March 28, 2006 - 9.0 This review is my honest score I give the game. However, it is also a sort of rebuttal and counter-review to the one that was given on this website. It was also posted in the KH message boards here on IGN.
My personal bogusness with the original review is the fact that, yes, it's one simple opinion, but unfortunately, it's the "final status" review score that's going to be on the face of IGN for people to be skewered away from it.
The guy's review has complete contradictions throughout the entire four year run of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
As everyone has already pointed out, he is complaining about the "button mashing", to which he also says in the quick comments at the bottom, "Combat is literally reduced to button mashing, and the newly included abilities aren't even necessary for the game. This is a big step back from the action/RPG mix of the original."
Wait, what? The combat is not really that drastically different from the first one. What's the phrase, "if it ain't broke...", correct? As far as action goes, the first one plays the same as the second one. Hit X three times to perform your maximum of three hits per cycle. Press up or down on the d-pad to pull out an item or deal out some necessary magic. Just like before. Oh wait, the context-sensative button, which is Triangle. As I'm playing this game (6 hours in so far), I'm loving the combat system. It's insani-fun. My only agreement is that the game is definately turning out to be simple.
However, to say that the new included ablities "aren't even necessary for the game" is completely fruitless. The magic spells will make some of your fights oh-so-much-better, the Triangle button is kick ass, the context sensative portions of the game are immensely well done (which, I think, we all should give a huge bow down to God of War and Resident Evil 4 for showing us that these actions are, indeed, fun as hell). Again my only agreement here is the summons and all that, which, like the first one, it's really only there to throw in extra Disney characters to appear on screen.
The dialogue is both well done and complete cheese at the same time. I think it's the fact that the pace of delivering the lines is just so slow. It shouldn't take 2 seconds for someone to cut in during a line that is obviously directed to BE cut in to. In fact, this happened a bit in just the beginning part with Roxas. As far as "taking lines directly from the movie" ... ... uh, hello? Did someone just miss the point? The franchise has always meant for you to dive into the world of whatever movie you are currently "in", and then completely immerses you in the fact that hey, now you're in it, things are changing, but at the same time, the same events are attempting to take place as the Heartless and the Unknowns and everything else tries to screw around with the world. OF COURSE it will have the same lines as their appropriate movie's! The first game had the same "issue", I don't see why it was mentioned.
His gripe against Atlantica is a joke, as it's obviously just meant as a little mini game. It might just be me, but I'm actually glad this happened to this world, because for one, this was one of the most god awfully boring worlds of the first game, alongside with Agrabah. (Don't ask, they just really, really bored me and I strived to get through those as fast as I possibly could). But yeah, so far I'm not having a problem with worlds. I recall the Alice in Wonderland world to be quick, as well as the Tarzan world. And let's not forget the Hercule's world, which was really just a... gasp! A tournament button masher? In the old one? But by-golly-gee-willickers, Mr. Jeff Haynes, I thought you said the first one was a nice blend of action/RPG that included no nonsense BS button mashing? By GEORGE, I think we've just destroyed the space time continueum! (And yes, I'm pretty sure I spelled that horribly wrong).
So there you have it. As someone who is currently playing through this amazingly beautiful, fun, and quite engaging game, I have to say to Mr. Haynes, "What were YOU playing and why was your bar set SO HIGH?" I mean honestly, people, it's not like the first game seriously, honestly, was there to SET a boundary of gameplay mechanics. To me, and to many others, it was the fact that it created such a vast story and woved our past and present together to form such a beautifully crafted game that had some pretty simple-to-understand gameplay, and it was FUN beyond all our wildest imaginations. In which we said, MORE! They could've easily just added all the extra levels and not changed a THING with the battle system, and the review would probably still stand the same today. Double standards. Gotta love 'em.
And I know this will probably discredit me, but, just as an annoyance to me: Halo 2 had to have been the most disappointing sequel as far as gameplay is concerned, the most unchanged, with the most apalling plot behind, and yet that got hailed by everyone. The same applies to Metroid Prime 2, as much as I love my dear Samus and her crazy quests, that game a complete clusternut of tied up, broken gameplay, bundled together to call it a "new game". (Dark and Light/Opposite Offsetting world my ass, that was pulled off better in the 16-bit days and they were called A Link to the Past and Sonic CD). And as much as I love Devil May Cry 3 and MGS, the remakes should not have even been rated, but nearly they should have been pointed out differences and the positives sides of them. Because really, aren't they just "the same thing?"
Now I know this guy is probably getting the worst amount of hate mail, but holy crap he came upon this review entirely the wrong way. And again, it's not about "just an opinion". You have to remember that a lot of the times, clueless minds and the all around casual player base their freakin' purchases by reviews, and a lot of these people don't consider anything under an 8, or don't consider it at all if doesn't have guns and yo-yo-yo's and homeboy this and gangsta that, (thank you Midway for realizing the error of Fear and Respect). It's just the principle of the thing. This game seriously does NOT deserve anything less than a 9. And the excuse of "but not everyone will like this sort of game" is fruitless, because the same thing can be said about my examples in the above paragraph. Not everyone plays FPS, and not everyone has freakin' Xbox Live and broadband to boot, (and we all know that's why Halo 2 got what it got everywhere).
I say this game needs a second opinion on this website. To not rate it higher is... well.. just not giving credit due.
All in all, if you loved the first one, you will love the second one. If you have a GBA and haven't done so either, pick up KH: Chain of Memories. It's a completely different battle system, but it's a very well done game, with bits and pieces added to the story. You'll hear the words "card based" thrown your way, but don't let that scare you. It is FAR from Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic or any of that other stuff. It's a real-time hack and slash game. Fun stuff.
If you haven't played the first one, the game actually does a good job of pieceing things together for newcomers, although it really DOES start out like a sequel, as in you will be scratching your head periodically not knowing what the hell. If you like a good woven story, do yourself a favor and pick up the first one. At a 19.99 for a Greatest Hits title (or 17.99 used, if you want to save a couple of bucks), it can't be passed up.
