I had a chance to get some hands-on time with Kingdom Hearts II and was impressed by what I saw. Graphically, KHII looks a lot more refined than the original Kingdom Hearts game. It actually looked like I was a part of a Disney cartoon. The animations were smooth and the framerate never faltered, regardless of how much action was happening onscreen. I was extremely impressed at how faithful the characters looked to their theatrical counterparts, despite their diversity. But as impressive as Mickey and Mulan may have looked, nothing could compare to the surprise appearance of Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann from the film Pirates of the Caribbean. I haven't had a chance to check out the world of pirates in the game, but the cinematic and gameplay footage provided by Square-Enix looked phenomenal. Using graphics similar to those in Final Fantasy X and X2, Square-Enix managed to render exceptional likenesses of both Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley, though they never quite seemed to fit in with the animated style of the rest of the game.
Square-Enix has always done an exceptional job providing moving musical scores for its various games. Disney is no slouch in the musical department, either. So when the two joined up for the first Kingdom Hearts game, the result was one of the most beautifully orchestrated scores in video-game history. Kingdom Hearts II continues this tradition in grand style. At a couple of points in the game, I stopped playing just to admire the background music pumping through the headphones. It's obvious that a lot of care has been put into KHII in both its audio and visual departments.
As far as gameplay goes, Square-Enix has revamped the control scheme from the original game. It's now much easier to switch between standard melee attacks and the use of magical spells. Even against overwhelming hordes of enemies, I never had a problem defending myself and switching from one target to the next. Thankfully, I wasn't alone in my fighting, as Square-Enix has also apparently improved the A.I. of the computer-controlled allies. While I was busy pressing forward as Sora, furiously swinging my Keyblade, Mulan was doing a great job of covering my rear, gracefully moving across the screen slashing at any creatures that got too close for comfort.
After spending some quality time with Kingdom Hearts II, I've got to say I'm impressed with how the game has progressed so far. Every facet of the original game has been tweaked on and improved upon in both style and in substance. According to Square-Enix, the new title is more than twice as large as the original, and thanks to the care taken with the title's development, gamers will be in for a genuinely epic experience when the Kingdom Hearts II finally comes to the PS2 later this year.
