4/5 ★ – KHFanXIII's review of Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is a nearly perfect game for me. The improvements it made help lift it up to GOAT status and it also introduced my favorite character in the series. I'll get straight to the point. The combat in this game is amazing. Fluid, quick, easy to learn, open to tons of experimentation (even if the base game doesn't really give you much to experiment against), and such a HUGE improvement over the first game. The camera has been zoomed out to give you a much better view of things. This helps you not get blindsided as much and is a godsend. Drive forms add a whole new layer to the combat which allows for fun, Dual-Keyblade action. It's just UGH I love this game. The level design is one of the only things I think took a step back from the previous games. Whereas KH1 had these open areas that just threw you in and told you "EXPLORE", KH2 takes a much more linear approach with many areas in worlds feeling like empty hallways, and the environmental interaction of the first game is completely gone. Another nitpick with the game is that, for some ungodly reason, they decided the coliseum tournaments won't give you experience points. This makes replaying the tournaments essentially useless as if they aren't there to grind, there isn't really any point to playing them more than once. Story-wise, I think it's fine. It does the job. It's nothing special, but the prologue of the game where they set up the new character is absolutely marvelous (even if it can be a little tedious on repeat playthroughs). Even despite these flaws though, I feel the gameplay of the game makes completely up for it and makes this entry one of (if not my absolute) favorite games in the series, and of all-time.