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DJ PagesKINGDOM HEARTS II
Kingdom Hearts II -
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Full Review
The question that haunts almost every hardcore gamer that eagerly awaits a sequel to a fantastic game. Does the sequel hold its own or fall among countless other awful sequels?
Final Fantasy X sprung, in my opinion, one of the worst rpg sequels I’ve ever played in my life so after finding kingdom hearts among one of my favourite rpg games of all time I was a little weary when Kingdom Hearts 2 was to be released. The game delivers a bigger and better storyline and amazing graphics but for this; the game-play suffers.
The story of Kingdom Hearts starts with a young guy called Roxas and for several hours you'll find yourself getting to grips with the game-play and bogged down with around 2 hours of cut scenes. Once you play as Sora the story really picks up. I won't give away too much but anyone familiar with the first game will admire the fantastic job Square has done to tie up all the loose ends. Don't get me wrong though, you don’t need any special knowledge to play this game but a basic understanding of the first game is definately a bonus here.
The graphics, as you would expect, are superb and every world has a distinct feel and musical theme to it. Your characters will regularly change to fit in with the surroundings at these locations and it really helps give the feel of actually being inside the Disney worlds.
Although the story and graphics are top notch; in the process the rpg elements of the first game have been completely ripped away leaving you slightly disappointed with the lack of secrets.
On the same topic of exploration, some areas that were pretty small in the first game have been condensed even further into what I can only refer to as a "dull experience". Atlantica has no purpose other than a mini-game where you have to press a button at a specific point during songs. Although this is a great idea, it’s pulled off terribly as you never really get into the mini-game. After every song you are told you need a specific magic spell or item before you can progress, making Atlantica last longer than you would want it to!
The game is rather linear but towards the end the exploration is given freely to the player. However, you will travel to every world at least twice so there really is no point in revisiting these worlds once you're finished so although it’s nice to have this option-the lack of rpg elements and decent sized worlds will leave you with the urge to travel somewhere new.
The inclusion of Port Royal is a nice touch and it certainly portrays the best graphical cut-scenes than any other world. The detail is fantastic but a lot of the voice acting has been ripped directly from the films which kinda makes you lose the illusion of being inside the world.
On the same note of cut-scenes, Kingdom hearts delivers hundreds. There's no exaggeration there and sometimes you move a couple of seconds in a world before being thrown back into a cut-scene.
By the end of the game you end up groaning everytime another cut-scene comes up. If they took away half the cut-scenes, you'd finish the game in half the time. With too-frequent cut-scenes aside I've noticed a lot of people don't like the magic system and the new and improved gummi ship.
I completely agree with the magic system. The only magic you're likely to use throughout the game is the cure spell but the trouble is it drains all your MP and you have to wait for your bar to recharge; in a boss fight it’s the last thing you need.
On the same note of battles, the redefined battles are very welcome and the camera swings smoothly although you will still find yourself getting frustrated with the system and getting hit numerous times due to the camera being in an awful position but this can quickly be altered with the right analog stick or in boss battles pressing the R1 button will lock to a target which will prevent the camera from swinging wildly.
The gummi ship system I found excellent. Despite what people have said I found it a very enjoyable experience when you're fed up with the amount of cut-scenes you're likely to sit through when you enter a new world or start a new chapter. You fly through swarms of different monsters and ships and have to shoot them down. I didn't play around with the gummi editor but anyone who is familiar with the final fantasy games will enjoy the inclusion of unlockable models such as the Highwind and Tonberry models.
Also new to Kingdom Hearts 2 is the drive system. This system allows you to morph into a more powerful form of yourself and attacks are doubled and dealt twice as fast. The only downfall to this system is the disabled ability of using items in this form which can be annoying to say the least when you're low on health.
If you're a fan of the original or brand new to the wonders of Kingdom Hearts-you should definately check this out.
Conclusion Scores
Graphics -
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Story -
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Gameplay -
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Environments -
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Sound -
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Lasting Appeal -
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Overall Score
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