Fans have long had a complicated relationship with the Kingdom Hearts series, often due to the large amounts of hype that center around new releases that struggle to live up to over-ripe expectations. This has recently been the case with the critical reception of Kingdom Hearts 3, but some fans might remember that a similar level of criticism was levied against the previous numbered title in the series.
Considering the status that Kingdom Hearts 2 has among the series, often being held up as the best game so far, it can be strange to think of the fanbase being critical of it. However, when Kingdom Hearts 2 first released, it was met with a number of complaints that the game was too easy and linear, with some maintaining that the original was better at the time.
Reaction Commands and Reflect Magic
The vast majority of the complaints against Kingdom Hearts 2 at launch were focused mostly on the difficulty of the game, a critique that would eventually be raised against Kingdom Hearts 3 roughly 14 years later. Much of this complaint came from the introduction of reaction commands, which added a level of variety to certain fights depending on what enemies were present. While in several cases the reaction commands made combat more varied, it also added a "correct" way to fight, where the reacting to the prompt always offered the most damage and kept the player safe from attacks.
In addition to the reaction commands, another point of contention about difficulty comes from the enhanced magic system and new spells added to Sora's arsenal in Kingdom Hearts 2. Most impressive of this magic was Reflect, which has the ability to not only block incoming damage, but also redirect it back at enemies. Some of the more modern critique about Reflect comes from how the magic was further enhanced in the Final Mix re-release that has become standard on current consoles. That being said, this magic was definitely more powerful than in the previous game.
Linear Levels Removed Exploration From Kingdom Hearts
Another notable issue that players had was with Kingdom Hearts 2's worlds, which were critiqued for not only being linear hallways, but also having little effect on the overall story. This complaint is most notable in worlds like Halloween Town or Disney Castle, where most of the rooms that make these rooms only have two entrances, and any additional paths only lead to short dead-ends for boss encounters. It makes traversal much less complex than the Super Mario 64 inspired 3D platforming from the first game.
Beyond the linearity, there was also the complaint that the individual stories of these worlds had little effect on the overall narrative, acting as little more than mini-episodes that padded the runtime with unrelated adventures. Halloween Town is again one of the prime examples here, as the main antagonists in Organization 13 never actually appear on this world or impact its narrative in any way. Then, there is one world that does have heavy implications on the story, but acts as a multi-hour speedbump at the very beginning of the game. This would be what is now referred to by fans as Simulated Twilight Town, the opening world where players control Roxas instead of Sora.
Why Fans Eventually Came Around on Kingdom Hearts' Level Design
To start with that last criticism, it's important to look at what Kingdom Hearts 2 was trying to do with the designs of not only the main worlds, but also the initial run of Twilight Town. The driving force behind Kingdom Hearts is the story and its characters. This is why Sora consistently trends among gaming fans on social media, or became the most requested character to join the Super Smash Bros. franchise. On that note, the first visit to Twilight Town is a slog for additional playthroughs, but it absolutely succeeds at getting players to understand and connect with Roxas.
If there is anything that now raises Kingdom Hearts 2 to be the best game in the series, it's the narrative and cast of characters that has drawn players into this entry. This also extends into the main levels, where the linear design guides players from story beat to story beat. Then for the complaint that the worlds don't impact the story, the interactions with Organization 13 members continue to set up the stakes for why they need to be stopped. On top of this, the first visits where Maleficent and Pete are the primary antagonists caps off with them being outright beaten by the Organization at the halfway point in Hollow Bastion.
The Skill Window is Wider than Initially Expected
An important part of building and balancing games, especially those built on reactionary combat, is to set a solid skill floor and ceiling. The space between this top end and bottom end of player skill is the window, where someone will have to fall between in order to get through to the end of the game. At the floor for Kingdom Hearts 2 is the requirement to be able to "mash X" -- at least when it was still PlayStation exclusive -- until the credits roll on beginner difficulty, while the ceiling is beating a Level 1 Critical 100% speedrun. For context, there are no recorded runs of the latter on the speedrun leaderboards.
So, while players were right that beating the game wasn't difficult, mastering the game and getting through the end-game content could be incredibly tough. The end-game was made even more difficult with the release of Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, which introduced nineteen new bosses in the form of the Absent Silhoettes, Data Organization, and Lingering Will, plus a twentieth for those who count Roxas in The World That Never Was. Players were also given a new Drive Form for Sora to master, although that actually made some encounters easier.
Looking at everything that Kingdom Hearts 2 brought to the series, it's understandable that the sudden change might have caught players off guard initially. However, it introduced one of the best narratives these titles have seen, before future titles extended, complicated, and sometimes retconned a number of the newly introduced story beats. On top of that, the combat in Kingdom Hearts 2 added a layer of depth and expanded skill window that the series has consistently leaned on in future titles.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
