kingdom hearts 2

Kingdom Hearts II is the followup to the 2002 PlayStation 2's Disney Interactive/Squaresoft RPG Kingdom Hearts, and its 2004 Game Boy Advance sequel, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The game's story centers around a group of heroes continuing to search for lost friends while trying to decipher and defeat the mysterious Organization XIII with the help of a large cast of characters from both Disney and Square Enix properties.

The in-game music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, who composed the music for the first game, and the theme song "Passion" ("Sanctuary" for the international release) is written and performed by Japanese pop music star Utada Hikaru.

Gameplay

Gameplay has been revamped from the first game; there are various new features offering the potential of more interesting and diverse play than the original.

Drive Gauge

One of the new features is a meter known as the Drive Gauge that the player can use for Drive Forms and Summons. It requires a certain amount of levels to be able to use a Drive Form or Summon, and when it is invoked a separate Drive Gauge is shown where it shows how long Sora can maintain that form or summon until its power runs out. At first the player can only have a maximum of three levels for the normal drive gauge, but it can be improved to a maximum of seven levels throughout the game by defeating certain bosses. Drive is the only gauge that does not get recharged at a Save Point, as opposed to HP and Magic.

Drive Forms

Sora can "fuse" with party members to become more powerful and acquire different attributes as well. Three out of the five Forms allow Sora to use two Keyblades instead of one, and the second Keyblade may be equipped in the Items Menu for this purpose. There are five Drive Forms, all with different methods of increasing their level.

The first two Forms have Sora merge with one of his permanent party members, Donald or Goofy. The other two Forms have Sora combine with both other party members to attain greater power than in the other two Forms. Final Form and AntiForm are the two Forms which are not given to the player by a person or event in the game, and are somewhat "secret" in the sense that the player has to discover the Forms themselves.

• Valor Form (fused with Goofy) focuses on physical attacks, including wielding two Keyblades and the ability to jump higher. While in Valor Form, Sora cannot use any magic, although when he reverts back to his normal form, his MP Gauge is fully restored.

• Wisdom Form (fused with Donald) focuses on magic and long distance attacks, having the basic attack be an energy projectile. Bursts of running speed is Wisdom Form's ability.

• Master Form (fused with both) increases both magic and strength, although not to the individual extent of Valor and Wisdom. Two Keyblades are utilized and Sora is able to double jump.

• Final Form (fused with both) is the most powerful of the Drive Forms, increasing all attributes, but can only be used for a short length of time as compared to the other Forms. Two Keyblades are used psychokinetically and the option to glide is available.

• AntiForm is a side-effect of Driving too much in battle, turning Sora into a creature of darkness with both partners disappearing. Sora's speed is increased in both attacking and movement, to offset the weak strength and defense of this Form. Many battle options, such as healing or reaction commands cannot be used while in this Form.

Summons

Like the previous game, Sora can Summon a Disney character to aid him in battle when attaining each of their respective Items. As Summons use the Drive Gauge instead of the MP bar, Sora cannot Drive and Summon at the same time. The character will replace the two computer-controlled characters and fight alongside Sora for as long as the Drive Gauge allows. Instead of the Summoned character being limited to only one action, the Summoned character now has a menu of his own to perform multiple actions, some solo actions and some cooperative actions with Sora. There are four Summons.

• Chicken Little is the titular character of Chicken Little. Chicken Little, when Summoned, chucks baseballs and/or firecrackers at enemies when on his own. His attack with Sora, called FPS, is, as suggested, a first-person shooter-like mode where Chicken Little can throw baseballs and firecrackers in rapid fire from a first person view. He also has other abilities, such as healing Sora when damage is dealt to enemies.
• Genie is the blue genie in a lamp who helps the titular character of Aladdin. Genie attacks with a humorous recreation of the Keyblade, and has a command to mimic any of Sora's acquired Drive forms.
• Stitch is the cute, but destructive antihero of Lilo & Stitch. He will climb around the menu screens as well as the screen itself (as if he were on the surface), and do various things while shooting the enemies with his plasma guns somewhat nonchalantly. His team attack with Sora is a ukulele jam session, where different buttons can be pressed to prompt different musical attacks to cause damage. He also constantly heals Sora's MP and HP bars throughout the battle.
• Peter Pan is the boy who never grows up, and the titular character of Peter Pan. Peter comes with Tinker Bell, who was a Summon by herself in the first Kingdom Hearts (while Peter was a temporary party member), and flies around attacking with a dagger, as he did in the first game. Tinker Bell constantly heals Sora at the same time, which she also did as a lone Summon. Also, Tinker Bell will revive Sora once in battle if all his health is lost. His team attack with Sora is cinematic, as Sora will be reminded of his adventures in Neverland in the first game (with pictures floating across the screen) while Pan and Sora fly around hitting anything in their path.

Leveling up

The player can level up Drive Forms or Summons throughout gameplay. Each Drive Form needs to be leveled up separately, while Summons can be leveled up through continued use by using any of them. Leveling each of these Forms can be useful for Sora's progress in the game. Each Drive Form (with the exception of AntiForm) and Summon has a maximum of seven levels. Not only does leveling the Drive Forms and Summons make them last longer, but leveling up the Drive Forms also passes on new equippable abilities to Sora that are able to be used outside of battle. Valor Form teaches Sora the High Jump ability, Wisdom Form teaches the Quick Run ability, Master Form teaches Aerial Dodge, and Final Form teaches Glide. Learning all of Sora's Drive Form abilities helps in combat as well as making field travel faster.

Reaction Command

The Reaction Command, similar to the Resident Evil 4 and God of War real time reaction commands but much simpler, is used during fights, and can allow Sora to perform certain actions by pressing the Triangle button when timed correctly. For example, against "Dusk" Nobodies, Sora will slide behind the normally evasive opponents and set up for a combo. Reaction Commands can also trigger counter moves as well. For example, "Sniper" Nobodies shoot a red bullet at Sora, but with a well timed Reaction Command, Sora will kick the bullet back at it. Reaction Commands are often pivotal in defeating bosses and certain enemies.

Limits

A gameplay addition gives Sora a special linked attack with any of the guest characters, and the effect varies depending on the character teaming up with Sora. In the Olympus Coliseum world, for example, Sora has the option to perform a linked attack with Auron when battling enemies. Later in the game Sora will also be able to perform team attacks with Donald and Goofy individually in similar fashion and later, with both. The combination attacks cannot be used simultaneously with any of Sora's Drive forms. Using a Limit will use up all of Sora's MP.

Magic abilities

Sora's magic spells from Kingdom Hearts have been modified. MP (Magic Points) is now measured in a bar and starts at 100, with slight increases after certain story events are completed. When MP is depleted, an automatically filling pink bar appears and when it is completely filled, MP is fully restored. Fire, Blizzard, Thunder and Cure spells from the first Kingdom Hearts remain, although their effects have been changed. Gravity, Aero and Stop have been replaced by Magnet and Reflect. Magnet will pull in enemies towards the location where the spell is cast, allowing a set up for multiple combinations; and Reflect does just that, it reflects your opponents attacks back at them. All spells also undergo the three stages of spell upgrades usually seen in Final Fantasy (e.g. Fire, Fira and Firaga). Spells also have differing effects in drive forms, usually a strength increase. They can also be used in combos.

Mickey's help

In certain boss battles, if Sora is killed, a second option may be available, called "I won't give up!" It allows the player to control Mickey Mouse. Mickey is fast and has a high amount of maneuverability, as his size may indicate. He also can jump twice as high as Sora and has brutal attacks and combo ability. He even has the ability to shoot blasts of magic from the tip of his keyblade, both on ground and in air. These shots can pass through multiple enemies and even hit a single enemy more than once. Mickey's MP bar also recharges very quickly if ever reduced to "zero." His defense, though, is low and can be knocked out easily. However, the player must revive Sora to finish off the boss, because Mickey does not have a combo which can "finish" a boss; this is done by pressing the triangle button repeatedly to fill up Mickey's Drive Gauge. This can also be done by constantly attacking the opponent. After the Drive Gauge, which has a level of three, is full, pressing the triangle button will bring Sora back to life with full HP and Drive. If Mickey has his HP bar reduced to "zero", Sora will be automatically revived but will have half of his max HP and no MP. If Sora dies again there is a 75% chance of the king showing up, any time after that is a 50% chance.

Different command menus

A new feature is that each world has its own Command Menu, some of which are animated. For instance, Olympus Coliseum's design shows an image of the top of the Coliseum, while Port Royal's design shows a ship's steering wheel and the Pirates of the Caribbean logo. If the player desires, the Command Menu's design can be changed to the original Kingdom Hearts design in the options menu. There are two different Command Menus; a normal one, used for attacking, accessing magic, using items, and drive, and a secondary menu, which is used to attack, summon, switch party members in and out and perform combination attacks.

Gummi Ship control

The Gummi ship has retained its basic system of travelling from Kingdom Hearts, but major changes have been made. For instance, now in the Gummi world map, the player does not pick the world the player wants to travel to by moving the cursor to it. Instead, the player must control the Gummi Ship from a top-down view and fly to the worlds the player wishes to enter. These worlds are not open from the beginning as the player must unlock the routes that separates Sora from them. When the player enters these routes, a new level loads and the player will be controlling the ship from a third-person point of view. Once a route has been unlocked, the player is free to travel to that world without having to battle enemy ships again.

Maps

It is optional to have a map in the top-right corner of the screen. In addition, mini-maps can be found in each world. On these maps, a Keyblade indicates Sora's or Roxas's location and the direction that he's facing.

Plot and setting

Setting

Further information: List of worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series

As in the first Kingdom Hearts game, the player can access different worlds with themes based mostly on Disney films.

• The Land of Dragons, from Mulan (1998)
• Beast's Castle, from Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules (1997)
• Timeless River, from Steamboat Willie (1928), Gulliver Mickey (1934) and various other black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons
• 100 Acre Wood, from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
• Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Port Royal, from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• Agrabah, from Aladdin (1992)
• Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Pride Land(s), from The Lion King (1994)
• Space Paranoids, from Tron (1982)

• Twilight Town
• Destiny Islands (unplayable)
• Hollow Bastion, later the Radiant Garden
• Disney Castle
• The World That Never Was

Characters

In addition to the Disney characters that return from Kingdom Hearts, there are also characters from Disney's movies including Megara, Pegasus, Pain, Panic and the Hydra from Hercules, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast, Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, and Santa Claus as depicted in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Stitch from Lilo & Stitch and the titular characters of Chicken Little and Peter Pan act as new summons. Characters from the previously unexplored worlds of Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tron and The Lion King also play parts in the game.

Yen Sid the sorcerer, Mickey's master in the movie Fantasia, makes an appearance, inhabiting a mysterious tower and makes his speaking debut. Also appearing is Maleficent's pet raven, Diablo. Merlin returns in Disney Castle and Hollow Bastion, revealing the existence of Timeless River to the heroes. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty give Sora his new outfit. Scrooge McDuck also makes an appearance in Hollow Bastion trying to recreate a "seasalt-flavored ice cream".

Pete is also in the game as an ever-persistent enemy to Sora, Donald and Goofy, appearing in many worlds. He works with the resurrected Maleficent, who refuses to relent in her desire for power.

Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck make appearances in the Timeless River.

Seventeen characters from the Final Fantasy series appear. Auron of Final Fantasy X can be Sora's partner in battle in Hercules' world. Yuna, Rikku and Paine from Final Fantasy X-2 appear as fairies at Hollow Bastion. Younger versions of Seifer Almasy, Fujin (called "Fuu"), and Raijin (called "Rai") from Final Fantasy VIII appear in Twilight Town, as a "disciplinary committee". Selphie Tilmitt, a Final Fantasy VIII character, returns as Kairi's classmate in a few scenes.

Squall Leonhart (Leon) of Final Fantasy VIII, and Cloud Strife, with his own side story, and Yuffie Kisaragi as depicted in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children return as cameos in Hollow Bastion. Aerith Gainsborough also appears, albeit wearing a modified version of her Before Crisis clothing. Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII also makes her first cameo in the series, wearing her Advent Children attire. Cid Highwind also returns, but he is still wearing the same attire as in the previous game; he has a speaking role this time around as opposed to caption bubbles in Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth, Cloud's ever-present enemy, comes along as well, battling Cloud. He is an optional boss.

The Moogles, featured in many different Final Fantasy titles, serve as shopkeepers at various places in worlds. However, because of the dangers of the worlds, they only appear as holograms. As part of a longtime Final Fantasy running gag, two shopkeepers in Twilight Town and Hollow Bastion are named Biggs and Wedge with a third named Jessie running an accessory shop opposite Biggs store in Twilight Town, referring to the trio Biggs, Wedge and Jessie formed in Final Fantasy VII. A more recent reference, another of the shopkeeps is named Wantz, after the brother of renowned merchant O'aka XXIII from Final Fantasy X.

Also, several other Final Fantasy related subjects make appearances through Gummi Ship models which can be obtained in the game. For example, the Fenrir is a Gummi Ship that features Cloud Strife on his motorcycle the Fenrir from the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie. Other models include: Cait Sith, Tonberry, Mandragora, Moogle, Highwind α, PuPu, and Cactuar.

It had been stated by Nomura that, although the first game strictly stuck to characters Nomura designed, this time around they were going to "take some risks", which implied that characters not designed by Nomura could make an appearance. One of these was Vivi Ornitier of Final Fantasy IX, who appears in Twilight Town as a member in Seifer's group. Another non-Nomura character included is Setzer Gabbiani of Final Fantasy VI, as a challenger in Twilight Town.

Plot

Kingdom Hearts II begins where Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories left off. Sora and his companions have been asleep for about a year, regaining their memories. When Sora awakens, he arrives in Twilight Town. Gaining new clothes and powers, Sora begins his journey anew, his memories of the events that took place in Chain of Memories wiped. Sora continues his quest by unlocking paths to new worlds, fighting Heartless and Nobodies, as well as facing the remaining members of the mysterious Organization XIII.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been asleep for the past year in order to regain their lost memories. In order to hasten the process, Riku and DiZ plot to find Sora's Nobody, Roxas, who was, at the time, a member of Organization XIII. Roxas, meanwhile, had recently left the Organization to look for Sora. Riku confronts Roxas at the World That Never Was and is defeated. Riku makes sure that the next time they meet, he will win. In order to defeat Roxas, Riku takes on the form of Xehanort's Heartless, and uses the power of darkness to defeat him. He then takes Roxas to DiZ's hideout and sends him into a digitized version of Twilight Town, with Naminé stripping Roxas of his memories and creating new memories to have Roxas believe he is an inhabitant of Twilight Town. Naminé uses her powers to restore Sora's memories, which, in turn, affects Roxas.

Meanwhile, Kairi has stopped going back to the small island where they once played. She releases a letter in a bottle into the ocean in the hopes that Sora will find it and return to the Islands.

During his time in Twilight Town, Roxas has recurring dreams of Sora's adventures, and increasingly mysterious activity is taking place in Twilight Town during Roxas' last days of summer vacation. After obtaining the Keyblade to defend himself from Nobodies that invaded the digital world, Roxas comes in contact with a young man in black named Axel. Axel appears to know Roxas, though Roxas has no recollection of him. Roxas eventually makes his way into an abandoned mansion where Naminé informs him that he is a Nobody, although he did not quite know what a Nobody was at that time. DiZ also briefly appears. Naminé promises that they will meet again. Then Roxas discovers Sora, Donald and Goofy sleeping in the hidden basement of the mansion. Roxas seems to disappear at this point as Sora (with Jiminy Cricket), Donald and Goofy awake from their year-long slumber. They search the town for King Mickey, only to be ambushed and overpowered by Nobodies. A cloaked Mickey jumps in and saves them at the last second. He gives them instructions and money to board the train and runs off.

After speaking with Yen Sid at the "Tower", the party is informed that they must once again visit many worlds to protect them from both the Heartless and the Nobodies in an attempt to stop Organization XIII. Meanwhile, Maleficent is resurrected, and joins with Pete to bring about her revenge on Sora.

Sora and his friends fly to each world on their Gummi Ship, defeating the Heartless and Nobodies and unlocking pathways to worlds both familiar and unknown. They find the worlds' troubles are due to either Pete and Maleficent or the Organization. During this time, Sora is constantly reminded of Riku, Kairi and his home on Destiny Islands.

Kairi is walking along the beach and finds a corridor of darkness and Axel, who has a desire to kidnap Kairi to lure Sora. Kairi follows King Mickey's dog, Pluto, into the corridor of darkness to escape Axel and winds up in Twilight Town. Her visit is short-lived as she is kidnapped by Axel.

Eventually, Sora and his friends finally meet up with King Mickey at Hollow Bastion. He reveals that Ansem, the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts, was merely an impostor and actually the Heartless of Ansem the Wise's apprentice, Xehanort, and that the real Ansem is still alive somewhere, but before he can reveal more, an army of Heartless storm Hollow Bastion. The four go off to fight the army.

After fighting their way through the Heartless, Sora and co. find Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII. Xemnas leaves through a corridor of darkness with King Mickey in pursuit, both of them disappearing. Axel appears and tells Sora how the Organization is using Sora to slay Heartless in order to take the released hearts to form Kingdom Hearts. Saïx, another member of Organization XIII, shows up and Axel runs for it. Saïx explains that Axel had gone AWOL, left the Organization and that Kairi is now their captive. Sora begs Saïx to let him into the realm of darkness to find Kairi, but Saïx refuses to take him to her. Maleficent suddenly appears and defends Sora from Saïx's Nobodies, telling him to devise a way to defeat the Nobodies. When Sora refuses, Maleficent teleports him, Donald, and Goofy into the realm of darkness where a cloaked Riku leaves a gift.

Sora and his friends return to Twilight Town, where they meet up with Hayner, Pence and Olette, who lead them to the Mansion. They are attacked by Nobodies, but Mickey appears and helps fend them off. They all journey to the Mansion's basement, where they use the teleporter to enter the basement in DiZ's alternate Twilight Town. There, Sora, Donald and Goofy find a portal that leads to the Organization's headquarters. They go inside and find themselves in "Betwixt and Between", where they are ambushed by an army of Nobodies. Axel is seen, struggling against the army of Nobodies, and he tells Sora to run, but they end up fighting side by side against the endless amount of Nobodies. As it seems impossible to defeat the entire group, Axel ends up sacrificing his own life in a kamikaze attack, destroying every single Nobody in the twisted realm. As he fades away, he apologizes for kidnapping Kairi, and also opens a rift to the World That Never Was.

Upon arriving at the World That Never Was, Sora is attacked by a hooded member of the Organization and the two fight alone. Sora bests him, and the figure reveals himself to be Roxas. The fight is implied to be an internal conflict between Sora and Roxas; Donald and Goofy state seeing nobody other than Sora. Sora, Donald and Goofy continue towards the Organization's headquarters, the Castle That Never Was, as they make their way through "Dark City".

Kairi, meanwhile, has been in a holding cell in the castle. She is freed by Naminé who escorts her through the castle to search for Sora. When they enter the castle, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are reunited with Kairi and Riku. Riku has taken the form of Xehanort's Heartless so he could use the powers of darkness to fight the Organization. The company fight their way up the castle, facing the members who refer to Sora as "Roxas". Riku reveals Roxas as Sora's Nobody who merged back into Sora prior to his awakening.

At the same time this occurred, Mickey encounters DiZ who reveals himself to be none other than Ansem the Wise. He plans to use a device to encode Kingdom Hearts into data to prevent Xemnas from using it. By the time Sora and co. find the two near the peak, Ansem the Wise is coming to the conclusion that hearts cannot be encoded by data and what a fool he is. He apologizes for all the pain he has caused, and especially expresses his regret to Roxas, even though he is unsure if Roxas can even hear him. The machine explodes, taking Ansem the Wise and a chunk of Kingdom Hearts with it. After the explosion, Sora and his friends are overjoyed to find that Riku has returned to his true form. When Sora asks why he tried to do so much on his own, Riku replies: "Because I'm not a total sap like you."

Reunited, the group heads up towards the peak of the castle, where Xemnas awaits. Xemnas fights Sora one on one and is defeated. Xemnas goes inside Kingdom Hearts with Sora, Donald, Riku, Goofy, Kairi and the King following, and is defeated a second time, or so it seems. Roxas and Naminé briefly appear and discuss the promise they had made before returning to their original selves. Sora and Kairi are finally complete. But Xemnas separates Sora and Riku from the others for a final battle, where he is defeated a third and final time. Thus all traces of Xehanort are finally no more. However, Sora and Riku end up stranded in the realm of darkness. The two discuss their adventures and accept the fact that they are stranded in darkness forever, at peace because the realm of light is finally safe.

Kairi's letter in a bottle washes onshore. Sora and Riku read it and the "door to light" suddenly appears. With newfound hope, the two friends step through and find themselves back home at the Destiny Islands where they are greeted by their overjoyed friends. The credits roll with Sora returning Kairi's good luck charm that she gave him in the first game. The game ends with Sora, Riku and Kairi reading a mysterious letter from Mickey.

A teaser for what appears to be a fourth title in the series can be seen after Kairi, Riku and Sora read the King's letter if the player accomplishes certain tasks.

Development

English version

Content editing

Besides typical English translation and localization, the English version of Kingdom Hearts II differs from the original Japanese version, in the content of gameplay and several scenes.

The Hydra boss in Olympus Coliseum has its green blood from the Japanese version (which in turn was taken from Hercules) changed into black and purple smoke in the English version. An earlier cutscene retains the green blood.

The World That Never Was boss Xigbar's telescopic sight view has been edited from the Japanese version to replace its crosshair with three circles and remove the black shading around the sides that implied a telescopic sight. An attack animation was also altered; in the Japanese version, Xigbar combined his two hand-held guns to create a sniper rifle, which was used to snipe the player's party during the telescoping sight sequence. In the English version, Xigbar's animation does not combine his guns, instead twirling them around, and shooting at Sora with a single gun.

Port Royal contains the most content edits. Cutscenes have been edited to remove some of the violence such as Barbossa's sword sticking out of Jack Sparrow's chest in one scene. Another edit has William Turner not aim his gun at his head as he threatens to commit suicide. Undead pirates, who act as enemies at certain times, do not catch fire when affected by Fire magic in the English version, unlike the Japanese version. Furthermore, the pirates' muskets have been slightly modified so to resemble crossbows, though they still fire with an audible shooting sound effect.

Final Mix+

In an interview with Tetsuya Nomura in Weekly Jump magazine, the Kingdom Hearts creator had expressed interest in a possible international version of Kingdom Hearts II although there were no definite plans. He said that should a "Final Mix" version arise, he has a "trump card" in mind with such features as the Mushroom Heartless found in the first Kingdom Hearts.^[1] In September 2006, Square Enix announced that they would develop Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+.[1] Current scans of magazines show that Final Mix+ will feature new scenes including one with Roxas in the World that Never Was, Axel speaking to Naminé and Riku, and an extended version of the secret movie featuring one of the knights with his faceplate broken.

More information at the TGS 2006 [2] revealed that Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ will be a 2-disc set. The first disc will contain the main game with the content added to the North American version of the game, including the English voice acting. The second disc will contain a 3D remake of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, with Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts' graphics, extra scenes and voiceover for particular scenes. The battle system will be largely the same, though it will implement Reaction Commands. The game will be released in Japan in 2007. Unlike Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, this set has been speculated to have a possibility of release in North America.

Reception

During its first week of availability in Japan, Kingdom Hearts II sold 727,591 copies. [3] During its first month of availablility in North America Kingdom Hearts II sold over an estimated 1 million copies. [4]

The critical response of the game has been generally positive, most notably a score of 39/40 from Japanese game magazine Famitsu (the fact that Famitsu has only ever given six games 40/40 makes the near perfect score even more significant) [5] [6]. It later went on to tie with Biohazard 4 as Famitsu's Game of The Year 2005 [7]. Famitsu's readers ranked the game 29th on Famitsu's Top 100 games ever [8]; ten places below the first game of the series. Other positive reviews include a 8.7/10 from GameSpot [9], a 4.5/5 from the Official Playstation Magazine, a 9/10 from GameSpy [10], a 4 out of 5 from X-Play [11], and an overall 9.3 from Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com [12]. IGN.com gave the game a lower score of 7.6/10 [13].

On August 8, 2006, the game won the awards for Best Voiceover and Best Soundtrack on G4's video game awards show G-Phoria. It was also nominated for Best RPG.

Audio

Musical score

Certain aspects of gameplay are based on music and button coordination, such as the Atlantica world and the Stitch summon.

Main article: Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack

An original soundtrack CD for Kingdom Hearts II, composed by Yoko Shimomura was released on January 25, 2006 and its catalogue number is TOCT-25871~2. The theme songs to Kingdom Hearts II, Passion and Sanctuary (the English version of Passion) are performed by Utada Hikaru, and according to Tetsuya Nomura it ties in even more closely with the game's story than Hikari (Simple and Clean) did with Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The CD single for Passion was released on December 14, 2005, with a price of ¥1,050 (roughly 8.78 USD).

The tracklist for the single is as follows:

1. Passion ~single version~ (4:36)
2. Passion ~after the battle~ (5:57)

Voice acting

Main article: Voice cast in the Kingdom Hearts series

A special effort was made to preserve the original voice actors from the Disney movies used in Kingdom Hearts. However, some voice actors from the related television series or direct-to-video sequels were chosen over original voice actors, where applicable (e.g. Robert Costanzo as Phil, rather than Danny DeVito).

It has also been officially confirmed by the Spanish Magazine PlayMania that Kingdom Hearts II will be the first game by Square-Enix to be dubbed to the specific languages of each country, unlike its predecessor, which had English voicing with subtitles.

Merchandise

A manga series has started its serialization in the June 2006 issue (released on May 12th) of the magazine Monthly Shonen Gangan, published by Square Enix. The artist is Shiro Amano, who also did the Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories manga series.

Currently, there is an on-going novel series written by Tomoko Kanemaki and illustrated by Shiro Amano. The first volume, titled "Roxas - Seven Days" [14] was released on April 22nd, 2006, covers Roxas' story to the part where Sora woke up and left Twilight Town. The novel holds extra scenes that were not seen in the game, such as interactions between all of the Organization members with each other, and between Axel, Naminé, and Riku. It is currently only available in Japanese and there is no announcement for an English translation yet. The second book, "The Destruction of Hollow Bastion", was released on June 2006. The third book, "The Tears of a Nobody", is slated to be released sometime in the winter.

References

External links

Official sites

• Kingdom Hearts II Official North American Site of Square-Enix
• Kingdom Hearts II Official Japanese Site of Square-Enix
• Official Japanese Site of Disney Interactive
• Official European Kingdom Hearts 2 Website

Unofficial sites

• Kingdom Hearts II at IGN
• Kingdom Hearts II at GameSpot
• KH-Vids.Net - Fansite with gameplay videos and trailers
• Kingdom Hearts Ultimania
• Kingdom Hearts II's educational benefits