More Thoughts From Me #243: Revisiting Kingdom Hearts 2

In what feels like a lifetime ago, but really wasn’t too long ago, I bought the Kingdom Hearts: Story So Far collection. I had to have it. I beat Kingdom Hearts 3, loved it, and felt like I wanted to replay the other games. And off and on I have been playing them some. Recently, I got back to playing Kingdom Hearts 2. I’m not very far yet but I wanted to get all nostalgic about the game and talk about what its like playing it now.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of my favorite games in the series. I think Kingdom Hearts 3 is m absolute favorite now but the second one would absolutely be near the top of the my favorites.

Why is the second Kingdom Hearts so special?

The second game in the series improved upon everything that made the first one so good. The battle system, the Disney references (everywhere), the Final Fantasy references (wow), the story (still confusing but fun), the worlds (Tron, Mulan, Steamboat Willie) and more!

Its a really great game.

I have been replaying it lately.

On the Playstation 4, Kingdom Hearts 2 looks better than ever. Dare I say it but the game almost looks as good as the third game. The graphics are pretty jawdropping. And I haven’t even gotten to the Tron or Steamboat Willie worlds yet.

Currently I’m in the Land of Dragons, aka known as Mulan’s world. I had forgotten that Mulan was even in this game. Kingdom Hearts 2 feels more like a cartoon than ever on the PS4. Mulan’s world looks fantastic.

I had forgotten how tough the game can be sometimes. I’ve had to slow down a little bit to level up my characters. I think I may need to do that even more with some of Mulan’s beginning missions giving me some issues.

I also had forgotten how many cool rpg elements Kingdom Hearts 2 had: leveling, equipping items, gaining new powers, etc.

The Mulan level is pretty good but I remember how awesome it was to get to the Tron level and the Steamboat Willie level. The Steamboat level is all in black and white. I bet it looks amazing in HD!

I always loved the Winnie the Pooh levels in the Kingdom Hearts games too because they gave you a break from the combat and they are very nostalgic for me too. I was a Winnie the Pooh fan as a kid. Who didn’t like Pooh and friends?

Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a huge Disney fan. I love all of these characters. I also love that Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 both have so many Final Fantasy references. Its so awesome to see Leon (Squall), Aeries, Yuffie, Cid, and Vivi in Kingdom Hearts 2. As I remember, Cloud is also in this game. I haven’t seen him yet. I wish Kingdom Hearts 3 had more than just a single Cloud reference. They took the Final Fantasy out of Kingdom Hearts…

Square Enix has done such a great job with these games though. Its amazing to have The Story So Far and Kingdom Hearts 3. I love owning all the games on one system.

Still. I’d love to see Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, at least, come to the Nintendo Switch. I’d love to play these games in portable mode!

Okay. I’m done. I have to go back to playing Kingdom Hearts 2 again. Maybe I’ll write another column about the Tron world or the Steamboat Willie world after I’ve revisited them.

What do you think of Kingdom Hearts 2? What was your favorite world in the game?

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Steamboat Willie is probably my favorite world in KH2.