My favourite bit from the opening is the whole sequence at 4:45-4:58 where it cuts back and forth between Sora fighting Marluxia and Riku fighting Ansem.
It may be nothing much, but _man_ do I love how the world logos were upscaled to fill the whole screen, compared to the about half-and-centre ones in previous games.
I think they had the full assets for world logos during the upscale process this time around. Two later world logos were significantly changed. One had a letter added, another had a word removed.
I think if I remember right, when I first played this, I decided "I'm getting everyone watermelon!" And spent HOURS grinding for money. Bare minimum, I decided to go for at least the total amount so I could pay for everyone.
Roxas was genuinely my favourite character in Kingdom Hearts until I realised how much more hilarious it would be to just say that my favourite character in Kingdom Hearts was Winnie the Pooh.
Fun Fact, Kairi's hair in all the Kingdom Hearts games are based on the haircut that Utada Hikaru had at the games creation: (Utada is the woman who has sung all the intro songs to the series)
I remember the Summer that I played this, my first experience with the Kingdom Hearts series. It started with the knowledge that the only friend that lived near me would be gone all summer. Then I bought this beauty. Next I spent an entire month only playing Kingdom Hearts 2. Soon after I watched every cutscene compilation as if they were movies. It was the perfect storm to make me fall deeply in love with the franchise known as KINGDOM HEARTS. A lonely summer. Then a truly wonderful game.
There's the boy! Don't get me wrong, Sora's great, but I really love Roxas. KH2 might be one of my favorite games ever, I'm stoked for this playthrough!
I was replaying through the KHII myself a few months ago, having not played it in over a decade. It's so weird to see how much of a different design and storytelling philosophy it had compared to modern day games where the standard tends to be: - Open with a highly polished action set piece, often where you have all your endgame powers so you get a taste of how cool things will eventually be. - Move to a quick tutorial to teach the basics, but try to get players into the main game as smoothly and as quickly as possible. - Integrate gameplay and cutscenes as seemlessly as possible, so the player never feels like they're out of the action for too long, Whereas KHII was like "Nah fam, here's 4-6 hours of cutscenes upfront with a character you don't know in a tutorial area that you better get used to, with tons of references to a game we haven't made yet and a prequel you probably didn't play (that we're also not going to explain ANYTHING about). But don't worry, we have some really chill ocean music you can take a nap to." And yet it's still my favorite Kingdom Hearts game, not to mention still holding strong in my top 10 videogames of all time list.
The intro to this game is so damn clever. You start off with a new cast of characters that have a fantastic chemistry, good voice acting, and fun banter they could honestly have held up the game as the main protagonists. Meanwhile Sora’s regaining his memories and that serves as a perfect vehicle to refresh everyone’s memories about the first game. And what bridges it all together are characters from Chain of Memories, who are each given distinct characterization such that they’re memorable and understandable even to little kid me, who had never played Chain of Memories. The slow pace of the intro can make replays slightly more difficult, but the intro can be sped through fairly quickly if you avoid side content, and as it stands I think it has some of the best narrative moments Kingdom Hearts has ever offered. I remember this intro so well even now, a decade later. Gotta love Roxas and the crew.
This was my first actual dive into KH. I played 1 when it came out, but I was too young to really grasp the mechanics. KH2 is special, and a joy to play. Since photo means "light", it's rather suiting that the word was stolen.
The reason the word Photo is stolen as well is due to the fact that the Nobodies sent to detain Roxas are... kinda stupid, as you'd expect of soulless bodies. *Spoilers ahead for the intro section of the game* Since Roxas is in a simulation, the Nobodies were sent in to capture his data-form and bring him out, but being brainless husks, they went after the first thing that looked like him, which was the photographs. And because they were really inept at it, they stole _the code for the word Photo as well._ It's actually kind of hilarious in that light. Not only did they miss their target, they messed up so bad they called attention to the fact that they messed up and thus started Roxas' noticing of the weird things going on. It might be that _this one small detail_ alters the course of the story to some degree. All because someone in the Organization told the Nobodies to go find Roxas instead of going themselves.
Sort of semi spoilers. When I was first showing my wife this game and Roxas showed up she was like "wait, is that Sora?" And I was like "yes and no. Kind of yes, but mostly no. We'll just say no for now."
@@TheRezro Spoiler, read at own peril: Ventus is Ventus, Vanitas is the darkness in Ventus heart. The reason Vanitas looks like Sora is because when Sora shared part of his heart with Ventus it in turn affected Vanitas and he took on the look of the future Sora. Roxas is undoubtedly Sora, but unlike other Nobodies he had the luck of keeping Ventus heart when Sora's heart and body separated. It is like the case of Vanitas, he only looks like Ventus because he is being influenced by Ventus heart. Xion is Sora's replica made from his memories. When Sora went into hibernation he needed to think of Kairi because his memories of her are the strongest ones he has and that will help Naminé reconstruct his old memories. This in turn affects Xion who is made entirely from memories and she takes on the form of Kairi. The Unversed are creatures that only Vanitas can create and control due to being a being of pure darkness. He gained this ability when Master Xehanort separated them in his experiment. In no way shape or form is Ventus a heartless or Vanitas a nobody, for Ventus to be a heartless it would mean his heart itself turned into one, but it didn't because it is has been all along inside Sora, as for the Nobody if a Nobody were to be created it would have been from Ventus body itself, not Vanitas who should be considered another person entirely (there is more than one reason he calls Ventus "brother" in the KH3 trailer). Ventus is similar in nature to the princesses of heart, a being of pure light which means that being separated from his heart can not and will not turn him into a heartless or his body into a Nobody. And before you mention Naminé being Kairis Nobody who is a princess of heart, the only reason she was created was because she was born from Kairi's heart leaving Sora's body (that is why she can control Sora's memories) not from her heart leaving her body. The thing is that at the same time Roxas was born from Sora's heart leaving his body but he kept Ventus heart (this makes Roxas and Naminé twin Nobodies). I have played every game since the original release in every console they originally released (quite a few times) and am currently playing through the games again on my PS4, I know my shit when it comes to KH and most theories out there are just bullshit using made up assumptions and a lack of evidence in canon. Everything I said is 100 shown, hinted or outright stated in the series itself. Again, that theory makes zero sense with literally everything that the lore has given us.
@@unversedhero6028 Heh, color me impressed. I don't know much about Kingdom Hearts, but that definitely looked like a masterful untangling of this whole thing.
Awkward confession: Because this game was rated E10+ for the alcohol reference in the Pirate's world, I thought that the "---" that was stolen was actually alcohol. Made sense to me since the main quartet looked like punk kids at the time and since everyone was "disappointed" with Roxas (like you would be if a kid stole liquor). I was like 10, though, so please cut me some slack.
I remember the first time I played this - I never played CoM because I didn't have a GBA and I spent the first 45 minutes playing the prologue feeling a mixture of bewilderment and anger because I had no idea what was happening.
this series is amazing just love his wife sneaking some text here and there just makes it worth it + he has a pleasant voice it's like listening to an audiobook
So nobody's gonna talk about how the order of Sora striking heartless in the opening with the drawing to 3D transition was perfectly on beat with the music?
Does anyone else see 8:44? A chain large enough to moor an oil tanker found half-shoved into the corner of a teenage boy's bedroom is precisely the sort of aesthetic this game would have. Yes.
@@Valtharr To be fair, lots of people started with Mega Man 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Of course, neither of those are as story-intensive as Kingdom Hearts, but knowing nothing about the games except people really like it, it might not be that obvious either.
Oh KH2, you're the game that transformed my thoughts about the Kingdom Hearts plot from being a well-done kid's story to enjoyably off the rails. XD That said, my favorite thing with the 2.5/2.8 remake is the re-orchestration. KH2's soundtrack is good, but it's orchestration lacks in places, IMO. The new orchestration for the re-release is so, so good. *_* Also, for anyone who does not care about boss/gameplay spoilers, go look up the KH2FM Speedruns. They're great, the combat system in this game is, IMO, easily the best in the series, it's both very responsive and all sorts of flashy. It's a treat to watch some of the speedrun strategies, especially the late-game bosses.
Whoo finally! I can ask my question: So, in your opinion, when a medium has to use a scene from a prequel, do you prefer it be remade (akin to the opening cutscene, or recycled (like the Sora flashback dreams Roxas is having)? On the first hand, it's good that all your graphics are in a uniform style and presentation, and it's great seeing key elements glorified. But on the other, recycling the animation makes it easier for the viewer to remember and recognize the scene. I guess I could put it like this: if you were still a movie animator, and you were tasked with animating a flashback to say... Toy Story, would you think it would be more suitable for Woody to remember Andy as a recycled scene, or would you prefer to re-animate the scene of Andy playing with his toys?
So, I realize it's a moot point by now, but when you're doing the odd job to push the cart up the hill, it floating in the air is the "right time" it was talking about when it said it may move faster if you hit it at the right time. Dodging away from that is what made it take so long.
Thank you for the comment about spoilers. People think I'm joking when I say it's ride to give spoilers for something so old. Well not everyone has had the chance to enjoy it when it first came out and I would very much like to not know what's going on until the story unfolds. Thanks again, Dan and thank you anyone who gives us warnings!
While the opening says "all endings can be viewed in this mode", I remember when I played the original KH2, got to the end-game on this difficulty, then looked up the unlock requirements for the secret ending, and decided it would be faster and easier to replay the entire game on Proud Mode and unlock it that way. So I did and I did. I'm predicting we'll have another spliced-in secret ending like KH1 rather than Dan unlocking it... To be fair, it seems that for the Final Mix version, even on Critical, you need to beat all the added bonus bosses to unlock the new secret ending; on Proud, you need to 100% complete Jiminy's Journal; on Standard you need to also complete the Gummi side of things. I don't know who else noticed it, but, when they're pooling funds, Pence chips in what he has, Olette gives what she has, Roxas says what he has, then Hayner subtracts everyone else's munny from their target and splits the remainder between everyone to set targets. On the other hand, Roxas gets credit for reaching the target while including the 150 that had already been accounted for, so it seems like that's being double-counted, so something dodgy's happening there too. Either way, Hayner's still pulling a fast one there. The static effects around Sora's memories really mess with RUclips's image compression, which adds another layer of corruption to the visuals, which is a thing.
34:23 Do the rolling green hills outside Twilight Town remind anyone of the 'hills with paths' area that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were wandering between KH1 and CoM?
It's a very esoteric/abstract plot point to start on nonetheless. Especially since the chronologically connecting game (which helps the whole "restoration x% complete" land as intended) was on an entirely different type of platform For me memory manipulation sits alongside time travel in the box of tools that convolute a plotline to the Nth degree every time.
I just wanted to quickly explain the situation with the "unable to say 'photo'" business. It's a SPOILER for anyone who isn't familiar with the game already, so stop reading here if that's the case. Basically, the Nobodies were stealing photographs of Roxas because they were trying to bring him back to the Organization. But because the photos were data, the Nobodies taking them out of the system removed them completely, word and all. When the Nobodies carrying the photos were defeated and they were restored to the system properly, the word was restored as well. The game treats it this way in text-based scenes as well, likely to immerse you a bit more in the experience... or something like that. If it sounds dumb, it probably is. I don't mind it so much, but I'm also a long-time fan of the franchise and am likely just acclimated to the way Kingdom Hearts does things. Been really looking forward to seeing you play this one. I'll be watching quite diligently and judging you thoroughly! P.S. I love that you comment on Roxas picking up the stick as a substitute for the Keyblade, because that's actually a thing that happens in 358/2 Days.
12:50 I believe the reason it's relevant is that *SPOILER* The nobodies stole the photos because roxas was in them, and because they're in a computer simulation, it would be like they stole the data relating to photos, which would have deleted the word along with the data itself. If they'd stolen a person, for example, like Roxas himself, no one would be able to say his name, either.
It's finally here! Time for some more nostalgia, kind of, maybe! Now let's see what I forgot/miss when I play this game... Also *cough* looking forward to more gummi ship action *cough*
finally, KH2! my favorite in the series, other than 358/2 Days 💜 I’ve always loved the part where they’re pooling their munny together because in the manga Roxas’ reason for being broke is that he spent his munny on a tissue dispenser shaped like a Moai statue. the tissues come out the nose!
KH2 was my first real KH game; it's the first one I owned, the first one I beat, the first one I played a bazillion times. This is why KH1 is hard for me to get into; it feels like a step back gameplay-wise in comparison. I knew more or less what happened in KH1 and COM when I played KH2, but some stuff I was missing. Still, I knew enough to enjoy the game, and I did. Years later, I got the Final Mix compilations and enjoyed it even more (though it's better on PS4 than PS3 imo). KH2 is probably my favorite game in the series overall. I think KH3's gameplay is better (the mobility is tons of fun), and BBS's Command Deck is really cool, but KH2's gameplay is still really good and its story and heart push it to the top of the list for me. The Sanctuary opening is really, really good as well; it combines a great song with great visuals to evoke the emotional core of the series while also giving a very, very abridged version of the prior games' story. EDIT: Another thing that stands out to me between KH1 and KH2 is the different feelings evoked by the prologues. In KH1, Sora's prologue evokes a feeling of idyllic tweenhood with the kids hanging out on their clubhouse island, with its slightly ramshackle furnishings that remind you of a cartoon treehouse. The kids play and the main trio plans a seafaring adventure with no thought given to responsibilities or the concern of their families. We never see any adults; Sora's mom says exactly one line, ever, and is never brought up again. These kids have no worries except having fun in the bright sun. Then comes KH2's prologue, and it's all very different. Twilight Town is... well, a town. It's bigger, it's full of infrastructure and people outside Roxas and his pals. The music is homey and calm, but a little melancholy. The town exists in a state of eternal late afternoon/early evening, with the sun a little low in the sky and casting long shadows. This eternal time of day is also echoed by the situation; Roxas and his friends are teenagers with more complex, mature concerns than Sora had in the Destiny Islands. They have interpersonal conflicts with other teens, they face threats to their reputations, they have to deal with the reality of money and jobs (even if only doing odd jobs around town for fun-money), and they're trying to have fun in the last few days of summer vacation. This last one resonates with the environment; the day looks like it's nearly over, just like their summer freedom. KH2's prologue is more mature than KH1's, because not only is its hero a bit older, its audience has grown up a little---KH1 came out in 2002, and KH2 came out at the end of 2005. If you played KH1 at like 12-13 at release, you'd be 15-16 by the time you could crack open KH2. KH2 grew up a little bit to match pace with its audience. Some fun sidenotes: The Twilight Town stuff, especially involving the beach, hits a lot of "Japanese teenagers on summer vacation" vibes. Watermelon on the beach is something you'll see a lot in anime, and the Munny costs for tickets and pretzels and watermelon that they cite would make a good deal of sense if you replaced "Munny" with "yen" (for scale, 1 yen is generally about $0.01, so they're talking 4 bucks for pretzels, etc). DiZ arranging for the kids' trip to the beach to be averted because he didn't want to bother programming in the assets for the beach is some pretty fun meta-humor regarding game design.
Mild spoilers: I think the bit about the word photo being taken on top of the photos themselves may either be trying to establish to the player that the thief is neither a person nor a heartless or eluding to the fact that it's a simulation, and the photos being stolen somehow corrupted the word photo too, because computer stuff be like that sometimes.
When I was a child, I thought Vivi was a heartless. I had never heard or seen Final Fantasy 9 growing up so I didn't know he was from that. It didn't help that Vivi looked very similar to the heartless, especially with his hat that also looked like one. Now I know better, but how many else had that same thing happen to them?
I remember being so mad at this intro sequence when the game came out. I hadn't played Chain of Memories, and I had no idea what on earth was going on. I just wanted to get back to Sora, Donald and Goofy. Now, with the context of Chain, as well as nostalgia, I actually like this sequence. The amazing score helps too.
SPOILERS I always thought that later, after learning it’s all a computer simulation and the Nobodies are stealing anything related to Roxas, that they probably stole the bit of code for “photos” which is why no one can say it - I mean, also to confuse new players and give them a sense of mystery, but in universe, mostly the first thing.
I know this is an old video now but if you didn't already know.. if you get 2000 munny in the first jobs you can get +2 ap and the cutscene at the station changes a tiny bit saying they can afford melon now
I don't suppose anybody could make a hack that triggers first-person view immediately upon entering a room? I mean, play the game on emulator, and map the mouse to the right analog stick, and if you map a VR headset to act as a mouse when you move your head, you've have a pretty rudimentary Kingdom Hearts VR. I just wish that swinging the Keyblade had an animation in first-person view. You still hit enemies, but you don't get to see the Keyblack whack them, so it's hard to get the distance right.
Part of the reasons I got into Kingdom Hearts is all throughout my childhood, I heard there was a character named Roxas, which is a common Filipino surname/last name, and is mine. (It's common enough that there are about a million Roxas's on the internet, so I doubt someone can find my real name with just this.) So the confusion is that I feel like someone is calling me by my last name, and it's weird to encounter the name outside of Filipino media, especially as a first name. Years later, and just very recently, I had free time, so why not, and got into this series. Because why not? Wonder where the idea of Roxas as a first name comes from. Though it is pronounced ro-has here, as the Filipino version of the Spanish surname Rojas. It's kind of freaking me out. Maybe if you had a common sounding name and heard it in a game, I wouldn't be surprised, but in this context where this is the only time I ever heard of the name Roxas being used that much in a game, I feel like I'm being stalked.
Pretty excited to watch this! I started playing through a few months ago. I thought to myself "It took me 4 hours to get past the intro the first time I played. Surely it will be shorter this time!" - It wasn't. Then when I got to the main game with Sora, I was getting clobbered by enemies cause I put it on the hardest difficulty. I really wish they would let you change that in game. I'll have to relive the experience through Dan instead.
also, 23:30, ALL OF THEM HAVE FULLY ANIMATED FACES. That's a huge step forward for KH animation, since the low res faces were to save on polygons. I didn't notice that before!
...why does Christopher Lee make every character infinitely better by default? I look forward to Dan-Lee...wait, hang on, that sounds like a Dan LeeLee hybrid...you know what I mean. :)
Spoilers for 358/2 days and the rest of KH2: Rewatching this now that I know the rest of Roxas's story completely recontextualizes all of the character interactions in a way I really like. You can _see_ Roxas trying to use the same set of interactions he had with Axel and Xion with the new Twilight town gang. 358/2 really did make all the games around it better. Well done, Square.
I recall that I made it as far as the final fight, and I think I'd taken out most of the optional fights, but for some reason I just couldn't manage the QTE required of me in that final boss battle.
![MISSING: SLIM SHADY [Expanded Mourner’s Edition Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xh8qgHrOO1g/mqdefault.jpg)
Dan starts playing Kingdom Hearts 2?
Looks like my summer vacation is...over...
T_T waaaaa Roxas!
“Why am I delivering mail to the bird?” - the real questions spawned by Kingdom Hearts II
I love how the save point in the gang's hideout is called "The Usual Spot". That's a nice touch.
My favourite bit from the opening is the whole sequence at 4:45-4:58 where it cuts back and forth between Sora fighting Marluxia and Riku fighting Ansem.
It may be nothing much, but _man_ do I love how the world logos were upscaled to fill the whole screen, compared to the about half-and-centre ones in previous games.
I think they had the full assets for world logos during the upscale process this time around. Two later world logos were significantly changed. One had a letter added, another had a word removed.
I think if I remember right, when I first played this, I decided "I'm getting everyone watermelon!" And spent HOURS grinding for money. Bare minimum, I decided to go for at least the total amount so I could pay for everyone.
Roxas was genuinely my favourite character in Kingdom Hearts until I realised how much more hilarious it would be to just say that my favourite character in Kingdom Hearts was Winnie the Pooh.
Fun Fact, Kairi's hair in all the Kingdom Hearts games are based on the haircut that Utada Hikaru had at the games creation: (Utada is the woman who has sung all the intro songs to the series)
>Sees this upload so soon after the Recap episode
QUICK, SOMEBODY BREAK OUT THE EMERGENCY POPCORN!
lucky for me, I bought a hot air popcorn machine, which is quicker and has less calories than the microwave one
2:42 "I don't wanna go, Mr. Sora..." Or at least, that's terrible, traumatizing thing my brain said when I started my replay of this game...
go sit in the corner and think about what you've done
I remember the Summer that I played this, my first experience with the Kingdom Hearts series. It started with the knowledge that the only friend that lived near me would be gone all summer. Then I bought this beauty. Next I spent an entire month only playing Kingdom Hearts 2. Soon after I watched every cutscene compilation as if they were movies. It was the perfect storm to make me fall deeply in love with the franchise known as KINGDOM HEARTS. A lonely summer. Then a truly wonderful game.
To quote Jafar:
"YES!!! AT LAST! HAHA"
Edit: Diz being voiced by Christopher Lee is now Ok.
This was DiZ's original voice, actually. The Re: version of Chain of Memories was made after KH2.
There's the boy! Don't get me wrong, Sora's great, but I really love Roxas. KH2 might be one of my favorite games ever, I'm stoked for this playthrough!
I was replaying through the KHII myself a few months ago, having not played it in over a decade. It's so weird to see how much of a different design and storytelling philosophy it had compared to modern day games where the standard tends to be:
- Open with a highly polished action set piece, often where you have all your endgame powers so you get a taste of how cool things will eventually be.
- Move to a quick tutorial to teach the basics, but try to get players into the main game as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
- Integrate gameplay and cutscenes as seemlessly as possible, so the player never feels like they're out of the action for too long,
Whereas KHII was like "Nah fam, here's 4-6 hours of cutscenes upfront with a character you don't know in a tutorial area that you better get used to, with tons of references to a game we haven't made yet and a prequel you probably didn't play (that we're also not going to explain ANYTHING about). But don't worry, we have some really chill ocean music you can take a nap to."
And yet it's still my favorite Kingdom Hearts game, not to mention still holding strong in my top 10 videogames of all time list.
The intro to this game is so damn clever. You start off with a new cast of characters that have a fantastic chemistry, good voice acting, and fun banter they could honestly have held up the game as the main protagonists. Meanwhile Sora’s regaining his memories and that serves as a perfect vehicle to refresh everyone’s memories about the first game. And what bridges it all together are characters from Chain of Memories, who are each given distinct characterization such that they’re memorable and understandable even to little kid me, who had never played Chain of Memories.
The slow pace of the intro can make replays slightly more difficult, but the intro can be sped through fairly quickly if you avoid side content, and as it stands I think it has some of the best narrative moments Kingdom Hearts has ever offered. I remember this intro so well even now, a decade later. Gotta love Roxas and the crew.
And after this... one stupidly named interquel/prequel after another for ten years straight.
and two sequels
DDD is a direct sequel to KH2 tho.
as is Re:Coded
This was my first actual dive into KH. I played 1 when it came out, but I was too young to really grasp the mechanics. KH2 is special, and a joy to play.
Since photo means "light", it's rather suiting that the word was stolen.
Dude! Christopher Lee... what a man! Now I'm sad...
That line about the ice cream is one of those crack you up and then make you sad moments.
The reason the word Photo is stolen as well is due to the fact that the Nobodies sent to detain Roxas are... kinda stupid, as you'd expect of soulless bodies. *Spoilers ahead for the intro section of the game*
Since Roxas is in a simulation, the Nobodies were sent in to capture his data-form and bring him out, but being brainless husks, they went after the first thing that looked like him, which was the photographs. And because they were really inept at it, they stole _the code for the word Photo as well._ It's actually kind of hilarious in that light. Not only did they miss their target, they messed up so bad they called attention to the fact that they messed up and thus started Roxas' noticing of the weird things going on. It might be that _this one small detail_ alters the course of the story to some degree.
All because someone in the Organization told the Nobodies to go find Roxas instead of going themselves.
Sort of semi spoilers.
When I was first showing my wife this game and Roxas showed up she was like "wait, is that Sora?" And I was like "yes and no. Kind of yes, but mostly no. We'll just say no for now."
@@TheRezro That theory makes zero sense.
@@TheRezro Spoiler, read at own peril:
Ventus is Ventus, Vanitas is the darkness in Ventus heart. The reason Vanitas looks like Sora is because when Sora shared part of his heart with Ventus it in turn affected Vanitas and he took on the look of the future Sora.
Roxas is undoubtedly Sora, but unlike other Nobodies he had the luck of keeping Ventus heart when Sora's heart and body separated. It is like the case of Vanitas, he only looks like Ventus because he is being influenced by Ventus heart.
Xion is Sora's replica made from his memories. When Sora went into hibernation he needed to think of Kairi because his memories of her are the strongest ones he has and that will help Naminé reconstruct his old memories. This in turn affects Xion who is made entirely from memories and she takes on the form of Kairi.
The Unversed are creatures that only Vanitas can create and control due to being a being of pure darkness. He gained this ability when Master Xehanort separated them in his experiment.
In no way shape or form is Ventus a heartless or Vanitas a nobody, for Ventus to be a heartless it would mean his heart itself turned into one, but it didn't because it is has been all along inside Sora, as for the Nobody if a Nobody were to be created it would have been from Ventus body itself, not Vanitas who should be considered another person entirely (there is more than one reason he calls Ventus "brother" in the KH3 trailer). Ventus is similar in nature to the princesses of heart, a being of pure light which means that being separated from his heart can not and will not turn him into a heartless or his body into a Nobody. And before you mention Naminé being Kairis Nobody who is a princess of heart, the only reason she was created was because she was born from Kairi's heart leaving Sora's body (that is why she can control Sora's memories) not from her heart leaving her body. The thing is that at the same time Roxas was born from Sora's heart leaving his body but he kept Ventus heart (this makes Roxas and Naminé twin Nobodies).
I have played every game since the original release in every console they originally released (quite a few times) and am currently playing through the games again on my PS4, I know my shit when it comes to KH and most theories out there are just bullshit using made up assumptions and a lack of evidence in canon. Everything I said is 100 shown, hinted or outright stated in the series itself.
Again, that theory makes zero sense with literally everything that the lore has given us.
@@unversedhero6028 Heh, color me impressed. I don't know much about Kingdom Hearts, but that definitely looked like a masterful untangling of this whole thing.
Awkward confession: Because this game was rated E10+ for the alcohol reference in the Pirate's world, I thought that the "---" that was stolen was actually alcohol. Made sense to me since the main quartet looked like punk kids at the time and since everyone was "disappointed" with Roxas (like you would be if a kid stole liquor).
I was like 10, though, so please cut me some slack.
I remember the first time I played this - I never played CoM because I didn't have a GBA and I spent the first 45 minutes playing the prologue feeling a mixture of bewilderment and anger because I had no idea what was happening.
14:20 I feel like Conker should wander by, holding his head and muttering about 'Context Sensitive'.
6:23 "Because Roxas is great"
8:52 "Who's this now?"
this series is amazing just love his wife sneaking some text here and there just makes it worth it + he has a pleasant voice it's like listening to an audiobook
So nobody's gonna talk about how the order of Sora striking heartless in the opening with the drawing to 3D transition was perfectly on beat with the music?
Man I still hate that the HD remaster replaced Roxas' combat clips with *the wrong Jesse McCartney character's clips*
It's kinda funny that Dan mentions needing to watch the movie The Sandlot again, while Rai's voice actor also played Kenny in The Sandlot.
Does anyone else see 8:44? A chain large enough to moor an oil tanker found half-shoved into the corner of a teenage boy's bedroom is precisely the sort of aesthetic this game would have. Yes.
I'd forgotten that Will Friedle voices Seifer. He's probably best known as Terry McGinnis and/or Ron Stoppable, and he's so good.
Alright, everyone, try to imagine this is your first Kingdom Hearts game... Yep, this one is the one I started with.
Mine was KH1, but this is the one that stuck with me the most.
I mean, you really only have yourself to blame if you thought the game with the number "2" in the title would be a good starting point
@@Valtharr To be fair, lots of people started with Mega Man 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Of course, neither of those are as story-intensive as Kingdom Hearts, but knowing nothing about the games except people really like it, it might not be that obvious either.
Oh KH2, you're the game that transformed my thoughts about the Kingdom Hearts plot from being a well-done kid's story to enjoyably off the rails. XD
That said, my favorite thing with the 2.5/2.8 remake is the re-orchestration. KH2's soundtrack is good, but it's orchestration lacks in places, IMO. The new orchestration for the re-release is so, so good. *_*
Also, for anyone who does not care about boss/gameplay spoilers, go look up the KH2FM Speedruns. They're great, the combat system in this game is, IMO, easily the best in the series, it's both very responsive and all sorts of flashy. It's a treat to watch some of the speedrun strategies, especially the late-game bosses.
31:03 Don't worry, Carrie, I did it too.
Ah dude, that Twilight Town music. Good vibes!
I really love that they rearranged the music for this and Kingdom Hearts 1 as well.
31:01: So Carrie's addition was EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!
SORIKAI TRIO HOLDING HANDS STILL GIVES ME LIFE
Whoo finally! I can ask my question:
So, in your opinion, when a medium has to use a scene from a prequel, do you prefer it be remade (akin to the opening cutscene, or recycled (like the Sora flashback dreams Roxas is having)?
On the first hand, it's good that all your graphics are in a uniform style and presentation, and it's great seeing key elements glorified. But on the other, recycling the animation makes it easier for the viewer to remember and recognize the scene.
I guess I could put it like this: if you were still a movie animator, and you were tasked with animating a flashback to say... Toy Story, would you think it would be more suitable for Woody to remember Andy as a recycled scene, or would you prefer to re-animate the scene of Andy playing with his toys?
Also, jeez, Dan is quite slow in getting some of those visual cues
You're supposed to hit the dang bag when it's in the air, not dodge it .-.
So, I realize it's a moot point by now, but when you're doing the odd job to push the cart up the hill, it floating in the air is the "right time" it was talking about when it said it may move faster if you hit it at the right time. Dodging away from that is what made it take so long.
29:22 I want to incorporate "Don't rush me, I'm *saving*" into my daily life so badly xD
... You don't remember the skateboard? That's basically all I DO remember of this intro.
Holy shit I didn't know Christopher Lee played a voice in this game. I'm so much more invested now!
Thank you for the comment about spoilers. People think I'm joking when I say it's ride to give spoilers for something so old. Well not everyone has had the chance to enjoy it when it first came out and I would very much like to not know what's going on until the story unfolds. Thanks again, Dan and thank you anyone who gives us warnings!
While the opening says "all endings can be viewed in this mode", I remember when I played the original KH2, got to the end-game on this difficulty, then looked up the unlock requirements for the secret ending, and decided it would be faster and easier to replay the entire game on Proud Mode and unlock it that way. So I did and I did. I'm predicting we'll have another spliced-in secret ending like KH1 rather than Dan unlocking it... To be fair, it seems that for the Final Mix version, even on Critical, you need to beat all the added bonus bosses to unlock the new secret ending; on Proud, you need to 100% complete Jiminy's Journal; on Standard you need to also complete the Gummi side of things.
I don't know who else noticed it, but, when they're pooling funds, Pence chips in what he has, Olette gives what she has, Roxas says what he has, then Hayner subtracts everyone else's munny from their target and splits the remainder between everyone to set targets. On the other hand, Roxas gets credit for reaching the target while including the 150 that had already been accounted for, so it seems like that's being double-counted, so something dodgy's happening there too. Either way, Hayner's still pulling a fast one there.
The static effects around Sora's memories really mess with RUclips's image compression, which adds another layer of corruption to the visuals, which is a thing.
That pigeon needed to get it's magazines!! Don't judge a pigeon just because it likes tractors!!
34:23 Do the rolling green hills outside Twilight Town remind anyone of the 'hills with paths' area that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were wandering between KH1 and CoM?
2:30 This vanishing seashell will mean a lot more after a certain in-between-quel...
I think this is the first time I've seen the Roxas prologue in like 8 or 10 years. Wow, I remember so little about this
Photos=memories. Memories are stolen.. etc.
It's a very esoteric/abstract plot point to start on nonetheless. Especially since the chronologically connecting game (which helps the whole "restoration x% complete" land as intended) was on an entirely different type of platform
For me memory manipulation sits alongside time travel in the box of tools that convolute a plotline to the Nth degree every time.
And the fact the word was stolen still makes no sense
41:38 stranger danger, stranger danger.
Goddammit this intro video gets me every time. Utada Hikaru and Yoko Shimomura are musical goddesses.
I just wanted to quickly explain the situation with the "unable to say 'photo'" business. It's a SPOILER for anyone who isn't familiar with the game already, so stop reading here if that's the case.
Basically, the Nobodies were stealing photographs of Roxas because they were trying to bring him back to the Organization. But because the photos were data, the Nobodies taking them out of the system removed them completely, word and all. When the Nobodies carrying the photos were defeated and they were restored to the system properly, the word was restored as well. The game treats it this way in text-based scenes as well, likely to immerse you a bit more in the experience... or something like that.
If it sounds dumb, it probably is. I don't mind it so much, but I'm also a long-time fan of the franchise and am likely just acclimated to the way Kingdom Hearts does things. Been really looking forward to seeing you play this one. I'll be watching quite diligently and judging you thoroughly!
P.S. I love that you comment on Roxas picking up the stick as a substitute for the Keyblade, because that's actually a thing that happens in 358/2 Days.
Yay, we're BACK!! I've been looking forward to this, so much :D
also HAIR NOT PINK ENOUGH! x'D Valid point
"Is that Saruman?" - "That's Christopher Lee voicing DiZ btw" - "I KNEW IT."
12:50 I believe the reason it's relevant is that
*SPOILER*
The nobodies stole the photos because roxas was in them, and because they're in a computer simulation, it would be like they stole the data relating to photos, which would have deleted the word along with the data itself. If they'd stolen a person, for example, like Roxas himself, no one would be able to say his name, either.
It's finally here! Time for some more nostalgia, kind of, maybe!
Now let's see what I forgot/miss when I play this game...
Also *cough* looking forward to more gummi ship action *cough*
Oh boy the gummis in this game are gonna be a blast!
Not so much the gummi creation, though. Building the ships was a lot more fun in the first, FLYING them was vastly better here.
Just play the main menu theme and I'll tear up.
finally, KH2! my favorite in the series, other than 358/2 Days 💜
I’ve always loved the part where they’re pooling their munny together because in the manga Roxas’ reason for being broke is that he spent his munny on a tissue dispenser shaped like a Moai statue. the tissues come out the nose!
26:33 Roxas, that’s a stick.
The 3rd. Day. Is the moon gonna crash in to Twilight Town?
KH2 was my first real KH game; it's the first one I owned, the first one I beat, the first one I played a bazillion times. This is why KH1 is hard for me to get into; it feels like a step back gameplay-wise in comparison. I knew more or less what happened in KH1 and COM when I played KH2, but some stuff I was missing. Still, I knew enough to enjoy the game, and I did. Years later, I got the Final Mix compilations and enjoyed it even more (though it's better on PS4 than PS3 imo). KH2 is probably my favorite game in the series overall. I think KH3's gameplay is better (the mobility is tons of fun), and BBS's Command Deck is really cool, but KH2's gameplay is still really good and its story and heart push it to the top of the list for me.
The Sanctuary opening is really, really good as well; it combines a great song with great visuals to evoke the emotional core of the series while also giving a very, very abridged version of the prior games' story.
EDIT: Another thing that stands out to me between KH1 and KH2 is the different feelings evoked by the prologues. In KH1, Sora's prologue evokes a feeling of idyllic tweenhood with the kids hanging out on their clubhouse island, with its slightly ramshackle furnishings that remind you of a cartoon treehouse. The kids play and the main trio plans a seafaring adventure with no thought given to responsibilities or the concern of their families. We never see any adults; Sora's mom says exactly one line, ever, and is never brought up again. These kids have no worries except having fun in the bright sun.
Then comes KH2's prologue, and it's all very different. Twilight Town is... well, a town. It's bigger, it's full of infrastructure and people outside Roxas and his pals. The music is homey and calm, but a little melancholy. The town exists in a state of eternal late afternoon/early evening, with the sun a little low in the sky and casting long shadows. This eternal time of day is also echoed by the situation; Roxas and his friends are teenagers with more complex, mature concerns than Sora had in the Destiny Islands. They have interpersonal conflicts with other teens, they face threats to their reputations, they have to deal with the reality of money and jobs (even if only doing odd jobs around town for fun-money), and they're trying to have fun in the last few days of summer vacation. This last one resonates with the environment; the day looks like it's nearly over, just like their summer freedom. KH2's prologue is more mature than KH1's, because not only is its hero a bit older, its audience has grown up a little---KH1 came out in 2002, and KH2 came out at the end of 2005. If you played KH1 at like 12-13 at release, you'd be 15-16 by the time you could crack open KH2. KH2 grew up a little bit to match pace with its audience.
Some fun sidenotes:
The Twilight Town stuff, especially involving the beach, hits a lot of "Japanese teenagers on summer vacation" vibes. Watermelon on the beach is something you'll see a lot in anime, and the Munny costs for tickets and pretzels and watermelon that they cite would make a good deal of sense if you replaced "Munny" with "yen" (for scale, 1 yen is generally about $0.01, so they're talking 4 bucks for pretzels, etc).
DiZ arranging for the kids' trip to the beach to be averted because he didn't want to bother programming in the assets for the beach is some pretty fun meta-humor regarding game design.
Am I the only one expecting Diz to spout Star Wars quotes at any moment?
Mild spoilers:
I think the bit about the word photo being taken on top of the photos themselves may either be trying to establish to the player that the thief is neither a person nor a heartless or eluding to the fact that it's a simulation, and the photos being stolen somehow corrupted the word photo too, because computer stuff be like that sometimes.
I wouldn’t have noticed that…. Thanks!
When I was a child, I thought Vivi was a heartless. I had never heard or seen Final Fantasy 9 growing up so I didn't know he was from that. It didn't help that Vivi looked very similar to the heartless, especially with his hat that also looked like one. Now I know better, but how many else had that same thing happen to them?
Oh yeah, baby, we're back!
I remember being so mad at this intro sequence when the game came out. I hadn't played Chain of Memories, and I had no idea what on earth was going on. I just wanted to get back to Sora, Donald and Goofy. Now, with the context of Chain, as well as nostalgia, I actually like this sequence. The amazing score helps too.
43:45 A relic from Disneyland Japan that Nomura saw fit to add into the series.
Everyone getting thanos snapped in that intro.
I remember playing this around the same time I played Ultimate Spider-Man as a kid, so I remember being so mind blown that Spider-Man was Pence lmao
21:10 IT'S NO USE!
Okay my daughter finally asked for kh2 game play, and BTW she remembers how entertained she was with your kh1 game play and asked for you once again
SPOILERS
I always thought that later, after learning it’s all a computer simulation and the Nobodies are stealing anything related to Roxas, that they probably stole the bit of code for “photos” which is why no one can say it - I mean, also to confuse new players and give them a sense of mystery, but in universe, mostly the first thing.
This was my first KH game and still the only one I own, when I first played it I was SUPER confused but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.
I know this is an old video now but if you didn't already know.. if you get 2000 munny in the first jobs you can get +2 ap and the cutscene at the station changes a tiny bit saying they can afford melon now
Thanks for the full walk through it is very helpful, I'm playing this game right now
Dawn of the 1st Day - 72 hours remain.
I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW SUB BOX
I don't suppose anybody could make a hack that triggers first-person view immediately upon entering a room? I mean, play the game on emulator, and map the mouse to the right analog stick, and if you map a VR headset to act as a mouse when you move your head, you've have a pretty rudimentary Kingdom Hearts VR. I just wish that swinging the Keyblade had an animation in first-person view. You still hit enemies, but you don't get to see the Keyblack whack them, so it's hard to get the distance right.
Part of the reasons I got into Kingdom Hearts is all throughout my childhood, I heard there was a character named Roxas, which is a common Filipino surname/last name, and is mine. (It's common enough that there are about a million Roxas's on the internet, so I doubt someone can find my real name with just this.) So the confusion is that I feel like someone is calling me by my last name, and it's weird to encounter the name outside of Filipino media, especially as a first name. Years later, and just very recently, I had free time, so why not, and got into this series. Because why not? Wonder where the idea of Roxas as a first name comes from. Though it is pronounced ro-has here, as the Filipino version of the Spanish surname Rojas. It's kind of freaking me out. Maybe if you had a common sounding name and heard it in a game, I wouldn't be surprised, but in this context where this is the only time I ever heard of the name Roxas being used that much in a game, I feel like I'm being stalked.
Crazy how I’m just not finding this series and it’s been over 5 years since he posted this
You should have uploaded this 3 days ago, you know, with the "summer vacation is ending" thing, on the Autumn Equinox.
Wait that really IS Christoper Lee voicing Diz?? He just became even more awesome
Pretty excited to watch this!
I started playing through a few months ago. I thought to myself "It took me 4 hours to get past the intro the first time I played. Surely it will be shorter this time!" - It wasn't. Then when I got to the main game with Sora, I was getting clobbered by enemies cause I put it on the hardest difficulty. I really wish they would let you change that in game. I'll have to relive the experience through Dan instead.
also, 23:30, ALL OF THEM HAVE FULLY ANIMATED FACES. That's a huge step forward for KH animation, since the low res faces were to save on polygons. I didn't notice that before!
16:02 The Sandlot, available on Disney+ July 2! :D
I loved the voice acting. Christopher lee was amazing and I can’t believe they got him for this game
finally, I've been waiting a whole week
Hahaha I literally sang "To defeat the huns!" as that text was popping up #readmymind
You know, for people that went directly from KH1 to KH2, this must have felt like a David Lynch film.
...why does Christopher Lee make every character infinitely better by default? I look forward to Dan-Lee...wait, hang on, that sounds like a Dan LeeLee hybrid...you know what I mean. :)
I actually learned about Kingdom Hearts through the comics, and I knew Roxas before I knew about Sora
Dan: talking in on the opening
Me: SHUT UP!!!
Me: I just want to hear the opening
Dan: keep on taking on the opening
Me: keep on yelling at dan
So hype Here we go!!!
The best kingdom hearts game so glad you made it to this game I'm excited for this playthrough!
Never played kingdom hearts and it's nice to see you consider me as well
Spoilers for 358/2 days and the rest of KH2:
Rewatching this now that I know the rest of Roxas's story completely recontextualizes all of the character interactions in a way I really like. You can _see_ Roxas trying to use the same set of interactions he had with Axel and Xion with the new Twilight town gang. 358/2 really did make all the games around it better. Well done, Square.
I recall that I made it as far as the final fight, and I think I'd taken out most of the optional fights, but for some reason I just couldn't manage the QTE required of me in that final boss battle.
Note: you could have gotten some stat bonuses or something if you got a buch of munny.
6:04 Me too, Dan. Me too...
I haven't watched The Sandlot in FOR-eh-VER!