Kingdom Hearts 2

As far as I can tell this doesn’t have a topic, which really surprises me. Almost done with a Crit run and this game is just incredible, really one of the greats. Thoughts on this one?

It's that one title that's been on my backlog for ages, but I'm too intimidated by it as well. Because I know how I am, I want to play at least KH1 first. And they are both pretty lengthy games I assume?

I think there was some talk of KH2 in the JRPG Action topic.

I’m near the end of KH2 with about 18 hours, I’ve skipped all cutscenes and any side stuff though. I believe KH1 is about as long.

I had fun with the original version. I haven't played the Final Mix though.

Glad you're having fun with it! That game is my favorite (at the moment, since I haven't played other Action games yet). I'll post what I think about the game in more detail tomorrow, since it's getting a bit late. I will say one thing though, when you finish the game, be sure to check the side stuff, specifically the optional bosses, because they're pretty much the highlight of the game. That, along with Critical Mode and Lv 1 Crit to a greater extent, is what makes the combat shine.

Royta/Raeng wrote:It's that one title that's been on my backlog for ages, but I'm too intimidated by it as well. Because I know how I am, I want to play at least KH1 first. And they are both pretty lengthy games I assume?

I think there was some talk of KH2 in the JRPG Action topic.

I'm not sure if this was changed on the PS4 version, but you can't skip cutscenes in KH1 on the PS2 version. I'd say KH1 takes a bit more to beat than KH2, because of what I said, and the level design (you need to solve puzzles in order to progress and some of the worlds can feel like a maze sometimes. It took me a long time to beat Monstro alone, but then again, I was very young back then). KH2 got rid of that completely, except for the Cavern of Remembrance, which isn't part of the main campaign but there are some floating orbs that kinda spell out what you need in order to progress (but you can still get through it with just base Sora alone, if you maxed out the growth abilities).

That said, KH1FM is pretty good too, and is definitely worth a try.

Nadster wrote:I had fun with the original version. I haven't played the Final Mix though.

Oh man, if you had fun with the original, then Final Mix is a must play. That's if you have the time to play it though. Hopefully you get to try it someday.

>optional content and LV1 crit
For sure, going to get into them as soon as I finish my run.

>KH1 takes a bit longer
You’re probably right, in 2 you can skip cutscenes and mostly just go in a straight line through most of the worlds. I got lost a few times during my last KH1 run.

>Final Mix
Yeah if you like vanilla KH2 you definitely need to give FM a go if you have the time. I can’t believe how many amazing games in the genre we got in such a short span of time(KH2, God Hand, GoW2, NG2 all came out within a year and a half of each other).

As I've stated before, I have never done a Lv 1 playthrough... so as soon as you finish a world, you'll probably have more knowledge about the game than me, heh.

So... I'll post some quick thoughts about KH2. As far as mechanics are concerned, I liked that they allowed you to chain magic into your combo string, and they also have finisher variants as well this time around. So let's say, you're doing a combo, but you notice another enemy about to approach/attack you. You can either chain Reflect or Fire into your current string, depending on if the enemy is about to attack you or just approach you, respectively. And you can have more than 1 finisher in a combo string (in vanilla Critical, you can have up to 4 IIRC, and on Lv 1 playthroughs you can have up to 3 if you equip all Finishing Pluses and Rumbling Rose, but without that keyblade, you'd only have access to 3 and 2 respectively, depending on the mode), resulting in even more possibilities. Two very famous ways to maximize Magnet's damage potential to regular enemies is to either use Finishing Leap to hit the enemies while also enabling you to use aerial combos, so you can hit them a few times to trigger Magnet's extra hits, or you can just cast Magnet + Thunder for a more simple and effective way to get rid of enemies, but it comes with a cost (MP, possibly items as well, or if you don't want to worry about MP at all; Drive bars, via summoning Stitch).

Just like in KH1, every spell is useful in this game (even moreso than KH1, in some cases). Every selectable Drive Form sans Valor and Limit changes them in some way. Some variants are better to use than others in certain scenarios, but none of them become obsolete at any point in the game. Not only the spells are viable, pretty much every mechanic (Summons/Limits/Drives/Keyblades, etc.) other than Valor Form (and possibly chicken little, but I didn't get to test him that much) is useful in some way, even base Sora.

In short, you can find a lot of utility in this game. It all depends on your playstyle. Once again, the game is very open ended and almost everything is viable.

Well, that's all I've got to add. I wanted to add my thoughts on the post-game bosses too, but it would be better if you see how they work yourself. I don't have anywhere near as much knowledge on the game as someone like SBK does (as I said, I've yet to start my very first Lv 1 run) but I think that covers a small part on what makes this game's battle system so engaging and fun to explore.

Any tips on how to beat Assault Riders? I just got to Land of the Dragons yesterday.

Desperately need some help with this game, if any can help me out.

Just started my Critical Run (no lvl1 just yet) and so far it's...not been that enjoyable. Mostly I seem to just be spamming attack with the occasional triangle input for reactions. Combat feels, as a result, way less...consice(?) than KH1. I don't have a feeling I'm actually doing anything, I just go from room to room killing things without much satisfaction.

Just beat the Mulan and Beast stages and almost done with the first bit of underworld and honestly kinda tempted to just quit. What am I overlooking?

Currently using Drives when available to spice things up, though Valor is even more "mash X" for me. Limits are fun, but drain your entire magic bar and force a recharge etc. I feel like everyone in the world is praising this game but I just don't "see" it yet. KH1FM was far more enjoyable than this one so far.

Hmm, personally I'd say to wait until you have Magnet, at least. Which is something that goes well with some of your attacks, such as Finishing Leap (think you should have it now), Trinity (not the solo variation, but if used with something else, it can be nice to use), Thunder, and others. Spells such as Fire work best when you are surrounded (using it in the cave in Mulan's world is one of the cases where it shines the best), whilst also juggling mobs. Lastly, Fire is your most Revenge efficient spell (your basic melee hit adds 1 to the Revenge Value, and Fire adds 1 as well, regardless if it's Fire or Firaga). Revenge optimization is probably something you should look into to plan and optimize fights better.

Limits are mostly useful to deal notable damage to bosses (and sometimes mobs with Magnet).

Valor, as you might recall, doesn't have much going for it except for its melee and ability to skip to a finisher with square. Other Drives are definitely more useful.

If you want a more thorough advice, you could also speak with SBK.

EDIT: You should also keep in mind that owed to the abilities you get at the start of a Critical run, along with a damage boost, the game is somewhat easier in the earlier parts of the game. The difference between Proud and Critical can be somewhat appreciated later in the game.

Cheers. Gave the game another attempt and played a bit further, beat the Port Royal section and the game is opening up more now that I have Reflect and Wisdom Drive. Thunder being a launcher helped too.

It's still a lot different than KH1 i.e. less secrets, less worldbuilding just straight hallway>Skipcutscene>combat>repeat but hey what works works, will report back!

Glad to know. Hopefully the game can keep you hooked from now on. Enjoy!

>a lot different than KH1
For sure. I would say you at least have the Gummi ship as some sort of distraction, but... I don't even like these, personally.

And I still dislike how Blizzaga is locked behind Ariel's world.

Sad to say I gave up for now, not due to difficulty or lack there of, but the game just wasn't jibbing with me. I was in the Beast stage (second time) and just snoozed off during the boss there. At this point I'd still felt like every fight was a continuation of gimmick-fights that all opperate on their own logic, which is cool, but not something I'm personally interested in.

Despite some of the cool features I still feel like I'm just mashing X with the occasional Triangle, even with a magic-setup. Sometimes I spend some meter and then before it's empty I do a limit and then a Drive to refill the meter and...I dunno, just didn't click.

I'll see if I can continue on with it in the future, but I'm currently now playing KH3 and liking that a lot more to be honest (so far).