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Kingdom Hearts II

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Kingdom Hearts II
File:Kingdom Hearts II JP boxart.gif
Developer(s)Square Enix
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseJapan December 22, 2005

United States of America Spring 2006
European Union TBA

Australia TBA
Genre(s)Action RPG
Mode(s)Single player

Kingdom Hearts II is an RPG video game sequel to the 2002 Disney/Square RPG Kingdom Hearts, though it is actually the third installment in the series. The game continues Sora's adventures in finding King Mickey and Riku with the help of a large cast of Disney characters including Donald, Goofy, Jack Sparrow, Tron, Aladdin, the Beast and more. Developed by Square Enix, Kingdom Hearts II was released in Japan on December 22, 2005. A tentative March 2006 release is planned for North America, followed by European and Australian releases later in the year. The in-game music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, who composed the music for the first game, and the theme song "Passion" is written and performed by Japanese pop music star Hikaru Utada.

Overview

Kingdom Hearts II begins where Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories left off. Sora and his companions have been asleep for about a year, regaining their memories. When Sora awakens, he eventually arrives in Twilight Town, the place where a mysterious boy, Roxas, who can use dual Keyblades, lived before he left suddenly. Gaining new clothes and powers, Sora began his journey anew, unaware of the events that have taken place in Chain of Memories. Sora continues his quest, sealing the keyholes of each world to protect them from the Heartless, as well as facing Axel and the remaining members of the mysterious Organization XIII. As the game progresses, Sora begins to learn how much he and Roxas have in common.

Worlds

File:KH2PortRoyal.jpg
Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy and Jack Sparrow in the Port Royal world of Kingdom Hearts II.

As in the first Kingdom Hearts game, the player can access different worlds with themes based mostly on Disney films.

Disney-based worlds

Original worlds

New gameplay features

Gameplay has been said to be revamped from the last game; there are various new features offering the potential of more interesting play.

Mickey's Help

In certain boss battles, if Sora is knocked out, a second option may be available, called "I won't give up!" It allows you to play as Mickey Mouse. Mickey is fast and his attacks are brutal, and he can shoot beams of magic from his Keyblade. However, you must revive Sora to finish off the boss; this is done by pressing the triangle button repeatedly to fill up his Drive bar. This can also be done be constantly attacking the opponent. After the bar is full, pressing the triangle button will bring Sora back to life. If you die as Mickey, Sora will be automatically revived.

Drive Forms

Sora can "fuse" with either Donald or Goofy to become more powerful and acquire different attributes as well. Three out of the five forms allow Sora to use two Keyblades instead of one, and the second keyblade may be equipped in the items menu for this purpose. There are five drive forms in all:

  • Brave Form: Sora merges with Goofy for this form, and dons red and black clothes. Although he cannot use magic in this form, Sora gains a massive boost to his physical ability. Sora wields two Keyblades which doubles his combo potential dramatically and also gives him additional attacks. Sora also runs twice as fast in this form.
  • Wisdom Form: Sora merges with Donald for this form, and he dons blue and black clothes. Sora gains a massive magic attack boost, and glides across the floor instead of running. Wisdom Form replaces the attack command with shoot, which lets him shoot a blue magic bullet from the tip of the Keyblade in rapid fire if pressed continuously making Wisdom Form a long distance specialized form.
  • Master Form: Sora merges with both Donald and Goofy for this form, which combines the powers of the Brave and Wisdom forms. Sora's combo potential is increased, but his magic power is increased as well. Two Keyblades can be wielded, his clothes will turn yellow and black, and he is able be to fly as well as perform a double jump. The drawback to this form is that the drive meter will decrease quicker than the previous two drives.
  • Final Form: When in this form, Sora will merge with both party members and don white and black clothing. Wielding two Keyblades psychokinetically as well as the ability to fly, Sora wields incredible power in this form, dispatching enemies with ease and dealing increased physical and magical damage.
  • Anti Form:This bizzare form is caused by driving too much, and being close to a Heartless. Sora turns completely black like a shadow, walks on all fours, and has yellow eyes, similar to a basic Heartless. While in this form, both partners dissapear and Sora uses his "claws" for wide-range attacks that may be weak with individual attack, but they also have a very high maximum combo count. Unlike the other forms, when this form occurs it will cancel out drive when entering a new area as opposed to staying in effect.

Different Command Menus

A new feature is that each world has their own command menu, which are sometimes animated. For instance, Olympus Coliseum's design shows the image of the top of the Coliseum, and Port Royal's design is to show a ship's steering wheel and the Pirates of the Carribean logo. Summons and mini-games also have a menu of their own, donning the motif of their particular origin such as Stitch standing on top of the menu licking it. If the player desires, the command menu's design can be changed to the original Kingdom Hearts design in the options menu.

Reaction Command

The reaction command, similar to the Resident Evil 4 real time reaction commands, is used during fights and can allow you to perform certain actions when timed correctly. For example, against "Dusk" nobodies, your character will slide behind the normally evasive opponents and set you up for a combo. Reaction commands can also trigger counter moves as well. For example, a nobody might shoot a red bullet at you, but with a well timed reaction command, Sora will kick the bullet back at it.

Combination Attack

File:KH2TeamAttackSimba.jpg
Simba and Sora's team attack knock rocks up from the ground and have Sora and Simba roar intensely to do damage.

A gameplay addition gives Sora a special linked attack with any of the guest characters, and the effect varies depending on the character teaming up with Sora. In the Coliseum world, for example, Sora has the option to perform a linked attack with Auron when battling Cerberus.

Summons

File:KH2Stitch.jpg
The Stitch summon involves music.
File:Chicken sora.jpg
Sora giving Chicken Little his glasses in a summon sequence in Kingdom Hearts II.

Like the previous game, Sora can summon a particular character to aid him in battle when attaining each of their respective items. Summoning however, uses the drive meter, so Sora can't drive and summon at the same time. The character will replace the two computer-controlled characters and fight alongside Sora for as long as the drive meter holds out. Instead of the summoned character being limited to only one action, the summoned character now has a menu of its own to perform multiple actions, some solo actions and some cooperative actions with Sora. The summons in this game are Stitch from the movie Lilo & Stitch, Genie from Aladdin and the titular characters of Chicken Little and Peter Pan . Some of the summons attacks include a musical jam session with Stitch, a selectable FPS mode for Chicken Little and Genie having the ability to mimic Sora's different Drive forms.

Maps

It is optional to have a map in the top-right corner of the screen. In addition, mini-maps can be found in each world. On these maps, a small Kingdom Keyblade indicates Sora's location.

Disney cameos

In addition to the Disney characters that will be returning from Kingdom Hearts, there will also be additional characters from their movies including Megara, Pegasus, Pain, Panic and the Hydra from Hercules, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast, the merchant from Aladdin, Eric from The Little Mermaid, and Santa Claus as depicted in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Stitch from Lilo & Stitch and the titular characters of Chicken Little and Peter Pan act as new summons. Characters from the previously unexplored worlds of Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tron and The Lion King also play parts in the game.

Yen Sid the sorcerer, Mickey's master in the movie Fantasia, makes an appearance, inhabiting a mysterious tower. Merlin returns and will be in Disney Castle and Hollow Bastion, revealing the existence of Timeless River to the heroes. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty give Sora his new outfit. Scrooge McDuck also makes an appearance.

Pete is also in the game as an ever-persistant enemy to Sora, Donald and Goofy, appearing in many worlds. He happens to work for Maleficent, who as in the last game, is a major villian.

Final Fantasy cameos

File:KH2SquallCloud.jpg
Squall and Cloud in the Hollow Bastion world of Kingdom Hearts II.

Seventeen characters from the Final Fantasy series appear. Auron of Final Fantasy X will be Sora's partner in battle in Hercules' world. Yuna, Rikku and Paine from Final Fantasy X-2 appear as pixies at the Hollow Bastion. Younger versions of Seifer Almasy, Fujin (called "Fuu"), and Raijin (called "Rai") from Final Fantasy VIII appear in Twilight Town, as a "disciplinary committee".

Squall Leonhart (Leon) and Selphie Tilmitt of Final Fantasy VIII, and Cloud Strife and Yuffie Kisaragi as depicted in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children return as cameos in Hollow Bastion. Aerith Gainsborough also appears, albeit wearing a modified version of her Before Crisis clothing. Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII also makes her first cameo in the series, wearing her Advent Children attire. Cid Highwind also returns, but he is still wearing the same attire as in the previous game; he has a speaking role this time around as opposed to caption bubbles in Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth, Cloud's ever-present enemy, comes along as well, battling Cloud.

The Moogles, featured in many different Final Fantasy titles, serve as shopkeepers in the world of Hollow Bastion.

It had been stated by Nomura himself, that although the first game strictly stuck to characters Nomura designed, this time around, they were going to "take some risks", which implied that characters from the Final Fantasy games without involvement from Nomura could make an appearance. One of these was Vivi Ornitier of Final Fantasy IX, who appears in Twilight Town as a member in Seifer's group. Another non-Nomura character included is Setzer Gabbiani of Final Fantasy VI, as a challenger in Twilight Town.

Cloud Strife has his own side story, involving "light and dark"; it is not critically important to the main plot, being more of a side-quest or a side-mission.

Voice Cast

English language version (tentative)

Japanese language version


Music

Certain levels of gameplay will be based on music and button coordination, such as Atlantica and the Stitch summon.

The theme song, Passion, is performed by Utada Hikaru, and according to Tetsuya Nomura it ties in even more closely with the game's story than Hikari (Simple and Clean) did with Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

The CD single for the song was released on December 14 2005, with a price of ¥1,050 (roughly 8.78 USD).

The tracklist for the single is as follows:

  1. Passion (single version) (4:36)
  2. Passion (after the battle) (5:57)

Passion (after the battle) is an alternate version of the song to play during the ending credits of the game. This version is longer and slower than the single version, and the song mainly focuses on the vocal lyrics and a solo piano, until the last 2 minutes and 14 seconds, in which the rest of the instruments from the single version come back in.

Click here to listen to the 46 second sample of Utada Hikaru's single, "Passion"

An original soundtrack CD for Kingdom Hearts II, composed by Yoko Shimomura will be released in Japan on January 25, 2006 and its catalogue number is TOCT-25871~2. A tracklist can be found here but it contains possible spoilers.

There has been some confusion as to the versions of "Passion". The three featured in the game are as follows:

  • Passion (Orchestral Ver.) - played during the trailer at the menu screen
  • Passion (opening version) - played during the intro movie
  • Passion (after the battle) - playing during the ending

Passion (Orchestral), like the (after the battle) version, is very different from the (single version). The song has an extended unique introduction with full orchestra playing. After the intro ends (0:55), the song begins to play the "Passion" main melody, and a bit after the midpoint of the song, reintroduces percussion behind the melody (1:56). Lastly, near the ending (3:20), the orchestra drops the "Passion" melody to play a completely different ending all the way to the song's end. (3:40)

Trivia

  • A teaser for what appears to be Kingdom Hearts III can be seen if the player accomplishes certain tasks.
  • The notoriously harsh magazine Famitsu has given the game a score of 39/40; close to perfect. It is notable, because only five games have been given perfect '40/40' scores. [5]
  • Namine, a prominent character of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, appears only at the beginning and ending of the game.
  • During its first week of availability in Japan, Kingdom Hearts II sold 727,591 copies. [6]


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