Kingdom Hearts 2: Review

26th February 2016 Off By Adam Bloomfield

Released in 2005, Kingdom Hearts II serves as the official second entry in the Kingdom Hearts saga and brought along many new characters and gameplay changes.

Taking place one year after the events of Chain of Memories; instead of Sora, the opening part of the game focuses on a new mysterious youth named Roxas who like Sora can wield the Keyblade.

Roxas serves as the protagonist until Sora resumes his role with Donald and Goofy and journeys across the worlds, looking for his missing friends and in an attempt to stop the Heartless and new enemies called Organisation XIII.

The game returns to the previous hack and slash gameplay we saw in Kingdom Hearts 1 but with some new additions such as new spells like Reflect which shrouds Sora in a forcefield and bounces back enemy attacks and Magnet which draws enemies in and deals damage.

One of the three main new features is the Drive Forms which when used allows Sora to assume new more powerful forms that boost his strength, magic or both. These forms are unlocked along the course of the game and are more powerful than each other, so pretty handy when you’re fighting a boss that cannot be beaten in Sora’s normal state!

The second new addition is the combo attacks Sora can use with Donald, Goofy and various other Disney characters he teams up with.

Combination attacks include Sora and Donald bombarding the enemies with an endless storm of fireworks or Sora and Goofy linking together in a tornado like fashion.

Finally, the last new mechanic is the Reaction Commands. This little new feature can really turn the tide of the battle as it allows Sora to adapt to any enemy fight by using his opponent’s moves against them to deal damage or escape from potentially lethal situations but its a split second skill that needs to be mastered.

The game is noticeably a bit darker than Kingdom Hearts 1 and Chain of Memories as the Organization’s hidden motives string Sora, Donald and Goofy along, but just who are these sinister beings in black coats that haunt our hero in his journey?

Returning characters include Namine, Ansem and Axel.

Like with other games in the series there are several clues and hints that connect with future games but you have to pay attention to figure out what they are. New worlds include the Lion King, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and Disney Castle.

Arguably Kingdom Hearts II has been seen as the best game in the series and I have to agree since its had made major improvements on the first games and provides a more in depth insight to the characters and the worlds that have been set up.

Coming next week, we learn more about the story of Roxas in Kingdom Hearts; 358/2 Days