Review by Caron Chuen Cheong on Kingdom Hearts II- 9/10

Kingdom Hearts II is an action role-playing game on the PlayStation2, developed by Square-Enix, who are known to have created the popular Final Fantasy games. KHII is the sequel to Kingdom Hearts, which is also on the PS2 and was also very popular due to characters from both Square and Disney appearing in the games.

In KHII you carry off from the storyline of KH1 and also Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on the Gameboy Advance, another side sequel to KH1. Those who are familiar from playing the previous games would probably know the story and the main characters, so they will definately love the game due to the similar, but enhanced gameplay, more characters and worlds.

As the player you control the main character, Sora, a young but now matured boy, who can weild a keyblade. This keyblade is used as his weapon, and there are several types you can obtain over time. Accompanied by Sora are other characters, mainly Donald and Goofy from Disney, who travel around with Sora to a variety of Disney worlds to solve problems they encounter. From the previous storylines, Sora was separated from his two best friends and now he is trying to find them, searching on different worlds. There are enemies called Heartless and in KHII the new ones called Nobodies, who come in a variety of forms, that spill into these worlds. Sora must use his magical keyblade to seal the gaps in the worlds and at the same time find his friends.

The gameplay has been slightly enhanced from the previous games. As an action RPG you use the left analog stick to move Sora in any direction and also use the right analog stick to move the camera angle to different view points. With the analog stick you can make Sora walk or run, depending on how far you tilt the stick. The X button is used to confirm and attack, the O and Square buttons are used for abilites you eventually learn, like gliding and jumping. What is new to KHII is the reaction command, which is assigned to the triangle button. This is used when a particulaer event occurs in battles, or generally talking to non-playable characters.

It is quite easy to handle the controls, even though someone may not have played any KH games before. The layout of the menus and sub-menus are easy to navigate through. These contain things such as eqipping, looking at stats and items.
Other features new to KHII is the drive forms that Sora can transform into to use in battles. These forms make Sora stronger and faster, depending on what form you change into. For example, the first form called Valor, Sora's clothes change red and his attack increases, however, he cannot perform any magic while in this state. There is a drive gauge that eventually runs out, changing Sora back from his form. Features kept the same are summons, which aid you in battle, it depends on what powers they possess. For example, you may summon Genie from Aladdin to help you fight.

There is the usual levelling up that is found in most RPG's, and also levelling up for drive forms and summons. As the higher the level for the gauges the more time the form or summon may last and of course the more levels Sora gains the more abilities he will learn.
Side-quests are another feature which are optional, but fun to complete. For example, fighting the ever popular villain, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, which is tough yet satisfying after completion and you get rewarded with new items and beautiful fmv and cut sequences, which appear in the throughout the game.

The strong points to this game is not only the atmosphere of the worlds and characters, but also the music and voice acting, which enhances playing. Like walking around the worlds and then suddenly entering battles, the music changes to suit the situation. During the cutscenes the characters often talk, so they are lots of listening and not only reading. There are some brilliant voice acting, like from Haley Joel Osment, who plays Sora, but sometimes it can be annoying listening to voices that you don't want listen to.

Overall Kingdom Hearts II would definatley appeal to those who have played the previous KH games, but also final fantasy gamers and those who love Disney. One would think that from the animation that it would be a kid's game, however this would also appeal very much to older audiences who would love a satisfying game to play, which is unique and not the usual blood covered zombies. Some may feel that the game may be too easy for them, as the gameplay does tend to be on the easy side, however the whole experience makes up for it.

Here are some photos i took on the trip to Castleton.

Hello! This is my first time creating a blog here. I usually go on other sites. I'm tired at the moment, but it is still very early. Been out all day mainly walking. I think i got a bit sunburnt, especially on my face, as i can feel it.

I'm going to now either play Runescape, or to start watching Bleach on youtube, since everyone says it's a really good anime.