Highlights
- Kingdom Hearts 2 captures the theme of existentialism with its focus on Nobodies and their desire to become whole.
- The tragic early hours with Roxas are increasingly profound with each playthrough, highlighting the emotional depth of the storytelling.
- The combat in Kingdom Hearts 2 improves upon its predecessor, offering a fast and kinetic experience with added mechanics that enhance gameplay.
The original Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite games. It’s an emotional experience, full of storytelling that perfectly captures the childlike wonder and horror of the greater world around us (and I’ll even defend its infamous Atlantica world to the grave). I do, however, have to be in the right headspace for the original game to fully appreciate it. As for its sequel, Kingdom Hearts 2, I never need to worry about setting that perfect mood.
Ever since it was ported to PlayStation 4, I’ve been booting up Kingdom Hearts 2 every year. From messing around in a completed save, to starting from the very beginning, I’ve been finding that there is always something new to love about Kingdom Hearts 2.
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Got It Memorized?
Kingdom Hearts 1 was a surprisingly mature game, and relied on lore reveals to set its tone. Histories of genocide, conflicting revelations that would either raise or answer questions you had about what the new information was contradicting. KH 2 instead focuses more on the theme existentialism, in the form of new enemies called Nobodies.
There’s a highlight for almost every Disney character, either right in the feels or through fantastic combat.
But Nobodies technically don’t exist, due to having no Heart. Organization XIII seeks to steal countless Hearts in order to force Kingdom Hearts to make them whole again. Sora is tasked with stopping them, but for the first two hours of the game, you play as Roxas, who you will soon find out is also a Nobody.
Teenage me didn’t understand why Roxas took up so much of the story. He was a stranger, and I wanted to know what Sora was up to. I didn’t care about his boring friends, I cared about getting Sora back. And you do get Sora back, but in order for that to happen Roxas needs to sacrifice himself, which he does so willingly, and as a Nobody it means he will simply vanish. The older I get, the more I’ve come to appreciate those tragic early hours with Roxas.
The cutscene depicting Roxas’ death, with him saying the parting words “It looks like my summer vacation, is over” before Sora is about to be revived, is some of the most hard-hitting storytelling in RPGs, somehow becoming more and more profound with each playthrough along with my appreciation of Roxas himself.
The rest of the story makes it even worse, context lets you know Roxas was unloved back when he was part of Organization XIII, little more than a pawn because he could wield a Keyblade like Sora. They used him, and technically, so did you. Because you wanted to play as Sora. That’s some heavy stuff.
The Disney worlds hit this too. Moments like Jack Skellington and Sally dancing together in Halloweentown, the genuine shock that Scar became a Heartless, or Sora being digitized to meet up with Tron. There’s almost always a highlight for the Disney characters, either right in the feels or through fantastic combat.
And it’s taken me a while to realize this, but Xemnas is the greatest villain in the franchise. Ansem The Seeker Of Darkness worked as a plot twist in Kingdom Hearts 1, something not truly surprising, but that still answered so many questions I didn’t know I had. Xemnas, however, manages to have the more fulfilling personality. He’s smug enough that it’s always satisfying to bury the Keyblade in his face, but just like the other members of Organization XIII, none of his unspeakably evil actions completely erase the underlying sympathy; he is, after all, a nonexistent being looking for purpose.
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The Mark Of Mastery
KH 2 always had an edge in terms of combat over KH1. Even today, it’s surprising how this was a PlayStation 2 game. It feels very mid-to-late-stage Playstation 3, it’s fast and kinetic with tons of gimmicks under the hood. That always made it feel easier back in the PS2 days, with exceptions like the fight against Xaldin. This is where “press X to win” memes came from. X was the attack button you see, and spamming it was usually all you needed to claim victory.
For that PS2 original, that’s still true, but the Final Mix version that never left Japan until the HD ports added a lot of changes that showcase how important every mechanic can be. We’re talking new secret bosses, additional minigames, even new cutscenes and for some reason enemies got recolored.
When I replay KH2 these days, I play on Critical, something I mentioned while discussing the importance of difficulty settings. It’s risk-reward up to eleven, and demands you put stock in learning Sora’s abilities, as well as bothering to level up your powerful Drive Forms.
Have you ever heard the phrase “I wish I could go back and play that game for the first time all over again”? That doesn’t really apply here, because to me Kingdom Hearts 2 has gotten better with age. I never want to go back to whining about Roxas hogging the tutorial, or how the combat is too easy. I have learned just how great Kingdom Hearts 2 really is, and I don’t want to forget any of that. I’ll stick to replaying it every year instead of wishing for Namine to erase it from my memory, thank you.
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The Kingdom Hearts franchise is a long, and sometimes confusing, series. These are the best of the best in the world of Kingdom Hearts.
