You ever really feel such as you’re nonetheless searching for a excessive a sport made you’re feeling as a baby? Kingdom Hearts II is a type of video games. To today, Kingdom Hearts II is the total package deal of one of the best components of the franchise. Soundtrack? 10/10. The action-based fight’s mix of favor and substance? Unmatched. The compelling melodrama mixing Ultimate Fantasy, Disney, and the unique characters? Imprinted on my soul.
Kingdom Hearts II stays the collection’ highest excessive. It efficiently knocks down each pin the primary sport and Chain of Recollections units up, has memorable Disney worlds like Mulan, Tron, and The Lion King (Sora’s lion transformation is iconic), and likewise options some unbelievable motion set items like the ultimate boss run during which Sora and Riku take down Xemnas. Should you grew up with this sport like I did, inform me you weren’t pondering of that combat as you had been taking part in the ultimate combat of Ultimate Fantasy VII Rebirth. That shit was unforgettable. But in addition unforgettable was the debrief between Sora and Riku that follows, during which the collection’ two leads lastly attain an understanding after three video games of being rivals. God, it’s good, and leads right into a equally good ending.
There’s most likely a universe during which Kingdom Hearts ended after II and was largely remembered as a near-universally beloved motion RPG collection that escalated into darker, extra complicated territory within the sequel. Even because it introduces new ideas and characters, Kingdom Hearts II is fairly affordable as a sequel earlier than each spin-off that adopted constructed Kingdom Hearts III into an Avengers-level crossover occasion. Kingdom Hearts II is the top of what the collection might have been, and whereas I’m not mad that it’s continued, I do really feel like because the collection has gone on, it has gotten much less succinct in its themes, mechanics, and the worlds it’s explored. Now that Kingdom Hearts III has concluded one story, I assume we’ll see if the collection can peel again these layers and cut back to one thing this pure. However even when it doesn’t, Kingdom Hearts II is a summation of one of the best issues the franchise has ever carried out.