Kingdom Hearts II
Typically, I’m leery of sequels in general. I was obliged to observe the play of Kingdom Hearts II originally by an ex-boyfriend of mine who was a fan of the first one. I had watched him play that and it was possibly the only one that I had actually displayed any interest in, so he was keen to actually have something else which we would both be interested. (Does anyone wonder why he’s now an ex?) Aside from that, if one is even moderately interested in video games, it is nearly impossible to avoid sequels nowadays. Final Fantasy XIII, anyone?
Eventually I did play it myself. Of course, since I don’t enjoy 40+ hours of constant frustration, I played it first on Beginner Mode and more recently on Standard Mode. Having seen the difference between both versions, it seems that both are reasonably segmented in difficulty. Beginner Mode was too easy for me, even the first time, but I was insistent that I would finish it since I had started it. I think I would be most comfortable somewhere between Standard Mode and Proud Mode - which was far too hard for me.
Gameplay in KHII is incredibly improved. Options were added to allow for manual camera adjustment and even if I found that the camera automatically liked to settle a bit lower than preferred, if I was willing to keep my thumb on the control stick at all times, it would stay up where I wanted it. The fact that I could move it around as necessary was a much needed improvement and I am glad that Square-Enix took that to heart. The Gummi Ship levels still exist but don’t appear to be quite as hacked together as they were in KHI. They’re still annoying, but if nothing else, much prettier. All the same, they are extraneous and not required except to open the paths between worlds.
Easily the most annoying part of the game at first is getting used to the reaction commands, particularly when going directly from KHI to KHII with no game or time gap in between. The X button was the main button for use in KHI, whereas some events might require an X in KHII, while others require the triangle key. I got very good at pressing this key through the course of the game, as some battles require very quick fingers with it to even hope to win.
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