Kingdom Hearts 2

[Rocca]

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I want.

Oh well. 10 days.

[Thief Silver]

Yeap. I just wanted an excuse to use the word fuck.

[Mzo]

I haven't really mentioned this either, but I've been playing this as well. May not understand much through all the Japanese, but all the levels Korly talks about are the troof. And I hated the first game. Loved the story though.

Sounds good... I wanted to hate the first game because of the level design (revisit every screen until it triggers a cinema bullshit) but I ended up really enjoying it and doing everything in the damn game.

All it would take is some minor tweaking from the first and KH2 could be so awesome for me.

[Korly]

KH2 will be so awesome for you.

Well, I'm just about at the end. I've gone through a shitload of awesome boss fights, lots of cool minigame-esque sections (like a flying carpet ride) and I've even spent a lot of time messing with the synthesis.

I've completely finished all of the Disney worlds, and now I'm on the way to the endgame content. I don't want this game to end though.

[jonas]

This game does sound awesome but I lost interest in the first game around Halloween town. How long is KH2 supposed to be?

[Korly]

Well, I'm at the end. My game clock says 35 hours. Of course, my concept of the end might end up being another ten hours or something, but I doubt it.
And, as far as side quests go, I think I got 'em all. Only thing is I just got totally PWNED by Sephiroth. Like, I haven't broken a sweat on any of the bosses yet, because I usually spend huge amounts of time leveling up, but he killed me in ONE HIT. Killing him is the way to get the second best keyblade, and the ultimate weapon can only be had through synthesis, and since my Japanese is not too good, I think I accidentally used the elements I needed for the Ultima Weapon in like, a piece of armor or something. My bad.

Also, I remember some people complaining about the shitty platforming in the first game (especially the Alice in Wonderland level). Well, guess what? There is NO platforming ANYWHERE in this game.

[ChaoofNee]

Also, I remember some people complaining about the shitty platforming in the first game (especially the Alice in Wonderland level). Well, guess what? There is NO platforming ANYWHERE in this game.

1. The emoticon you have entered is not good enough. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters or I'll rape your mother.

[Korly]

Anyone who's excited to play this next week would do well to review the following:

Maybe you've recently played through KHI again to get prepared for this (if you did, good for you! You'll be very pleasantly surprised at how much the fundamentals have improved in this game.) and you went through and got the "Ansem Reports". Those are critical to the story of both games, and there are only 10 of them in the US version. However, the Japan only "Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix" has 3 more of them, all of which reference ideas that come to fruition in KHII. Also in Final Mix there is a hidden boss fight against one of the members of Organization XIII from KH: COM and KHII. I guess saying exactly who it is would be a spoiler, but if you care enough the information is out there. (it's only implied who it is, but after getting to the end of KHII and seeing a video of the boss fight, you can figure it out). That same member of The Organization that you fight in KH: FM is the guy who beckons you to Castle Oblivion in the very beginning of KH: COM. I never played KH: COM but the story is very much essential to this game, and is worth at the very least, reading. There is a full script at Gamefaqs. I found that the important parts were at the beginning and the end, and didn't bother to read the parts where they visit the Disney worlds too closely. In fact, one of the main areas from KHII is first introduced in KH: COM. Also in KH: FM there were a few scenes that further explained Rikus role in everything, and even deepened Mickeys involvement. A full transcript of these scenes are at Gamefaqs, and I saw a few translated videos at www.kh2.co.uk but they appear to have exceeded their bandwith or something. The most important thing to watch if you can is the "Deep Dive" secret ending from KH: FM. It's been posted all over the internet, and there might be a link in one of the old KH threads. It forshadows a lot of the main themes from KHII, and is also totally awesome.

Now, all of the story of KHI and KH: COM is pretty consisely recapped in the opening hours of KHII but having only played it in Japanese I don't know if the explanations will be quite good enough. I think it's in your best interest to seek out the stuff I just talked about, but I guess we'll know in a week or so if it was worth it or not.

I noticed something really cool while playing last night. Ya know how the action menu changes depending on what world you're in? (it looks all computer-y for the Tron world, foresty for the Pooh world, etc). Well when you venture into the room that has Soras cocoon from COM the menu changes to a COM theme, with cards as the icons. This might happen during your first visit there, but I didn't notice it until much later.

[burgundy]

I don't get why you're playing through the Japanese release this close to the US release date.

[Rocca]

I don't get why you're playing through the Japanese release this close to the US release date.

Well, a lot of people can just read the plot summary online moments after the US game is released. Plus 90% of the game's story is fairly obvious since it follows along the lines of past Disney films (i.e. Mulan, Tron, etc). I've had the game since January, but only started playing now. Since I hated the first one, I don't really mind just trucking through it for gameplay. If I'm really concerned, I'll rent the US game next week.

The only reason I would anyway would be to hear Christopher Lee jibba jabber.