Although this says 2 in the name, it is in fact not the second game in the series. I intend to review that one after this one. Kingdom Hearts 2 is where I believe the series reached its peak and shone its brightest. I personally have played over 2000 hours of the title and it is my favorite in the franchise. With the previously mentioned re-re-release of Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 now is a prime opportunity to review it and get newcomers to the series. I will now proceed to do an in depth review of the game based on it's gameplay, music, and story just as the others. (This should go without saying but, Viewer beware! This is spoiler territory!)
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The Gamplay
(This will be based off of the new updated version found in Kingdom Hearts 2.5)
As much as Kingdom Hearts improved itself upon re-release, Kingdom Hearts 2 only really needed an up tune in graphics. Everything about the gameplay was already improved on and peaked to its best form. The only major differences came in a option called Drive Forms and Limits. Otherwise everything else mostly stayed the same. Before getting into those however I will go over the smaller differences that did happen. First off, they fixed the high-end magic spamming issues. Instead of having bars for each spell, Sora now has a Mp (Magic) meter. Each spell has a certain cost, and therefore slowly drains the bar before Sora goes into Mp recharge. This effectively fixed the Curaga and Leaf Bracer exploit because one Curaga depletes the bar no matter how much Mp Sora has left.
Second is in the list is the command menu. It now has two sections to it and can be switched through just like in the first game with the D-Pad. This is to add room for the before mentioned Drive Form and Limit commands. The combat is also more flashy and aerobic in general with Sora pulling multiple flips in the air. He looks incredibly bada** the whole time. One final minor (Or major depending on who you ask) touch they added to the gameplay was reaction commands. Reactions commands are essentially situation driven. You can, for example, knock an enemy off balance and this will trigger a reaction command.
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Limits are essentially commands that allow you to do a combo attack with every ally. They are all unique and look very flashy, while doing high amounts of damage. During this time Sora also becomes temporarily invincible. This is balanced out fairly well however as limits consume all of Sora's Mp. Drive Forms are where the real action starts. There are 6 forms in Kingdom Hearts 2.5 that Sora is capable of using. All of them focus on different things, and have their own strengths but only 5 are able to be used from the command menu (More on this later).
For example, the first form you get is Valor Form (Also known as Brave Form). Valor Form is extremely strong in brute strength and allows Sora to dual wield weapons, but has a draw back to where Sora can't use magic. The second form you get is Wisdom Form. This form lacks any physical attacks and instead turns the Keyblade into a makeshift gun. The bullets lack damage, but in return Sora gains much higher magic damage. You might be worried that these forms sound over powered, but worry not. The drive forms have a limited amount of time you can stay in them, and the developers made a method to stop Drive Form abuse. One of the forms is used as a counter balance against those who try to spam the forms. It puts you into a state called Anti-Form that is unable to heal, use items, or block. The only thing this form is good for is moving quickly and it often gets you killed.
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The Music
Based off of the first game's standards, most games would have trouble keeping up here. Kingdom Hearts 2 smashes that barrier and quickly reaches a new level. Once again Yoko Shimomura is at the head of the game's music. She truly out-did herself in not only this game, but all others to come in the series. The first game had more soothing light-hearted themes in it that played on the baiscs of innocence and wonder. In Kingdom Hearts 2 there is more at stake, and so the music picks up a more heavy somber tune. (This is more so towards original worlds and battle themes in the game rather than Disney themes.) This becomes immediately noticeable when you fight your first boss in the game and Tension Rising begins to play. It is unmistakable in how grim it is and really stiffens you up for a hard fight. Almost the way a surprise trigonometry quiz gets to you.
The gameplay sounds also received a major upgrade, and there is little to complain about here. All the sounds sound sharp and well placed. The voice acting is on a next level as well compared to the first game. No longer do certain lines feel out of place or unprofessional. They do such a good job of this that in the Alantica world there is a singing mini-game. Even Sora gets in there and sings a few lines. He's not too shabby if you ask me. Over all the worlds feel more immersive, the sound is better quality, and you appreciate the lack of clumsy lines. The only downside to all of this is that Sora still insists on yelling "Hah!", "Hoh!", "This is it!", and "Back off!". It quickly becomes old and you wish he would just shut up at times. With time though, you will eventually learn to ignore it mostly.
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The Story
After the events of Kingdom Hearts, Sora and company awaken from a mysterious deep sleep in a broken down mansion. With no recollection of how they got there, they decide to explore the town in hopes of getting some leads. They soon find the king who tells them to board a train and find the powerful wizard . Sora, disappointed that his friend Riku is not with him in the town boards reluctantly and meets the old wizard Yen Sid as he was told. He learns of a new foe attacking the worlds called the Nobodies. When a heartless is created, the empty body it leaves behind becomes animated and stalks around looking for a heart to steal. Naturally this was dangerous for the worlds, and so Sora and friends headed out on another journey. This time facing both Heartless and Nobodies for twice the danger. However Sora never lost hope of finally finding Riku.
Kingdom Hearts 2 has all the charms of the first game, only adding more finesse and a bigger enemy into the mix. It does a fantastic job of representing your favorite Disney films and it never gets tiring playing along side the cast. The game does revisit some worlds, but it also adds plenty of fresh ones into the mix. Most of the original Disney voice actors also return to reprise there roles in the series. It is as authentic as it gets. The story is not quite as innocent, but it matches the tone of Sora growing up and realizing not everything can be fixed. It's a coming of age story to a certain extent and shows Sora truly finding his emotions and speaking his mind. All the characters get more depth, and the story is dramatically improved.
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Conclusion
Kingdom Hearts 2 takes everything you love about Kingdom Hearts and either improved on it, or added more features. They went above and beyond in this game doing everything they could to appease all the problems of the first game. They succeeded on every account and made a game worthy of being called a master piece. It destroyed all the records its predecessor set and set a new level I have yet to see broken in the franchise. This game is worth all your time and money just by itself, and with it now coming in a bundle with the rest of the series for $50 you have no excuse to not pick it up. Let's hope Kingdom Hearts 3 shows us the wait was worth it and beats even this wonderful game. This game gets a solid 10/10 from me.
Thanks to the wonderful companies and workers who put countless hours into these games! The effort you put into them to entertain us is astounding and really touching. Thank you for reading this post of mine! If you liked my post please up-vote, resteem, and follow me for future content! I really appreciate the support.
P.S, sorry for the late post. I was just only able to post it because I was busy painting the house. Please consider this yesterday's post.
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Kingdom Hearts makes me feel so nostalgic!