Thanks for the Cordial Welcome guys
I actually bought the game before the console xD (to prevent the special edition from being sold out) so when i went to buy my 3DS i chosed the XL, and then realized the case didn't fit, but whatever, the huge screen is really worth it. (I'm really not the brightest dude...)
Reading through the pages something picked my interest, and it's the apparent "general consensus" about KH:II. If someone could elaborate on why it's considered a weak game, or an "over the top" one i'd be glad to read, because personally i had a really different conception of it. Maybe painted by Nostalgia, but i remember it as a really fun game, really complete too. I find some things off nonetheless, like the Org.XIII battles being so forgettable personally, but battles like the Xemnas one (as crazy as it was), or playing "The World That Never Was"were pretty enjoyable...
Any thoughts on it?
I will prolly write a megapost dedicated to KH2 at some point
. But if I were to answer this shortly from my perspective:
KH2 is very liked game in the KH fanbase and the favourite for many so it certainly isn't concidered a weak game by the majority what I understand. But KH2 had some things going against it. First of all the hype for it was insane in the community. I remember those days like it was yesterday and KH2 was like the second coming of jesus, no way this couldn't be the best game ever. Then the game released and people liked it very, very much but after some time there was this age of backlash that is certainly justifiable. And after some of the later games started popping up many people were annoyed by some things the series started to do and the starting point of those changes were usually KH2.
One of the biggest reasons KH2 is somewhat critizised is that in the light of KH1 and KH2FM it has this feel of an incomplete game. Original Kingdom Hearts was much more complete package and better designed in many ways that KH2 felt a step down in some ways. For me those things were mostly the level design being very sterile and with minimal exploration and treasure hunting ect. (and this is compared to KH1 that definately is not a master of these elements by any means). KH1 had many different collectibles from treasures to dalmatian puppies to trinity marks and they often were a little hidden and the level design had much more platforming elements and the worlds just felt more rich, not only from gameplay perspective but also the story. I have written about this before and while KH2 is far from the worst game in this regard I feel that KH1 still is the best one by far with the implementation of Disney stories that fitted the gameplay nicely.
Another big thing is the post game content. Western release of KH1 had indeed all the collectibles but also post game bosses like Phantom, Sephiroth, Kurt Ziza, Ice Titan and the Hades cup if you want to count that. When I think about KH2 post game content all I remember is rehashed Sephiroth and trying to get the materials for Ultima Weapon and whatnot.
Then there is the organization members. In vanilla KH2 they hardly do anything and they were pretty dissapointingly implemented compared to Chain of Memories. And I remember that it felt really strange how they just lumped 4 of the members in the last world and you fought them pretty much back to back. It just felt rushed how they fitted into the whole story.
Then came the primary reason why KH2 feels like an incomplete game for me and really brings up these problems, KH2FM. While it can't change some of the issues with level designs it added collectibles in form of the Crown Puzzle pieces. It added SO many bosses for post game, all 13 org members data versions and the Lingering Spirit. It added scenes for the Org members scheming and gave them some more screen time. It added so much content that it just makes KH2 pale in comparison... and then it never released in the west. I had to wait 5 or something years till fan made english patch was released and the game is just so much more fleshed out than KH2.
But of course there are many other issues people have with KH2 and the one most seem to bring up is the story. I didn't have a problem with the story really but it has some glaring problems. The most clear one is that it is horribly paced. In KH1 the overarching story never feels absent. In KH2 it feels the whole main story is stuffed in the beginning and the end with some Disney stuff in the middle that has nothing to do with anything. All the nobody business and such was quite all right in KH2. I had no problem at all with having Roxas being a ''clone'' of Sora ect. But then comes the issue that I said before, it started this meme of Sora and Xehanort being everyone and it never stopped since. After Roxas came Xion, then Ventus and Vanitas and I will not even mention the one thousand Xehanorts. It just became a joke how every new character they would introduce had to have some silly connection to some old character. I just want some interesting original characters that are not clones or brothers or sisters or something to Sora.
KH1 also had very charming and simple story with a good pacing so nobody really had a problem with it. With KH2 it started to introduce all kinds of silly twists and turns that got more insane with each new game with DDD being the most ridicilous and it all traces back to KH2. Now there are people that enjoy the story in these games and for me as silly as it sometimes gets I still like it. Sometimes crazy animu plot is what I want and KH certainly deliveres nowdays. It really depends on the person if you like what KH2 set in motion.
But overall KH2 is still very liked game. It has the harshest critics but I believe most polls have told that KH2 is in fact the favourite game in the series. I personally say KH1 but even with all its flaws and preferring KH2FM vastly over vanilla KH2 I still love the game very much and it is one of my favourites of all time.
Sorry for the ramblings. I hope my opinion comes across
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