Title: Kingdom Hearts 2

Date: 03.08.2006

Genre: Console RPG

Platform: PlayStation 2

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Driven to Perfection, Combo Crazy

One of the many new gameplay elements present in KH2, “Drives” represent different “super” Forms Sora can take by fusing with his companions. Offering heightened powers (dual Keyblades for example), additional abilities, and dramatically faster action, Drives level up with repeated use, allowing you learn new abilities, increase their duration, or strengthen their power. It should be noted that, while under the influence of this magical “rage”, Sora is capable of extraordinary feats and displays of strength, hence the need to cap its use for fear of exploitations. There are a number of different Drives (including one “secret Form”) all of which have their own unique attributes and manner of earning experience points.

Another new gameplay element is the aforementioned “Combo Attack” feature. Similar to using Drives, Sora can temporarily expend his Magic Gauge and one of his two AI companions for an amazing feral rampage with the remaining one. Combos are incredibly useful, and come with their own Hit Counter to keep track of your multiple monster mashing melees for fun. Each character has one-or more-Combo attack options, many of which evolve over the course of gameplay events.

Gummy Glory and Stage-Specific Spectacles

A typical situation for Disney (and more recently, Square as well): selling out. Let it be known that the worst element of the original Kingdom Hearts (i.e. the notorious “Gummi Ship”) was in fact the product of a greedy deal made with the Lifesavers-brand candy folk, specifically its “Gummi Savers” line. Unfortunately the only profits to be had were on the maker’s side of things, as few would argue that the player experience benefited from the atrociously random, ugly, and out of place shooting-game fest that transpired before and after each stage. Rather than remove the element however, the programmers opted to do something better-make it fun.

While the ships themselves are still hideously out of place, the mini-game is now a legitimate part of the product, and one which many players will actually find themselves returning to over and over-not out of necessity mind you, but out of enjoyment. Battles now resemble full-out interspace wars with dynamic camera shots, “white-knuckle” gameplay, all new collectibles, boss fights, and more advanced gameplay options. Enemies come at you from all angles-and all sides: unlike the straight forward “tunnels” the original featured, you’re practically in a Star Wars Tours For all intents and purposes, this is a full blown shooting game included free of charge. Combat is no longer limited to just one dimension, rather it often turns to the side or even behind meaning it’s now actually helpful to improve your ship’s overall design. Additionally, as present in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, there are now actual missions to participate in (thus encouraging replay value for entertainment’s sake) that award valuable and rare items. All in all, the GummiShip experience is something you must truly play for yourself to understand; but rest assured that once you’ve actually seen it, you’ll wonder how on earth these very same programmers deemed the original game’s shooting sections worthy.

Though it’s worth mentioning that in addition to the shooting spectacle, the game offers a positive onslaught of other, often optional, mini-games as well. Starting with the very first world (where players will need to take up odd-jobs to get some quick cash), KH2 offers a number of unique little jaunts that make for a better overall experience. Each of the game’s worlds features one or more unique games, sometimes games within games. Ever since Square put forth Final Fantasy 7, programmers and players alike developed a profound interest in these tedium tearing tid-bits. Serving to break up the often monotonous elements of a game, small distractions can go along way as to making the overall experience more fulfilling; unfortunately they often take a lot of creativity and effort to concoct, and hence it’s easier for game programmers *not* to include them.

Rest assured, Kingdom Hearts 2 will be known as the one that stole Final Fantasy 7’s thunder. There are more mini-games included in KH2 than in a typical session of a Made in Wario, and best yet; each world has their own unique gimmick, sometimes even games WITHIN games. Atlantica, for example, is in preparation of a musical concert which you can assist. The Hundred Acre Woods hosts a number of brand new fun festivals. Perhaps what’s most amazing however is the presence of “Mission Battles” that take place throughout the game: these fights require Sora and friends to complete a specific objective for victory. While most of the time it’s simply slaughtering all of the opponents, occasionally you’ll need to guard a defenseless damsel, box up baddies, even sail the skies. Better yet-many of the boss fights have “mini-game” elements to them as well (just wait until you experience Port Royal’s final creature) which means there is far more to fighting than simply button mashing. Absolutely nothing can prepare you for the awesome creativity splattered throughout.

SHE Has Returned

For better or worse, most people find it difficult to adjust when an established game series suddenly throws a different composer into the mix. Think of what Star Wars would be like if John Williams had opted to stop half way through. Think of the general reaction when space-opera fans realized that Xenosaga Episode 2 wouldn’t see the return of Yasunori Mitsuda. Think of what it would be like playing through a sequel to Kingdom Hearts with the prospect of someone *else* orchestrating Kingdom Hearts. Fortunately you don’t have to, as visionary music goddess extraordinaire, Yoko Shimomura, returns. Mixing a number of old tracks with loads of brand new ones, this wonder woman manages to do with sound what the programmers did with computer code: pure brilliance.

It is no mistake that Square commercially released the first game's soundtrack in * North America* (a rare occurrence as any game music fan knows) and seems likely such will happen this time around as well. Everything from the beautiful piano composition that accompanies the title screen (a slightly remixed “Dearly Beloved”) to the bombastic action oriented battle themes will captivate the player and only draw them further into the product. Truly one of the best soundtracks to ever come out of a game composer and plaintively obvious this woman has genuine musical talent.

Nit-Picking

Anyone who missed out on Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (i.e. 99% of foreign gamers) and the GBA-exclusive Chains of Memory will be at a minor and major loss respectively. Restricted to only those players with unrivaled gameplay skills, the Japan-only Final Mix featured a bonus movie entitled “Deep Dive”. Showcasing a moody and mature unknown world, the footage appears in sporadic segments throughout KH2 and has a major bearing to the game’s darker plot.

Unfortunately, unfamiliarity with Chains of Memory is quite problematic. Despite the game being 90% rehash, the actual new content presented is required playing to understand who many of the characters in KH2 are. Unlike the story link employed by say, the Matrix game/movie, CoM literally serves as the introduction to the first 5+ hours of this game as well as most of the new characters. In fact, too much of the game’s story seems to stem from Chains of Memory which makes the game positively annoying: rather than saving all the important plot revelations and disclosures for this proper effort, Square commissioned a sub-par “hand out” last year that basically alleviated it from half of the story/setting work in this game.

Speaking of familiarity, unfortunately Kingdom Hearts 2 also looses some points for originality as a whole. And yes, I realize the absurd irony here given that 90% of the game (i.e. everything Disney) is blatant rehashing in the first place. Specifically, however, although Sora’s adventure takes him to many all-new worlds, it also sees the return of a host of prior ones. In some cases, such as Atlantis, the gameplay and controls are totally altered thus making it a legitimate inclusion, but with respect to other areas (such as Aladdin’s ancient Arabia) there is a definite feeling of “been there, done that.” Despite new locations in old worlds, it’s just not as enthralling revisiting old characters as it could be exploring with all-new ones. Some people may jump at the prospect of interacting with these characters once again, but think of it this way: What about Disney (owned) movies like say, Toy Story? What about James and the Giant Peach? What about The Incredibles?

The other main problem with Kingdom Hearts 2 seems to be the actual game itself, as odd as that sounds. Without getting too specific and spoiling anything, the first five hours of play are quite surprising-QUITE surprising. It’s unfortunate, then, that when the adventure formally starts, things return to normal. While the story is fantastic (with even more twists and turns than the original game), I can’t help but feel it’s confined by the Disney presence. With the first Kingdom Hearts, this wasn’t as noticeable given the limited nature of the game’s plot. With the sequel, though-especially after you tackle the game’s final World, you have this gigantic, complex scenario with dark undertones, but instead of seeing its maturation throughout, you have to put up with bits and pieces in-between the far more childish Disney creations. It’s almost as if Tetsuya Nomura really wants to create the next level of Final Fantasy games, but now has his hands tied in light of the game’s joint-venture existence. It might sound rash, but I’d truly prefer if the inevitable Kingdom Hearts 3 drops Disney all together. To be fair, however, my own dislike with Disney ultimately fails to quantify given the fantastic job done to the licenses.

Perfection Personified (In A Game’s Guise)

When I look back at my history with videogames (some 15 years now), its all too apparent that even Square masterpieces of the past-Chrono Trigger, Xenogears-have been retrospective failures in their inability to invoke the excitement, sadness, tension, happiness, anger, and flat out amazement that product dishes out on a constant basis. In fact, I’m not sure how much longer the industry as a whole can continue to exist, because after finishing Tetsuya Nomura’s magnum opus, it’s quite apparent that 99% of the competition shouldn’t even be in business. If a team of *human beings* can put forth something of this caliber, there is no excuse why any game should offer less. I’m actually at a loss, currently, trying to consider just what Square can add for the inevitable Japan-only Kingdom Hearts 2 “International” version. How can you improve upon a product which does everything flawlessly? Save for including that which everyone *really* wants (i.e. the ability to play as any of the Final Fantasy characters sprinkled throughout the game), it’s difficult to say how this game can actually get any better. Though knowing Nomura’s obsession with perfection…I’m sure it will.

In the 3 years since the Disney-Square venture, Kingdom Hearts, released, it’s difficult to determine the success. In the gaming world it was an unquestioned triumph both license-wise and entertainment-wise. In the “outside” world, however, neither Sora nor his suffering would even register as a “blip” on radar, despite all but the actual Final Fantasy character cameos belonging to Mickey’s Maker. Was it a desire to keep the series stable and not sell-out to advertising nonsense? Was it the more restrained, stunted prominence the game enjoyed in Japan that prevented the ambition?

In the end it’s difficult to say really, but one thing is quite clear: Kingdom Hearts 2 is the product of an enormous amount of time, effort, and dedication; regardless of how it fares in the larger scheme of gaming, it is by far one of the best examples of modern programming and effective licensing to date. While not without flaws, they are mainly design related (room size, money issues) as opposed to gameplay setbacks or programming shortcomings. Obviously there is always room for improvement on ANY product, but far too often you'll pay for a product that can’t even meet benchmark standards with what it DOES offer: Broken combat engines, poor control, bad graphics...Kingdom Hearts 2 perfects seemingly everything it does and that’s about as good as it gets…for now.

Game Score

9.2

Reviewed By: Ashley Winchester