Post by Edward Elric on Aug 24, 2005 23:54:43 GMT -5
Everything anyone knows about this game will be posted here, obviously there will be spoilers so read at your own risk. Some of this is straight out of the Prerelease FAQ on GFaqs, because I helped add to it on the reprint. Anyway, I'm tired so i'll miss a lot on this post please help out if you know anything.
I'll start will the websites to go to.
Square-Enix:
www.square-enix.com/
Japanese Sites:
Kingdom Hearts:
www.square-enix.co.jp/games/ps2/kingdom/
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix:
www.square-enix.co.jp/game/ps2/finalmix/
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories:
www.square-enix.co.jp/game/gba/khcom/
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories(Disney Interactive):
www.disney.co.jp/interactive/kingdom/com/index.html
Kingdom Hearts 2:
www.square-enix.co.jp/kingdom2
Kingdom Hearts 2(Disney Interactive):
www.disney.co.jp/interactive/kingdom/com/kh02_02.html
English Sites:
Kingdom Hearts
na.square-enix.com/game/kingdomhearts/index1.html
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories:
na.square-enix.com/game/kingdomhearts/khcom
Now news sites.
Receives news the fastest of any gaming site (In Japanese):
www.quiter.jp/
Excellent source for news (In German):
www.squarenet.info/
Decent source for news (In English):
www.gamespot.com
www.ps2.ign.com
www.rpgfan.com
Google has been excellent for me. There is a google search at the bottom of almost every page on this site. It's a great search.
Now the Characters! (Just new ones, not in the other two games)
The Blonde Haired Kid (Name unknown)
Age: Unknown
Home World: Unknown; likely to be Twilight Town
Voice Actor: Unknown
The Blonde Haired Kid (BHK) is another keyblade master. He has been seen wielding the Oblivion and Oathkeeper Keyblades. He battles with Axel over an argument with Sora. Nothing is known about the BHK except that he seems to know Naminé as seen in the Jump Festa trailer. He is the second playable character in the game stated by Nomura.
BHK’s Friends (names unknown)
Ages: Unknown
Home Worlds: Unknown; likely to be Twilight Town
Voice Actors: Unknown
BHK’s three friends are more of an enigma than BHK himself. Nothing is known about them, however many people compare them to Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus.
Pete
Age: Unknown
Homeworld: Unknown
Voice Actors: Likely to be Jim Cummings, the VA of Pete in Disney shows and features.
Pete is one of the new Disney villains to appear in the sequel. His role in the story is yet to be determined but rumors says that he seems to be doing were Malificent has left off. Take everything for now with a grain of salt until something is confirmed by officials. Pete can be seen working with Hades and also in Agrabah where he is trying to unleash Jafar from his prison or lamp.
The XIII Organization
Ages: Differing, however, all are unknown.
Home Worlds: All Unknown
Voice Actors: Differing, however, all are unknown.
All that is known about the XIII Organization is that its members are shells; all are missing hearts. The XIII Organization seems to be trying to unlock the secrets of the heart. The extreme interest in the keyblade master is due to Sora’s powerful heart. They also have some plot to open Kingdom Hearts again.
Xaldin (or Xarudia, Xardin)
Age: Unknown
Home World: Unknown
Voice Actor: Unknown
He was revealed during the timeline of E3 2005. Xaldin has long black hair with a bun on the top which forms his hair into a ponytail and he has also long sideburns. His eyes are blue. Nothing is known about this enigma except he wields 6 spears and has been seen talking about opening Kingdom Hearts to make them [The Organization] whole again.
Captain Jack Sparrow
Age: Somewhere around his late 20’s or early 30’s
Homeworld: The Caribbean
Voice Actor: Unknown, hopefully it could be Johnny Depp
The swashbuckling pirate has been seen swinging his sword with Sora in the second E3 2005 trailer as a party member. By the looks of the scans, it looks like Sparrow will follow the storyline of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Elizabeth Swan
Age: Probably around her mid or early 20’s
Homeworld: Port Royal or The Caribbean
Voice Actor: Unknown, hopefully it could Keira Knightley
Nothing is known about Elizabeth as of now but she will be in the game and her role in the movie will be also applied in the POTC worlds storyline.
Mulan
Age: Late teens or Early 20’s
Homeworld: Land of Dragons aka Ancient China
Voice Actor: Ming-Na
She will be one of the available party members in the game. After looking at the trailers, Mulan will have two appearances in the game, her alter-ego Ping and her original self.
Mushu
Age: Unknown
Homeworld: Land of Dragons
Voice Actor: Unknown
The dragon is back and he plays a larger role this time around in the Land of Dragons world. He is the sidekick of Mulan throughout her journey. Will he become Sora’s summon partner again? Will just see in the future.
The story!
Kingdom Hearts II will begin exactly where KH:CoM left off. Sora and team have been asleep for about a year regaining their memories. When Sora awakes, he changes his clothes and heads off to Hollow Bastion. There he battles hordes of Heartless, and meets the members of the XIII Organization again. At some point, Sora ends up in Twilight Town. There Sora is ambushed by the Nobodies and is saved by King Mickey. Sora then continues his quest, sealing the keyholes of each world to protect them from the Heartless, the Organization, and the Nobodies. According to Nomura, the story will be far more complicated than KH’s story. Expect KH2’s story to deal with many of the mature scenarios presented in KH:CoM.
During this year Riku and Mickey have had their own adventures. The two now have Organization Cloaks (it is unknown if they have joined the Organization). Many theories have Riku and Mickey spying on the Organization, while many people believe that the Organization may not be evil, unlike what is seen in KH:CoM. KH2 will likely focus much on Riku and Mickey and the Organization.
Lastly, BHK seems to be having his own adventure in KH2. Sora will likely cross paths with him many times throughout KH2. BHK will be a keyblade master in KH2, and will likely battle the Heartless, white creatures, and the Organization. BHK has been seen battling Axel. BHK seems to want to protect Sora from Axel. It is also possible that Axel may be protecting Sora from BHK; it is unknown who speaks the dialogue in the scene, so a decision cannot be reached as to whom is protecting whom. Expect BHK to be a very important character throughout KH2.
Each world that Sora travels to will have its own story, similar to KH. Expect the worlds’ stories to reflect more upon the main story of the game, unlike many of the worlds in KH.
Confirmed worlds.
Sora will once again travel throughout the worlds, sealing the keyholes to protect each world. The worlds confirmed are as follows:
Twilight Town
Hollow Bastion
Disney Castle
Destiny Islands
Agrabah
Olympus Coliseum
Olympus Underworld
Fabled Countryside (Beauty and the Beast)
Land of Dragons (Mulan)
Halloween Town
Christmas Town (Seen in the Nightmare Before Christmas)
The Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean which is based on the film)
Worlds we think will be in.
Steamboat Willie (First cartoon that ever debuted to the public starring Mickey)
The Pridelands (The Lion King)
Traverse Town
100 Acre World
Wonderland
Deep Jungle
Monstro
Atlantica
Neverland
End of The World
Deep Dive
New Heartless.
Rabid:
A dog heartless
Hookwing:
Bat-like Heartless that has hooks for tails. The reaction command “Bat Battery” can be used against them.
Spectral Mage:
A white colored Heartless that carries a candle that is used to attack. Based on the artwork of these heartless, they have an opposite side which is unknown what they do.
Jouster:
A knight-type Heartless that wields a jousting stick.
Warrior:
Knight-type Heartless that appeared in the large battle sequence in the ending of most trailers in KH2.
Guard:
This Heartless appeared in the large battle sequence in the last part of most trailers.
Door Heartless:
A sub-boss in Beast’s Castle. It guards the door that Sora and Co. has to go through.
Unnamed Heartless:
There is a variety of unnamed Heartless that appears in the game.
Nobodies. (New type of enemy)
Dusk:
The basic form of Nobodies. Kinda like the counterpart of the Shadow or Soldier Heartless.
Big Whitey or TwilightSide(as Sawa would put it):
Seen in the Awakening scene with BHK, likely the counterpart of Darkside in the first KH.
Unnamed Nobodies:
So far only three types of Nobodies has appeared and one has yet to be named. That one is the one that appeared in the recent Jump scans. They wield spears and have wings.
E3 2005 Trailer summary.
“The beginning starts with BHK talking to Namine across a table in a white room. They have japanese voices but there are english subtitles. BHK asks Namine who she is, and she responds by telling him that shes a "witch" who has power over Sora's memories. She then goes on to say that she doesn't know why she has these powers.
Following that scene is a collection of scenes from all the other trailers that have come out up to this point. There are some new parts thrown in however. One scene shows Mickey stepping out of a train in Twilight Town. Another part shows actual gameplay of Sora and Co. fighting the army of heartless from that scene thats been in all of the trailers. Its a timed battle and there were numbers going up in the corner, suggesting that maybe your being timed to kill a certain amount of heartless in the time alloted.
There's another scene where BHK is yelling at Diz at Castle Oblivion. They are in the room where Sora's memory pod is located. No subtiles are shown, nor voices heard, but you can tell that BHK is yelling at Diz because of his expressions. Then BHK pulls out the Kingdom Key to attack Diz, but to no avail. Diz can make himself untouchable, so BHK screams in frustration.
Towards the end of the trailer, the PoTC world is shown. Jack Sparrow(rendered to look like Johnny Depp) comes out in it, and he is shown to be the helper of that world. It shows story segments of Jack Sparrow talking to Sora, becoming a skeleton, and game play footage of Sora and Sparrow fighting pirates. One of the girls from the movie comes out in it too, but I never saw the movie, so I don't know what her name is, but she was rendered to look like her real life counter part.
The last part of the trailer shows Sora, Donald, and Goofy in that dark city that was shown in DD and ASAS. They look puzzled when they are there. Then all of a sudden a black portal opens and an Unknown steps out of it(who happens to be about Sora's height I might add). He sends minions to fight Sora and Co., but I forgot if they were heartless or the white creatures. In any case, after they are dealt with, Sora and the Unknown exchange words(or at least thats what it looks like, again no voices or subtitles). Then they rush at each other, and the screen goes white.
Finally, a bunch of scenes fly by really quick, and the title comes out. There's a pause, followed by the beach scene from DD, and the this phrase comes out "If the world is made up of light and darkness, we shall be that darkness...." and then the trailer ends.”
It is hard to believe some parts in the trailer so take them as a grain of salt till concrete evidence comes like the trailer itself."
Game Engine.
Camera
The camera has been greatly improved for the sequel. It is now controlled by the right analog stick. It can go 360 degrees around Sora and over Sora.
Graphics
Although the KH2 graphics looks similar to KH, the game engine has been completely recreated for KH2, according to Nomura. The game’s graphics are in a similar style to KH. The facial expressions seem to have been improved greatly for the sequel. As Square-Enix president Wada, has requested that FMVs be used less, KH2 will of course follow. Expect probably 2 FMVs in KH2, one at the beginning and one at the end, similar to KH. The graphics are fully 3-D .
Map System
KH2 will feature a new Map System, which has been seen in few trailers. It will feature Sora (depicted as a keyblade) and the environment of the areas like red spots represents doors in the map. This was used to lower the amount of backtracking in KH2.
Engaging in Combat
Like KH, KH2 features real time battles, so there will be no transition from travel to combat. It is possible that the menu may change form during battle, similar to KH, however this looks unlikely (more below). Heartless will likely appear in a similar way to KH; spawning in determined locations when Sora appears. Although this may be changed, it is unlikely.
Command Menu
The Menu System has been completely redone in KH also. Each world has its own individual menu design for Sora. The Command Menu also has two sides. The first side has the primary commands like:
- Attack,
- Magic,
- Items
- Probably the fourth option is Dual Tech or team attacks.
The other side can be accessed by pressing left on the dpad taking you to another set of commands which consist of:
- Attack,
- the “?” symbol(Gerbil’s site speculates this might where the summons would be)
- Party(more on that later)
- Drive.
Status Bar
The Status System has also been redone. The MP Bar is now horizontal, and there is a new Drive Bar (more on that below). Your party members’ status bar has change for a simpler design. They stay on top of Sora’s status bar. During Drive mode, however, the party member‘s status bar you merge with will disappear but there have been some controversies (See Donald Drive form under Drive Section below).
Travel
There have been screens of the train from Twilight Town sending the team to various worlds (Dark Cloud 2 style). It is unknown if there are any more features for the train other than letting Sora and Co. travel. Rumors also have been flying around whether the Gummi Ship can be another way of traveling.
Gummi Ship
The Gummi Ship has made a return and now it looks better than ever. Based on the Jump Festa trailer and the E3 2005 Trailer, the gummi ship looks faster, exciting and action packed. The new features of the gummi ship are still kept under wraps but by the look of things, it will probably be the same.
New & Old characters.
Sora has been completely redesigned for KH2, along with Kairi, and probably Riku and Mickey (they will most likely appear in their Organization Cloaks). Sora, Kairi, and Riku have all likely matured from the jump, and each will look different. A new character with blonde hair, no name has been set, and his friends will appear in KH2. Lastly, the only members of the Organization that are confirmed to return for KH2 are Axel and the Enigmatic Man. Many new members will appear in KH2, and possibly others may return. Many Disney characters from KH will return, and new characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, Mulan and Pete will make appearances. It is likely most FF characters will return, including a new appearance from Auron and possibly Vincent. Lastly, in Drive Form, Sora’s costume will change (more below).
Battle Engine.
“We are doing without the engine from the original and built a new one for KH2. That is because we realized the limitations of the original engine, and in order to create a better game we had to come up with a new one. I believe the biggest appeal of KH is its battle elements, so I think you'll be surprised how we've changed it. We're not just focusing on battles either-we're including quests in battle.”
(Nomura, GMR Interview)
Controls
D-Pad:
Left = This switches to other side of the Command Menu like Party(more on that later).
Attack remains.
Up and Down = Navigates through the Command Menu
Right = Unknown at this point
Start = Pause. Even though the latest demo didn’t feature it, this button is likely to activate the Status Menu like in the first KH when not in battle.
Select = First Person View mode
Triangle = Reaction Commands, opens chests
Square = Block and Dodge Roll
Circle = Jump, Cancel action
X = Attack, Confirm action
Left Analog Stick = Movement
Right Analog Stick = Camera Movement
R2 and L2 = It’s still unknown at this point what these two buttons do. In the first game, they controlled the camera but since that job is done by the right analog stick, R2 and L2 buttons are still unknown. Many speculate that these buttons is an alternate button to navigate around the command menu.
DRIVE! ^_^
The most apparent of the new options is the Drive System. As Sora and his team members defeat enemies, yellow balls will be dropped, similar to the green and blue orbs of KH. Picking up these yellow orbs fills Sora’s Drive Bar. The Drive Bar has multiple levels, level 5 is the highest seen, and the levels are likely to grow as Sora levels up.
The Drive mode can be activated by pressing the left dpad button which brings you to another set of commands in the command menu. Choose the fourth option(Drive), then pick a party member to merge with and voila.
When Drive Form is activated, Sora will merge with a partner, eliminating the partner from battle temporarily, (NOTE: An ally not in the current battle can be chosen) and a countdown will appear (its length is determined by which level you chose to activate the Drive Form). Sora’s clothes will change in Drive Form and a number of new abilities will be at the player’s disposal. When the countdown of the Drive bar reaches 0, Sora will return back to normal and the party member he merged with will come back into battle. While in Drive mode, the countdown can be elongated by collecting more yellow orbs.
Brave/Valor Form
The only Drive Form seen in action is Brave Form or Valor Form a fusion with Goofy, which changes Sora’s clothes to red and gives him the option to wield two keyblades. In Brave Form Sora is stronger and faster. In the TGS ’04 trailer, it shows Sora fighting Heartless while he is in midair making it possible to do so.
Abilities in Brave/Valor Form:
-Tornado:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora does an aerial spinning attack attacking any foes on his way. Unknown how it is executed, though.
-Dash Attack:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora does a strong dash damaging any enemies in front of him. Executed by pressing the square button.
-Aerial Arcanum:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora makes several powerful slashes. By the looks of it, it seems to be the finishing blow of a combo.
Wisdom Form
. . . drawing a blank. . . I'll put it in my next post. darn this is the one I know most about too.
Reaction commands and attacks.
Reaction command is a move that can be helpful in the brink of battle. They are executed by pressing the triangle button at the right time. The reaction command can be triggered by certain action of your enemies. When these commands are available, the name of the ability above the command menu and a flashing triangle above your foe will appear. Pressing the triangle button at the right time Sora will execute a helpful and cool move.
Reaction Commands/Attacks:
-Bat Battery:
Sora grabs the Hookwing Heartless and spins them around while it's hooked to your keyblade.
-Ride The Wind:
Can be done when fighting the large Chinese dragon heartless in the Land of Dragons world but it is not known if you can do it anywhere else. This reaction command will be triggered when the dragon leaves tornadoes on the ground. Go near them and the reaction command will appear and if executed, Sora will ride on the tornado and you can control him anywhere you want. It is still unknown if the effect will last long.
-Soar:
Requires the “Ride The Wind” reaction command. While on Ride the Wind, press triangle at the right time and Sora will jump very high making it a good way to ride on the dragons back as shown in gameplay footages.
-Aerial:
Bushido attack. Sora and Auron combines there weapons together and the combined weapons start spinning around making a tornado while Auron and Sora soar in midair. Obviously, Sora can’t be damaged as shown in gameplay footage.
-Speed Trap:
Nothing is known about this reaction command.
Unnamed Reaction Commands:
Many commands have been seen in trailers but are yet to be named or translated. One of them is Sora jumping on the three heads of Cerberus, then he umps high above and dive attacks the beast.
The triangle button can also open chests. It is likely that the triangle button might also press buttons, activate objects, carry stuff but nothing has been confirmed but it could be likely.
Double Team attacks.
Double tech or team attacks is an ability where you and a party member will do “Co-op” attacks. So far only Auron and Sora can do this. The name of the double tech with Auron is Bushido. Shooting Star and Banishing Blade are confirmed. Reaction commands can be triggered when doing double techs since the Reaction command “Aerial” can be triggered. After looking at recent gameplay footage from E3, the double tech feature seems to be in the fourth option of the command menu.
It is not known if you can do double techs with other Party members apart from Auron.
Magic and Summons
The magic and summon systems have been completely overhauled for KH2 also. Magic and summons will be more useful in battle, according to Nomura, and magic will also be implemented in combos more seamlessly, shown in the TGS ’04 trailer. Shortcuts are once again implemented in KH2. By pressing the L1 button, a shortcut menu will appear which the character can allocate magic attack and items to each of the four buttons (circle, triangle, square, and X), similar to KH. It is possible that summons may be allocated to the shortcut system (this is unknown).
Magic:
-Fire:
Sora summons a ring of fire around him damaging enemies in the area. Can also be done in midair.
-Blizzard:
Blizzard is still the same except that the attack is more of a concentrated shot than a slow one, almost like a shotgun in first person shooters.
-Thunder:
Same as the last game except that it only shoots one bolt of lighting. As Thunder grows stronger(Thundara and Thundaga), more bolts of lighting will appear.
Combos
The combo system has been redone. Sora can still attack by pressing the X button, but now in battle, Sora will change his combo depending on the situation in battle. Magic and special attacks can be chained in combos more seamlessly now. In the TGS ’04 trailer, Sora was seen implementing long, complicated combos. Supposedly, this requires much practice in order to accomplish. Expect battles to be more fast-paced and action oriented in the sequel.
Party Members.
Party members’ AI has been tweaked to be more helpful and smarter in the sequel. Nothing much has changed except that you can merge with them for Drive mode, do double techs and switch party members at the fly.
Did I say switch party members at the fly? Yes. Party members can be switched in and out of battle. Just go to the other side of the command menu by pressing left, choose the third option which is the party command and pick a party member and voila! You just switched a party member. It is unknown if this switching party member thing is available in boss battles.
Rumors have erupted that Riku and/or Mickey may be playable characters in KH2. This is currently unknown. However, BHK will be playable and have partners of his own, and he will have an adventure during KH2; don’t expect BHK to be the Raiden of KH2. Many people speculate BHK’s partners will be PJ and Max; however I find this doubtful.... I expect his partners to either be his friends, seen in many trailers, or Riku and Mickey.
Leveling Up and HP/MP/Drive Bar Replenishes.
Everything else is basically the same as in KH. Sora will still gain levels, magic, summons, and special attacks, and still have the ability to jump. Rumors states that there could be other stats like attacking speed, magic defense, etc. available but that seems unlikely.
Sora will still fight with his allies and gain MP/HP orbs during battle with the addition of Drive orbs(yellow) to replenish the Drive bar.
Quest System
There is new quest system in battles that Nomura speaks about, seem intriguing. There have been spots of Sora defending Meg from Pete in the Olympus Underworld and the first E3 2005 trailer shows Jack Sparrow, Sora and Co. protecting Elizabeth Swan from enemies as stated in 1up.com. Could this protecting/escorting Meg and Elizabeth thing be the quest system Nomura is talking about?
Miscellaneous
Environments will play a larger roll in battles in the sequel. Now Sora will be able to use his environments to attack enemies. One trailer showed Sora being hit by an enemy and then deflecting off a wall to attack the enemy. Expect environment interaction to be much more advanced in KH2.
I'll start will the websites to go to.
Square-Enix:
www.square-enix.com/
Japanese Sites:
Kingdom Hearts:
www.square-enix.co.jp/games/ps2/kingdom/
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix:
www.square-enix.co.jp/game/ps2/finalmix/
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories:
www.square-enix.co.jp/game/gba/khcom/
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories(Disney Interactive):
www.disney.co.jp/interactive/kingdom/com/index.html
Kingdom Hearts 2:
www.square-enix.co.jp/kingdom2
Kingdom Hearts 2(Disney Interactive):
www.disney.co.jp/interactive/kingdom/com/kh02_02.html
English Sites:
Kingdom Hearts
na.square-enix.com/game/kingdomhearts/index1.html
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories:
na.square-enix.com/game/kingdomhearts/khcom
Now news sites.
Receives news the fastest of any gaming site (In Japanese):
www.quiter.jp/
Excellent source for news (In German):
www.squarenet.info/
Decent source for news (In English):
www.gamespot.com
www.ps2.ign.com
www.rpgfan.com
Google has been excellent for me. There is a google search at the bottom of almost every page on this site. It's a great search.
Now the Characters! (Just new ones, not in the other two games)
The Blonde Haired Kid (Name unknown)
Age: Unknown
Home World: Unknown; likely to be Twilight Town
Voice Actor: Unknown
The Blonde Haired Kid (BHK) is another keyblade master. He has been seen wielding the Oblivion and Oathkeeper Keyblades. He battles with Axel over an argument with Sora. Nothing is known about the BHK except that he seems to know Naminé as seen in the Jump Festa trailer. He is the second playable character in the game stated by Nomura.
BHK’s Friends (names unknown)
Ages: Unknown
Home Worlds: Unknown; likely to be Twilight Town
Voice Actors: Unknown
BHK’s three friends are more of an enigma than BHK himself. Nothing is known about them, however many people compare them to Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus.
Pete
Age: Unknown
Homeworld: Unknown
Voice Actors: Likely to be Jim Cummings, the VA of Pete in Disney shows and features.
Pete is one of the new Disney villains to appear in the sequel. His role in the story is yet to be determined but rumors says that he seems to be doing were Malificent has left off. Take everything for now with a grain of salt until something is confirmed by officials. Pete can be seen working with Hades and also in Agrabah where he is trying to unleash Jafar from his prison or lamp.
The XIII Organization
Ages: Differing, however, all are unknown.
Home Worlds: All Unknown
Voice Actors: Differing, however, all are unknown.
All that is known about the XIII Organization is that its members are shells; all are missing hearts. The XIII Organization seems to be trying to unlock the secrets of the heart. The extreme interest in the keyblade master is due to Sora’s powerful heart. They also have some plot to open Kingdom Hearts again.
Xaldin (or Xarudia, Xardin)
Age: Unknown
Home World: Unknown
Voice Actor: Unknown
He was revealed during the timeline of E3 2005. Xaldin has long black hair with a bun on the top which forms his hair into a ponytail and he has also long sideburns. His eyes are blue. Nothing is known about this enigma except he wields 6 spears and has been seen talking about opening Kingdom Hearts to make them [The Organization] whole again.
Captain Jack Sparrow
Age: Somewhere around his late 20’s or early 30’s
Homeworld: The Caribbean
Voice Actor: Unknown, hopefully it could be Johnny Depp
The swashbuckling pirate has been seen swinging his sword with Sora in the second E3 2005 trailer as a party member. By the looks of the scans, it looks like Sparrow will follow the storyline of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Elizabeth Swan
Age: Probably around her mid or early 20’s
Homeworld: Port Royal or The Caribbean
Voice Actor: Unknown, hopefully it could Keira Knightley
Nothing is known about Elizabeth as of now but she will be in the game and her role in the movie will be also applied in the POTC worlds storyline.
Mulan
Age: Late teens or Early 20’s
Homeworld: Land of Dragons aka Ancient China
Voice Actor: Ming-Na
She will be one of the available party members in the game. After looking at the trailers, Mulan will have two appearances in the game, her alter-ego Ping and her original self.
Mushu
Age: Unknown
Homeworld: Land of Dragons
Voice Actor: Unknown
The dragon is back and he plays a larger role this time around in the Land of Dragons world. He is the sidekick of Mulan throughout her journey. Will he become Sora’s summon partner again? Will just see in the future.
The story!
Kingdom Hearts II will begin exactly where KH:CoM left off. Sora and team have been asleep for about a year regaining their memories. When Sora awakes, he changes his clothes and heads off to Hollow Bastion. There he battles hordes of Heartless, and meets the members of the XIII Organization again. At some point, Sora ends up in Twilight Town. There Sora is ambushed by the Nobodies and is saved by King Mickey. Sora then continues his quest, sealing the keyholes of each world to protect them from the Heartless, the Organization, and the Nobodies. According to Nomura, the story will be far more complicated than KH’s story. Expect KH2’s story to deal with many of the mature scenarios presented in KH:CoM.
During this year Riku and Mickey have had their own adventures. The two now have Organization Cloaks (it is unknown if they have joined the Organization). Many theories have Riku and Mickey spying on the Organization, while many people believe that the Organization may not be evil, unlike what is seen in KH:CoM. KH2 will likely focus much on Riku and Mickey and the Organization.
Lastly, BHK seems to be having his own adventure in KH2. Sora will likely cross paths with him many times throughout KH2. BHK will be a keyblade master in KH2, and will likely battle the Heartless, white creatures, and the Organization. BHK has been seen battling Axel. BHK seems to want to protect Sora from Axel. It is also possible that Axel may be protecting Sora from BHK; it is unknown who speaks the dialogue in the scene, so a decision cannot be reached as to whom is protecting whom. Expect BHK to be a very important character throughout KH2.
Each world that Sora travels to will have its own story, similar to KH. Expect the worlds’ stories to reflect more upon the main story of the game, unlike many of the worlds in KH.
Confirmed worlds.
Sora will once again travel throughout the worlds, sealing the keyholes to protect each world. The worlds confirmed are as follows:
Twilight Town
Hollow Bastion
Disney Castle
Destiny Islands
Agrabah
Olympus Coliseum
Olympus Underworld
Fabled Countryside (Beauty and the Beast)
Land of Dragons (Mulan)
Halloween Town
Christmas Town (Seen in the Nightmare Before Christmas)
The Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean which is based on the film)
Worlds we think will be in.
Steamboat Willie (First cartoon that ever debuted to the public starring Mickey)
The Pridelands (The Lion King)
Traverse Town
100 Acre World
Wonderland
Deep Jungle
Monstro
Atlantica
Neverland
End of The World
Deep Dive
New Heartless.
Rabid:
A dog heartless
Hookwing:
Bat-like Heartless that has hooks for tails. The reaction command “Bat Battery” can be used against them.
Spectral Mage:
A white colored Heartless that carries a candle that is used to attack. Based on the artwork of these heartless, they have an opposite side which is unknown what they do.
Jouster:
A knight-type Heartless that wields a jousting stick.
Warrior:
Knight-type Heartless that appeared in the large battle sequence in the ending of most trailers in KH2.
Guard:
This Heartless appeared in the large battle sequence in the last part of most trailers.
Door Heartless:
A sub-boss in Beast’s Castle. It guards the door that Sora and Co. has to go through.
Unnamed Heartless:
There is a variety of unnamed Heartless that appears in the game.
Nobodies. (New type of enemy)
Dusk:
The basic form of Nobodies. Kinda like the counterpart of the Shadow or Soldier Heartless.
Big Whitey or TwilightSide(as Sawa would put it):
Seen in the Awakening scene with BHK, likely the counterpart of Darkside in the first KH.
Unnamed Nobodies:
So far only three types of Nobodies has appeared and one has yet to be named. That one is the one that appeared in the recent Jump scans. They wield spears and have wings.
E3 2005 Trailer summary.
“The beginning starts with BHK talking to Namine across a table in a white room. They have japanese voices but there are english subtitles. BHK asks Namine who she is, and she responds by telling him that shes a "witch" who has power over Sora's memories. She then goes on to say that she doesn't know why she has these powers.
Following that scene is a collection of scenes from all the other trailers that have come out up to this point. There are some new parts thrown in however. One scene shows Mickey stepping out of a train in Twilight Town. Another part shows actual gameplay of Sora and Co. fighting the army of heartless from that scene thats been in all of the trailers. Its a timed battle and there were numbers going up in the corner, suggesting that maybe your being timed to kill a certain amount of heartless in the time alloted.
There's another scene where BHK is yelling at Diz at Castle Oblivion. They are in the room where Sora's memory pod is located. No subtiles are shown, nor voices heard, but you can tell that BHK is yelling at Diz because of his expressions. Then BHK pulls out the Kingdom Key to attack Diz, but to no avail. Diz can make himself untouchable, so BHK screams in frustration.
Towards the end of the trailer, the PoTC world is shown. Jack Sparrow(rendered to look like Johnny Depp) comes out in it, and he is shown to be the helper of that world. It shows story segments of Jack Sparrow talking to Sora, becoming a skeleton, and game play footage of Sora and Sparrow fighting pirates. One of the girls from the movie comes out in it too, but I never saw the movie, so I don't know what her name is, but she was rendered to look like her real life counter part.
The last part of the trailer shows Sora, Donald, and Goofy in that dark city that was shown in DD and ASAS. They look puzzled when they are there. Then all of a sudden a black portal opens and an Unknown steps out of it(who happens to be about Sora's height I might add). He sends minions to fight Sora and Co., but I forgot if they were heartless or the white creatures. In any case, after they are dealt with, Sora and the Unknown exchange words(or at least thats what it looks like, again no voices or subtitles). Then they rush at each other, and the screen goes white.
Finally, a bunch of scenes fly by really quick, and the title comes out. There's a pause, followed by the beach scene from DD, and the this phrase comes out "If the world is made up of light and darkness, we shall be that darkness...." and then the trailer ends.”
It is hard to believe some parts in the trailer so take them as a grain of salt till concrete evidence comes like the trailer itself."
Game Engine.
Camera
The camera has been greatly improved for the sequel. It is now controlled by the right analog stick. It can go 360 degrees around Sora and over Sora.
Graphics
Although the KH2 graphics looks similar to KH, the game engine has been completely recreated for KH2, according to Nomura. The game’s graphics are in a similar style to KH. The facial expressions seem to have been improved greatly for the sequel. As Square-Enix president Wada, has requested that FMVs be used less, KH2 will of course follow. Expect probably 2 FMVs in KH2, one at the beginning and one at the end, similar to KH. The graphics are fully 3-D .
Map System
KH2 will feature a new Map System, which has been seen in few trailers. It will feature Sora (depicted as a keyblade) and the environment of the areas like red spots represents doors in the map. This was used to lower the amount of backtracking in KH2.
Engaging in Combat
Like KH, KH2 features real time battles, so there will be no transition from travel to combat. It is possible that the menu may change form during battle, similar to KH, however this looks unlikely (more below). Heartless will likely appear in a similar way to KH; spawning in determined locations when Sora appears. Although this may be changed, it is unlikely.
Command Menu
The Menu System has been completely redone in KH also. Each world has its own individual menu design for Sora. The Command Menu also has two sides. The first side has the primary commands like:
- Attack,
- Magic,
- Items
- Probably the fourth option is Dual Tech or team attacks.
The other side can be accessed by pressing left on the dpad taking you to another set of commands which consist of:
- Attack,
- the “?” symbol(Gerbil’s site speculates this might where the summons would be)
- Party(more on that later)
- Drive.
Status Bar
The Status System has also been redone. The MP Bar is now horizontal, and there is a new Drive Bar (more on that below). Your party members’ status bar has change for a simpler design. They stay on top of Sora’s status bar. During Drive mode, however, the party member‘s status bar you merge with will disappear but there have been some controversies (See Donald Drive form under Drive Section below).
Travel
There have been screens of the train from Twilight Town sending the team to various worlds (Dark Cloud 2 style). It is unknown if there are any more features for the train other than letting Sora and Co. travel. Rumors also have been flying around whether the Gummi Ship can be another way of traveling.
Gummi Ship
The Gummi Ship has made a return and now it looks better than ever. Based on the Jump Festa trailer and the E3 2005 Trailer, the gummi ship looks faster, exciting and action packed. The new features of the gummi ship are still kept under wraps but by the look of things, it will probably be the same.
New & Old characters.
Sora has been completely redesigned for KH2, along with Kairi, and probably Riku and Mickey (they will most likely appear in their Organization Cloaks). Sora, Kairi, and Riku have all likely matured from the jump, and each will look different. A new character with blonde hair, no name has been set, and his friends will appear in KH2. Lastly, the only members of the Organization that are confirmed to return for KH2 are Axel and the Enigmatic Man. Many new members will appear in KH2, and possibly others may return. Many Disney characters from KH will return, and new characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, Mulan and Pete will make appearances. It is likely most FF characters will return, including a new appearance from Auron and possibly Vincent. Lastly, in Drive Form, Sora’s costume will change (more below).
Battle Engine.
“We are doing without the engine from the original and built a new one for KH2. That is because we realized the limitations of the original engine, and in order to create a better game we had to come up with a new one. I believe the biggest appeal of KH is its battle elements, so I think you'll be surprised how we've changed it. We're not just focusing on battles either-we're including quests in battle.”
(Nomura, GMR Interview)
Controls
D-Pad:
Left = This switches to other side of the Command Menu like Party(more on that later).
Attack remains.
Up and Down = Navigates through the Command Menu
Right = Unknown at this point
Start = Pause. Even though the latest demo didn’t feature it, this button is likely to activate the Status Menu like in the first KH when not in battle.
Select = First Person View mode
Triangle = Reaction Commands, opens chests
Square = Block and Dodge Roll
Circle = Jump, Cancel action
X = Attack, Confirm action
Left Analog Stick = Movement
Right Analog Stick = Camera Movement
R2 and L2 = It’s still unknown at this point what these two buttons do. In the first game, they controlled the camera but since that job is done by the right analog stick, R2 and L2 buttons are still unknown. Many speculate that these buttons is an alternate button to navigate around the command menu.
DRIVE! ^_^
The most apparent of the new options is the Drive System. As Sora and his team members defeat enemies, yellow balls will be dropped, similar to the green and blue orbs of KH. Picking up these yellow orbs fills Sora’s Drive Bar. The Drive Bar has multiple levels, level 5 is the highest seen, and the levels are likely to grow as Sora levels up.
The Drive mode can be activated by pressing the left dpad button which brings you to another set of commands in the command menu. Choose the fourth option(Drive), then pick a party member to merge with and voila.
When Drive Form is activated, Sora will merge with a partner, eliminating the partner from battle temporarily, (NOTE: An ally not in the current battle can be chosen) and a countdown will appear (its length is determined by which level you chose to activate the Drive Form). Sora’s clothes will change in Drive Form and a number of new abilities will be at the player’s disposal. When the countdown of the Drive bar reaches 0, Sora will return back to normal and the party member he merged with will come back into battle. While in Drive mode, the countdown can be elongated by collecting more yellow orbs.
Brave/Valor Form
The only Drive Form seen in action is Brave Form or Valor Form a fusion with Goofy, which changes Sora’s clothes to red and gives him the option to wield two keyblades. In Brave Form Sora is stronger and faster. In the TGS ’04 trailer, it shows Sora fighting Heartless while he is in midair making it possible to do so.
Abilities in Brave/Valor Form:
-Tornado:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora does an aerial spinning attack attacking any foes on his way. Unknown how it is executed, though.
-Dash Attack:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora does a strong dash damaging any enemies in front of him. Executed by pressing the square button.
-Aerial Arcanum:
Seen in: TGS ’04 Trailer, Jump Festa ’05 Trailer, E3 2005 Trailer 1
Sora makes several powerful slashes. By the looks of it, it seems to be the finishing blow of a combo.
Wisdom Form
. . . drawing a blank. . . I'll put it in my next post. darn this is the one I know most about too.
Reaction commands and attacks.
Reaction command is a move that can be helpful in the brink of battle. They are executed by pressing the triangle button at the right time. The reaction command can be triggered by certain action of your enemies. When these commands are available, the name of the ability above the command menu and a flashing triangle above your foe will appear. Pressing the triangle button at the right time Sora will execute a helpful and cool move.
Reaction Commands/Attacks:
-Bat Battery:
Sora grabs the Hookwing Heartless and spins them around while it's hooked to your keyblade.
-Ride The Wind:
Can be done when fighting the large Chinese dragon heartless in the Land of Dragons world but it is not known if you can do it anywhere else. This reaction command will be triggered when the dragon leaves tornadoes on the ground. Go near them and the reaction command will appear and if executed, Sora will ride on the tornado and you can control him anywhere you want. It is still unknown if the effect will last long.
-Soar:
Requires the “Ride The Wind” reaction command. While on Ride the Wind, press triangle at the right time and Sora will jump very high making it a good way to ride on the dragons back as shown in gameplay footages.
-Aerial:
Bushido attack. Sora and Auron combines there weapons together and the combined weapons start spinning around making a tornado while Auron and Sora soar in midair. Obviously, Sora can’t be damaged as shown in gameplay footage.
-Speed Trap:
Nothing is known about this reaction command.
Unnamed Reaction Commands:
Many commands have been seen in trailers but are yet to be named or translated. One of them is Sora jumping on the three heads of Cerberus, then he umps high above and dive attacks the beast.
The triangle button can also open chests. It is likely that the triangle button might also press buttons, activate objects, carry stuff but nothing has been confirmed but it could be likely.
Double Team attacks.
Double tech or team attacks is an ability where you and a party member will do “Co-op” attacks. So far only Auron and Sora can do this. The name of the double tech with Auron is Bushido. Shooting Star and Banishing Blade are confirmed. Reaction commands can be triggered when doing double techs since the Reaction command “Aerial” can be triggered. After looking at recent gameplay footage from E3, the double tech feature seems to be in the fourth option of the command menu.
It is not known if you can do double techs with other Party members apart from Auron.
Magic and Summons
The magic and summon systems have been completely overhauled for KH2 also. Magic and summons will be more useful in battle, according to Nomura, and magic will also be implemented in combos more seamlessly, shown in the TGS ’04 trailer. Shortcuts are once again implemented in KH2. By pressing the L1 button, a shortcut menu will appear which the character can allocate magic attack and items to each of the four buttons (circle, triangle, square, and X), similar to KH. It is possible that summons may be allocated to the shortcut system (this is unknown).
Magic:
-Fire:
Sora summons a ring of fire around him damaging enemies in the area. Can also be done in midair.
-Blizzard:
Blizzard is still the same except that the attack is more of a concentrated shot than a slow one, almost like a shotgun in first person shooters.
-Thunder:
Same as the last game except that it only shoots one bolt of lighting. As Thunder grows stronger(Thundara and Thundaga), more bolts of lighting will appear.
Combos
The combo system has been redone. Sora can still attack by pressing the X button, but now in battle, Sora will change his combo depending on the situation in battle. Magic and special attacks can be chained in combos more seamlessly now. In the TGS ’04 trailer, Sora was seen implementing long, complicated combos. Supposedly, this requires much practice in order to accomplish. Expect battles to be more fast-paced and action oriented in the sequel.
Party Members.
Party members’ AI has been tweaked to be more helpful and smarter in the sequel. Nothing much has changed except that you can merge with them for Drive mode, do double techs and switch party members at the fly.
Did I say switch party members at the fly? Yes. Party members can be switched in and out of battle. Just go to the other side of the command menu by pressing left, choose the third option which is the party command and pick a party member and voila! You just switched a party member. It is unknown if this switching party member thing is available in boss battles.
Rumors have erupted that Riku and/or Mickey may be playable characters in KH2. This is currently unknown. However, BHK will be playable and have partners of his own, and he will have an adventure during KH2; don’t expect BHK to be the Raiden of KH2. Many people speculate BHK’s partners will be PJ and Max; however I find this doubtful.... I expect his partners to either be his friends, seen in many trailers, or Riku and Mickey.
Leveling Up and HP/MP/Drive Bar Replenishes.
Everything else is basically the same as in KH. Sora will still gain levels, magic, summons, and special attacks, and still have the ability to jump. Rumors states that there could be other stats like attacking speed, magic defense, etc. available but that seems unlikely.
Sora will still fight with his allies and gain MP/HP orbs during battle with the addition of Drive orbs(yellow) to replenish the Drive bar.
Quest System
There is new quest system in battles that Nomura speaks about, seem intriguing. There have been spots of Sora defending Meg from Pete in the Olympus Underworld and the first E3 2005 trailer shows Jack Sparrow, Sora and Co. protecting Elizabeth Swan from enemies as stated in 1up.com. Could this protecting/escorting Meg and Elizabeth thing be the quest system Nomura is talking about?
Miscellaneous
Environments will play a larger roll in battles in the sequel. Now Sora will be able to use his environments to attack enemies. One trailer showed Sora being hit by an enemy and then deflecting off a wall to attack the enemy. Expect environment interaction to be much more advanced in KH2.