Kingdom Hearts II Member Review for the PS2

I have been a huge fan of Square and Square-Enix for a long time. When the first Kingdom Hearts was released, I was a bit sceptacle about the cross-over of Disney and Square...but Square shocked me with an amazing game and left me wanting more. Presto!! Kingdom Hearts II. All the characters, deep plot lines, and combat you loved in the first installment are back in a souped-up sequel. And yes, the camera has had a complete over-hual (YAY!!!).

The story takes place one year after the events in KH and right after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The lengthy, story heavy 4 hour prologue is played through the eyes of a new character to the game. A boy named Roxas is a resident of Twilight Town (your starting world) and has been having strange dreams about the previous adventures of Sora and the gang. After some confusing plot twists, you once again resume control of Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

After you leaving Twilight Town is where the game really starts to pick up. You are given a new set of clothes with probably the most fun ability of the game withing them. The drive form allows you to merge with either Donald or Goofy to unlock amazing new abilities and strength. The duration of your new form is determined by the drive bar, which will deteriarate during you drive. In most of Sora's drive forms, you weild TWO, count em' TWO keyblades (I'm in geek heaven!). Another new addition to the combat system are limit breaks and reaction command, which are both utilized with timed out pressing of the triangle button. Limit breaks team Sora up with extra party members to perfors super combos. And reaction commands are used during certain situations facing an enemy, dealing heavy damage.

The voices acting of KHII is, once again, top notch. But after a while some of the dialogue seems unnecessary and becomes very predictable.  The visuals are still top notch gorgous. But some of the level designing left a lot to be desired. There were always a couple areas in each world that looked very blan and unfinished. All in all KHII is a solid, fun RPG experience. It's everything a sequel should be...more of the same with add-ons and improvments. A compelling story and "after the credits" cliff-hanger, have me patiently wating for KHIII (or another movie as good as Advent Children =).