The One, The Only: Kingdom Hearts II Thread - US Release 03/28!
 

Dropping the Pre-Release Discussion thread for this. :D2:

Official release date just hit the wires: March 28th

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143910.html
http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2006/2/8-12

The first Kingdom Hearts game was notable not just as a gaming crossover between characters from the Disney and Square Enix universes, but also as a cultural crossover with an abundance of talent from the world of film coming together to work on a game. While that particular brand of crossover is becoming more and more common these days, Disney and Square Enix are looking to assemble a silver screen-worthy voice cast for its small screen PlayStation 2 game, Kingdom Hearts II.

Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, The Country Bears), David Gallagher (7th Heaven, Angels in the Endzone), and Hayden Panettiere (Racing Stripes, Bring It On 3) will reprise the main roles of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, respectively. Backing up the three main characters of the original game is a diverse cast, including Christopher Lee (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Dracula: Prince of Darkness), Rachael Leigh Cook (Josie and the Pussycats, The House of Yes), Mena Suvari (American Beauty, American Pie), and pop singer Jesse McCartney, who was twice nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his acting work on All My Children.

A handful of Hollywood heavy hitters will also be taking up the roles of Disney characters they helped make famous. James Woods (Ghosts of Mississippi, Videodrome) will once again become Hercules' nemesis, Hades, while Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State) provides the voice of Chicken Little.

As with the first Kingdom Hearts, Japanese pop star Utada Hikaru will sing the game's theme song. Hikaru's "Sanctuary," an English version of the Japanese game's theme song "Passion," was written specifically for Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts II is set for a March 28 release in North America and will retail for $49.99.

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Confirmed voice cast:

Haley Joel Osment .... Sora
Tony Anselmo .... Donald Duck
Bill Farmer .... Goofy
David Gallagher .... Riku
Hayden Panettiere .... Kairi
Jesse McCartney .... Roxas
Brittany Snow .... Namine

Corey Burton .... Yensid
Sean Marquette .... Pence
Christopher Lee .... DiZ

Steve Burton .... Cloud Strife
Rachael Leigh Cook .... Tifa Lockhart
Mena Suvari .... Aerith Gainsborough (was Mandy Moore in the first game)
David Boreanaz .... Squall Leonhart (Leon)
Hedy Burress .... Yuna
Matt McKenzie .... Auron
Tara Strong .... Rikku
Gwendoline Yeo .... Paine

Sean Astin .... Hercules
James Woods .... Hades

Robby Benson .... Beast

Scott Weinger .... Aladdin
Dan Castellaneta .... Genie

Ming-Na .... Mulan
Mark Mosley .... Mushu
Miguel Ferrer .... Shan-Yu

Zach Braff .... Chicken Little

:banana:

Oh happy day!

Sean Astin, why are you the voice of Hercules? lol

I noticed in my computer at work we have a Limited Edition strat guide listed, this could either be art work or soundtrack bonus either way I think Im gonna pick it up w/ the game.

Well, they had a "limited edition" Dragon Quest VIII guide listed forever too, until the game came out and there was only the standard one.. though Kingdom Hearts is certainly a higher profile title, so we'll see. I'd consider picking one up if it included the soundtrack.

And I just reserved in full MGS3: Subsistence LE. :( Here's hoping I somehow manage to scrounge up enough cash for this too.

My wife is anxious for this one. We'll be fighting for the TV because Oblivion comes out on the 360 about the same time as well.

Guess he needed some money after he was mugged by his druggie sister.

I'm very excited about this game. Glad they went all out with the vocal talent so far, but where are the Pirates of the Carribean cast members?

"Scheduling Conflicts."

Filming POTC2?



And it's 3 days after my daughter's birthday. Damn_it. :sad:

Well, I was hoping they're still going to be in there (or at least Orlando "Anything For A Buck" Bloom), but that maybe the POTC segment hasn't been announced yet...

A game that will actually make me buy a PS2. Finally.

The first one didn't?

So glad to see Boreanaz back and can't wait to play the Mulan stage. Now to play through part one again.

I have a question for anybody working at a game store (or anybody that regularly gives one their business for new games). Most of these places get the game on the ship date (in this case, 03/28) but not until early-late evening, right? So if I was going to take a day off of work, I'd need to shoot for the 29th? This will probably be like Metroid Prime 2 where I can't wait for Thursday to see if Fry's MIGHT have it on sale.

Yes, I would take the 29th off. My local Gamestop and EB generally get there games in 1 day after their official release date.

That's the only reason I own my PS2..

This is one of the few games that I would buy as soon as it came out and pay full price for.

Here's a poor quality clip of the English opening song:
http://rapidshare.de/files/14005897/...Utada.mp3.html

Thanks to the KH2 UK forums for this. :D2:

Maybe this'll change once I hear the whole English version in context with the story, but I think I still like Simple & Clean better. Luckily I don't have long to wait to find out!

Yeah, I like this one but S&C still rocks..

Gamestop/EB sometimes get the games on the release date, sometimes the day after.

Either way, I cannot frickin' wait for this game. I played through the first one basically non-stop when it came out, and the Tron world alone makes me shiver with anticipation.

Do you hear that? That's the sound of Kingdom Hearts II coming out next week! *swoons*

My God.. I need to finish Legendia this weekend or I'm going to be in big trouble.

This hasn't been quietly delayed, has it? I haven't seen a gold announcement yet and I noticed that neither CC nor Target has it advertised according to speedy's weekly ad posts.

Damn bills to pay. I so wanna pick this up when it's released. :(

I doubt it.. a game "going gold" isn't always news worthy.

Especially if that game's been out for months in Japan

Gamestop.com just emailed me a coupon for free overnight shipping. Code: KH21D

damn. too much stuff is coming out this month. I have my pre-order at TRU, can't wait for this to drop next week.

I wasn't a fan of the first one because of the battle camera, but I've heard a lot people say they re-did it, so I'm going to give this a try.

It is definitely coming out on the specified date. We've had confirmation of it for over a month.

I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question, but is this more than a kid's game? I remember the rabid following for the first Kingdom Hearts when it came out, but I just guessed that it was kind of an easy kid's game and it wouldn't interest me. I was just assuming that based on the Disney thing, but that's what I was going on. Is this not the case?

It certainly isn't the case. The disney license is the only "kiddy" trapping of the game (and even then, Disney movies in and of themselves are all ages fair, not on par with Blues Clues and the like), but even still it is a straight up action-rpg game. Certainly not easy as I ran into a couple of problems with bosses. If you like RPGs at all, you'll probably love KH. One of the best uses of a license since the Domino's Noid game for the Genesis -wink-.

It is whimsical though, which is a nice change of pace from all of the "mature" games on the market.

I can't believe this game is coming out next week. I haven't seen one TV ad yet, but the game rags are all plastered with KH2 goodness.

Kingdom Hearts is light-hearted in its tone (though it has some more "serious" parts) but the gameplay is solid, solid, solid. It's very much like an actual Disney movie in that it can be enjoyed be people of any age. It's not definitely not like most Disney games that are made to just cash in on the recognition and are usually pretty poor.. the game is EXCELLENT and has a pretty solid difficulty to boot (with a hardcore hard mode as well!).

Good to know. I haven't picked up a new game in awhile, and this sounds like it might be just the thing. I like the idea of something whimsical, but still challenging and interesting.

I think Best Buy is selling KH1 for $10 with a KH2 purchase next week. Check speedy's weekly BB thread: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=459700

$60 might be a lot to spend on 2 games you don't know if you'll like, but it is a pretty good deal and a good way to get right into it and not have to stop.

I'm conflicted.

Do I fight the assholes at Gamestop and pick it up on release day?

Or should I wait until Thursday to see if Fry's has a deal on it?

You're lucky to even have that conflict. I'll happily pay the full retail because that's all we've got.

Yeah, Fry's is nice.

Though, last time I "couldn't wait" and picked up Metroid Prime 2 on release date at full retail.. Fry's had it for like $35 on Thursday and I probably got about 30 minutes of playtime before the weekend. I think I was moving at the time so I guess I won't have that time problem this time.

I could be a real dick, pick it up at Gamestop and play it, then get it at Fry's IF they have a sale and return that one to Gamestop. Though, I don't think I'm THAT much of a cheapskate.. once I have it in my hands the extra 30 minute drive to save $10 probably won't be worth it.