Kingdom Hearts II: A Sequel Surpasses Its Expectations

I really wish I had my Kingdom Hearts II game back. I have a hankering to play it...but I let my little sister borrow it, and she's like five states away. Oh well.

That's how good Kingdom Hearts II is. In fact, I would argue that it's even better than its predecessor, Kingdom Hearts. There are a number of reasons why I think it's better...the story had ended in a spot that just screamed, "There's gonna be a sequel, don't worry!" in the first Kingdom Hearts, and I guess like a fine wine, the anticipation simply made the sequel an incredibly fun and long overdue experience. Another reason is because as the years passed, the technology got better. As the technology got better, so did the graphics and animation. A third reason is because the characters grew older and became more mature – even the game grew a teensy bit more violent than the original. That’s what I personally liked about it – even though I was 23 years old and played a video game with Donald Duck and Goofy in it, the seriousness and bits of violence made me feel justified that I could, indeed, play the game without feeling like a total tool.

But, before I get away with the details...

Warning: [The plot explanation contains spoilers from the first Kingdom Hearts. If you don’t want to know, I highly suggest playing the game!!!]

Plot: Sora, Donald, and Goofy had sealed up Kingdom Hearts and stopped the overflowing invasion of Heartless, put a halt to Maleficent’s plan, and had destroyed the evil Ansem from completely dominating Kingdom Hearts for his own malicious purposes. Their success, however, had come at a price. Sora had freed Riku from Ansem’s possession and saved Kairi from a terrible fate, but he had to separate himself from the worlds and from his friends in order to close the door to Kingdom Hearts. King Mickey had helped Sora by sealing the door on the other side as well, and as penance, Riku decided to help the King, shutting himself off from Sora as well. Although things had returned to normal and the worlds were restored, Sora, Donald, and Goofy vowed to find the King and Riku so they would all be able to go home.

After encountering a mysterious cloaked stranger, they were instructed to climb an endless staircase inside a castle – only then would they truly find what they were looking for.

Sora was put into a deep sleep, however, along with Donald and Goofy, and all had seemed forgotten.

Two years pass.

Kingdom Hearts II begins with a new and mysterious character called Roxas. Strange things are happening to his town and he has recurring dreams about Sora. Slowly, Roxas begins noticing ominous changes about himself and the town he’s living in, and eventually he keeps seeing a silhouette, cloaked in black. The cloaked stranger seems to be giving him clues...but none of it makes sense to Roxas – until he wields a keyblade. What can it all mean?

Roxas is inevitably in for a rough awakening, as he has to battle new foes that appear out of nowhere and seem to be after him; all the while knowing that his goal is to somehow, some way, find Sora and wake him up...

Gameplay: A lot of the old controls from Kingdom Hearts are back in Kingdom Hearts II, as the cursor needs to be moved back in forth in order to select “Attack, Magic, Items,” etc, but more controls will be added (and I’ll get into that later). Because Kingdom Hearts II is RPG-based just like its original, the gameplay remains pretty linear. More sidequests have been added, however, and there are more characters to choose from – both of the Disney and Final Fantasy realms.

Just like in the original Kingdom Hearts, you can control Sora (apart from Roxas) as the main character, accompanied by the ever-faithful Donald and Goofy. Jiminy Cricket comes back to keep your Journal for you, and the characters eventually move throughout worlds and may be joined by new (or returning) characters from the past as a fourth wheel. Although you cannot control the other characters, you can program which abilities they may use at a certain time and which ones they may not (to be explained later as well). Much of the gameplay relies on the original version and only a few details have been modified. The main screen with the “Attack” and “Magic” options has a KHII or KHI option in terms of how it looks; you can opt for the original version if you want (much like changing a screen saver), but for the most part, the details remain the same.

Kingdom Hearts II remains, inevitably, a button-masher. I have never found a use for magic in this game, save healing, as it’s usually Donald’s forte. Like the original game, however, Kingdom Hearts II does give you the initial option of choosing your strength – i.e. if you pick a sword, you’ll rely heavily on attack. If you pick the shield, you’ll rely heavily on defense. This is Roxas’s choice as he wields the keyblade in the beginning of the game. There is one extra addition in the battles, however, and that’s the addition of combination attacks and the triangle button. If you’ve played God of War, you’ll know what I’m talking about. In the middle of battle, there’s a little montage of combinations the character can use via the triangle button, which will pop up at select times on the screen. Hitting the triangle button at the right time will allow the character to execute a new move on the foe. I like this new addition because it makes the battle more interesting, and you’ve gotta pay attention if you want to get the timing right.

Another addition is the “second chance” move. When Sora’s HP (hit points or health points) are spent, he won’t die right away. We’ll just say he’s knocked unconscious. At this time, Mickey will flip onto the screen like a miniature Yoda and hold up his keyblade, yelling, “Don’t give up, Sora!” The player has the chance to “charge” Sora back up, hitting the X button (I think it’s the X button) as fast as humanly possible in succession in order to restore Sora’s health. As Mickey is charging his keyblade, however, a battle is still being fought and he’s susceptible to attacks. If the charge is interrupted, it’s sayonara Sora. I haven’t seen Mickey around too much (I never let Sora die since I’m used to the Kingdom Hearts gameplay - and I’m a big nerd), but I have attempted to use him for attacking a few times. That does a whole lot of absolutely nothing. Mickey is only there for a split second to revive Sora, nothing more. If Sora falls, Donald and Goofy will still stick around the fight, but they won’t last long.

Leveling Up and Abilities: Points are gained for each foe defeated, just like in Kingdom Hearts, and the characters eventually level up and gain in strength, magic, and ability points. Ability points are used to assign each character various abilities. Abilities are also learned as the character gains levels, but no specific ability can be pre-assigned by the player. Each character learns abilities based on their expertise and it’s usually random, therefore the player has no control over who learns what. After an ability is learned, however, it can then be assigned (provided how many ability points are earned). For example, Sora might learn “Air Combo #2,” but Donald won’t. Donald may learn “MP Charge” but Sora will not. Each ability costs something – so let’s say “Air Combo #2” costs 4 ability points and Sora has 7. If “Air Combo #2” is assigned, Sora now has only 3 ability points left. As each character levels up, ability points increase, as well as the amount and variety of abilities learned.

Even though I had claimed to not level grind so much in Kingdom Hearts, I don’t think I level grinded at all in Kingdom Hearts II. I remember my sister saying, “It was so much easier beating Kingdom Hearts II than the first one!” Probably because the developers made it slightly easier, I don’t know, but I just remember not having to work as hard at this one. That isn’t saying it wasn’t fun, however. On the contrary, Kingdom Hearts II was a flippin’ blast.

Items and Accessories: Also like the original, the characters may assign items and accessorize. Items used can be potions (for health), ethers (for magic), and so on. Accessories serve mainly to boost stats and defense (i.e. an armband can increase strength 1 and a moon necklace can defer Thunder magic by 20%, etc.) while items may be used in the middle of battle to help your comrades out. Donald and Goofy have the option to use items at their own free will, but this can be programmed by the player. If Sora’s getting his butt kicked, it’s nice to know that Donald will yank out a potion via A.I. technology and heal him...however, on the flip side, Donald and Goofy might be throwing potions out there like it’s no tomorrow, so it’s up to the player’s discretion whether or not how to best use items.

Magic: The magic is back, and I could personally care less. I really don’t think I’ve ever used magic spells unless truly desperately ultimately necessary, and even if I did use magic a ton, it was usually a cure spell, which was helpful with healing. Magic, this time, is not learned. Instead, it’s gained as you progress through the game – which I think is stupid. So, therefore, you can’t even use certain spells until you get to a certain point. Then, of course, once you get to that point, the spell is utterly useless once you get it. It reminds me a little of Final Fantasy. You can’t get the major damage-causing spells until you’re strong enough. Same goes for Kingdom Hearts, except I’d rather negotiate with Sora’s keyblade than with a bolt of lightning.

It’s there if you want to use it, however, and it’s just like Final Fantasy spells – Fire, Ice, Lightning, Cure, Gravity, etc. There are some instances where you’ll have to use magic in a certain situation...but that’s about it. Leave the rest up to Donald and watch your ethers.

Summons: Yes, folks, summons are back as well and are COMPLETELY useless. I had used them quite a bit in the first Kingdom Hearts, but man oh man, they’ve just gone down the crapper in Kingdom Hearts II. I mentioned Kingdom Hearts II being a better game than the original, but the summons are an exception. They don’t do a whole lot besides create a distraction and perhaps provide for a brief, cute little show. The summons are significantly weaker and don’t last very long, depleting your Drive gauge (I’ll explain Drives in a sec) and still leaving a ton of enemies left. Summons do not grow as Sora levels up – instead, they grow as you use them. The more you use them, the more they become stronger and eventually even give Sora additional abilities. Too bad I hardly ever used them. A few examples of the new summons are Chicken Little, Stitch (I still haven’t figured out what he does besides pitter-patter around on the screen), and Peter Pan.

Drives and the Drive Gauge: The Drive gauge is a new feature in Kingdom Hearts II. Drives enable Sora to transform into a more powerful warrior; wielding two keyblades instead of one, he even switches outfits and dispatches enemies left and right while he’s in this temporary transformation. The help of Donald and Goofy are forfeited, however, and the Drive gauge slowly depletes as Sora stays in this modified warrior version. Ultimately, Sora gains three different forms – Valor, Wisdom, and Master. Each of these forms gains abilities and levels up as the player uses them; they do not increase in strength or level as Sora does. Instead, they have to be used constantly in order to gain experience. Unfortunately, this depletes the Drive gauge and it takes a while to fill back up. Saving the game restores health and magic, but not the Drive gauge. Specific items can restore the Drive gauge, but they cannot be purchased.

Two additional forms that Sora can transform into are the Final and Anti drive forms, however, these are rare and may be harder to discover...

Drive forms eventually earn Sora extra abilities, depending on how often they are used. I had overlooked the Drive forms previously, but then went back to explore them – and they are incredibly useful. If you’re careful with your Drive gauge and exercise Sora throughout the game with his different Drive forms, you’ll discover a few treats. It’s also incredible to watch – the kid wields two keyblades and can do some major damage.

Extras: Jiminy’s Journal is back in the menu, allowing you to read up on characters you might not be familiar with, foes you might have encountered, and extra Ansem reports. The Gummi Ship returns as well with Chip and Dale as your guides, and new worlds appear in addition to a few old ones. There are some old worlds that you might welcome and some you might not care so much about *cough*Atlantis*cough*. The loveable Disney and Final Fantasy characters are back, with a few bonus appearances by Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and even Sephiroth (all from the Advent Children movie). Advertise much? Hey, I was just excited to see the moogles again. More Disney characters make an appearance as well, including Captain Jack Sparrow and Mulan, to name a few.

Overall: In my personal opinion, I believe this game is better than the last. I say this because even though it’s a sequel, the story remains just as great and compelling as the first, integrating much more drama and seriousness (but still keeping that dorky Disney aura at times) but tends to grow as the characters have grown. Even though there are those lame, comic-relief bits, the overwhelming story and all-around feel of the entire game completely make us forget the fact that we're playing with Disney characters.

An unfortunate feature about this game is that it’s somewhat interrupted; part of the events that unfold between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II is linked by Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which is a piece of the story I haven’t gotten since it’s only available on Nintendo Game Boy Advance. That is not cool. It’s a total marketing ploy and I am NOT going to go out and buy a Game Boy just because they won’t market Chain of Memories anywhere else. So, if you go directly from Kingdom Hearts to Kingdom Hearts II, the beginning of the second game might confuse you. I eventually caught on after reading up a bit online.

But this game is flippin’ great. It’s so fun to play; I’ve at least beaten it three times. There are only two video games I’ve ever played that made me cry: Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts II. I admit it. There’s a scene later on in this game that just makes me gush. If a game can make me cry then it’s gotta be damn good.

Finally, the music is great. Phenomenal, even, like they were making an epic. I own the soundtrack. Check it out.