7.6 out of 10
IGN.COM

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Four years ago, Square Enix released an ambitious crossover game that mixed two unlikely franchises together: the worlds of Disney and the characters of Final Fantasy. The result was a massive success. Gamers, including those who weren't fans of either Disney or RPGs, embraced this hybrid, eagerly awaiting the next chapter of Sora's fight against the Heartless. A number of questions were raised in both the original and 2004's "extension story" Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Tetsuya Nomura's Kingdom Hearts II answers most, if not all of them with a revamped camera and combat system. However, in the process it winds up removing a number of the features that made the game a well-crafted and well-balanced action/RPG.

If you haven't picked up Kingdom Hearts or Chain of Memories just yet, do yourself a favor and track those titles down, because they really are quite good. However, there's a secondary reason why you might want to take a look at them, which is immediately apparent as soon as you start a new game of Kingdom Hearts II (things are definitely much less confusing if you happen to have a bit of background with the previous adventures). The reason being, is that Kingdom Hearts II not only summarizes the prior titles via a number of quick expository cuts, but to a degree, it also explores a couple of existentialist arguments. This isn't to say that newcomers will be lost by picking up Kingdom Hearts II, but they will also find themselves swimming in details

[INFO PROVIDED BY IGN.COM]

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Internet Reviews:

I understand the eagerness of Kingdom Hearts II -- Myself, and many other guys in the office like me, were really excited when the game arrived. Plus, as someone who's played and beaten the original PS2 game in addition to the GBA title a number of times, I was definitely looking forward to the sequel. Unfortunately, once I and some of the others actually started playing through it, it became an obvious letdown.
The reason? The combat is way too simple and while the number of attacks and abilities are plentiful, they're ultimately unfulfilling and boring. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful title with a great story and fantastic presentation, but because of its major combat flaws (and that fact that it turns its back on exploration and most RPG elements), it does the game a great disservice
~IGN.COM

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