Post by Øutlawx™ on Mar 27, 2006 8:54:59 GMT -5
Kingdom Hearts II: North American Impressions
Disney and Square Enix team up once again.
by Jeff Haynes
Release Date: March 28, 2006
March 17, 2006 - If you asked anyone in the gaming press before 2002 if a cross-pollination between an RPG series and an animation dynasty would work, we'd probably think you were nuts. Of course, this was before the arrival of Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix's wildly popular melding of the Disney and Final Fantasy worlds into a new action/RPG franchise. Perhaps it was the chance to adventure through the worlds of numerous Disney movies, such as Tarzan, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, or maybe it was the inclusion of Donald Duck and Goofy as your sidekicks. Whatever the secret was, it managed to connect to even the most jaded of players, becoming one of the most popular PS2 games of all time. Now, almost four years later, Square Enix is preparing to release Kingdom Hearts 2.
While we've just scratched the surface of Kingdom Hearts 2, we've played enough of it to get a few early impressions of the game. For one thing, there are a lot of new features to the battle system. There are now conditional moves known as "reaction commands," allowing you to respond to certain battle situations with special attacks or evasions. For instance, you'll be able to slide around some enemies, delivering a quick counter. You'll also be able to use these commands to create combos with other characters, where you'll partner together to unleash twice as much damage on surrounding opponents. This is somewhat different than the limit attacks, where you can combine the powers of your party to cause new kinds of attacks. Triggering these strikes will drain your magic bar, but are extremely useful against groups of opponents.
Also new to Kingdom Hearts 2 is the Drive bar, which is used interchangeably for both summoning powerful "monsters" and creating Drives. This move lets Sora join with one or both of the members of his party to create a completely new battle form with different abilities and powers that can be used. In fact, the number of abilities included in Kingdom Hearts 2 dwarfs that of the original, with at least two to three times the number of attack and support techniques available. Although it removes any potential support you have on the battlefield, it's more than balanced by the fact that you wield two keyblades and move twice as fast as you normally would.
Another significant change to the game is a completely redone journal for Jiminy Cricket, who now tracks practically everything that happens to the party. Not only will it provide a visual layout of the Disney world that you're visiting with a summary of the most recent plot point, but it reminds you of the objective you need to accomplish to progress the story just in case you get lost or step away from playing the game for a few days. Apart from that, it's also describes previous events that have occurred on a world, as well as snapshots of major game moments, character bios and even hints on how to dispatch opponents.
Speaking of redesigned game elements, Kingdom Hearts 2 also features a number of improved and enhanced visual touches to make the game more enjoyable. The most notable change is rescuing the camera from the L2 and R2 buttons by placing its control squarely on the right *****og stick. Now players can adjust the camera at any time, even if they establish a lock on an opponent to get the best angle to play the game. Another cool feature to keep an eye out for are the "world-specific" menus and animation style, which changes depending on which adventure you happen to be in. For instance, Hollow Bastion has a clockwork-influenced style, while 100 Acre Wood makes you feel like you're covered in honey when you select options.
Gameplay Movie
Disney and Square Enix team up once again.
by Jeff Haynes
Release Date: March 28, 2006
March 17, 2006 - If you asked anyone in the gaming press before 2002 if a cross-pollination between an RPG series and an animation dynasty would work, we'd probably think you were nuts. Of course, this was before the arrival of Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix's wildly popular melding of the Disney and Final Fantasy worlds into a new action/RPG franchise. Perhaps it was the chance to adventure through the worlds of numerous Disney movies, such as Tarzan, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, or maybe it was the inclusion of Donald Duck and Goofy as your sidekicks. Whatever the secret was, it managed to connect to even the most jaded of players, becoming one of the most popular PS2 games of all time. Now, almost four years later, Square Enix is preparing to release Kingdom Hearts 2.
While we've just scratched the surface of Kingdom Hearts 2, we've played enough of it to get a few early impressions of the game. For one thing, there are a lot of new features to the battle system. There are now conditional moves known as "reaction commands," allowing you to respond to certain battle situations with special attacks or evasions. For instance, you'll be able to slide around some enemies, delivering a quick counter. You'll also be able to use these commands to create combos with other characters, where you'll partner together to unleash twice as much damage on surrounding opponents. This is somewhat different than the limit attacks, where you can combine the powers of your party to cause new kinds of attacks. Triggering these strikes will drain your magic bar, but are extremely useful against groups of opponents.
Also new to Kingdom Hearts 2 is the Drive bar, which is used interchangeably for both summoning powerful "monsters" and creating Drives. This move lets Sora join with one or both of the members of his party to create a completely new battle form with different abilities and powers that can be used. In fact, the number of abilities included in Kingdom Hearts 2 dwarfs that of the original, with at least two to three times the number of attack and support techniques available. Although it removes any potential support you have on the battlefield, it's more than balanced by the fact that you wield two keyblades and move twice as fast as you normally would.
Another significant change to the game is a completely redone journal for Jiminy Cricket, who now tracks practically everything that happens to the party. Not only will it provide a visual layout of the Disney world that you're visiting with a summary of the most recent plot point, but it reminds you of the objective you need to accomplish to progress the story just in case you get lost or step away from playing the game for a few days. Apart from that, it's also describes previous events that have occurred on a world, as well as snapshots of major game moments, character bios and even hints on how to dispatch opponents.
Speaking of redesigned game elements, Kingdom Hearts 2 also features a number of improved and enhanced visual touches to make the game more enjoyable. The most notable change is rescuing the camera from the L2 and R2 buttons by placing its control squarely on the right *****og stick. Now players can adjust the camera at any time, even if they establish a lock on an opponent to get the best angle to play the game. Another cool feature to keep an eye out for are the "world-specific" menus and animation style, which changes depending on which adventure you happen to be in. For instance, Hollow Bastion has a clockwork-influenced style, while 100 Acre Wood makes you feel like you're covered in honey when you select options.
Gameplay Movie