Lawrence.com

Quickview:

Good: Improved in every way

Bad: Repeated Mission Objectives

For the hardcore only: complete every sub-mission to unlock the secret ending

It's been four years since the surprise success of Kingdom Hearts, a game that sold 5 million copies worldwide and signified the arrival of Tetsuya Nomura as a legitimate game designer. Expectations for the sequel are understandably high, but not to worry-Kingdom Hearts II bests its predecessor in every way.

For those of you unfamiliar with the original, here's a little backstory: Kingdom Hearts followed the story of a boy named Sora and his friend Kairi and Riku. After an encounter with a group of beady-eyed creatures known as the Heartless Sora gained possession of weapon known as the Keyblade Now this is where it gets a little weird: after the encounter Sora was transported to a world called Traverse Town that was populated with characters from both the Disney and Final Fantasy universes (odd marketing tie-in, I know, but it works).

It is in Traverse Town that Sora met his two chief allies-Donald Duck and Goofy. With his new friends in tow, he set out to explore other worlds in the Disney Universe searched for Kairi and Riku and using his Keyblade to lock the Heartless out of each world he visited.

Now, two years after the events in Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald and Goofy are in hibernation. After an intentionally confusing and lengthy (three plus hours) intro you resume control of the game's principal characters. From here it's classic Kingdom Hearts. You travel to Disney themed worlds, meet friends old and new and vanquish countless enemies.

The first major improvement you'll notice over the original is its heightened visuals. Textures are crisp and vibrant with little if no pixilation and the framerate, whether in heavy combat or during exploration is always silky smooth. The draw-in distance on some of the game's larger areas is particularly outstanding and the camera can now be easily moved with the right analog stick instead of the cumbersome L2 and R2 buttons as in the prequel. The game's cutscenes are done in real time. During these the characters are expressive, each with their own body language and impressive variety of facial expressions-especially for a PS2 game.

The level design is also substantially more complex. The 15 worlds are bigger and contain multiple pathways, hidden items, and secret areas. Each level captures the feel and style of the Disney film that inspired them. The Pridelands world of The Lion King, for example, is majestic with its wide-open plains and dynamic landscapes. The neon-drenched world of Tron matches the film perfectly and is complete with a dated synthesizer-fueled soundtrack and light cycle races.

Two other worlds that are worthy of mention are Steamboat Willie and Pirates of the Caribbean. From its black and white film stock appearance to the use of Walt Disney's character designs for Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pete, the Steamboat Willie world perfectly recreates the 1928 short. Too bad it is one of the shortest worlds in the game, not even warranting a return trip.

Pirates of the Caribbean demonstrates the flexibility of the game's engine by creating a photorealistic version of Port Royal and all the major characters from the film. It's just a shame that they couldn't get the actors from the film to record additional dialog. The Voice acting ranges from good (Will Turner) to bad (Captain Barbossa) to just plain awful (Jack Sparrow).

Story events in these worlds often mirror the events from the film they're inspired by, making it possible to relive some of your favorite Disney moments. In Kingdom Hearts II you'll race through a collapsing desert ruin on Aladdin's magic carpet, battle the Hydra with the help of Pegasus and take on a giant, charging Triceratops in fight that is more than a little reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus. In fact, the only world that fails to impress is The Little Mermaid. Where you must compete in a series of DDR-esque song and dance routines to songs from and inspired by the film. If you think it sounds fun, you're wrong. It's dreadful.

On more than one occasion you'll have to return to a world you've previously visited and engage in additional story elements. While this is fun, it can also be very frustrating. Especially when the additional story events take less than an hour to complete and involve recycled mission objectives from other worlds.

Not all of the action in KH2 rests on Disney characters and worlds. The Final Fantasy bunch gets their share as well. You'll battle Cerberus in the Underworld with the help of FFX's Auron and compete in a tournament against Seifer in Twilight Town, but the event that is sure to make any self-respecting Final Fantasy fanboy tingly all over is the siege of Hollow Bastion. Here you battle hundreds of enemies alongside Tifa, Yuffie, Squall and Cloud.

Traveling to each world is accomplished via the Gummi Ship, an interstellar cruiser made of Lego-like building blocks. In the previous game these segments were easily the game's weakest point, featuring PS1 caliber visuals and gameplay that resembled a dumbed-down version of Galaga or Space Harrier (if that's possible). The mode's only redeeming quality was the ability to custom build your own ship. This function was an amusing distraction usually resulting in some powerful, albeit hideous, creations.

The Gummi Ship returns in Kingdom Hearts II and while it is still the most easily ignored aspect of the game it has gone through a serious overhaul which actually makes it enjoyable to play. Areas are now huge and dynamic, featuring onslaughts of enemies and even bosses. It's still possible to customize or even build a ship from the ground up but if that's not your thing, the game provides plenty of pre-made blueprints that get the job done.

The overall game pacing is much faster than its prequel. This is accomplished through the aforementioned level design, along with a greatly improved combat system and the introduction of Reaction Commands.

Reaction Commands are commands that can only be issued during certain points in combat. When an opportunity for a Reaction Command arises the Triangle button appears on screen and the added command is listed at the top of the command menu. While it sounds simple, these commands do an excellent job of further involving you in the action. Paying attention to the combat is a must since Reaction Commands aid in defending yourself from otherwise unavoidable enemy attacks or dealing out massive amounts damage.

The combat upgrade comes in the form of the Limit and Drive systems. The Limit system allows you to perform cooperative attacks with another party member. These attacks only last for a small amount of time but they deal massive amounts of damage, especially when you can connect for multiple hits. Each character has their own unique Limit including the characters specific to each world, so it's possible to join up with Tron, Beast, Aladdin or any number of others. While they are quite effective in battle, the menu system involved makes accessing them a little difficult-especially when you're running around the battlefield. It's possible to equip them to the Reaction Command, but with so many Reaction Commands occurring during battle it just adds to the confusion.

The more significant combat improvement is the Drive System. This system allows Sora to combine with one or both of his party members. While the party member or members he combines with are temporarily removed from battle, Sora is given abilities that are unavailable in his normal state. Valor form turns him into a dual-Keyblade wielding killing machine, while Wisdom form makes him an acrobatic marksman. Master, the final of the primary forms allows you to be extremely deadly in both Magic and Attack.

The best part of the Drive System is that each form levels up in its own way. In order to optimize each Drive form it's important to be aware of which situations better lend themselves to which Drive (Valor is best used against a small group of enemies with a lot of hit points while Wisdom works better on large groups of weaker enemies, for example).

Kingdom Hearts II is everything a sequel should be. It improves on every aspect that was weak in its console predecessor while adding new elements that are original and strong. The series feels as if it, like its protagonist, has grown up. The added depth of the combat and general size of its adventure will appeal more to RPG fans that grew up with Disney films rather than the other way around. While the story is at times corny or cliched and the mission objectives repetitive, it's not enough to diminish the joy of reliving scenes from classic Disney films or interacting with characters from the Final Fantasy series. Phrases like "must-buy" and "instant classic" get thrown around liberally in the gaming community. This is one of the few times they actually apply.

Graphics: A

Sound: A

Gameplay: A

First Play: A-

Last Play: B+

Overall: 95% A