Oh boy i love this game so much, i love all the characters in this game, love all the worlds (Except The Caribbean) and its story is amazing. I can understand the story is kinda fucky wucky but i love it so much gameplay is so fun and playing it on proud mode is truely a challenge i love. The secret movie alone is one of the reasons i love this game
An incredible game, not perfect, levels are a bit basic and the disney plots sometimes detract from the overall experience, however the game rises through its flaws with incredible combat, an enthralling tale, adorned with incredibly emotional scenes, some of the best music in gaming, a menacing adversary. Peak ps2 era gaming.
the series has been memed to death and a lot of people disrespect it nowadays, specially on the internet, not without reason tbh. Does'nt change the fact that this is one of the best action RPGs on every single platform it touches.
the series has been memed to death and a lot of people disrespect it nowadays, specially on the internet, not without reason tbh. Does'nt change the fact that this is one of the best action RPGs on every single platform it touches.
Masterpiece
absolute perfection in a ps2 game
Thinking of you.. Wherever you are…
A game literally built into my soul. Alongside KH1 with both games being so nostalgic yet still holding up extremely well. KH2 is made with such love and SOUL. They will never make me hate you Kingdom Hearts
A game literally built into my soul. Alongside KH1 with both games being so nostalgic yet still holding up extremely well. KH2 is made with such love and SOUL. They will never make me hate you Kingdom Hearts
Tightest gameplay, best soundtrack, and a phenomenal story leads to KH2 being the peak of the series, a peak that SE have barely came close to touching with the KH3 Re:Mind DLC
This review contains spoilers
For the longest time, I have been a certified Kingdom Hearts hater. Almost two years ago, I played the original Kingdom Hearts and really didn't like it (I wrote a whole review on it last year if you're interested). I tried Re:Chain of Memories shortly after beating KH1 but stopped after the first ten minutes because of how abhorrent the combat was. Rest assured I was extremely disappointed and somewhat butthurt at how bad these games were because I spent money on these expecting them to be good. So I wrote Kingdom Hearts off as a terrible series. Even in the amount of times my friends begged me to play Kingdom Hearts II, I declined playing it because of how much of a bad taste the games I played left in my mouth. Almost two years later I bit the bullet and finally played Kingdom Hearts II and I have a lot to say about it.
It's genuinely remarkable how much this game outdoes it's predecessor in every single way imaginable. Well almost but I'll get into the plot later. The combat is incredibly frenetic and sensationally fun as hell with there being amazing additions to the gameplay. I think the most prominent example being the various different amount of forms Sora gets throughout the game with them each offering the player a unique gameplay style that can heavily help in a pinch depending on the situation which is a godsend. Strategically analyzing a boss and figuring out which spells and form will work against them and seeing it pay off in the game is extremely euphoric especially later on when you fight the Organization members. Seriously they can be total dickheads, for me personally the hardest fights in the game were Demyx, Xaldin and Roxas. Speaking of bosses and things being improved from the first game: the bosses in this game aren't perfect, my thumb was sore as fuck at the end of that Xemnas fight and any boss that isn't an Organization member kinda feels really easy, even on critical, but most of them are still pretty good. I guess what separates the Organization members from the bosses who are either Heartless or Disney characters is that those bosses kinda felt... simple. I know the objectives to do during the bosses aren't simple, but I mean in terms of their attack patterns. The fights with the members from the Organization made me feel like I was actually playing a video game. They all have very dynamic gimmicks that compliment their respective character which makes them all stand out strong on their own from each other.
The Disney worlds is another thing improved from the first game. The worlds in the first game fucking sucked for the most part. Atlantica is legit one of the worst stages I've ever played in a video game holy shit the controls and boss were atrocious. The worlds in Kingdom Hearts II on the other hand were pretty good apart from like Tron. It's like if Nomura knew exactly what I thought about the worlds from the first game, what he could do to rectify it and did just that. The worlds returning from the first game feel a lot more open ended and more suited for exploration. Like holy shit it's nice that Olympus Coliseum is an actual fucking place this time and not a glorified gauntlet. Not only that but they all offer some pretty fun minigames. The best example being the carpet segment in Agrabah. Sure the controls took some getting used to but it was still fun. And holy shit does this game have an amazing endgame. I know I marked this review as having spoilers but that I seriously don't wanna spoil. This game in general has a really grand spectacle that at times, genuinely took my breath away. The Battle of 1,000 Heartless is legit one of the most raw and badass thing a game has ever done and it's a goddamn miracle Nomura was able to make that shit work on the PS2. And the music is fucking like............. holy fucking shit this game's music is phenomenal.
Anyway didn't I say I was gonna talk about the plot? Yeah let's talk about that. I know of all the tired jokes I can make at this game's expense but I'm not going to do that because in all honesty, I find the mythos of Kingdom Hearts to be genuinely very compelling. I just wish this game didn't have god awful pacing (which is insane considering it took me 30 something hours to beat it). None of the subplots feel consistently balanced, it feels like they're all fighting to be the A plot. Like the first third of the game where I'm doing these fucking cartoony wild goose chases with Pete surrounding the return of Maleficent felt so needless and overall tedious considering it amounted to basically nothing in the end (sure they came at the very end but like you could easily write them out the scene and nothing would change).
But who cares about the plot? The plot sucks balls everyone knows that but don't let that deter you from this game. If I, a Kingdom Hearts hater, who hates the first game with a passion, tells you this game is pretty good... then you better play this goddamn game. 7.5/10
It's genuinely remarkable how much this game outdoes it's predecessor in every single way imaginable. Well almost but I'll get into the plot later. The combat is incredibly frenetic and sensationally fun as hell with there being amazing additions to the gameplay. I think the most prominent example being the various different amount of forms Sora gets throughout the game with them each offering the player a unique gameplay style that can heavily help in a pinch depending on the situation which is a godsend. Strategically analyzing a boss and figuring out which spells and form will work against them and seeing it pay off in the game is extremely euphoric especially later on when you fight the Organization members. Seriously they can be total dickheads, for me personally the hardest fights in the game were Demyx, Xaldin and Roxas. Speaking of bosses and things being improved from the first game: the bosses in this game aren't perfect, my thumb was sore as fuck at the end of that Xemnas fight and any boss that isn't an Organization member kinda feels really easy, even on critical, but most of them are still pretty good. I guess what separates the Organization members from the bosses who are either Heartless or Disney characters is that those bosses kinda felt... simple. I know the objectives to do during the bosses aren't simple, but I mean in terms of their attack patterns. The fights with the members from the Organization made me feel like I was actually playing a video game. They all have very dynamic gimmicks that compliment their respective character which makes them all stand out strong on their own from each other.
The Disney worlds is another thing improved from the first game. The worlds in the first game fucking sucked for the most part. Atlantica is legit one of the worst stages I've ever played in a video game holy shit the controls and boss were atrocious. The worlds in Kingdom Hearts II on the other hand were pretty good apart from like Tron. It's like if Nomura knew exactly what I thought about the worlds from the first game, what he could do to rectify it and did just that. The worlds returning from the first game feel a lot more open ended and more suited for exploration. Like holy shit it's nice that Olympus Coliseum is an actual fucking place this time and not a glorified gauntlet. Not only that but they all offer some pretty fun minigames. The best example being the carpet segment in Agrabah. Sure the controls took some getting used to but it was still fun. And holy shit does this game have an amazing endgame. I know I marked this review as having spoilers but that I seriously don't wanna spoil. This game in general has a really grand spectacle that at times, genuinely took my breath away. The Battle of 1,000 Heartless is legit one of the most raw and badass thing a game has ever done and it's a goddamn miracle Nomura was able to make that shit work on the PS2. And the music is fucking like............. holy fucking shit this game's music is phenomenal.
Anyway didn't I say I was gonna talk about the plot? Yeah let's talk about that. I know of all the tired jokes I can make at this game's expense but I'm not going to do that because in all honesty, I find the mythos of Kingdom Hearts to be genuinely very compelling. I just wish this game didn't have god awful pacing (which is insane considering it took me 30 something hours to beat it). None of the subplots feel consistently balanced, it feels like they're all fighting to be the A plot. Like the first third of the game where I'm doing these fucking cartoony wild goose chases with Pete surrounding the return of Maleficent felt so needless and overall tedious considering it amounted to basically nothing in the end (sure they came at the very end but like you could easily write them out the scene and nothing would change).
But who cares about the plot? The plot sucks balls everyone knows that but don't let that deter you from this game. If I, a Kingdom Hearts hater, who hates the first game with a passion, tells you this game is pretty good... then you better play this goddamn game. 7.5/10
possibly my favorite game of all time, perfect gameplay, flawed yet iconic story, beautiful soundtrack, sora might just be my spirit animal it's crazy
Great game, a step up from KH1 in every way, the only thing I disliked was revisiting worlds
There is just something about how this game plays that makes it so satisfying. I find myself coming back to it from time to time and having as much fun as the first time.
Also, story and characters are so silly that it ends up being endearing more than cringe.
PS2 era really gave us amazing games.
Also, story and characters are so silly that it ends up being endearing more than cringe.
PS2 era really gave us amazing games.
replayed this a while ago but w/e, here's some scattered notes from then:
- don't mind the simple combat system so much (I'm a ys-enjoyer) and I def appreciate the modifiable combos. i like the systems too! think the synergy btwn mp / drive forms / limits and how it restricts your ability to heal is neat
- don't like how much of the combat boils down to abusing limits / summons / reaction commands to deal damage while invulnerable. the former two are particularly egregious thanks to the amount of (nearly) free damage they put out, and when you throw magnet in the mix, most of its encounters become basically nothing. sticks out enough that it's hard for me to understand the appeal when some fans list this as their favorite action game. genuinely curious to know if there's aspects that I'm missing or not considering here
- reactions and limits can be fun tho.. rly love the bit of spectacle at the end w the lasers that I won't describe since this isn't spoiler tagged, but its length is so amazing
- locking movement options behind drive forms was a silly decision and I'd maybe encourage PC playerz to download the mod that unlocks them all from the start, albeit it can supposedly softlock you so be careful... a better mod would unlock each option when you receive its corresponding form. frankly tho, if you're capable of making a simple web search they do not take nearly as much time to grind out as some suggest
- a take on the command menu I saw is that it's basically "realtime atb" and that skillful play is about being able to quickly navigate the menus. for what though, idk. didn't find enough of the magic useful to have to go into them ever, beyond the four slots you can allocate to in the shortcut menu. i'm probably wrong here
- it takes a while for the 1-on-1 fights to get going. have to assume it's for kids first, but I wasn't vibing with the combat until demyx (pt 2), who's about maybe halfway through @ ~20 hours. the few absent silhouettes placed before him seemed to be too early relative to my level at the time of finding each
- boss highlights were: twilight thorn, shadow stalker (& dark thorn), oogie boogie, demyx, xaldin, the experiment, roxas, saix, the blue haired guy
- the intro really is the single narrative highlight. features a better cast than dorky sora and his dorky friends (except for donald and goofy, because they are my friends). funny that the bits immediately after address sora not knowing what an education is as well as him having hit puberty
- fuck port royal
- why is that mickey mouse bullshit in critical mode. kept triggering it on accident. "sora, my turn!" die
- also, since I'm not going to put down anything for kh1, the simple and clean cue when sora breaks off from kairi at the end kicks so much ass. could not stop laughing
- soz to the gummi-heads but PC playerz can also skip the gummi segments (change offset to 0x56454E): https://github.com/S0nzero/KHPCSpeedrunTools/blob/main/2FMMods/scripts/2fmNoGummi.lua
- don't mind the simple combat system so much (I'm a ys-enjoyer) and I def appreciate the modifiable combos. i like the systems too! think the synergy btwn mp / drive forms / limits and how it restricts your ability to heal is neat
- don't like how much of the combat boils down to abusing limits / summons / reaction commands to deal damage while invulnerable. the former two are particularly egregious thanks to the amount of (nearly) free damage they put out, and when you throw magnet in the mix, most of its encounters become basically nothing. sticks out enough that it's hard for me to understand the appeal when some fans list this as their favorite action game. genuinely curious to know if there's aspects that I'm missing or not considering here
- reactions and limits can be fun tho.. rly love the bit of spectacle at the end w the lasers that I won't describe since this isn't spoiler tagged, but its length is so amazing
- locking movement options behind drive forms was a silly decision and I'd maybe encourage PC playerz to download the mod that unlocks them all from the start, albeit it can supposedly softlock you so be careful... a better mod would unlock each option when you receive its corresponding form. frankly tho, if you're capable of making a simple web search they do not take nearly as much time to grind out as some suggest
- a take on the command menu I saw is that it's basically "realtime atb" and that skillful play is about being able to quickly navigate the menus. for what though, idk. didn't find enough of the magic useful to have to go into them ever, beyond the four slots you can allocate to in the shortcut menu. i'm probably wrong here
- it takes a while for the 1-on-1 fights to get going. have to assume it's for kids first, but I wasn't vibing with the combat until demyx (pt 2), who's about maybe halfway through @ ~20 hours. the few absent silhouettes placed before him seemed to be too early relative to my level at the time of finding each
- boss highlights were: twilight thorn, shadow stalker (& dark thorn), oogie boogie, demyx, xaldin, the experiment, roxas, saix, the blue haired guy
- the intro really is the single narrative highlight. features a better cast than dorky sora and his dorky friends (except for donald and goofy, because they are my friends). funny that the bits immediately after address sora not knowing what an education is as well as him having hit puberty
- fuck port royal
- why is that mickey mouse bullshit in critical mode. kept triggering it on accident. "sora, my turn!" die
- also, since I'm not going to put down anything for kh1, the simple and clean cue when sora breaks off from kairi at the end kicks so much ass. could not stop laughing
- soz to the gummi-heads but PC playerz can also skip the gummi segments (change offset to 0x56454E): https://github.com/S0nzero/KHPCSpeedrunTools/blob/main/2FMMods/scripts/2fmNoGummi.lua
soy el pato donald
One of the best games I’ve ever played. Has a captivating, emotional story, the tightest combat in the whole series, and easily my favorite set of end game challenges in any game I’ve ever played. If you’re willing and eager to begin diving into the insanity of this series, this one’s a must play.
This game is a lightning in a bottle moment. You really will probably never see a game this good in the franchise again. The soundtrack is fucking fantastic, one of the best. The worlds are great even the lion king one and atlantica. The lion king one is one of the games several ways to spice up gameplay and atlantica is optional and a easy but fun rhythm game. The gummi ship segments are fun arcade shooter moments, also with great music. Gameplay is tight, flashy and critical mode provides a fair but challenginf experience overall. Great boss fights, with few, if any, bad ones. The ability to do a level 1 playthrough and no damage bosses displays how good the combat is and is something you don't see that often in action rpgs. The story is dumb but always entertaining. Don't take it that serious and you'll learn to enjoy it. You're supposed to laugh at mickey in a black cloak. Its crazy how most action rpgs can't reach the height this game did in 2007 (besides souls-likes and yakuza if we count that series).
you gonna cry?
the quintessential game of the series. roxas > sora btw
Did not expect it to be THAT good wow, fucking incredible, what video games are all about, even as a jaded adult this game hits like a motherfucker, PEAK
Uma introdução muito tocante, um encerramento maravilhoso e 10 mundos da Disney no meio
Peguei pra rejogar com o pensamento de "Ah eu gostava tanto pq eu era criança" mas DAMN, como eu estava errado. Kingdom Hearts 2 ainda é um dos jogos mais pogs do ps2. Carismatico, divertido e consegue ser até bem desafiador no Critical Mode. (Se vc não usar a Limit form...Serio essa porra quebra o jogo demais. Não usem) Joguem, joguem. Não sejam parados pela estranheza dos personagens da Disney misturados com Final Fantasy.
i did not expect such peak, soundtrack is fire, gameplay loop is great, and most importantly main plot has left me satisfied, side worlds plot was partially uninteresting for me but some of them are done very well. i cannot express how i like the original characters in this game, really a must play if you are familiar with kh1 and kh:recom.
"You make a good other."
This game takes everything good about Disney and everything good about Final Fantasy and merges into one genuinely beautiful masterpiece. It has transformed the way I look at the both of them. Never knew sauce like this was possible.
best action game in the whole world beats dmc not even close
oh my God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I flipping love this game!!!!11!1!1!!!
PEAK
I fucking love this
Best KH game not debate
j'ai pleuré
game was boring, controls were bad, story was rushed