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Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 21st February 2006
KH2 is probably my most anticipated game coming up in the near future, and I've been looking forward to it for a while. Now that it's only about a month away, I thought a thread would be appropriate. We can post...news and stuff.
I'll list the things I know about it so far:
- First off, It seems there will be a mixture of old worlds as well as new. It seems that Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, and Hollow Bastion will return among others, with newcomers such as Mulan, The Lion King, Steamboat Willie (Mickey's 1920 B&W debut), and Pirates of the Caribbean.
- While Sora, Donald, and Goofy return, it seems that the first few hours of the game will not feature any of them. Seems the beginning of the game is played as Roxxas, some blonde twerp that, to my knowledge, we don't know too much about right now. My guess is the part of the game with Roxxas will be similar to the Destiny Islands part of KH1, a training area where you can get a feel for the game without jumping right in.
- Final Fantasy cameos abound once again. Cloud, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, everyone is back. Sephiroth will no longer be simply an optional sideboss. Word has it that he'll be worked into the story this time around, and its been said that he's even tougher than he was in KH1. Damn. I couldn't even beat him at Lv. 75.
- In what is, without question, the most awesome thing to happen to video games since sliced bread, Auron of FFX fame will not only make an appearance, and not only use his original voice actor, but will even join your party to battle Hades in the underworld. Excuse me while I change my pants.
- The combat system has been overhauled. Now with more strategy than the simple hack-n-slash mechanics of the original. The camera is also going to be a little less finnicky too.
- You may have seen screens of "White Heartless". While the Heartless remain, these white beings are actually called Nobodies, and how they fit into the storyline is, to my knowledge, still unknown.
- Sora will be able to merge with one or both other party members to take on a new form to fight under. For instance, fusing with Donald and Goofy turns him into Master Form Sora, who weilds two Keyblades!
- The Gummi Ship may actually be fun to fly this time around. The flying bits are going to be much faster, the courses more varied, and the enemies will be tougher. They have even promised enemies that take up the whole screen. Can you imagine StarFox-style Gummi Ship boss battles?
Feel free to add, for I know I've forgotten things. Man, I want this game.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 22nd February 2006
The Nobodies reject both light and dark, from what I understand. They are the "unimportant" beings that seek importance, I think.
I believe there are some FF8 cameos as well, but I think the lot of them will be in kid form or something.
I hope they work in a few other FF games. I want to see Terra or Kain.
Regarding Sephy, I actually mastered the game on Hard Mode. I got to the point where I was using Sephiroth as the "easiest way" to gain experience points :D. He's a chump once you get into the groove of things. Just make sure you are always in the middle of the arena to interrupt his "Sin Harvest Angel" thingy.
I will also add that Sephiroth wasn't the toughest baddie in the Japanese deluxoid version (which I wish we had). In that one, there was a special Unknown bearing light sabers you had to be at LEAST level 90 to expect to beat. Tough guy that one, from the video I saw. I mean, he just does-not-let-up. Force lightning, shields, all the works. I think Yoda must have trained some guy and he took off rejecting light and dark and ended up in Hollow Bastion. He took out Beast pretty quick in that video.
Although, to be honest, at this point I want Twilight Princess more.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 22nd February 2006
Dark Jaguar Wrote:Although, to be honest, at this point I want Twilight Princess more.
Well, me too, but that's a long ways off. We'll have gotten and probably beaten KH2 by the time Link gets here.
You're right, Seifer, Vivi and a few others are also present, they're the equal Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie in the original. They're Roxas' rivals.
Kingdom Hearts II - Paco - 22nd February 2006
A year ago this was one of my most anticipated games. Since then I've shifted my sights to next-gen.
I'll definitely give it a rent.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 22nd February 2006
I'm basically confused to spit as to what the heck is up with child versions of various FF characters, as well as how all those FF characters seem to be dispersed in worlds other than their own. I mean, Auron I can see because I have a feeling the Farplane is attached to other afterlifes like Hades, but the others? Somehow I think their worlds were "shattered" and they just got scattered across other worlds to such a degree that their entire being was "melded" into it, including histories, or something.
All I can say is KH3 should cover that in detail if KH2 does not.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 22nd February 2006
Well, it's revealed in the KH1 that when the Heartless invaded their worlds, Leon, Yuffie, Aeris, and Cid escaped to Traverse Town on a Gummi Ship that Cid designed. As for the kid versions, I dunno, I don't even think they're really tied to their respective FF versions in any way other than name and appearance. They're just cameos.
You have a point about Auron, it's one I read before. It makes sense to see him in the Underworld because, technically, Auron is dead.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 22nd February 2006
Oh, and lest we forget, the Tron world!
![[Image: 20051114l.jpg]](http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2005/20051114l.jpg)
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 22nd February 2006
Just one thing though. I doubt that Hollow Bastion is even connected to the FF7 world. Also, Squall is from FF8, not FF7, though he seems to hang around them.
I'm pretty sure those FF characters who "grew up" in that world at no point went about their various FF7 adventures there, and if we were to explore that world, we would find no presence of Midgar at all.
I am under the impression that these various FF characters were ripped out of their respective worlds for whatever reason and strewn almost randomly about the various other worlds. They may also just be there for looks and merely have the same personality as their FF character counterparts. This Auron may have nothing in common with FFX's Auron save his name, appearence, and a similar personality. If you asked him about Sin, he would probably just stare at you dumbfounded.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 22nd February 2006
Not necessarily, remember, Auron is DEAD. He died when he went back to confront Yunalesca. I doubt he'll be mentioning Braska or Yuna or Sin, but his appearance certainly fits better than the others.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 22nd February 2006
I know he's dead. I mentioned that myself earlier.
I'm saying that from what I've seen, these FF characters seem totally out of their world altogether. There is a chance that Auron will actually be considered part of Hades and not from the Farplane at all...
I would rather that not be the case though. There is also a chance that all the FF characters were simply stripped from their worlds and tossed all over the place and eventually Sora will find out about this, and in a pseudo-deep moment (deep to teenagers for example), they will be forced to realize THEY ARE FROM ANOTHER WORLD WITH ANOTHER LIFE or something.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 23rd February 2006
Yes, but what I'm saying is that the other FF characters may not have anything to do with their past lives/games. There could be no connection at all. You don't think every guy named Cid in the FF world is related, do you? Cloud never mentioned ShinRa, Leon never mentioned...whatever it was Squall fought against in 8, and Auron probably won't mention Sin or Seymour. They may just be denizens of the KH world, with no ties to their FF counterparts.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 23rd February 2006
That's what I said.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 23rd February 2006
Oh. Well okay then.
It sounded like you were trying to say that perhaps the Heartless invaded the FF respecive worlds, like Midgar (I don't think the name of FF7's world is ever mentioned, is it?) or Spira, and forced the characters to where they are now. I must have misunderstood you.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 23rd February 2006
Nope, and I think FF7's world is called EARTH.
I gather that from the names of the planets around it being so very similar to ones I see around Earth all the time.
I was saying that either their worlds were destroyed and they were integrated into the stories of other worlds, with even their memories and the timelines of both them and those worlds being altered to allow a perfect integration, and the KH storyline will reflect that somehow, or they are totally unique and, as you said, completely unrelated to their original counterparts. I prefer to think the former. It's a cheap copout to do the latter.
However, check my sig and the answer becomes depressing.
Kingdom Hearts II - Geno - 1st March 2006
FF7's planet is just called the Planet, with a capital P, from what I understand from the game, although it does appear to be in the place where you would find Earth, judging by the position of the other planets during that Supernova cutscene. (Which I think was added by Square of America and never existed in the Japanese version.)
And Kingdom Hearts doesn't affect the continuity of any Final Fantasy game or Disney movie. It may contain minor throwbacks to the games and movies, but the characters don't appear to know anything of their adventures outside of the game. It's an alternate universe sort of thing.
I look forward to this game's release later this month, especially now that Twilight Princess has been pushed back to November.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 1st March 2006
The movies and the games are what their worlds are like... I dunno, SUPPOSED to be like, but something happened and now you end up showing up in the middle of everyone's stories and breaking the Disney Federation's Prime Directive all over the place :D.
And by the way, that cutscene was added to the US version, but not by Americans. It was added by the Japanese makers of the game, as well as the Weapons. They just wanted to add some bonuses. Further, they ended up releasing a special "International Edition" of FF7 with all the stuff they added to the US version, plus a few extra things, and a 4th disk which had a "making of" video on it.
This is something they would repeat many many times. Squeenix is the king and queen of remaking something for the US and then reremaking it for the Japanese.
They did the same with FF8, adding a few extra things (in that case, mainly ease of use interface additions) and then adding them and a bit more to a special "International edition" for Japan. Despite the name, both FF7 and FF8 had no english language option in their International versions, it was still the Japanese translation.
FF9, I haven't heard anything about. FFX had some things added to our version, and then a lot of extra bosses added to the International version, and also that version uses English voice actors with Japanese text for some reason. Europe got that version too. Kingdom Hearts even got the same treatment. Phantom, Sephiroth, and Kurt Zisa were totally absent from the original Japanese version (as well as a few other things). They added that to our version, then they made a special International version of KH with all that, plus a bunch of new abilities (like "Leaf Shield", which prevents cure spells from being interrupted), a few new keyblades (like One Winged Angel), and a new boss, with a storyline. A "Nobody" in a cloak wielding two red lightsabers who, from the video I saw and the FAQs I've read, puts Sephiroth to shame in terms of difficulty.
For some reason, that one also decided to use the English voice actors with Japanese text.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 1st March 2006
Dark Jaguar Wrote:FFX had some things added to our version, and then a lot of extra bosses added to the International version, and also that version uses English voice actors with Japanese text for some reason.
Yeah, the Intenation version of FFX included Dark versions of all the Aeons scattered throughout Spira. I know Dark Ifrit was in Bikanel where Home was, and Dark Anima was at Mt. Gagazet, but I don't remember the rest. There was also an uberboss called Penance you fought on the airship. It seems that it was a Dark Yojimbo of sorts, since Yojimbo had no respective dark aeon, and you fight Penance over the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth.
Dark Jaguar Wrote:Kingdom Hearts even got the same treatment. Phantom, Sephiroth, and Kurt Zisa were totally absent from the original Japanese version (as well as a few other things). They added that to our version, then they made a special International version of KH with all that, plus a bunch of new abilities (like "Leaf Shield", which prevents cure spells from being interrupted), a few new keyblades (like One Winged Angel), and a new boss, with a storyline. A "Nobody" in a cloak wielding two red lightsabers who, from the video I saw and the FAQs I've read, puts Sephiroth to shame in terms of difficulty.
Kurt Zisa...he was a fun battle. Leaf Shield? What, like Mega Man 2?
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 1st March 2006
Not really. It was a passive ability that just prevented your curative spells from being interrupted. So, like if you kept trying to cast cure and you kept getting smacked during it, this ability would prevent that.
Also, a slide ability (which does resemble Megaman) and some sort of energy...dome... thing...
Kingdom Hearts II - Geno - 4th March 2006
Interesting, although I'll probably just end up playing the American version. Y'know, I haven't even beaten the first KH yet. I just stopped playing at the Little Mermaid world. It's not that I got mad at the game or bored with it or anything, I just kinda stopped playing and never really picked it back up. I've barely played any of Chain of Memories. I just don't like the system, period. I look forward to KHII though. (Although I must admit, I'm more looking forward to Twilight Princess later in the year.)
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 4th March 2006
Chain of Memories is just too redundant. It's the same thing over and over again through the entire game. Once you get used to the battles, the only thing that really caught my interest was the bosses. Yeah, the game wasn't all that good. I don't regret getting it too much though, if only because it catches me up on the story in time for KH2.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 5th March 2006
Kingdom Hearts II - Geno - 5th March 2006
I might start a new file on KH sometime soon, and this time I'll try to beat it. I recently started a new file on Final Fantasy VIII, but... it's just too boring, to be honest. I know it gets better later, but the beginning is nauseatingly boring. I might just move on to Kingdom Hearts. (I actually never beat FFVIII either. I enjoyed IV, VI, VII, and even IX more.) I also wanna start new files in Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker.
Kingdom Hearts II - EdenMaster - 7th March 2006
Geno Wrote:I might start a new file on KH sometime soon, and this time I'll try to beat it. I recently started a new file on Final Fantasy VIII, but... it's just too boring, to be honest. I know it gets better later, but the beginning is nauseatingly boring. I might just move on to Kingdom Hearts. (I actually never beat FFVIII either. I enjoyed IV, VI, VII, and even IX more.) I also wanna start new files in Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker.
So many games, so little time!
My advice to you starting out is to answer the questions that Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka ask you. How you respond determines the frequency of your leveling up and, in a way, the difficulty of your game. I forget the sequences, but I know that before you verify your answers are correct, you are told that your journey will begin at daybreak, midday, or the middle of the night. Shoot for daybreak to have the easiest game, middle of the night for hardest.
Kingdom Hearts II - Dark Jaguar - 7th March 2006
Not entirely accurate.
The time of day you get from those questions will determine how much XP you get, but it's not as cut and dry as "more or less". If you go for daybreak, leveling up is very fast up to level 50 or so, then it slows down and becomes very slow. If you go for dusk, leveling up is slow at the start, but speeds up a lot after the midway point. If you go for noon, leveling up is the same average rate through the whole game.
The fact is, if your goal is hitting level 99, the quickest way is dusk. Since, well, the quicker levels are the high ones that need a lot more experience, the grand total XP you will need to get through the whole game will be significantly less. However, if your goal is just to get to a level where you can beat the game, never mind perfection, or even beating the bonus bosses, dawn is your best bet. If your goal is simply a decent amount of time to gain levels no matter where you are in the game, go for noon. I went for noon, but it was purely by chance. I actually wanted to be honest about answering those questions.