I've finally got my copy. Yay for Circuit City having it for $40 bones. Picked up God of War for $20 as well...isn't life perfect when good games are cheap?

Can't wait to get into this. I'm skipping any refresher fan made movies or online synopsis' as I'm pretty sure the game will cover any information I need to know. Pooh! Here I come!

ETA: Oh man were those first couple of hours boooooooooooooring. When I was actually playing, I was having fun - but I did more watching than anything. I get that they needed to fill in the backstory, but their must of been an hour of cut scenes(in game) for about 25 minutes of gameplay. The story is already a bit obtuse. I'm following it fine, but I wonder how younger (10 and under) kids are handling the game and it's very Final Fantasyey happenings.

Also the skateboard controls like ass.

I was getting a little worried I was going to have Metal Gear Sons of Liberty deal on my hands, but I got to my boys (Sora, Donald, Goofy) so now the game can begin.

Actually, now that you mention it, I would rather have played that opening portion as Raiden rather than Roxas. At least Raiden would have, I don't know, shot some people.

Wow.

I don't see what everyone is complaining about the intro for.. well, other than the abundance of cut-scenes, which I agree with. Roxas plays EXACTLY like Sora and everything you do and obtain as him transfers to Sora once you awaken him. Other than being longer, it's not too different from the Destiny Islands intro in the first game.

No experience (yet?), but they're probably worth doing.. there's bound to be a prize or something. The songs are only about 1-2 minutes long. I can tell you that the Winnie the Pooh stuff is worth doing.. I think it's the fourth page that gave me the keyblade I'll probably NEVER unequip throughout the rest of the game.

I'm currently on my second visits to Land of Dragons and Beast's Castle.

Oh, I fully intend on doing them. When I asked, I was at a cross-roads between that and Port Royal. If I got exp from Atlantica, I'd go there first to beef up some before PR. In the end, it didn't matter since my 5-year-old-I-want-a-Little-Mermaid-birthday daughter choose Jack Sparrow over Ariel. That, my friends, is the power of Depp.

I gotta start over (again, probably halfway through my FIRST visit to Hollow Bastion, so, what, just like 4 hours in?) as I was on "easy", and don't think I can stomach continuing this way. The fights are incredibly short, so it's like 80% cutscenes...

I'm not a great gamer, so I know I'll never do the hardest setting. But Easy is too easy.

There/Their/They're (couldn't work an "of" in sorry, but nazi away ) wasn't much to do in those first two hours or so. That was a major problem(for me at least, a non-rpg player), and the amount of cut scenes were the main cause of that. It wasn't that Roxas did or didn't play like Sora, it was that while you were controlling Roxas you didn't get to do much of anything (though I was antsy to get to the main party of Sora/Donald/Goofy). When you were in that stained glassed platform section fighting that giant boss? That was awesome. When you were given control of Roxas to run 12 feet into the next section of town, only to be thrown into another cut scene? Not so awesome.

It's a valid gripe, but a small one in a game that is set to last 40 hours or more. The pre-intro stuff was like season one of Babylon 5, not really that fun but necessary. I'm in Mulan's world now and enjoying things quite a bit now.

And about the difficulty, I haven't run into any problems yet at all, but I played KH1 on normal and remember running into some trouble about half way into the game. I was close to starting over again on proud, but I don't really need this game to get really hard towards the end. If it follows the pattern of KH1, the difficulty curve is perfect for me and what I want from my playtime.

Oh... Crap.

I did get to Mulan's world. Forgot about that.



I must have just missed the point of the gummi ship controls. I played the asteroid one, and was about to die (siren going off) when it finally thankfully ended. Maybe I couldn't see that well on the 25" tv. I just need to move to the 36" and start over.

Then I could pick the sword instead of the shield.

No, no, I agree fully with that. I guess I'm just reading the complaints wrong as if people are like "Oh crap Roxas sucks give me Sora! Solid Snake cheese and rice!" I'm also pointing out that was present in the first game as well (just not as long). Cut-scene, cut-scene, mini-game, fetch quest, cut-scene, actual fighting, mini-game, etc. until you got to Traverse Town. With as many times as I've played the first game I had always wished there was a way to shorten that part for people who know how to play the game (as I'm sure I will feel about the intro on this as well).

Pixy, I'm curious as to how many times you've played through KH1? I meant to do it again before KH2 came out, but I just never got to it. I really wish I kept various saves so I could just play through certain sections again.

I've played Original Flavor about 4-6 times and Extra Crispy (Final Mix) twice.

I forced myself to start playing this again because i know im going to enjoy it but couldnt get myself to continue playing for whatever reason. I am SO utterly glad i did, im at 9 hours into it now and just finished the black/white level heading to pirates of the caribean. The graphics are simply MIND blowing at some points, i cant beleive this is a PS2 im playing. The story is great and the disney comedy is awesome. The boss fights are so freakin AMAZINGLY well done that i cannot get over how damn awesome thing this is. I cannot suggest this game enough to ANYONE, it is simply my #2 game on the ps2 now (GOW #1, KH2 #2, KH1 #3). Phenominal.. seriously.....

So frustrating only playing according to a 5-year-old's schedule. I did just notice some tasks Jiminy has in his Journal for me. At least I'll be able to fill that out while she sleeps.

HOLY HELL!

How are they EVER going to top this one?!

Any idea where to get a MP3 of the theme song?

Maybe you can keep different saves. One for you and one for when you play together? That way you'll know all you have to do when you're playing with your kid and look like a hero. BTW - I think it's hella cool to hear of a parent actually playing WITH their kid than throwing a game/toy/whatever at their kid to shut them up. Kudos to you.

I haven't been able to play at all since last week. Such a bummer.

Wow, I have to say that Kingdom Hearts II has the single greatest video game climax and last boss battle of all time. From the moment you step into the last world until you score the winning attack.. it's just.. simply amazing. As I said above, I really have no idea how they're going to top this. Oh, and now I know the identity of the Organization XIII member you get to battle in Final Mix (which I assume leads to the opening of KH2: "I've been to see him. He looks just like you.").

Oh.. and Assault of the Dreadnought? Freakin' awesome! (you'll see what I mean)

I tried that for a while, but I got aggrivated trying to duplicate my actions so I just stopped. Now that I've found Jiminy's Journal, I'm able to do side stuff that she isn't interested in. Speaking of, anybody know how to activate the "SB missions" in Halloween Town, Agrabah, and Port Royal? I can use the skateboards just fine, but I can't actually figure out how to get credit in JJ for giving it a try.

With the exception of those and the Cerebus cup, I've done everything I can before

You have to find somebody in the level who'll ask you if you want to try the skateboard game for the missions in the journal.. the 'boards just lying around the levels are just there for quick traveling.

By the way, here's an interesting bit of trivia.. the sea-salt ice cream that is featured prominently in the game is real.. and where does it come from? Tokyo Disney Sea! My girlfriend went there when she was in Japan last year and had some so she pointed it out while I was playing the game.

So after about three hours of playing I had to stop as I had an "X" imprinted on my thumb :P.

Even thought I don't feel in danger when playing the gummi levels (I've yet to get more than 30% percent damage), they are really fun to play. The one where you .

And how come your outfits don't change with visiting every world anymore? Or have I just not gotten to that section yet?

Pixy what was your final hour count after beating it? And since it's all said and done - DQ8 or KH2? Which of your babies are you going to put out with the bathwater? Hmm Solomon?

I think the rules about that are that it is only necessary to blend in. Where you are, it seems, you've only been to "human"-type worlds. There's a plenty of style changes coming up.
That's a good question. I'd like to also know if you completed Jiminy's Journal to get the secret movie at the end.

My final hour count was 58, I think.. but I spent a LOT of time delaying, doing Gummi Ship levels, leveling up and collecting insane amounts of synth materials, etc. I have not done everything in the Journal yet (and while I figured that was what needed to be done based on the secret movie for Final Mix, I hadn't "confirmed" it yet.. are you guys using guides to play the game or something?).

boredsilly, I thought the Pirate Ship level felt like an homage to R-Type since that was the first shooter game to have a giant boss as the entire level. If you liked that level.. man, pretty much every new set of Gummi Levels trumps the last set. The Highway and Dreadnought levels blew me away! If you want to get your ass handed to you in a Gummi Ship level, try any of the Mission 3 levels. Holy crap!

No guide for me (if I were, you'd think I would have been able to find the guys who start my skateboard missions). I read somewhere online that the secret movie was basically:
Easy mode - not possible
Normal mode - finish game w/ JJ completed
Proud mode - finish game

I get giddy thinking back to the KH1 "Another Side, Another Story" movie and how we're actually seeing what it was teasing at. How far in advance the story was at least sketched out. I'm excited to see what the next tease is. But I don't think I'm even half-way through the game yet!

Ah, okay. I just tried to avoid anything on the game once it hit stores in Japan. Too many "loose lips" on the internet for my liking. I can assure you, a lot of the revelations made in the game's finale are SO worth finding out there and then only.. I feel bad for people that read every bit of the game before playing it because those moments just won't be the same.

I think you're more than halfway done! If you're on the way back to Twilight Town I assume you finished Agrabah, Halloween Town and Pride Land? I'd say that's about 2/3 of the way. I can also guarantee that when you get "there" *ahem* you will NOT want to stop.. your daughter might be in for a late night pretty soon!