Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix (for PlayStation 3)
Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep are the strongest games in the Kingdom Hearts series thanks to their creative and stylish combat systems. Both games greatly build on the simplistic action-RPG combat of the original Kingdom Hearts title, while also expanding the action RPG game’s story and setting. Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix ($39.99) gives players both games to enjoy, a lengthy summary of Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded’s events, cleaner visuals, and content never before released outside of Japan. ThePlayStation 3 exclusive title is a fantastic way to tide fans over while they await Kingdom Hearts 3.
Some Background
The three chapters of the Square-Enix and Disney saga packaged in Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix are the Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, and a cinematic compilation of Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded. The Re: Coded portion does not feature any gameplay; instead it has nearly three hours of remastered cutscenes, giving players a robust explanation of the events as well as the implications it has for Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3.
The real value of Remix lies with Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth By Sleep. Both titles are beefy action-heavy adventures spanning dozens of hours, and thanks to the new Final Mix content, they are even longer. For those who are unaware, Square Enix rereleased several Kingdom Hearts games in Japan with bonus content, which included new bosses, story exposition, and optional content. Kingdom Hearts 2 in particular received a tremendous amount of unique content, but because Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix was not released outside of Japan, and because the PlayStation 2 was region-locked, fans from elsewhere in the world could not enjoy it. Until now.
New Features
Critical Mode is the first change fans will encounter when they start Kingdom Hearts 2. This new difficulty mode reduces Sora’s HP gains by half as he levels up, and it doubles the attack damage of all enemies. It also starts Sora with 50 bonus ability points and a slew of powerful starting abilities that transform him into a glass cannon. Critical Mode is a fun and challenging twist on the already hectic gameplay, and it encourages players to improve and take advantage of all the abilities at their disposal.
Character transformation, called Drive, is unique to Kingdom Hearts 2. Like Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry, Drive changes Sora’s outfit and combos while enhancing his attack or magical abilities. Remix adds a new Drive form to Sora’s repertoire, courtesy of Final Mix: Limit Form, inspired by his costume and abilities from the first Kingdom Hearts game. Limit Form also gives Sora access to his classic dodge-roll ability, making it well worth using throughout the game.
Other Final Mix features include a new dungeon called the Cavern of Remembrance, a puzzle-collecting side quest, the return of the Mushroom puzzle enemies, and a slew of powerful super bosses who appear throughout the game worlds.
Birth By Sleep also receives new content, though not as much as Kingdom Hearts 2 does. The multiplayer-oriented arena hub world receives a few new missions and several new optional boss fights to enjoy. An epilogue mission has been added as well, one that focuses on protagonist Aqua.
What Makes This Kingdom Great
Kingdom Hearts 2 expands Sora’s offensive moves by giving him a greater range of attacks, special abilities, and passive perks. Combos work with melee and magic in Kingdom Hearts 2, so players can string the two effectively and stylishly. Weapon abilities complement these changes, so players can customize Sora to focus on specific magic or melee styles, or as the situation or boss demands. New special attacks, like upper slash and finishing leap, let you juggle enemies and fight much more creatively than in the original game. That and the improved attack accuracy and more responsive controls make Kingdom Hearts 2 a fantastic action game.
Birth By Sleep, on the other hand, takes Kingdom Hearts 2’s hectic combat and streamlines it. Magic shortcuts have been removed in favor of deck commands, which let you cycle through a list of preset attacks and commands. Though Birth By Sleep is not as high-flying and over-the-top as Kingdom Hearts 2, it is a solid action-RPG nonetheless, and it does a great job of establishing Kingdom Hearts 2’s backstory.
A Flawed Gem
Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix introduces a small, but disappointing, issue with the jump to the PlayStation 3: loading times. These are longer than they were in the original games, and they have an adverse effect on combat at times. Drive forms and summons are loaded off the disk like in the original game, but Remix takes longer to load.
Drive in Kingdom Hearts 2 has the unique property of launching nearby enemies—think Nero’s Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry 4. Using Drive near an enemy or weakened boss was a great way to set up a combo, since they would be launched helplessly and be left vulnerable to a follow-up attack. Because of the loading issues in Remix, this is no longer a viable strategy unless you pause the game to accommodate the load time for a few seconds. It isn’t a game-breaking issue, but it is annoying nonetheless.
Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth By Sleep had their weaknesses back when they were released in 2006 and 2010, respectively. The many Disney-inspired worlds in both games exist primarily as combat and puzzle arenas. There is very little interaction with non-player characters outside of event scenes, and there is little reason to interact with the few characters that exist in the game world. This, and the fact that enemies teleport into environments instead of roaming about on their own, makes the worlds feel disappointingly empty.
Kingdom Hearts 2 suffers from horrid pacing, and this is all the more apparent when coming back to the game after such a long time. I had forgotten how much of a chore the prologue is: even if you opt to skip story scenes, the forced mini-games and constant backtracking make for a very boring introduction to the game.
Story pacing is an issue throughout Kingdom Hearts 2, with many of the fetch-quests and story scenarios feeling entirely forced and superfluous—it’s as though they were forced in for the sake of having Disney-related content. It’s not until the second half of the game, when the plot shifts focus to the antagonistic Organization and its schemes, that the story feels coherent and engaging.
Birth By Sleep improves on some of the pacing issues of Kingdom Hearts 2, but still retains the theme-park approach to some of its Disney Worlds, treating a handful of them like fan service filler rather than plot-relevant settings. The primary conflict in the plot also feels ham-fisted and silly. Dramatic irony or not, Terra is one of the stupidest protagonists in the series, and makes absolutely terrible and senseless decisions in Birth By Sleep.
A Winning Combination
Kingdom Hearts 2, Birth By Sleep and to a lesser extent, Re: Coded all expand on the story of Kingdom Hearts and establish the core conflict to come in Kingdom Hearts 3, making them must-play titles for fans of the series. But even if you have already played the games, or if you’re not a fan of the admittedly convoluted storyline, there is lots of action goodness to be found in Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix. The new content is just icing on an already tasty cake.
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