KH2 is the perfect follow up to everything presented in the stories of KH1 and RECOM.

The story of this game is amazing and had me interested the whole way through. They really got to utilise more of their original characters this time with the Organisation and Roxas and his group. The Twilight Town section at the beginning is such a good introduction to the game and I loved Roxas and his character a lot.

The Disney worlds were far more interesting this time and felt like they had a bit more importance in the overall story with the Organisations involvements.

KH2 expands on its main cast of characters excellently. Sora and Riku are such a great pair of characters and their chemistry together is fantastic. The supporting cast were always fun to have around and I really liked how involved they were especially with segments like Hollow Bastions swarm of Heartless.

Roxas’ character is probably my favourite in this game with Axel being close behind. Roxas’ story of wanting to fight against the fact he is Soras Nobody as he is his own person yet eventually accepting Sora as his other half is a really strong arc for his character. Even if we don’t get to see him much outside of the beginning, how he ties into the ending part of the game was amazing. Considering 358 has a lot to do with him I’m sure his character will get fleshed out even more.

Xemnas as a primary villain this time is much more compelling than KH1 Ansem was. The Nobodies in general are such a cool idea for characters that mirror that of the Heartless and the People that the Nobodies are from. Having this set of characters that reflect their counterpart in some way just without a heart is a great story point and sets up a perfect groundwork for these characters to differ from their counterparts. Having the likes of Xemnas chasing after not just some kind of power but the ability to have feelings even if it’s that of rage and anger is a lot more compelling than making him a god complex type of character.

The Nobodies are also interesting in that they may actually have hearts after all but just fragmented versions as the actions of Axel and Roxas would stem from someone who has a heart. Axel says himself that he’s “enjoying this” in COM showing that the ability to feel is still there.

The combat was leagues better than KH1, taking the base from KH1 and making it flow a lot smoother with quicker movements and combos never got dull. The introduction to Reaction Commands and the Drive forms were such an amazing addition to the combat. Enemy encounters felt unique as the majority of enemies had a Reaction Command which were all different depending on the enemy you are fighting.

Magic definitely felt that it had better utility in this game but I personally didn’t use too many offensive spells as my main key blades were physical based but it didn’t take away from anything in the combat, it’s more on me to make use of the magic more.

The limits and summons were a great way to mix up the gameplay with the different party members in each world. I know summons were in KH1 as well but they felt a lot more useful and fun in this games combat.

The boss fights in this game are for the most part so much fun to fight and managed to strike a good balance between the cinematics of the fight with the Reaction commands and the fights themselves. The highlights were obviously the Organisation fights and the final boss segment was such an amazing spectacle. Even some of the heartless fights I enjoyed as well especially some of their designs.

Gumi ship was the Gumi ship. It felt a lot more involved this time but I’m still indifferent on it. It’s nice that the game gives you pre made ships incrementally so people don’t feel the need to upgrade the base one.

Square Enix games typically will have fantastic soundtracks and KH2 is among some of the best music in a Square title I’ve heard. Every track perfectly fits the feel and mood of the area or situation you’re in and boasts some amazing boss themes. All the Organisation themes especially the Roxas fight were amazing and that latter track is probably one of my favourites in the whole game.

KH2 is a fantastic sequel and everything I expected and wanted from this series. I only hope that the highs of this games story, characters and combat continue into the rest of the series.

10/10