ok this is the review i wrote for GFaqs....
GRAPHICS: 10/10
I always like to start a review with graphics. And I must say, the graphics are downright excellent in this game. I almost drooled seeing the opening scene, for it was so beautiful and perfectly rendered. Each world in the game is perfectly designed and has an excellent look. They are very expansive and large and are great for exploration. I especially like how the characters are designed alot better in this game, and Sora doesn't have incredibly large shoes. I love how the characters look in the game. Although I do find it strange to see bright colored characters in a dark world like Port Royal. It's actually quite comical to see Goofy and Barbossa in the same scene. The gummi ship look is also alot better this time around too. It looks more like you're in space than in a lava lamp this time around. It's extremely beautiful. Not much else to say on the graphics, except that they are excellent.
STORY: 9/10
Story, for me, is what keeps me going in an RPG. So if a story in a game isn't all that great, I might end up turning to another game. However, this is not the case for Kingdom Hearts 2.
For the first three hours or so of the game, you play as a young boy named Roxas. He lives in Twilight Town, a large, bustling town, with his three friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. You play through his home of Twilight Town, trying to uncover the mysteries of his dreams, which are ironically all about Sora and his previous adventures in Kingdom Hearts and leads to the awakening of our true hero, Sora. Roxas and his pals are also trying to find a way to enjoy their final six days of Summer. Throughout his journey, you will have to earn money by doing an assortment of odd jobs, uncover mysteries of the town, and fight off your favorite Final Fantasy characters in the town's annual tourney. All of these events lead up to the truth of Roxas, and I must say, it is an amazing chain of events.
Once Roxas's story ends, Sora awakens, as well as Donald and Goofy and the true journey begins. Unfortunately he has to find some new clothes because he has certainly outgrown his other clothes. This time around, Sora still wants to find his childhood friends, Riku and Kairi, as Donald and Goofy are looking for their King, the great King Mickey. The heartless have returned and Sora must use his keyblade to stop the threat once again. Also, new threats await Sora and the gang. For example, a new enemy awaits the gang, who are known as nobodies. These creatures are led by a group known as Organization XIII. I don't want to spoil anything so you need to find out their motives on your own gameplay time. Of course, you will have to travel through Disney-related worlds again, saving each one from a heartless threat. I love how each world follows the story of their movies, which makes me actually love the Disney Worlds in the games. Although the stories each world portrays are near perfect, I get the feeling they have no importance to the story. That is why I give the story a 9. The excellent story comes to a halt as you go through 0ver 15 hours of Disney Worlds before you reach more story greatness. Plus, the Disney Worlds all have the same outline:
Arrive In World
Meet with Disney Hero and fight off Heartless
Villainous issue arrives involving Pete and Disney Related Villain.
Stop Villain
Seal Keyhole
Leave
But overall, the story is still excellent. It's not quite as good as its predecessor's story, but it is still great and filled with excellent plot twists.
GAME PLAY and CONTROLS: 9/10
The game play is spectacular in this game. In the first game I felt that the game play was somewhat slow at times and the fighting wasn't very fluid. This time around, there are so many new additions to make this gameplay almost perfect. The controls have been tweaked a bit so it makes combat more fluid and fast-paced. One of the new additions is the Reaction Command. It comes into play when using the Triangle button against an enemy, causing Sora to pull off an excellent chain of attacks. Even though this is great, I think that this can be abused at times, making some fights extremely easy.
Another great attribute is the Drive Form. Once Sora gets his new clothes he is able to gain the strength of Donald and Goofy, making him one powerful kid. Throughout the game, Sora will gain four drive forms: Valor, Wisdom, Master, and Final. Each one is excellent in their own way. Like Valor is great for attacking, Wisdom is great for the magic users. Master is awesome if you want to pull off an amazing string of combos. And Final Form is all around greatness. The Drive Forms are an excellent attribute to the game.
Magic and Summons are still available in this game. Summons are used by the same bar Drive Forms are used for: the Drive Bar. Summons can be very helpful but I found them useless. Drive Forms are usually much more helpful in this game. At least that is how it goes for me. Magic is also not as useful anymore. Sure, you use cure every once in a while. But the other spells can be untouched the entire game and you will do just fine. Though Magic is still powerful, I just find it useless.
One of my favorite features is the Limit Command. This allows Sora to use a co-op attack with one of his partners and unleash true fury on his opponent. I find this very helpful with the bosses and for the Colliseum Cups.
Overall, the gameplay is excellent, but I feel like it is a button smasher at times. And I feel that Magic and Summoning could have been integrated into the game more often. Still, pressing the 'X' button for 5 hours straight and not getting bored says something.
SOUND: 9/10
I find the music excellent in this game. Each world has amazing music, and you will find yourself bobbing your head to the sweet sounds of your favorite Disney Worlds. Not much to say on the overall music, except that it is perfect in this game.
The voice acting is alot better this time around. Haley Joel Osment does an excellent job as the voice for Sora. And Jesse McCartney does a very good job as the voice of Roxas. There are so many great voices in this game, it is hard to name them all. The only reason I give this a 9/10 is because the voices for Aerith and Cid are flat-out Horrendous.
The sound is still excellent.
Rent/Buy/Pass?
This game is a definite buy for any fan of the series. If you just want to beat the game, you could probably beat it when renting it. But there are so many extras in the game that keep you playing the game. With excellent re-playability and very few noticeable flaws, this game can not be passed up.
Overall: 9.4/10
GRAPHICS: 10/10
I always like to start a review with graphics. And I must say, the graphics are downright excellent in this game. I almost drooled seeing the opening scene, for it was so beautiful and perfectly rendered. Each world in the game is perfectly designed and has an excellent look. They are very expansive and large and are great for exploration. I especially like how the characters are designed alot better in this game, and Sora doesn't have incredibly large shoes. I love how the characters look in the game. Although I do find it strange to see bright colored characters in a dark world like Port Royal. It's actually quite comical to see Goofy and Barbossa in the same scene. The gummi ship look is also alot better this time around too. It looks more like you're in space than in a lava lamp this time around. It's extremely beautiful. Not much else to say on the graphics, except that they are excellent.
STORY: 9/10
Story, for me, is what keeps me going in an RPG. So if a story in a game isn't all that great, I might end up turning to another game. However, this is not the case for Kingdom Hearts 2.
For the first three hours or so of the game, you play as a young boy named Roxas. He lives in Twilight Town, a large, bustling town, with his three friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. You play through his home of Twilight Town, trying to uncover the mysteries of his dreams, which are ironically all about Sora and his previous adventures in Kingdom Hearts and leads to the awakening of our true hero, Sora. Roxas and his pals are also trying to find a way to enjoy their final six days of Summer. Throughout his journey, you will have to earn money by doing an assortment of odd jobs, uncover mysteries of the town, and fight off your favorite Final Fantasy characters in the town's annual tourney. All of these events lead up to the truth of Roxas, and I must say, it is an amazing chain of events.
Once Roxas's story ends, Sora awakens, as well as Donald and Goofy and the true journey begins. Unfortunately he has to find some new clothes because he has certainly outgrown his other clothes. This time around, Sora still wants to find his childhood friends, Riku and Kairi, as Donald and Goofy are looking for their King, the great King Mickey. The heartless have returned and Sora must use his keyblade to stop the threat once again. Also, new threats await Sora and the gang. For example, a new enemy awaits the gang, who are known as nobodies. These creatures are led by a group known as Organization XIII. I don't want to spoil anything so you need to find out their motives on your own gameplay time. Of course, you will have to travel through Disney-related worlds again, saving each one from a heartless threat. I love how each world follows the story of their movies, which makes me actually love the Disney Worlds in the games. Although the stories each world portrays are near perfect, I get the feeling they have no importance to the story. That is why I give the story a 9. The excellent story comes to a halt as you go through 0ver 15 hours of Disney Worlds before you reach more story greatness. Plus, the Disney Worlds all have the same outline:
Arrive In World
Meet with Disney Hero and fight off Heartless
Villainous issue arrives involving Pete and Disney Related Villain.
Stop Villain
Seal Keyhole
Leave
But overall, the story is still excellent. It's not quite as good as its predecessor's story, but it is still great and filled with excellent plot twists.
GAME PLAY and CONTROLS: 9/10
The game play is spectacular in this game. In the first game I felt that the game play was somewhat slow at times and the fighting wasn't very fluid. This time around, there are so many new additions to make this gameplay almost perfect. The controls have been tweaked a bit so it makes combat more fluid and fast-paced. One of the new additions is the Reaction Command. It comes into play when using the Triangle button against an enemy, causing Sora to pull off an excellent chain of attacks. Even though this is great, I think that this can be abused at times, making some fights extremely easy.
Another great attribute is the Drive Form. Once Sora gets his new clothes he is able to gain the strength of Donald and Goofy, making him one powerful kid. Throughout the game, Sora will gain four drive forms: Valor, Wisdom, Master, and Final. Each one is excellent in their own way. Like Valor is great for attacking, Wisdom is great for the magic users. Master is awesome if you want to pull off an amazing string of combos. And Final Form is all around greatness. The Drive Forms are an excellent attribute to the game.
Magic and Summons are still available in this game. Summons are used by the same bar Drive Forms are used for: the Drive Bar. Summons can be very helpful but I found them useless. Drive Forms are usually much more helpful in this game. At least that is how it goes for me. Magic is also not as useful anymore. Sure, you use cure every once in a while. But the other spells can be untouched the entire game and you will do just fine. Though Magic is still powerful, I just find it useless.
One of my favorite features is the Limit Command. This allows Sora to use a co-op attack with one of his partners and unleash true fury on his opponent. I find this very helpful with the bosses and for the Colliseum Cups.
Overall, the gameplay is excellent, but I feel like it is a button smasher at times. And I feel that Magic and Summoning could have been integrated into the game more often. Still, pressing the 'X' button for 5 hours straight and not getting bored says something.
SOUND: 9/10
I find the music excellent in this game. Each world has amazing music, and you will find yourself bobbing your head to the sweet sounds of your favorite Disney Worlds. Not much to say on the overall music, except that it is perfect in this game.
The voice acting is alot better this time around. Haley Joel Osment does an excellent job as the voice for Sora. And Jesse McCartney does a very good job as the voice of Roxas. There are so many great voices in this game, it is hard to name them all. The only reason I give this a 9/10 is because the voices for Aerith and Cid are flat-out Horrendous.
The sound is still excellent.
Rent/Buy/Pass?
This game is a definite buy for any fan of the series. If you just want to beat the game, you could probably beat it when renting it. But there are so many extras in the game that keep you playing the game. With excellent re-playability and very few noticeable flaws, this game can not be passed up.
Overall: 9.4/10
) Some unessercery worlds, like Alantica.