Kingdom Hearts 2: Square-Enix's Latest Co-op with Disney

The highly anticipated sequel Kingdom Hearts 2 is the latest addition to the Square-Enix collection of RPG's. Kingdom Hearts 1, in my opinion, is one of SquareSoft's best titles ever. The innovative way of real time action in battle sequences very different from the previous Final Fantasy titles proved to be a big success. Yet it incorporated just enough of the FF (Final Fantasy) elements such as summons, magic, armor, weapons, and etc. to keep it familiar and interesting. Kingdom Hearts 2 does not fail to impress. I myself wondered if the corporate merging of Squaresoft and Enix was going to make the outcome of KH2 any less enjoyable. I picked up this game having almost no presumptions other than the sweaty handed anticipation of playing any Squaresoft RPG, because the original Kingdom Hearts was done before the merging of the two companies.

The beginning of the game seems very rudimentary, going through missions to build your RPG skills. I dunno about you but I have been doing this thing since Final Fantasy 3. Most people playing this game are familiar with the controls so you might also experience this sort of "lag". Once the game kicks off it seems very, very, VERY much like the first game, as far as gameplay is concerned. The story starts off with a character named Roxas, whom you control. Later you find out Roxas is somehow related to our previous hero Sora from Kingdom Hearts 1. Other than the Heartless, now there are other sources of evil you must defeat: the Nobodies. Sora, Donald, and Goofyt all awake from being stored in time capsules reminiscent of the Alien movies with Sigourney Weaver. Roxas then disappears and you now gain control of Sora. Donald and Goofy are there again by your side and the adventure begins...

I really enjoy this game. I am currently in the process of playing the game and so far everything has been better than I originally anticpated. Game control remains the same from KH1, along with the typical FF gameplay. A new feature to KH2 is the Drive function, which allows you to "fuse" Sora with either Donalf or Goofy to create a super character. There are a couple types that accent different attack abilities, such as Valor which does massive damage and Magician which does mainly spell and magic attacks. The old worlds are still there and even new ones are added, notably the Pirates of the Carribean. The characters are amazingly put into this video game with detailed accuracy. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Kiera Knightly are in the game as you control Sora and Captain Jack through the islands.

Final Fantasy characters also make cameo appearances just for us FF geeks. I don't want to give TOO much away, but Auron does make an appearance and maybe he lends a helping hand, from HELL! The new story line is very fun and very well supported by the animation sequences. In fact, if there I had to be picky I would say that there are too many animated sequences. Almost every new area has it's own sequence which ultimately allows for less gameplay. But all in all this is a really well made game worthy of the Square-Enix trademark. So now go get the game, whether you buy it or rent it this is a must play for 2006 as I say it is the best game I have played so far this year. Now get the game and pick up your sticks, you have a long summer ahead of you.