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RETROspectives: Kingdom Hearts 2
We've already tackled one of my all time favourite games: Mystic Heroes so why not another? To me, Kingdom Hearts 2 is the best in the series that I have played and with Kingdom Hearts 3 just around the corner let's look fondly back at the last home console game (if you don't count remakes). However, we do have some pretty complicated lore to get through so let's get started!
Be warned that from this point on there will be spoilers to the plot which may spoil later entries in the series so proceed with caution! You start the game as a young boy named Roxas, the summer vacation is a week from being over and you and your friends want to make it memorable. However, first you have homework to do and slowly, as you do your homework and visit the 7 wonders of Twilight Town, Roxas begins to see shadowy figures and things known as Dusks, part of the army of nobodies (we'll get back to these in a minute). Roxas also keeps seeing a girl named Namine (imagine an accent on the "e") and then sees her in the window of an old and abandonned mansion. Roxas, who is know weilding the legendary Keyblade to fight of the nobodies, enters the mansion and discovers that his life has been a lie. The shadowy figures he sees are members of Organisation XIII who claim Roxas is a member and Roxas discovers that he too is a nobody.
In the previous game the protagonist Sora is turned into a heartless, the heartless are beings of evil who exist as long as darkness exists in the heart of even one person in the universe. They wanted to use 6 disney princesses (Kingdom Hearts is a crossover series of Final Fantasy and Disney and has characters from both in the games) and Sora's friend Kairi. Sora is brought back to being himself again as he saves Kairi and a nobody is made. You see, when a heartless infects a normal, good hearted person, a nobody is also formed. Nobodies have no hearts but pretend they can. In Kingdom Hearts 2 they plan to create their own Kingdom Hearts and this was the goal of the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts 1 as they wanted to occupy the minds and bodies of everyone. Back to Roxas, he realises that Twilight Town was made by the Organisation to make a human life for Roxas and bring back Sora who was placed in a year-long sleep at the end of the GameBoy Advanced game: Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. Roxas gives up his human life and Sora, Donald (the Duck) and Goofy wake up in Roxas' place.
The trio meet disney character Master Yen Sid who tells them of the danger all the worlds are in due to the Nobodies and the return of the Heartless. Back in Kingdom Hearts 1 Sora's best friend Riku and King Mickey (the Mouse) seal themselves into the door to darkness for the rest of eternity and therefore rid the universe of the heartless. Kairi is returned to Sora, Riku and her own homeworld and Sora is sent straight to Castle Oblivion which then begins the events of Chain of Memories. Still following? When the trio discover the Heartless are back they realise the Door to Darkness must be open and Riku and King Mickey must be back so the three embark on one last quest to stop the Heartless led by Malificent and Organisation XIII. To make matters worse, however, the Heartless and the Nobodies are at war and Sora and friends are caught in the middle of it. I'll leave the story there and move onto the rest of the RETROspective! However, if you want to know more about Roxas his story is expanded in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep.
This game is bigger and better than the previous title, this time there are two keyblades and different forms to make Sora more powerful. The worlds are also different on the whole with worlds of Pirates of the Caribbean, Lion King and Tron among many many more making their first appearnce. My personal favourite world is the Timeless River found in the Disney Castle. This world pays homage to Disney of the long distant past. From Steamboat Willie from 1928 to the 1950s this world will have you feeling awestruck. The world is even in black and white and Sora, Donald and Goofy are all made to look like Disney characters of the 1920s to 1950s. In various other worlds your given a new look like in the Lion King world your group is tranformed into animals and the Little Mermaid world. The Little Mermaid world is the absolute worst in the game! This world is purely there to be the rhythm part of the game! The songs are frustrating to play and there is very little enjoyment to be had here! Is the world needed for the story? No!
To go back to the story a little bit you often find yourself revisiting worlds to stop the members of Organisation XIII. These battles are hard! The one at Beast's Castle I cannot beat! I've spent years on it! Like Lady Sheva from Mystic Heroes I simply cannot do it! That and the Hercules trials beacause of those cars! The car Heartless is hard to avoid and hard to hit! This game is frustrating but it is rewarding to grit your teeth and keep going. After you defeat the the remaining Organisation members only the leader stands in your way, but so does Final Fantasy villian Sephiroth. Both these battles will have you throwing your controller across the room or even through your TV! But at some point you are reunited with Riku. With that said, this game stands as one of my all time favourite games. The lore of the series may be complicated but meeting characters like Cloud from Final Fantasy and Aladdin makes it all worth it. The quest is epic and the rewards are plentiful! The story is also incredibly sad. When Roxas' story ends I felt genuine sorrow for him. Even the the music makes you feel for the boy who lost his summer vacation, his friends, his family and everything he knew. And Sora's story too. He lost his best friend, the girl he desperately tried to save, his home, his friends, his family and has been forced on a journey that takes hime further away from his old life. It's a sad game, sadder than games like the Last Of Us, no journey, to me at least, can harbour so many emotions even after dozens of playthroughs!
