Personal Review: Kingdom Hearts 2

I have had much difficulty trying to pick just one game to review. I was originally going to go for a Pokemon game, as that is my favourite series and has been a serious obsession for the last fifteen years of my life and even made an tattoo mark on me but I want to touch upon another series that will always be a long time favourite of mine.

The main characters of the
game along with new art

The game was released back in 2006, being released four years after the first game in the series. Even now, there are a few years between the main games, with a lot of spin offs being turned out to keep the starving fans content. Kingdom Hearts 2 is an action based role playing game, which has a universe that is a crossover of Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters. This satisfies a lot of gamers as the genre, and theme is appealing to a variety of ages. In the second game, the main trio of characters awakes from a slumber of a year and is sent on a journey to find out more about an organisation by visiting new worlds or revisiting existing worlds from the first game. The characters within the game become much more developed and the story more complex as there is more than what meets the eye. The more levels you complete, the more the story twists, which keeps the gamers lusting for more.

What I do enjoy with this game, is that each level is unique to that story. The style artwork of the characters, the outfits and fashion, the environment, and weapons change due to the world, to suit the theme and storyline. In this game, it suits also to what form the main character is in. For an example, in the Halloween Town, the entire environment is done in the style of Tim Burton, whereas the Disney Castle is done in the bright, bold, bounce style of Mickey Mouse. Each world is refreshing and different to the last. I hardly pay much attention to environment compared to the story, so this is a massive compliment to this game from me.

Donald and Goofy in Tron.

I find that the game is quick paced, and easy to pick up when I have not played it in weeks. The story is the most appealing element to myself. Despite people telling me it’s a children’s game, I find that it is a children’s based theme game, as in the environment and character seems more towards aimed at children, but the plot is for adults. I find that the battle system is easy and keeps up with the fights. You can customise it so it suits every individual gamer.

It also shreds new light on certain stories that explain more so than their films or even the TV series that follows. The game gives characters much more depth, and makes them develop from the characters we knew and loved from our childhood. As well as experiencing childhood memories like we never have done before. However, with the Final Fantasy characters, the story does not touch upon them or the previous games too much, and does not give away anything that could ruin the characters or the Final Fantasy games. How the story and the interaction gently touches upon these characters, as well as the Disney ones keeps the characters untainted from their origins.

I feel that this game has developed and matured with it’s audience, much like other franchises like Harry Potter, The Dark Materials Trilogy, or The Hunger Games. Like these series, this game does have an extremely loyal following which have been with it since the beginning. However, I feel like it is more like Narnia, where it does not matter what age you are at, you will still enjoy it, time and time again.

No offence to any of the games that were released after Kingdom Hearts 2, but none of them hold any strong significance within the main story line and often repeat a lot of familiar territory. However with the new game fast approaching, it does seem that a new twist to the key plot is promised, and is going to feed what starving fans have been waiting for since 2006.