The Official Kingdom Hearts 2 Thread

[nforcer06164]

Before I begin, let me emphasize this:

DO NOT REVEAL MAJOR PLOT POINTS.

This includes revealing stuff outright, trying to decipher hints, etc. I don't want KH2 ruined for me or anyone here like FFX was. Now, anyway...

Do the terms Castle Oblivion, Twilight Town, Naminé, DiZ, and the Organization mean anything to you? If not, then you didn't play Chain of Memories, and you won't know what the hell is going on at the beginning of KH2. KH2 is NOT a direct sequel to KH. You're definitely going to be lost. Pick up a copy of CoM if you can, or at least find a plot synopsis so you can catch up.

Yeah, the big, bright Buena Vista logo scared me as much as it scared you. The only reason it's there is because licensed Disney characters are in the game, so Buena Vista, Disney's game developer, had to be involved. Buena Vista is taking some credit for development, but I really don't see it. The only influence I see so far is the addition of Disney characters, so it's nothing to worry about.

If you do plan on picking up a guide, don't hesitate to pick up Brady's limited edition guide. In my opinion, it's definitely worth it. It's BEAUTIFUL. Definitely a collector's item. You can get 20% (six bucks) off the guide, too, if you buy it in combination with the game at EB Games.

The graphics and charater sequencing has taken a turn for the better. The days of emotionless expression is gone. The characters are believable, the environments are even more detailed... the first Kingdom Hearts looked good, but this is incredible.

Maybe it's because I haven't played KH lately, but the action seems a lot more fast-paced. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the action because it moves so fast. Of course, anyone will probably get used to it in due time, but it is a bit frustrating at first.

Camera control with the analog stick? Awesome. You decide if you want the camera to be goofy (ROFL pun) right from the start. The only issue is it's REALLY HARD to control at first.

I've only played about 100 minutes so far, and I already love it. If you loved the first KH (and you should've), and played CoM, or know the story (and you should've), you're going to be hooked from the moment you put the disc in your PS2.

Oh, and for those of you who DOWNLOAD the game... ungrateful bastards. If you truly appreciate this game, you'll buy it instead of stealing it. Square Enix spent a lot of time making this perfect, and you show your appreciation by not giving them a measly $50? It's too good for piracy. I'm talking to you, blitzmage.

[blitzmage]

For people who want to know what happened in CoM but don't want to play the boring crappy game. This is basicly the cutscenes from all the game put in order of what happened. Hope you got 3 and a half hours.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...mories&pl=true

P.S I live in the UK not waiting for it to come out 2 months later for no reason and have the price jacked up thanks to tax rates. kthx 8)

[Moogy]

YOU DON'T PLAY AS SORA AT THE BEGINNING LOL SPOILED

Oh, don't even bother trying to lecture us about buying this crap. It's nothing but KH1 continued for like 20 hours. Square Enix doesn't deserve anything - nowadays they seem devoted to making crappy games. I am extremely hesitant to buy anything that has Square Enix's logo on it - that's why I buy a lot of their games on eBay. A company that obsessively whores out old franchises, horrible dev teams, and half-baked composers while ignoring the franchises, teams, and composers that could make, and have made, good games isn't a good company. Square Enix is obsessed with money and FF now. Unlimited SaGa was the last game they made that had any soul. Only FF12 remains to redeem them (it has Sakimoto and the team that made FFT and VS). I refuse to play it until it comes out here. I want to at least give FF12, their very last chance to redeem themselves in my eyes, a fighting chance.

Don't even bother giving me BS about SO3 or VP2, as those are both Tri-Ace franchises they put their grubby little logo on. I almost laughed out loud when I saw their logo on Grandia 3 of all things. But that game sucks anyway. Enix is responsible for publishing these games anyway. They're also responsible for the travesty known as Dragon Quest VIII.

Also, this game is far from perfect. Being the only person on these boards who has actually beaten it already (in Japanese), I am qualified to say this. Sure, there are new worlds, better camera, etc etc. But... it feels empty. It doesn't have any of the charm of the original. It's just more of the same. Hell, probably 50-60% of the game is recycled. It's more fodder for Square Enix's soulless profit machine.

Whatever. Buy it if you want to. Download it if you want to. I'm going to buy it, to continue my collection of every PS2 RPG. But it's definitely not out of misguided loyalty to Square Enix.

[nforcer06164]

Moogy, I hate you more and more with each post you make in GVG. You are CRITICAL of everything. EVERYTHING. Only a few games are good to you. You don't give anything credit. We don't CARE if you've beaten the game in Japanese. We don't CARE if you don't like it. I feel the old charm, the emotion, the magic that was in the first one. Maybe it didn't have that for you because you didn't know what was being said, hmm?

A lot of us have learned to distrust your opinion, Moogy. We don't appreciate you bashing everything you simply decided to hate. So STFU and GTFO. It's not necessary, and definitely needed. Kthx.

[kickassbuddy]

Moogy is always like that. That's why everyone hates him lol

[Omeganitros]

Hey.

Don't rip on Moogy, man. If he had just posted "lol it sucks" I could see why you would get angry, but he made a well put together post that actually took a little effort on his part to type up.

Is he one tough cookie when it comes to video games? You bet. But nobody here can say he's not qualified to give his opinions on them, because he's a freakin' VG Guru. He does not need to GTFO, nor STFU. I like having him around and posting, because when he starts PRAISING something, you KNOW it's gotta be damn good.

Most of his post was about how Square Enix has no soul and sucks. And while he may or may not have a point about 50-60% of the game being recycled, I personally think he may not being giving KH2 quite enough credit (though he's more qualified to give an opinion than me). Based on what I've seen of the game, it looks like it's not really crap. In visuals and audio, at least, the game seems to have a very high production value.

[Moogy]

Yeah, it looks pretty, but what does that accomplish? A few minutes of looking at the nice graphics before you start ignoring them in actual gameplay.

The music is really not that great. I have no idea why people obsess over the soundtracks to KH1 and KH2 so much. They're not that great, and Shimomura has made much, much better OSTs in the past (ref: LoM, SMRPG).

The gameplay is the most solid part of the game. Very fast-paced. Tons of action. Very fun. However, it's also extremely easy and repetitive. It gets old fast. It's almost impossible to die, even on the highest difficulty setting. It's improved over the first game, sure. But it still suffers from the same basic flaws - the extreme lack of anything approaching difficulty and the incredibly repetitive nature of gameplay.

Story I can't comment on, but the general opinion is that KH2's story is worse than the original's. And that's pretty bad, seeing as the original had basically no plot anyway. Character development is also foreign to KH.

The more I analyze the KH series, the more I dislike it. I loved the first game dearly when it came out (it was the first PS2 game I ever played), but it seems that there was no reason to. Looking at it after a few playthroughs, and after a playthrough of the second one, it's just really not a very good game.

Yeah, I said it. Kingdom Hearts isn't a good game.

It lacks that extra something to make it work. It has all the things that make up a good game, but they're... missing something. Everything is simply average. It needs something exceptional, whether it be a stellar plot, challenging gameplay, or an awesome soundtrack. Unfortunately, KH1 and 2 lack all of those things. Thus, they can never be more than average.

And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy playing KH1 and 2. For a while, anyway. They're just not very good.

nforcer, your argument that I couldn't fully enjoy it in Japanese doesn't work. I beat Disgaea 2 in Japanese and loved every single second of it. KH2... just didn't do anything for me, really. I've beaten numerous other games in Japanese and enjoyed them greatly. However, it is true that I will enjoy a game I can understand more, heheh. Therefore, I'm learning Japanese so I no longer have to wait for games to come out here.

I realize that my taste in games is... too hardcore for most people. And I accept that most people will never truly understand what a game can actually evoke or mean. But it is my duty to try to tell them that anyway. My missions is to help people understand what a good game truly is.

Anyway, in summary, KH2 is not as great as it's made out to be. It may offer entertainment for a bit, but it's nothing lasting.

[evilbutterfly]

I still think Moogy misses the big fact that games are made for entertainment, and as long as a game is entertaining to somebody it can be good. From a technical aspect, a game could blow, but what really matters is how fun it is. Moogy seems to always focus on the technical aspect of what the game acomplishes and less on whether or not he ever has fun just playing it and not analyzing it. The majority of people won't ever analyze things they play, so when they read Moogy bashing things on that level they don't understand and get mad because they disagree and think the game was fun.

What all you other people have to realize is that Moogy can bash games he loves for minute little things. Hell, he just admitted KH was fun, but he still is like "rawr it sucks cuz it doesn't do anything special!"

PS: I've never played KH, but my friend is all about that game and really really really wants KH2. *shrug*

[scorpio1690]

The game is intended primarily for adolescence. Really, what other RPG has disney characters in it. It has the whole good morals and is really a family game. No family game can be "the best" But still it does what it's meant to do, use pretty colours and exciting music to take you away. It's like a vague grey area of gaming. There's the little Disney games that are meant for the children. Then there's intense RPGs. This is the inbetween game.

I haven't played it, though I still want to. I've read lots of things about it and it seems to have too many plot twists for my liking. Plot twists are only a good thing if they're pulled off flawlessly but this game doesn't seem to do it. I'm not going to give examples because of spoilers and whatnot. Sure I'll still rent/buy it to see some cool new characters and utilize the new options in the game but I'm not expecting anything special.

[nforcer06164]

I can see where you're coming from, I guess, Moogy. I guess it's best if we agree to disagree. I loved every minute of KH1, and I've loved every minute of KH2 so far. I love the music, and there is a good deal of character development (although A LOT more in KH2 than in KH), and I find the story interesting... it has the feeling that FFX had to me. But, I know you didn't like FFX either. I guess it's safe to say that not everything works for everybody. So, I'd like to leave it at that.

[Squeek]

How good a game is = opinion, not fact.

Personally, I dislike the entire genre Disgaea is in, so not only will I never like the game, I'll never even play it to find out if it's any good. Even if I did, I hate the style of those games and would hate playing it, so why bother?

Kingdom Hearts was good for its story. It much resembled the story often found in most of the anime I've ever liked. That's why I'll be getting KH2 when I get my PS2. I want to see where the continuation of this story leads.

I rarely buy games based off of reviews because everybody who writes a review is biased. It's impossible not to have a bias. I find things out for myself by watching trailers and hearing what a lot of people had to say about the game before making a purchase. It's only failed me in 3 out of 40 gamecube games so far.

~Squeek

[Omeganitros]

...

Forty?

[PMS-Chromer]

Squeek, the story is awesome in KH2. Actually to tell the truth, if t wasn't for the Drives and the story, I probably would have bought BM US instead of KH2.

[blitzmage]

DAMN This sure has one huge prolouge.

[nforcer06164]

Originally Posted by blitzmage

DAMN This sure has one huge prolouge.

I was wondering if I was actually going to get to play as Sora, I know.

[Squeek]

Originally Posted by Omeganitros

...

Forty?

1) Animal Crossing
2) Baten Kaitos
3) Crazy Taxi
4) Dave Mirra Pro Freestyle BMX (Impulse purchase. I'm an idiot)
5) Enter the Matrix
6) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
7) F-Zero GX
8) Ikaruga
9) James Bond: Agent Under Fire
10) James Bond: Nightfire
11) Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
12) Luigi's Mansion
13) Mario Kart: Double Dash
14) Mario Party 4
15) Metroid Prime
16) Metroid Prime 2
17) Paper Mario
18) Pikmin
19) Skies of Arcadia
20) Sonic Adventure DX
21) Sonic Adventure 2
22) Sonic Heroes
23) Soul Calibur II
24) Spiderman
25) Starfox Adventures
26) Starfox Assault
27) Super Mario Sunshine
28) Super Monkey Ball
29) Super Monkey Ball 2
30) Super Smash Brothers Melee
31) Tales of Symphonia
32) 1080 Avalanche
33) Timesplitters 2
34) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
35) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
36) Viewtiful Joe
37) Viewtiful Joe 2
38) Warioware

I've loaned out a few games and I don't quite remember where the other two are.

Crystal Chronicles deserves NO CREDIT whatsoever as being even a halfway-decent game. It's a piece of crap. Worthless trash. Why did so many people say this was a good game. At least I only paid $20 for it.

Enter the Matrix... More like play for 2 hours and you've beaten the game. What a load of crap.

And Spiderman. Same thing. The game lasted like 2 minutes.

~Squeek

[nforcer06164]

Originally Posted by MrESqueek

Crystal Chronicles deserves NO CREDIT whatsoever as being even a halfway-decent game. It's a piece of crap. Worthless trash. Why did so many people say this was a good game. At least I only paid $20 for it.

The thing is, Crystal Chronicles was made for multiplayer. I'm sure people could get a lot more out of it with the four-way GBA game. Unfortunately, even so, it was fun for a playthrough for one year (three levels) ONCE, for me (multiplayer, by the way). After that, it got repetitive, boring, and pointless.

[Squeek]

I did play it multiplayer. Had to buy 2 pointless GBA-GC cables for it.

We got to like year seven or something. Replaying a level for a drop of whatever for the 4th time.

~Squeek

[scorpio1690]

[Bahamut-X]

Got the game. Don;t like it so far as much as i thought I would.

The worlds are way too short. Took me hardly any time at all to beat both Beast's castle and Mulan's world.