Kingdom Hearts II definitely lives up to the original, fixing up all of those minor flaws that were in Kingdom Hearts, a
Kingdom Hearts II picks up where Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories left off...sorta. Kingdom Hearts II has a lengthy introduction gameplay period, in which you take control of Roxas. After a few hours, you take control of Sora, and this is where the game really picks up. Sora is on a quest to find Riku, who was separated from Sora at the beginning of the first game (there's also another friend, Kairi, who Sora found in the first game). Sora is accompanied by Donald and Goofy, who are looking for King Mickey, who mysteriously left Disney Castle (in the beginning of the first game) on a unknown quest.
The three of them (Sora, Donald and Goofy) travel various different worlds, searching for there lost companions. Ninety percent of the worlds you'll be visiting are Disney worlds (such as Beast's Castle, Port Royal and Halloween Town) , although there are a few worlds specifically created for this game. In these worlds, you have the option to replace either Donald or Goofy with the main protagonist from the respective worlds.
Despite the game following the same formula, there are some new additions to the gameplay, most of which revolve around the combat system. The original game was a bit of a button basher, and that hasn't really changed, although there are some new techniques that help. For one, Sora can now transform into a variety of forms. The first one you'll get right at the beginning of the game, which is called "valor" form. In this form Sora will essentially merge with Goofy to become much more powerful and faster, although Sora won't be able to use any magic. There are four forms in total. However, you won't just be able to change into a form at any time; you have to have a certain amount of drive gauges filled up. You can fill these up by battling enemies and picking up drive orbs. This time around, Summons will also use up the drive gauge.
Another addition to the combat system is reaction commands. These commands will appear on the bottom left side of the screen, and will prompt you to press the triangle button. The reaction command you perform will vary from enemy to enemy, which does add a bit of depth to the combat, but because all you do is press a button, it doesn't make the combat any less of a button basher. These commands are used in boss fights as well, and although you never really have to do them, they do come in handy, especially in the boss battles.
And last but not least, we have the limit commands. These commands could be considered "special attacks". Once you start one of these attacks, you and a member of your party will do a variety of attacks, most of which you will have control over. The last attack will do the most damage, and also has the widest attack range. These attacks are handy, but not really necessary. You can clear out a room of enemies if you use the attack right, but most of the enemies aren't all that tough. So basically, you’re just clearing out a room of enemies, except quicker than you normally would. These attacks are however useful in some of the boss battles, especially since the enemies can't damage you while you’re doing a limit break.
The combat itself isn't traditional RPG combat. It’s more like action adventure combat, however, the game implements a lot of different RPG elements. Other than the obvious leveling up, you can also choose what techniques you want to equip to your characters. You can also synthesize new weapons, accessories and armor to increase your stats, although most of the time, you'll only really do this after you beat the game as something else to do.
Although the Disney worlds make the Kingdom Hearts franchise somewhat unique, Kingdom Hearts II seems to focus on Disney stories a bit too much, and not enough on the Kingdom Hearts story. If you really dislike Disney for whatever reason, you may find some of the worlds in this game extremely boring. However, on the other hand, when the focus is on the Kingdom Hearts story line, there are few other games on the PS2 that are so engrossing and interesting as Kingdom Hearts II. A lot of people complain that Kingdom Hearts is a kiddy game franchise. Well, if you thought that the first game and Chain of Memories were kiddy, then you’re not going to change your mind here. The characters are much less optimistic in this game than they were in the first game which does make the story and characters somewhat more likable and interesting. However, as previously stated, the Disney stories do get somewhat tedious.
In order to travel from one world to the other, you'll have to play through a really lousy Gummi Ship sequence. Basically, all you do in these sequences is shoot enemy ships. The computer will automatically move your ship forward, so all you do is move side to side and shoot stuff. To be fair, the Gummi Ship levels have improved since the original, but that doesn't make then great, or even good. They seem to just come across as needless, bland filler between the worlds.
The worlds themselves are very fun. Of coarse, some worlds are better than others and some focus a bit too much on recycled Disney stories, but overall the worlds, which of coarse make up the bulk of the gameplay, are a joy to play through. There are just over a dozen or so worlds in all, which will take anywhere from a half an hour - 2 or so hours to complete. Overall the game will take about 30 hours or so. But after you finish the game, you can choose to complete Jiminy’s journal. To do this, you’ll have to complete a lot of different mini-games found in all of the different worlds, beat a secret boss and complete two worlds that don’t otherwise need to be completed in order to progress through the game. If you do choose to do this, expect to be playing through the game for about 35 – 40 hours or so.
Unfortunately though, the worlds are a lot more linear than the originals. The game doesn't really make you wonder around, trying to find out where to go next like the first game did in some worlds, which is both good and bad. You'll be prompted to go to a specific room at the end of most cut-scenes in the game, and if you still don't know where to go, all you need to do is talk to Donald or Goofy and they'll pretty much tell you where to go.
Kingdom Hearts II is definitely one of the best looking games on the Playstation 2. All of the Disney worlds are animated perfectly, and feel like they've come straight out of the cartoons and movies themselves. The character models are very detailed and all look fantastic. The worlds and environments, linear as they are, all looks absolutely beautiful. The enemies are all fantastically designed (a lot of them seem more Disney influenced than Square influenced), and animate fantastically. The game rarely if ever has frame rate hitches either.
Square Enix have really come to have a reputation for fantastic audio that compliments the action and Kingdom Hearts II is no exclusion. The voice over work is especially well done, most of the Disney characters have been voiced by the same voice actors from their respective movies/cartoons. Sora, who is voiced by Haley Joel Osment, sounds a lot more mature this time around as well, which suits his new look, which is a nice change. Little details like that make the audio very impressive overall.
Its been four years since the original Kingdom Hearts, and fans have been patiently waiting for Kingdom Hearts II and its certainly won't disappoint. All of the great things about Kingdom Hearts are here in full force and most of the flaws from the original have been seen to. Some may argue that the game is too easy and kiddy, but really, it would be a big mistake to miss out on Kingdom Hearts II for such petty reasons. If you haven't already, you should really pick up Kingdom Hearts II, because you won't regret it