly complex, which is a good thing for a game like this (disney properties, story wise, are usually very basic and easy to understand). The story seems to have a much darker feel to it, It seems that the KH team factored in the plot points that made the plots of final fantasy so good over the years. It does have its really dull points, but other than that, it's a story that you wont soon forget.
Plot: 9/10
Graphics: The graphics at first glance dont seem that much better than the original Kingdom Hearts. Fortunatley KHI's graphics were very well done. KHII's Graphics just seem to have updated all the models to a Higher-Res. Square also fixed the mnor famerate problems from the original. While it didnt show up that much, KHI had some minor slowdown when alot of enemies (or a few big ones in some cases) showed up on screen. KHII makes sure that there is no slowdown whatsoever. This is especiall impressive in the 1000 heartless battle (yes i said 1000) where there are 1000 heartless on screen at one time. Overall, The graphics look amazing by PS2 standards and are a real treat to watch.
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: Kingdom Hearts II features a very well written soundtrack by veteran composer Yoko Shimomura ( Who has worked on other Games like Street Fighter II, Parasite Eve, Super Mario RPG, and Legend of Mana fame). The soundtrack features its usual mix of original tracks to the remixed Disney tunes, and even some Remixed Final Fantasy Hits, To the Opening song " Sanctuary" by Utada Hikaru. As usual with Square's games, a song never feels out of place or unwanted and it shows here. The games Voice acting is some of the best to ever grace an RPG. Because the story matured, so did the VO.Thebetter acting really makes the story feel alive. Almost the entire Cast from the original makes a reappearance here, with the exeptions being some FF characters like Leon, Aerith, and ( new voice actor was really needed) Sephiroth. The sound is pretty much what you've come to expect from square in terms of audio, and thats masterfully selected music and some damn good voice acting.
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: While the Graphics and sound are extremley well done, It's ultimatley the new Gamplay features that really shine in KHII. The gamplay in the first was a lot of fun, but alot of people would often find that there really wasnt enough variety in the design to keep it interesting. KHII goes back to the drawing board in full force and unloads a plethera of new gameplay features that were needed. The most signifigant of these new features is the Reaction commands. When prompted you hit Triangle and unleash a special attack on you enemies depending on your situation. and when the words are yellow, you unleash what is the Kingdom Hearts equivilent of a limit break. Another new feature is the drive forms. This allows you to fuse with your party members to unleash special abilities onto your opponents. The menu is also alot easier to navigate. The game lets you map the menu controls to either the right analog stick or the two sholder buttons. All these new features are made even better by the fact the fact that the framrate slowdown (mentioned above) is nowhere to be seen. If you are playing this for actual gameplay, you are in for the ride of your life. KHII has one of the best gameplay experiences you can find anywhere.
Gameplay: 10/10
Overall, If you enjoyed the original, you fall in love with KHII. It's a superb achivement that makes some much needed additions while staying true to the formula. Some moments are incredibly dull and out of place and the game feels alot easier and alot less chalinging than its bretheren. This does not affect the game as a whole, and in the end, Kingdom Hearts II is a fantastic sequel that just about anybody can enjoy.