I just finished KH2. For the first time actually. I'm not exactly sure what is different with the Final Mix version, but I have an idea of which boss fights were extra. All of those extra portals in the worlds that just lead to a fight with some random Organization XIII member. And that one fight in [The World That Never Was] against Roxas, that one feels so out of place, with a boss fight right before it, being pretty easy, and the boss fight right after it also being pretty easy. That boss fight was probably the hardest fight in the game.
KH2 was a relatively easy game. You can play through it with little thinking and planning ahead, especially compared to the two KH games right before it. KH1 made me have to think about what I have equipped, what items I'm bringing, and how my spell shortcuts are laid out (that's a Final Mix feature). That game made me think about how to use summons properly. in all of KH2 Ive only used summons once. I could have just used them more often just for fun, but It never occurred to me to use them, because they feel like they get in the way of combat rather than add to it. Same goes for the limit moves you get with the bonus characters per world. I had the ability turned off so I wouldn't accidentally use them when they come up on the Reaction Command.
Now the one hard fight I mentioned earlier, was just actually really really hard. That first attempt at that fight made me think he was harder than Sephiroth in KH1. Turns out I was wrong, I had decided to change my approach to the fight, and picked different abilities. I didn't need longer combos, I needed more defense, and to not die to critical hits. and it changed the fights from me dying in just 2 touches, to just me mashing my way through it. Its almost silly how it went from the hardest thing I have felt, to just as easy as the rest of the game with just changing out some abilities.
Having never played through KH2 before, I used to hear so often how I really should, and how much people praise KH2 as the best game in the series. Now that I have, I find myself not understanding the hype. KH1 is easily a better game. If KH1 was an easier game, it would be undeniably better. KH1 was too hard, and that really is a fault. KH2 doesn't really do much better. KH2 made me feel like going to a world was just doing some chores. Like I am given a list of tasks to do, I do them, and the game moves on. It does not feel like I am exploring a Disney movie's world, and am solving the problems there. The maps also feel so, weirdly boring. Like its just a themed set dressing you walk through, not a world with verticality for you to jump around in and look around it.
The gameplay is more friendly to mashing, and its definitely more flashy with how much air combos, and shoot I'm pretty happy with how the game handles MP compared to KH1. In the first game you run out of MP all the time, and being out of MP makes you feel so limited. KH2 gives you so so much more to do that doesnt require MP, and if you run out of MP you can have it recharge, and still use an item to refill it if you don't want to wait for the recharge.
The gummi ship gameplay is not better. Maybe just flashier. I personally think its less fun, but its not enough for me to actually say too much about it though.
and oh yeah, one weird thing for me. After having played through KH1 and ReCOM so recently. They were so adamant on putting it into your head that the "Heartless" have no hearts. and when you turned Heartless in KH1, you lost your heart. Heartless attack you because you have a heart, and they want to be whole again. That scene in KH1 was Sora losing his and Kairi's heart. Turning him Heartless. Leaving you to assume the Nobodies from ReCOM since they were not Heartless, they were the Hearts without bodies. Hence the names Heartless and Nobodies. That makes so much sense, and the name scene works really well. Why would KH2 reverse those??? Why are the Heartless the hearts, and killing them releases hearts, because they are the hearts??? And the nobodies are the bodies, the bodies without the hearts, and they want to find Kingdom Hearts, so that they can finally have a heart?? Was this done just to be confusing? KH2 really did feel like it tried to be confusing intentionally.
I do need to go back in to finish up a few things though, before I move onto 358/2 Days. I didn't finish the Little Mermaid world. and I completely skipped the Lion King world.
Fun game though. Makes me think about how the rest of the series will play like. Will they expand on the gameplay of KH2? or would they tone it down and bring it more in line with KH1?
