Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)

***Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)*** (Japanese: キングダムハーツII Hepburn: Kingudamu Hātsu Tsū) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ***Kingdom Hearts***, which combines Disney and Final Fantasy elements. The game's popularity has resulted in a novel and manga series based upon it and an international version called ***Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix***, released in March 2007.

***Kingdom Hearts II*** is the third game in the ***Kingdom Hearts*** series. It picks up one year after the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Sora, the protagonist of the first two games, returns to search for his lost friends. Like the previous games, Kingdom Hearts II features a large cast of characters from Disney films and Final Fantasy games. Organization XIII, a group introduced in Chain of Memories, reappears to impede Sora's progress.

The game was well-received and earned year-end awards from numerous video gaming websites. In Japan, it shipped more than one million copies within a week of its release. One month after its North American release, it had sold over one million copies and was the second best-selling game of 2006. By April 2007, the game had shipped over four million copies worldwide.

The game was actor Pat Morita's final voice role before his death in November 2005. The Final Mix version of the game was re-released in high definition for ***Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix*** for the PlayStation 3, along with ***Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix*** and ***Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded***.

## Gameplay

The gameplay of ***Kingdom Hearts II*** is similar to the action RPG and hack and slash gameplay of the first ***Kingdom Hearts*** game, though developers made an effort to address some of the complaints with the previous game. The player directly controls Sora from a third-person camera angle, though first-person perspective is available via Select button. Most of the gameplay occurs on interconnected field maps where battles take place. The game is driven by a linear progression from one story event to the next, usually told via cutscenes, though there are numerous side-quests available that provide bonuses to characters.

Like many traditional role-playing video games, ***Kingdom Hearts II*** features an experience point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player and allies culminate experience to "level up", in which the playable characters grow stronger and gain access to new abilities.

Combat in ***Kingdom Hearts II*** is in real-time and involves heavy hack and slash elements with button presses which initiate attacks by the on-screen character. A role-playing game menu on the screen's bottom left, similar to those found in Final Fantasy games, provides other combat options such as using magic or items, summoning beings to assist in battle, or executing combination attacks with other party members. A new feature is the "Reaction Command", special enemy-specific attacks that are triggered when the player presses the triangle button at the correct time during battle. Reaction Commands can be used to defeat regular enemies or avoid damage, and are sometimes necessary to complete a boss battle. In addition to the main character, two party members are usually present who also participate in combat. Although these characters are computer-controlled, the player is allowed to customize their behavior to a certain extent through the menu screen, such as attacking the same enemy Sora targets.

In response to criticism, the "Gummi Ship" feature of the first game was re-imagined to be "more enjoyable". Although retaining its basic purpose of travel, the system was completely redone to resemble a combination of rail shooter and "Disney theme park ride". In the world map, the player must now control the Gummi Ship from a top-down view and fly to the world the player wishes to enter. Worlds are no longer open from the beginning—the player must unlock the routes to them by entering a new level, controlling the ship from a third-person point of view, and battling enemy ships. After the route is opened, travel to the world is unimpeded, unless it is blocked again due to a plot-related event. The player may also gain new Gummi Ships from completing routes, which is also a new feature from the first game.

## Plot

***Kingdom Hearts II*** begins one year after the events of ***Kingdom Hearts*** and ***Chain of Memories***. The game's setting is a collection of various levels (referred to in-game as "worlds") that the player progresses through. As in the first game, the player can travel to various Disney-based locales, along with original worlds specifically created for the series. While Disney-based worlds were primarily derived from the Disney animated features canon in the first game, ***Kingdom Hearts II*** introduces worlds that are based on Disney live-action films as well. Each world varies in appearance and setting, depending on the Disney film on which it is based. The graphics of the world and characters are meant to resemble the artwork style of the environments and characters from their respective Disney films. Each world is disconnected from the others and exists separately; with few exceptions, players travel from one world to another via a Gummi Ship.

Some worlds featured in the previous games reappear, but with new and expanded areas. There are also new worlds that are introduced, including the Land of Dragons, a fictionalized version of ancient China from the film ***Mulan***; **Beast's Castle**, an 18th-century-style French castle based on ***Beauty and the Beast***; **Timeless River**, a past version of **Disney Castle** that features ***Steamboat Willie***-style animation; **Port Royal** from ***Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl***; **Pride Lands**, a great savannah from ***The Lion King***; and **Space Paranoids**, a digital world based on ***Tron*** within Hollow Bastion's computer network. **Twilight Town**, an original world first seen in ***Chain of Memories***, has a greater role as the introductory world. The World That Never Was is a new world that serves as the headquarters of Organization XIII.

The three protagonists of the game are: Sora, a 15-year-old boy chosen as a wielder of the Keyblade, a mystical key-shaped weapon that can combat darkness; Donald Duck, the court magician of **Disney Castle**; and Goofy, the captain of the **Disney Castle** guards. Both Donald and Goofy were ordered to find and stay with the "key", which was revealed to be Sora and his Keyblade. They befriended Sora during ***Kingdom Hearts***, and draw strength from this friendship. Other original characters include Riku and Kairi, Sora's friends from his home world of **Destiny Islands**; Roxas, a boy who can also wield the Keyblade playable in the beginning; and DiZ, a man in red robes with a vendetta against Organization XIII, who is later revealed to be Ansem the Wise, the mentor of Xehanort.

As in the previous games, there are numerous appearances of characters from both Disney and Square Enix works. While some make a return from ***Kingdom Hearts***, new characters from Disney fiction are also introduced, such as Scar from ***The Lion King*** and Scrooge McDuck. Pete appears as a persistent enemy who works with the resurrected Maleficent. Nearly twenty characters from Final Fantasy games appear, notably Auron of Final Fantasy X, Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, and the return of Squall Leonhart, Cloud, and Sephiroth. It was stated that although the first game strictly stuck to characters Tetsuya Nomura designed, this time around they were going to "take some risks", implying that characters not directly designed by Nomura might make an appearance. Other new characters to series are Vivi of Final Fantasy IX and Setzer of Final Fantasy VI.

The various worlds that Sora explores often have an optional party character from the film on which the world is based. Such party members include Fa Mulan, the woman who passes as a man in order to take her ailing father's place in the army; Jack Sparrow, a pirate who seeks to reclaim his ship, the Black Pearl; Simba, the self-exiled lion who is the rightful king of the **Pride Land**; and Tron, a security program in Hollow Bastion's computer network who seeks to end the dictatorship of the Master Control Program.

Organization XIII, a group of powerful Nobodies (the "empty shell[s]" left over when a strong-hearted person becomes a Heartless) introduced in ***Chain of Memories***, is established as the primary group of antagonists early on. Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, serves as the main antagonist and final boss of the game. Villains unique to the worlds are still prevalent, and are often presented as challenges that Sora's group must overcome.

Sora, Donald and Goofy have been in suspended animation for the past year to regain their memories lost in Chain of Memories. Meanwhile, Roxas, Sora's Nobody, is trapped in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town, created by DiZ to merge Roxas with his original self to restore Sora's power. DiZ's plans are threatened when Nobodies led by Axel, Roxas's former friend in Organization XIII, infiltrate the virtual town. However, Roxas is able to repel the Nobodies and finally merges with Sora. Sora, Donald, and Goofy wake up in the real **Twilight Town** and meet King Mickey and Yen Sid, who send them on another journey. Their goal is to find Riku and figure out the plans of Organization XIII, who control the Nobodies—the empty shell left over when a person with a strong heart is turned into a Heartless. Afterward, Maleficent is resurrected and joins with Pete to continue her quest for power.

Sora travels to many Disney-themed worlds, old and new, and resolves several problems caused by Organization XIII, the Heartless, and various Disney villains. During a visit to **Hollow Bastion**, they again meet King Mickey, who reveals the Heartless "Ansem" they defeated to actually be an imposter named Xehanort, whose Nobody, Xemnas, is the leader of the Organization. Organization XIII's plan is also revealed: they seek the power of Kingdom Hearts, the sum of all the hearts Sora has released from the Heartless with his Keyblade, to regain their lost hearts. Sora revisits the worlds to solve lingering problems and new complications, while seeking a path to Organization XIII's base of operations. Throughout his endeavors, Sora is secretly aided by a mysterious hooded figure whom Sora believes to be Riku.

Following a lead, Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter a passageway through **Twilight Town**. There they encounter Axel, who sacrifices himself to create a passageway to the World That Never Was, the headquarters of Organization XIII, with ***Kingdom Hearts*** looming overhead as a heart-shaped moon. Sora finds Kairi and Riku, the latter of whose appearance has been changed to that of Xehanort's Heartless. King Mickey encounters DiZ, who reveals himself to be the true Ansem, Xehanort's mentor. Ansem uses a device that dissipates some of Kingdom Hearts' power, but a system overload causes the device to self-destruct, both engulfing Ansem and miraculously returning Riku to his original form. At the top of the Castle That Never Was, Sora and company battle Xemnas, who uses what remains of Kingdom Hearts to power his multiple forms. After Sora and Riku destroy Xemnas, the two are reunited with their friends at their home, **Destiny Islands**. A post-credits scene shows Sora, Kairi and Riku read a letter from Mickey, which is hidden from the player.

## Worlds

### **Kingdom Hearts World**

* ***Dive of the Heart***
* ***Destiny Islands***
* ***Twilight Town***
* ***Castle Oblivion***
* ***The Mysterious Town***
* ***Hollow Bastion/The Radiant Garden***
* ***The World That Never Was***
* ***Realm of Darkness***

### **Disney World**

* ***Disney Castle/Timeless River:*** *Mickey Mouse and Friends World*
* ***Hundred Acre Wood:*** *Winnie the Pooh World*
* ***Space Paranoids:*** *Tron World*
* ***Atlantica:*** *The Little Mermaid World*
* ***Beast's Castle:*** *Beauty and the Beast World*
* ***Agrabah:*** *Aladdin World*
* ***Halloween Town:*** *The Nightmare Before Christmas World*
* ***Pride Land:*** *The Lion King World*
* ***Olympus Coliseum:*** *Hercules World*
* ***The Land of Dragons:*** *Mulan World*
* ***Port Royal:*** *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl World*

## Voice Sounds

Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game) / Voice Sound.