KHII is a front-runner for game of the year, with amazing storyline, graphics, sound, and flat-out fun value.
But along comes Kingdom Hearts 2, after a four year wait, to continue the storyline and fix all the flaws that were in the first one, flaws we didn't know existed until they were revealed. As soon as the opening cinema gets started, you know you're in for a ride. My god, it's gorgeous! But anyway, the game takes place about a year after the events in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and you are Roxas, a young boy who lives in Twilight Town. Your summer vacation has been marred with bizzare occurences and odd dreams that show memories of a boy named Sora. Things get weirder and weirder, and before you know it, enemies start appearing in your town. This who charade lasts for a good three hours of gameplay, and then you take control of Sora.
The first thing you notice about the game is the vital use of the triangle button. To a Kingdom Hearts novice, this may seem totally stupid, seeing as the triangle button is used in just about every freaking game. But this time around, trinagle is a new action button. Whenever a triangle appears above your ever-changing command list (which looks totally awesome now), you can activate a special-circumstance move. Some other new moves are taken from the final fantasy series, such as limit breaks. There are very few (1-2 per character), but they are extremely efficient. The final new ability is the new "drive" command. This is also kind of like a limit, with its own bar to fill to activate. There are five "drive forms", each with different skills. Three out of the five have dual wielding, so you'll obviously not choose the other two. Dual wielding is just totally awesome. Come on, who doesn't love dual wielding? It worked in Halo!
However, despite the new combo options, SquareEnix and BVG have dumbed down the difficulty level. A play-through on hard mode will probably only having you die 3-6 times. And even though you can create complex combos like Triangle,X,X,Square,X,X,O,X,Trinagle,X, you really only have to use X,X,X to defeat just about every enemy. A little work needs to be done in that department.
In the graphics and sound department, Kingdom Hearts 2 pushes the PS2 hardware to THA LIMIT. Seriously, your eyes will basically burn out after witnessing the awesomness of the opening FMV. Oh yeah, the in-game graphics are amazing as well. Moving hair, clothes, everything. And sound? Well, what's not to love? Bouncy Disney tracks, dramatic ballads with pianos, a little J-pop here and there, and over ten hours or so of voice acting. Seriously, there are only a couple dialogue bubbles in the game.
Although, I feel that the real deciding factor in purchasing a game is how fun it is and how long the fun will last. Well, believe me, this game is fun. I've already beaten it, and now I've logged in about ten hours doing sidequests. I'm nowhere near halfway done with them. This game also achieves a perfect balance between gameplay and storyline, and will keep you on your toes all the time. Expect long stints when you turn this game on. Oh yeah, the main storyline alone takes about 40 hours to complete.
So all-in-all, Kingdom Hearts 2 is an amazing spectacle on the PS2; an instant-classic. A near-perfect balance of awesomeness really seals the deal on buying this game. If you don't have it yet, do yourself a favor and buy it.