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Kingdom Hearts 2 Retrospective



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LightUpTheSky452

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Ahh, The Cavern of Remembrance. So very fun! And the best part of KHIIFM for sure!

It's probably why I have to say that (gameplay wise) Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix is now probably my favorite game in the series (only just beating out BbS for overall best KH game to me; though just for the narrative, KH1 will always be the most superb, imo).

So I really, truly enjoyed reading all of your thoughts on this here, Blackdrazon!

Especially since I'm also someone who has always loved the platforming in KH, and wish that SE had just continued to better it instead of scrapping it completely--which is really something they did with the Cavern of Remembrance here and I very much appreciate them for doing that.

It's also so nice to be back at the Rising Falls (and to see some Castle Oblivion aesthetics)! They're, without a doubt, probably my favorite area in all of KH. There's just something about them...

And being back at the place suddenly makes me feel like I'm truly playing a sequel to the first Kingdom Hearts game. I wish they had been there for all of the Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden sections and explorable, but oh well. Here's hoping they will be in KHIII, right?:)

Oh, btw, did anyone in the fandom ever think that the Data battles were going to be important for the story in future games? I seriously want to know, because I didn't learn about them late into my KH career, oddly enough, but I can imagine how there might've been theories and a lot of speculation about them galore, maybe.

Well, if you don't mind me, I'm going to go attempt to beat the Data battles that I haven't on critical yet (because your update to the retrospective, my friend, has now inspired me to do so).

See you and wish me luck, guys! I needs me that Birth by Sleep secret ending.

Edit:

They also function as hints as to what Drive Form/Growth Ability you need to progress.
The first one, next to the first wall, is red, the colour of Valor Form hinting that you need High Jump to progress.
The two in the first 'Mineshaft' segment are blue, Wisdom Form. You need quick Run.
The balloon at the second 'Mineshaft' segment is yellow so Master Form/Aerial Dodge
And finally the balloon at the final 'Mineshaf' segment is white for Final Form/Glide
This took me years to discover, and I think I was actually told by someone before I noticed.

Ahh! That's amazing! It's like how fans have just recently discovered that going through all the green doors in Monstro in KH1 will see you right through the maze.

You know, you've really got to love it when the game designers actually take the time to give us little hints like this=)
 
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I got a shout out in today's update! Wasn't expecting that. What a great surprise!

I'm still reading every update. It's just fascinating seeing the game from another perspective, and learning new things about the games I didn't before. I particularly love your thoughts and opinions on aspects of the game, and how in depth you are willing to go for your audience. It's a great read, something I look forward to every week. :)
 

Elysium

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I wouldn't doubt the Axel-Roxas friendship was added to give Axel a purpose post-prologue. It would explain why Axel is pretty much night and day from CoM to KH2, because they extended the character beyond his original purpose. I hate it mostly because it ruined Axel, imo, and birthed Days and then from there the incessant need to re-create the SRK trio again and again.

As far as the three-base world problem they likely began with: I think what would've been better is if Twilight Town was not a world at all, but a digital creation for Roxas only and Namine/DiZ was hiding Sora inside Castle Oblivion (perhaps the same room as Ventus...that the Org. members couldn't find). Then once Sora woke up, he walked out of the Castle to find the Mysterious Tower on the other side, cue Gummi Ship, then to Hollow Bastion as KH2's base world. Or they did include Traverse Town as the base world and Hollow Bastion had stayed a castle, treated as a normal world with the usual format only with original characters/plot.

I agree that Beast's Castle probably originally began in the Courtyard. Tbh, that would've made more sense to have the characters see that they're at a castle before going inside. I wish the Underworld Curse had made combat even more difficult. That would have fit a fighting world like OC, plus suiting the story (mortals should be incredibly weak in god territory).

I believe you and dlppictures are right about Timeless River. I have a feeling that would've been changed because of how bloated KH2's world list had become, because they obviously felt the need to give you the option to skip the last two worlds and go over to the TT Kairi episode, opening up the Battle at HB. They couldn't put it after you have the option to skip since it's actually relevant to the story. Plus, if Axel died in the prologue and if, as I think, Kairi never left Destiny Islands originally, that would have meant less going on in the middle of the game. There'd have been only Disney Castle > Hollow Bastion >(Space Paranoids interlude) > 1,000 Heartless Battle.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mulan and PotC had been swapped at some point earlier on. I'm not sure why they would've changed it though, other than maybe they thought there wasn't much break between the '90s animated Disney worlds or because you really don't have many spells at the beginning (which kind of hinders the ability to hurt the pirates). It does seem a little odd that you have two ocean worlds right next to one another in the finished product. I would've much rather Mulan came later and had higher level difficulty.

The funniest part at the end: Ask Disney if can do Mulan w/o Mulan??" and Mansex. lol
 
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FudgemintGuardian

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As the years go by, KH2 becomes more of a disappointment to me, because when I look at the Cavern of Remembrance I can see what KH2 could have been. At least environment wise.

It's funny, Chain of Memories was never intended yet it had an great, solid story, decent gameplay (when you knew what to do) And had few problems (namely it's lousy tutorial)
And then I look at KH2 and...in all honestly, it looks like the one that wasn't intended. Janky editing, flash over substance, simply not knowing what to do with characters. They certainly knew what to have happen at the beginning and end, but everything in between...

But anyway, you did a fantastical job on this, Drazon!
 

hemmoheikkinen

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Apologies to post in an already concluded retrospective, but this caught my curiosity:

[FONT=&quot]She casts a magic spell (reminiscent of Wisdom Form’s 360 degree Block) to protect the Lingering Will from the swarm. Indeed, this carries her friend all the way to the top of the pillar, where the old man simply detonates the whole affair with Firaga.[/FONT]

Does MX use a Firaga there? For the longest of time I have thought that the explosion is caused by the Refleca spells counter attack thing. The magical shell explodes in KH2 after it has absorbed some of the attacks, but not in a similar fashion as in the secret movie.
 

DarkosOverlord

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Apologies to post in an already concluded retrospective, but this caught my curiosity:



Does MX use a Firaga there? For the longest of time I have thought that the explosion is caused by the Refleca spells counter attack thing. The magical shell explodes in KH2 after it has absorbed some of the attacks, but not in a similar fashion as in the secret movie.

Me too, I think it was just... unspecified clash of powers there. Like, Xehanort just overpowering the spell, or maybe the spell getting broken by so many keyblades.
Regardless of how I interpreted that scene, I don't really see a Firaga. Was it confirmed somewhere?
 

hemmoheikkinen

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Me too, I think it was just... unspecified clash of powers there. Like, Xehanort just overpowering the spell, or maybe the spell getting broken by so many keyblades.
Regardless of how I interpreted that scene, I don't really see a Firaga. Was it confirmed somewhere?

I don`t think it has ever been confirmed, or at least I don`t remember ever coming across any explanation.
 
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Necroposting, but I don't care, haha. Wanted to point this out for a while.

The fourth window is the only one I can’t tie to a particular film. It’s set in Mickey’s living room, which could be from any number of things. Sadly, watching dozens of classic cartoons is not in my job description, as much as I wish it were.

People say that the Mickey's House area is from Mickey's Orphans, and I can certainly see why.
The cartoon is set at Christmas time, and if you look closely around the room, you can see that it's snowing outside and that there many decorations around which resemble those in the cartoon.

d1cch14.png
 
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Nukara

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Necroposting, but I honestly do not understand why on this forum so everyone loves KH1 and CoM? Yes, this is a good story. But the story is still happy with the children's and also tell me really interesting characters in KH1 except Riku and Ansem the Wise? And the development that Riku got started with CoM.
Speaking of design, it seems to me that the design of Sora in KH1 and CoM is too ridiculous. I also consider the statement above rather controversial about the fact that the gameplay in CoM (especially in RE: CoM) is better than in KH2, since the combat system in CoM was criticized more than once with KH2, it was much less. For basically the combat system in KH2 was praised. It also seemed to me in the CoM storyline rather monotonous, it lacks the adventure charm that KH1, KH2, BBS and DDD have. Like the repetitive worlds, all this does not go into the plus of this game, although I still love the story in CoM for there are a lot of interesting moments, although the most interesting story for me starts with Riku, but also my pet Axel first appears there. )) However, in places the plot is boring because of the monotony of the narrative.
Just how much I would not revise KH1 and CoM they never sunk into my soul as it was with KH2, BBS and Days. I still think this is more associated with the fans' nostalgia. For KH1 and CoM were the first games of the series for many sitting here. This is just my opinion / observation.
Once again, I'm sorry for Necroposting and I still hope that someone replaces my post through this time.
 

kaseykockroach

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I thoroughly enjoy both games whenever I'm in the mood to revisit either one, but I find KH1 vastly easier to revisit for a number of reasons. One, the prologue's fairly short, and it doesn't take long at all to meet Donald and Goofy and get on with the adventure. KH1 doesn't waste much time getting to the point.
Two, there's something inherently relaxing about running around the worlds hanging with Donald and Goofy. Sometimes I just boot up the game to run around Traverse Town for the sake of it. KH2 doesn't offer much to do or play with when you're not in the mood for combat.
I have my hopes KH3 will be a 'best of best worlds' case, with KH1's exploration and atmosphere combined with KH2's combat. But even if it turns out to be just KH2's linear "mash some buttons, then watch a cutscene" route, I'm sure I'll still have some fun with it.
 
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