(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Kingdom Hearts II. Note: The clips that are all shown are from Doug's Twitch streams of himself playing the game)
Doug (vo): Here we go, it's Kingdom Hearts II, a sequel that, yeah, I think, in every way, improves on the last one, and this is coming from someone that really liked the last one. Now, I should give warning, I haven't played the game previous to this, Chain of Memories, but I did look up what happened in-between these games, so I am caught up, and if you haven't played this game, you're gonna go straight into II, I advise you either play the game, or do the same thing I did, because there is some important information in there.
Story and review[]
Doug (vo): With that said, the story is kind of business as usual, with a decent amount of twists and turns. Yes, you still have to save Kairi again. Yes, you still have to go to a bunch of Disney worlds with Donald and Goofy. And, yes, there's a ton of those anime tropes as well as, I guess there's no other way to put it, Kingdom Heart tropes that I guess you've all grown to love...or hate, I guess depending what you're looking for. But it does try one or two more interesting things.
(Clips focusing on the game's prologue levels are shown)
Doug (vo): For example, you don't start off as Sora. You start off as a character named Roxas. I guess I won't go too much into it, just in case you don't want spoilers, but I guess where a lot of people say the first game takes forever to end, this one takes forever to start. For a pretty long time, you're just kind of mozying through this town with your friends and entering little tournaments and solving little mysteries that aren't really mysteries, just kind of hanging out. I'll admit, a large part of me just wanted to get the story going and see Donald and Goofy and go to the different Disney lands, but I'll be honest, when it was all said and done, I did kind of have a good time during this. The game forms connections the way a game is supposed to, through interactions, through activities, through little sidequests. I'm not gonna act like I know these friends inside and out, but there's a strange kind of connection you make. It reminded me a little bit of Last of Us, how when you're around Ellie so much, you kind of check over your shoulder to make sure she's still there, and you have to remind yourself it's a game, she's not going anywhere. This was kind of the same thing. You just gotta hang out with these people for a fair amount of time that you do almost form this goofy friendship with them. They're not deep or complex, but just doing stuff with them does make a connection. And when you have to kind of say goodbye, it is a little bittersweet. Being kids, they don't know how to feel about it. Hell, even as an adult, you don't really know how to feel about it, 'cause it's a very strange situation. But it's kind of a strange feeling it creates, and I think it's a cool one introduced to younger people playing this game.
(Footage focusing on the gameplay is shown)
Doug (vo): When the game does get started, it's a lot of fun. The actual gameplay itself is really improved on. I remember in the first game, I would skip over all the little enemies I'm supposed to destroy to get, like, my HP up and my lifeforce and all that stuff, 'cause I just got so bored with it. Here, the fighting is so much more fun. I was looking forward every single time little enemies would pop up, because it was just so cool knocking them in the air, and jumping up, and doing all sorts of new moves. It was a good mix of energy and variety.
(Footage focusing on various characters is shown)
Doug (vo): A lot of old favorites do come back. You get to see Jack Skellington, Hades, Maleficent, as well as some newcomers like Pete, some members of Organization XIII, which is, like, the big bad supervillains you're supposed to stop, and the wizard Yen Sid, which, yes, I know is Disney backwards, and, no, this game did not create that, that was all the way back to Fantasia. I really love, though, how they have Christopher Lee as kind of a villain, it's a long story, but they have Corey Burton as this wizard, as for a while, they kind of look like opposite ends of the same coin, and Corey Burton has imitated Christopher Lee in the past, so this is a really clever choice.
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): I guess I won't go too much into more story just in case you want it revealed for yourself, but needless to say, there are a lot of complicated twists and turns and surprises, and, yeah, for a while, I was having a real tough time trying to remember it all, but what I like is, when it gets to the end, the information it adds simplifies it more. It kind of helps knowing that one character was really someone else, or this character was actually tied to another, or they're kind of the same person. It's also kind of cool that a lot of these side plots and exposition dumps and everything do all show up at the end. I don't think it's perfectly balanced, like Maleficent and Pete show up at the end, and it would've been cool if we actually did something with them, like fight alongside them or fight them afterward, just something, they're kind of there and then they're gone. With that said, you're either gonna get into the complicated story and plots and cliches and tropes or you're not. I get people who say there's way too much going on, it doesn't make sense, they retconned some stuff, some characters are bland. But if you're someone like me who loves anime and Disney and fairy tales and stuff like that, these are tropes you kind of look forward to. I usually compare them to horror films or Christmas rom-coms, like, yeah, we know they're a little silly, but that's part of the fun. We actually made a drinking game out of how many times they say, "Sora, Donald, and Goofy".
(One of those just-mentioned times is shown)
Ariel: Sora! Donald! Goofy!
Doug: Hey! (Takes a shot)
Heather: There it is!
Doug (vo): And come on, that's such a specific order, the developers have to be aware of that, like, they're making their own tropes and having fun with it.
(Clips focusing on the game's new levels and new Disney worlds are shown)
Doug (vo): I was also really shocked that a lot of the game is going back to these worlds, which I was complaining about in the first one. I hated going back to a place I've already been to. But this one mixes it up a little bit. It isn't just going back to the homeworld of Hercules, it's going to the Underworld. It isn't just going back to Halloween Town, it's going to Christmas Town. You do get new variations of levels that look very different and are very fun to play. The new worlds are also a lot of fun. Tron? Come on. How cool is it to play that video game in a video game? Even some of the sidegames are enjoyable. I went on and on how annoying the Winnie the Pooh games were in the first one, but in this one, they're really, really fun. I went on and on about how annoying the swimming was in the Little Mermaid level, here, it's just a rhythm game, with new songs, and one of them's a villain song for Ursula. Come on, this is either gonna be your jam or it's not. I mean, okay, if somebody asked me how you would like to spend my free time, I wouldn't say, "Oh, a Little Mermaid song about bubbles, thank you very much." But if we're doing this anime crossover with Disney characters, why the hell not? It's good variety. I just feel like a dumb little kid again, playing something like this without a care in the world. It's like there's a little something for everybody.
(More clips focusing on the characters are shown)
Doug (vo): The characters themselves also have a lot more personality. I'm not just talking about the Disney characters, I'm talking about the new ones they introduce. In the first one, I know you spend time on the island, but I still didn't feel like you got to know the characters that well before the story gets going. Here, I feel like I made the connections much stronger. When this guy named Axel shows up, you just immediately know what he's like, and you have fun with him. When Christopher Lee's character shows up...yeah, I'm not saying his name for a reason. You'll see when you play the game...there's this immediate dignity and weight to everything he says, and it makes everything sound important. He sounds important, what you're doing sounds important, even if you're not always sure exactly what it is.
(As Doug speaks, we are shown footage showcasing the moment of Goofy being knocked unconscious by a rock, and the other heroes believe him to be dead)
Doug (vo): Even the scenes you can make fun of, and, yes, there is a lot you can easily make fun of in this game, like, Goofy dies at one point. That's hilarious, but also kind of keeps with the silliness of the game.
(We are shown the moment when Goofy regains consciousness and rejoins with the heroes, and we see Doug's reaction to it)
Doug: (shocked beyond all belief) What?! What?! What?! What...?!
Sora, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse: Goofy!
Doug: (leaping off his chair and running around the room) What?! What?! He's alive?! Don't do that to me, Goofy! Don't toy with my emotions! What the fuck?! (Sings to the tune of the Hallelujah Chorus) Ah-hoo-hoo-hooey! Ah-hoo-hoo-hooey! Ah-hoo-hoo-hooey! (Laughs)
(We are next shown Doug reacting to the moment where King Mickey Mouse, dressed in a black hood and coat, meets with the heroes in Ansem's study)
Doug (vo): Mickey in a black hood saying...
Mickey Mouse: Did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?
(Upon hearing that line, Doug bursts into laughter)
Doug: (mimics Mickey) Satan is our Lord and Savior, as we all know. Ha-ha!
Doug (vo): I don't know, I feel like you're supposed to laugh at this.
(We are briefly shown footage showing the Timeless River world)
Doug (vo): There's a world where you travel back to the old black and white cartoons, and everything's kind of alive and bouncing, and Mickey doesn't really talk, and...man, this is so clever and creative.
(One of the game's biggest boss battles, which occurs before the climax, is shown)
Doug (vo): The difficulty also seems appropriate, too. Once again, I was playing this on Easy, and for the most part, I was getting through it like a breeze, until I hit this one character, who, I guess is a very famous character that's hard to defeat in this, and, no joke, it almost took me two hours to defeat this guy. But what's so interesting about it is, it was still fun. It was infuriating, but I still took so much joy out of it. It always felt like I could defeat this guy, I just had to change my strategy a little bit, I had to do things a little differently, I had to watch how he moved. Yes, it got me screaming, yes, I had to hit my punching bag every once in a while, but it's a kind of anger that just makes you want to beat him more, and feels all the more satisfying when you finally do.
(We're shown the moment Doug finally beats the boss level)
Doug: (screams joyfully) Did I fucking do it?! Did I fucking do it?! (Sings in an operatic tone) You raise me up! (Punches his punching bag in excitement)
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): So, yeah, overall, I really recommend this game. I will say, if you didn't get into the first one, I don't think this one's gonna sway you, even though a lot of things are better. Did I mention the platforming is also vastly improved? But if you really got into the first game, I think you're especially gonna get into this one. It looks great, it's fun to play, the characters are more developed. Even the complicated story kind of brings me back to when I was younger, reading, like, the old X-Men comics, like, kids would always show off how much they remember about each character and their backstory. It kind of feels like that, like there's a lore to the world somehow, even if, as everybody brings up, it's not the most consistent. But it's a mix of anime and fairy tales, it really doesn't have to be. It just has to be entertaining and engaging, and it's definitely that. Grab your key and unlock your door... (Mimics Mickey) ...or the Door to Darkness, ha-ha! (Speaks normally) Sorry, I will never get over that...to a pretty damn good time.
(We are shown a shot of Sora using his Keyblade to unlock a gateway to the next world)