Kingdom Hearts II

RPGs are different. They can be immensely enjoyable in the simplest form as long as everything else shines through.

The lack of shine in most of the genre is where they fall short. It turns the experience into a grueling, 20+ hour quest to save a princess.

Fortunately, today is not about the latter. Every once in a while, the kings of video game storytelling grant us the pleasure of a true, genre-defining RPG. No surprises here – this one comes from Square Enix. It's a sequel, and it's populated with some of the most beloved characters of all time: Donald, Goofy, Aladdin, Hercules, the Beast, and around 100 others that range from Disney's beginning (Mickey Mouse) to some of their most recent releases (Chicken Little). 

The way that these characters come together is ingenious. Sora, an original character by artist Tetsuya Nomura (who did the art for Final Fantasy VII, among other recent FFs), is a young and adventurous boy who just happens to hold the key to many of Disney's most exciting worlds.

His first journey took him to many familiar places – worlds we had seen before on the big screen via Disney animation but had not had the chance to explore. Sora will have to go even further in Kingdom Hearts II, a sequel that advances the series by expanding on the first game's strengths: gameplay and story.

Beginning with a beautiful computer-generated sequence and a quick explanation of the battle system, Kingdom Hearts II kicks off with a series of events that set the course for the story. It isn't long before you encounter Mulan, a young woman who poses as a man to fight in the war. Women weren't allowed to fight, but as the film explained, she wanted to bring honor to her family. (Her father wasn't able to fight, thus she felt the need to take his place.)

The story plays out as it does in the film with three additions: Sora, Donald, and Goofy. With Sora under your control you get to influence the war and help Mulan complete her mission. You also get to have Mulan in your party, opening the door for a multitude of additional equip and attack options.

Clever references and relevant connections are mixed into the Disney storylines, merging Sora's world (the "real" world, presumably) with the likes of Winnie the Pooh and Captain Jack Sparrow. Just when you think it can't get anymore unusual, one of Final Fantasy's finest appears. This happens throughout the entire adventure. Lend Hercules a helping hand, talk to a wizard, and say hello to a Final Fantasy castaway that didn't make it to the end of his or her original adventure. In Kingdom Hearts II, anything is possible.

Also intertwined in the story are new details that begin to a show a darker, more emotional side of the game. Given its Disney connections you can't expect to see something along the lines of an Aeries death scene. (However, you do get to chitchat with Aeris again, who is voiced by Mena Suvari this time around). The friendships built in the last adventure haven't dwindled. In a few surprise events, new characters and story connections indicate that things may not be what they seem. A lot of strange things occur toward the first half of the game, with only hints and flashbacks shown to point you in the right direction. What transpires is reminiscent of the PSone Final Fantasy games. It's the single greatest hook that'll keep you guessing till the end. 

And you thought comedy and clever references were all that mattered!
Kingdom Hearts II goes much deeper than that. 

On the gameplay front Kingdom Hearts II gets straight to the point. Given how much of a story there is to tell, KHII doesn't have to fill voids with excess content because there aren't any to fill. It could bore us for hours with repetitive battles and random encounters. Any RPG can do that. In this game encounters are determined by the location and by the status of the story. Most are over in under 60 seconds. At most, five minutes. Boss battles are excluded from my estimates, but I must say that most of them were just as quick. Bosses have multiple life meters – defeating one boss akin to defeating a series of weaker enemies. Bosses also have unique special attacks that make them a little more difficult.

How you defeat these enemies (most of which are known as the "Heartless") is where the gameplay reigns supreme. The basic ideas come from the source that fuels every other action/RPG: The Legend of Zelda. Lock-on camera, button-tapping combos, and other elements and nuances that can't avoid comparisons to Link's 3D adventures.

Don't fret, gamers. Kingdom Hearts II has several gameplay features that are unique to this series in one way or another. First there's the camera, which works like a dream. Spin it left, right, up, or down – I can spin it till the cows come home (and do that famous hippo/gator Fantasia dance) and it won't break. It doesn't get stuck behind walls, get lost in the air, or get caught up in characters or freeze during battle. I don't want to say it's perfect because then I know I'm going to go back and play the game and find something wrong with it. It'd have to be something really tiny, but nonetheless, that's still imperfection.

However, there has yet to be a game that had a perfect camera system. Kingdom Hearts II is the closest to perfection I've experienced on the PS2. The fact that I can play around with not only when exploring but also in battle is extremely impressive. Characters are flying all over the screen, graphic effects pop up everywhere, and yet the game keeps pushing forward, smoothly adjusting the view to meet the player's needs.

With a near-perfect camera in place, the developers were able to craft a combat system that was simple yet engaging. Fairly easy at times, but never, ever boring. This system puts you in control of the main character, Sora, and lets the AI take control of two alternate characters. 

The starting lineup is Sora, Donald and Goofy. Each character is gifted with AP – attack points that let you equip attacks. These attacks and other special moves that are not equipped cannot be used. When equipped many of them go into effect automatically. Some extend combos with extra hits; others let you bounce back quickly from a hard hit. They can extend your reach when striking, reveal the health status of your opponents, and help you defeat some of the most fearsome bosses, among other things.

All of these features were designed to make the battles as quick and painless as possible. The reaction button (triangle) takes seamless gameplay one step further.

When you encounter a treasure chest, an important item, or a chatty NPC (non-playable character), an icon showing the triangle button will appear. In combat the icon will appear in one or more of the following scenarios: to evade an attack, to retaliate, or to deal a special strike. It sounds simple, and I'm sad to say that no other game has been able to pull it off. I'm also happy to say that, because the "no other" means that one game finally has – this game.  During boss battles, you will have the opportunity to interact with some of the most beautiful polygon sequences seen on PlayStation 2. The effects are really something, and the intensity of having to hit the triangle button in time is surprisingly high. I hate this style (where one button does it all) in other games, but here it works perfectly.  

Simplicity could've been Kingdom Hearts II's middle name, if that were the focus. The gameplay is stellar, the graphics are wonderful and the music is a wondrous trip down memory lane. But when you put down the controller to take a break, you'll want to load the game back up and start again. As good as the gameplay is, that won't be your primary reason. Kingdom Hearts II excels in the area where RPGs were born to succeed: storytelling. It's on the same level as a classic Disney animated film.

There is one audio flaw – Captain Jack Sparrow and company are not voiced by the actors who played them in the film.

However, all other voices are true to their characters. Christopher Lee, Ming-Na, James Woods, Zach Braff, and Haley Joel Osment (and dozens of the professional actors who worked on Disney's recent animated movies, including Hercules and Beauty and the Beast) are featured in Kingdom Hearts II.

Gameplay: 9.4
A non-stop adventure filled with quick combos, frantic jumping and evasions, and exciting reaction sequences. Kingdom Hearts II is the smoothest and most seamless action/RPG to grace the PlayStation 2. It’s more addictive than Grandia III, more charming than Dragon Quest VII, and as memorable as the granddaddy of them all – Final Fantasy [insert Roman numeral here]. The entire game is an enamoring, relentlessly captivating experience that has no equal. It’s on par with the quality of the Disney movies it pays homage to.

Graphics: 9.5
It's a BIG world after all! Kingdom Hearts II is not to be praised for realism, though it does have its moments. The game earns eye candy points for its enormous, beautifully sculpted environments. Each one has a distinct appearance with various polygon techniques implemented to ensure that no two are exactly alike. Should Pooh's homeland have the same graphic style as Hercules? Widen your eyes, pan the camera around and let yourself be taken away by Kingdom Hearts II's variety and visual depth.

Sound: 9.6
An impeccable, unforgettable mixture of classic Disney tracks and new Square Enix themes. There's a hint of Final Fantasy in many of the new tracks. Fans of both universes will be emotionally affected, no question. The nostalgic value of the Disney tunes can only go so far, yet they never get tiring, slightly repetitive, or seem out of place.

That goes to show how timeless both Disney and Final Fantasy are – that no matter how much I hear the music I don't want it to end. And I never, not for a second, had the desire to mute this game and play my stereo. (Here's hoping for a digital release of the soundtrack via iTunes.)

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Not a hardcore RPG unless you want it to be. The hardest difficulty is considerably tougher, but if you've played through any of the major action/RPGs of the PSone era (or even the SNES era), chances are Kingdom Hearts II won't seem like that great of a challenge. It's more about the story than anything else, and rightfully so! I've been waiting a long time for a game like this.

Concept: 9.1
Kingdom Hearts II is an intelligent, humorous, and highly captivating sequel that sucks you into its world and won't let go till the end. Letting go is the hardest part, because when the credits roll you know that for the time being, this is it. From the opening sequence to the closing cinema, you'll be intrigued, enamored, and amused by countless references made just for Disney and Final Fantasy fans. Kingdom Hearts II should be the benchmark of RPG storytelling; terrific dialogue (that's believable and makes sense!), likable characters (with likable actors voicing them), and an unimaginable journey that'll leave you in awe.

Overall: 9.4
For every smirk. For every laugh. For every scene you never saw coming, and for every scene you just had to see twice. Kingdom Hearts II is the pinnacle of interactive storytelling. It's the kind of game that'll take up 20 save files on your memory card -- not because you need them, but because you'll want to revisit many of the game's locations without having to start a new game. But you will want to play through the whole thing more than once, an element rarely found outside of an RPG that doesn't have "Final Fantasy" in the title.

(Kingdom Hearts II does star many of Final Fantasy's finest – might that have something to do with it? Let's ponder that one for a while.)

This is a must-buy RPG. To those who have never played the original, I say skip that and jump right into the sequel. The gameplay is easy to jump into (even without prior experience), and there are several flashbacks that'll clue you in as to what happened in the last game. After finishing Kingdom Hearts II, you'll have this ridiculously strong desire to drop what you're doing and play through the original.