What if KH2 hadn't had revisits?

[Zackarix]

Or rather, only had revisits on an as-needed basis instead of having two visits for most worlds just because.

One thing I know for certain: Beast's Castle would have been one of the last worlds visited instead of one of the first. Xaldin is NOT an early game boss.

 

[kirabook]

Hm..... I can't even imagine KH2 without the revisits. I truly think that and lots of OC interactions is what I like about the KH2 plot. Maybe some revists are unnecessary and you could do it one go, but eh. I don't think it would work. They kinda had it worked out as first visit == Disney, second visit == Disney+OC.

If I compare it to how KH3 did worlds.... KH2's way is preferable. It gave time for the Disney fluff they wanted to include. But then they twisted it at the end with OC stuff.

I think a great example is um, what's it called.... San Fransokyo. If that were a KH2 world, the later half with CoM Riku would've been a revisit. That sounds really nice.

 

[disney233]

I can.
Because...good lord, looking back I REALLY can't help but notice how...meaningless the 2nd visits are. The OC interaction Kira mentioned is just...nonexistent in a GREAT majority of the worlds.

To sum up the 2nd visits, it's where the Org is...apparently more 'active' when in reality they aren't. Xaldin is the only org member that actually FEELS like he has meaning there instead of just being plastered there for the sake of revealing him. The rest of the worlds the org visits has Luxord simply retracing the POTC plot, and Xigbar...just there for 5 seconds & then leaves. The 2nd visits just feel so pointless and are simply there for the sake of padding out an already long story.

With that being said, I can imagine these visits...simply merging into one like in the manga. Not only does it open up the idea of the Organization working with the Disney villains in said world, but just imagine the idea of Shan Yu riding the Storm Rider, or Pete summoning the Grim Reaper instead of that forgetful chameleon Heartless.

And there's also the idea of completely doing the Beauty & the Beast story, and have Xaldin try to control Beast & use the Shadow Stalker to take Belle, and when that failed, he takes his plans to the village, and he works with Gaston to deal with Beast, Belle, and Sora.

I always advocated the idea of the Org just...working alongside Maleficent & the Disney villains, that way BOTH parties can be relevant....because let's be real, ever since the original characters were introduced, the Final Fantasy, and Disney aspects of the game are COMPLETELY shadowed by them.

This turned into a rant & idea dump, but....I'm aggravated, because of how...needlessly filler the 2nd visits really are. And I can't even pretend that even the 1st visits in most worlds are filler, too.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

I think the manga gives us good idea of what it’d be like. Events would either play out one after the other, mix together like how Sora deals with the Dragon Heartless before fighting Shan Yu, or they’d just have the events of one visit play out then show something else happen after you leave.

 

[Zackarix]

My feelings on KH2's revisits are mixed. I feel that a lot of the perceived depth they add is illusionary. The trade-off of having multiple visits is that the individual visits are shorter. I feel like most of them could be combined with very little lost. But the thing is, the illusion works. Having a lot of world visits very much contributes to the feeling that you're on an epic journey.

But on the other hand, doesn't KH2 have the highest world count? Did it really need revisits? KH3, with its low world count, would have benefitted more from revisits but doesn't have them. But both games have deeper story issues than the number of world visits.

 

[Elysium]

TBH, the re-visits are my favorite aspect of the worlds in 2.

 

[SuperNova]

Honestly, the KH2 revisits didn't need to be a thing, a lot of the worlds events could've been combined together into one visit, and the excuse of looking for the organization in the 2nd visit was pretty flimsy in worlds not named Beasts Castle. That said the visits helped the pacing a bit instead of just having us rush off to the TWTNW like KH3 did with the KG. So I feel that the KH2 revisits could've had a better reason for existing, but its nice it was there.

KH3 on the other hand could've benefited from the revisits..

 

[Zackarix]

I mean, if the revisits didn't exist the plot would have presumably been structured around single visits. No need to go rushing off to TWTNW immediately after finishing HB/RG so long as they hold some Disney worlds (like Beast's Castle) back for the second half of the game. I guess you can argue that Sora has no reason not to rush to the end after getting a bunch of plot coupons, but that's a problem that exists in the original game too and is one of the deeper story issues I mentioned.

 

[AdrianXXII]

I mean, if the revisits didn't exist the plot would have presumably been structured around single visits. No need to go rushing off to TWTNW immediately after finishing HB/RG so long as they hold some Disney worlds (like Beast's Castle) back for the second half of the game. I guess you can argue that Sora has no reason not to rush to the end after getting a bunch of plot coupons, but that's a problem that exists in the original game too and is one of the deeper story issues I mentioned.

Honestly I feel revisiting some worlds makes sense like Beast's Castle, because the world benefits from the breather that's given by the revisit. They could even explain it that Sora and Co. are revisiting worlds they encountered Organization member on in hopes to finding clues to getting to their base. But mostly, yeah the plotlines could be combined and it could be crisper. The manga actually does a great job combining the visits and I feel the story kind of flowed better thanks to it.

 

[The_Echo]

One of my favorite things about KHII is the sense of familiarity Sora has with most of the Disney characters, because most of them are worlds that were in KH1, or otherwise feature characters Sora has already met.

What this means is that Sora has a connection to these places and the people living there, so even if the events of that world aren't important to stopping the Organization or tracking down Riku, he still has a personal investment and a reason to stick around. His presence there is more natural that way.
The second visits just double-down on that element, and for completely new friends (Tron, Mulan, Jack Sparrow), offers the same sense of connection within the same game. Sora is written as an actual friend to these characters, rather than a Good Samaritan who helps out because it's the right thing to do and then promptly leaves.

From a gameplay/pacing angle, splitting the worlds into multiple visits makes things go at a brisker pace, where you feel meaningful progress is being made a lot more often, as well as seeing a lot more variety in a shorter period of time. Then on the second visit, you open up new areas and fight new bosses which adds texture to the familiar location.
Personally, with how much bigger the worlds were in KHIII, I think they very much would have benefited from splitting into multiple visits (not that they were written to allow for it).

If KHII didn't have revisits, then... I don't know that we'd notice a difference? Since then none of the games would have multiple visits.
Or maybe it'd feel like KHIII, where the worlds are quite long (and with 16 worlds that could get a bit tiresome).

 

[Max]

I think I would have liked the revisits better for most worlds if they were optional. I still would have done them all, but I think it just would have felt different knowing I was going back and checking up on these worlds for fun instead of having to and them feeling inconsequential.

 

[Launchpad]

Outside of Beast's Castle, the storyline in the revisits is pretty much non existent. But I think a lot of the battles you get to experience in the revisits are the most enjoyable in the game before the endgame portion. I really love Grim Reaper, Xaldin, Hades, the dragon in Land of Dragons, and I even enjoy The Experiment despite the jank. Earthshaker and Jafar are pitiful fights but it's a small price to pay for the rest. So while the stories are boring and speak to KH2's abysmal main story pacing, I think the game objectives are engaging and give you a good excuse to test out your expanded toolkit.