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Kingdom Hearts 2

KH2 is one of the earliest games I remember seeing since my big brother played back then. Because of this and how much the opening cutscene has shaped parts of my childhood memories from watching it countless times on youtube, I have insane bias towards this game, not to mention that I still havent played KH1 as of writing this but yeah.
Anyway, I've played KH2 twice, the original version a long time ago and final mix around the time the first version of this review was out. Probably goes without saying since it's the version most people play nowadays but I'll be reviewing the Final mix version.

With prefacing out of the way, this game is pretty good, nostalgia biased or not. Gameplay still holds up to this day, movement is fluid and combat feels great to do even when mindlessly button mashing. Combat customization is great, especially later on when you've likely unlocked most of the drive form skills and truly enjoy the movement of the game. Limit form, an addition in final is also neat to have, considering you can use it when you have no other party members present and it gives access to some of Sora's abilites that he had in KH1.

Visually the game looks fine and has aged fairly well. Only thing that hasn't is the flat textured faces in some scenes. Their usage or presence isn't bad but on occasion it can stick out sometimes. But other than that the game looks fine and the properly textured face models look great.

Music for the game is good. Some of my favourites are, of course, Sanctuary, Lazy afternoons, Roxas' theme, The world that never was, hundred acre woods, just about all the OrganizationXIII battle themes and Dearly beloved. KH2's version of Dearly Beloved always makes me feel warm inside particularly because of how it builds up in the intro. Same goes for Sanctuary to be honest but x1000.

Its hard for me to watch the first 30 seconds without rewinding it to watch again

I could rant about that song but I shall not for the sake of keeping this brief. The opening fmv itself does a decent job of portraying the events of 1 and COM but I find it strange how Namine comes off as vaguely antagonistic near the end of it. Like if you hadn't played COM you'd assume that she's putting Sora to sleep against his will when that is not the case.

I think the only weak part of this game in regards to it's gameplay especially when compared to KH1, is it's level design. Unlike KH1 which involved more intricately designed areas that might have involved puzzle solving or platforming, KH2's worlds are more so just areas or corridors where in which you fight enemies.
The only exception being the cavern of rememberance, which takes advantage of the drive forms movement abilites, but that's really the only area that asks you to do more than move forward and fight enemies. I think Its greatly designed and fun to explore but the rest of the game could have done better. Agraba and the Pridelands are maaaaaybe just barely above the other worlds but not by much.
There's the gummi ship segments as well but to be completely honest, even as the shmup addict I am, I dont have much to say about them, don't love them don't hate them, they are just inoffensive.

The story of two honestly peaks with the twilight town segment in the beginning, especially on repeat playthroughs. It can be boring to play, sure, but when you have the context of 358/2 and Roxas' entire backstory it becomes more of a psychological torture session, arguably even without the context of 358/2 it can be seen as such. Despite being around who he recognizes as his friends, he is constantly shown to be alone in a less literal sense, whether it be through simply being left out of things, accidentally screwing things up or literally being the only person who seems to be able to see the weird things that happen within the digital Twilight town.

Though I had felt and recognized these things on my previous playthroughs, this video pretty much perfectly summarizes what I'm getting at and is also one of the reasons I wanted to redo this review, besides the old one just being unorganized.

I think the opening segment of KH2 is does a good job at putting us in the shoes of Roxas and delivers a melancholy and bittersweet end to his character, for the time being, despite it being possible that some of us may have had no clue who Roxas was, back when 358 wasn't released or if you happend to be playing the games in release order and had avoided spoilers.

The rest of the story doesn't reach the highs of the twilight town segment until the end of the game and it is honestly just doing whatver in the disney worlds for the first half, but I don't mind it too much since its not the worst thing ever and the gameplay makes up for it more than enough. In my last playthrough, I honestly found Sora, Sondald and Goofy's antics in the disney worlds to be really endearing at times. Felt nice seeing their unrivaled joy and whimsy as the somewhat cynical adult I am now.

The 2nd half, consisting of the battle of 1000 heartless all the way to the end of the game is better since the organization are a more active threat and have more appearances in some of the disney worlds which makes the revists have slightly more overarching relevance to them.
Endgame is great, Roxas' confrontation with Sora and everything about their fight is just perfect. Also love the scene where Riku joins back with the gang and Sora breaks down since he had been looking for him for more less the entire game thus far, including COM. With the addition of Kairi being there too, the Destiny Island trio is back together for the first time since KH1.
The ending is perfect. Plot holes be damned, in my heart I know I would have been content if the series had ended right there. Bittersweet as the fates of Roxas and Naminé may be, it still makes me smile, seeing the flashes of them within Sora and Kairi in the ending cutscene. The after battle version of Sanctuary too makes me irrationally emotionally in ways I cannot accurately convey.

I've said all I've wanted but here are some extra miscellaneous thoughts I have:

The art direction for just about all the KH games, particularly their box art, is amazing and Nomura hits it out of the park with each one honestly, though KH1 vanilla has the best box art IMO.
I like the sound design, especially for the menus.
Post game fights on Critical are brutal yet enjoyable, though I haven't finished all of them yet
I think the OrganizationXIII cloaks are cool.
Atlantica is tolerable, mildly endearing even.
I like the white & grey color scheme that most nobodies and parts of the world that never was, have. Also the cityscape parts of TWTNW has a nice vibe about it.

So overall Kingdom Hearts 2 is still a great game that has aged like fine wine and I will forever fail to not be biased towards it despite of the few flaws it does admittedly have.


	Back to main page Kingdom Hearts 2 KH2 is one of the earliest games I remember seeing since my big brother played back then. Because of this and how much the opening cutscene has shaped parts of my childhood memories from watching it countless times on youtube, I have insane bias towards this game, not to mention that I still havent played KH1 as of writing this but yeah. Anyway, I've played KH2 twice, the original version a long time ago and final mix around the time the first version of this review was out. Probably goes without saying since it's the version most people play nowadays but I'll be reviewing the Final mix version. With prefacing out of the way, this game is pretty good, nostalgia biased or not. Gameplay still holds up to this day, movement is fluid and combat feels great to do even when mindlessly button mashing. Combat customization is great, especially later on when you've likely unlocked most of the drive form skills and truly enjoy the movement of the game. Limit form, an addition in final is also neat to have, considering you can use it when you have no other party members present and it gives access to some of Sora's abilites that he had in KH1. Visually the game looks fine and has aged fairly well. Only thing that hasn't is the flat textured faces in some scenes. Their usage or presence isn't bad but on occasion it can stick out sometimes. But other than that the game looks fine and the properly textured face models look great. Music for the game is good. Some of my favourites are, of course, Sanctuary, Lazy afternoons, Roxas' theme, The world that never was, hundred acre woods, just about all the OrganizationXIII battle themes and Dearly beloved. KH2's version of Dearly Beloved always makes me feel warm inside particularly because of how it builds up in the intro. Same goes for Sanctuary to be honest but x1000. I could rant about that song but I shall not for the sake of keeping this brief. The opening fmv itself does a decent job of portraying the events of 1 and COM but I find it strange how Namine comes off as vaguely antagonistic near the end of it. Like if you hadn't played COM you'd assume that she's putting Sora to sleep against his will when that is not the case. I think the only weak part of this game in regards to it's gameplay especially when compared to KH1, is it's level design. Unlike KH1 which involved more intricately designed areas that might have involved puzzle solving or platforming, KH2's worlds are more so just areas or corridors where in which you fight enemies. The only exception being the cavern of rememberance, which takes advantage of the drive forms movement abilites, but that's really the only area that asks you to do more than move forward and fight enemies. I think Its greatly designed and fun to explore but the rest of the game could have done better. Agraba and the Pridelands are maaaaaybe just barely above the other worlds but not by much. There's the gummi ship segments as well but to be completely honest, even as the shmup addict I am, I dont have much to say about them, don't love them don't hate them, they are just inoffensive. The story of two honestly peaks with the twilight town segment in the beginning, especially on repeat playthroughs. It can be boring to play, sure, but when you have the context of 358/2 and Roxas' entire backstory it becomes more of a psychological torture session, arguably even without the context of 358/2 it can be seen as such. Despite being around who he recognizes as his friends, he is constantly shown to be alone in a less literal sense, whether it be through simply being left out of things, accidentally screwing things up or literally being the only person who seems to be able to see the weird things that happen within the digital Twilight town. Though I had felt and recognized these things on my previous playthroughs, this video pretty much perfectly summarizes what I'm getting at and is also one of the reasons I wanted to redo this review, besides the old one just being unorganized. I think the opening segment of KH2 is does a good job at putting us in the shoes of Roxas and delivers a melancholy and bittersweet end to his character, for the time being, despite it being possible that some of us may have had no clue who Roxas was, back when 358 wasn't released or if you happend to be playing the games in release order and had avoided spoilers. The rest of the story doesn't reach the highs of the twilight town segment until the end of the game and it is honestly just doing whatver in the disney worlds for the first half, but I don't mind it too much since its not the worst thing ever and the gameplay makes up for it more than enough. In my last playthrough, I honestly found Sora, Sondald and Goofy's antics in the disney worlds to be really endearing at times. Felt nice seeing their unrivaled joy and whimsy as the somewhat cynical adult I am now. The 2nd half, consisting of the battle of 1000 heartless all the way to the end of the game is better since the organization are a more active threat and have more appearances in some of the disney worlds which makes the revists have slightly more overarching relevance to them. Endgame is great, Roxas' confrontation with Sora and everything about their fight is just perfect. Also love the scene where Riku joins back with the gang and Sora breaks down since he had been looking for him for more less the entire game thus far, including COM. With the addition of Kairi being there too, the Destiny Island trio is back together for the first time since KH1. The ending is perfect. Plot holes be damned, in my heart I know I would have been content if the series had ended right there. Bittersweet as the fates of Roxas and Naminé may be, it still makes me smile, seeing the flashes of them within Sora and Kairi in the ending cutscene. The after battle version of Sanctuary too makes me irrationally emotionally in ways I cannot accurately convey. I've said all I've wanted but here are some extra miscellaneous thoughts I have: The art direction for just about all the KH games, particularly their box art, is amazing and Nomura hits it out of the park with each one honestly, though KH1 vanilla has the best box art IMO. I like the sound design, especially for the menus. Post game fights on Critical are brutal yet enjoyable, though I haven't finished all of them yet I think the OrganizationXIII cloaks are cool. Atlantica is tolerable, mildly endearing even. I like the white & grey color scheme that most nobodies and parts of the world that never was, have. Also the cityscape parts of TWTNW has a nice vibe about it. So overall Kingdom Hearts 2 is still a great game that has aged like fine wine and I will forever fail to not be biased towards it despite of the few flaws it does admittedly have.