Update 2 – Time played: 10 hours, 21 minutes

Here we are, once again, with more Kingdom Hearts 2 impressions! Since last time I’ve finished Olympus Coliseum up to Halloween town and I’ve died three more times, with an extra five deaths on an optional boss fight. Starting with the optional boss fights, KH2FM has introduced a series of boss fights called Absent Silhouettes where you can fight old bosses from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories in the KH2 game engine. These fights are HARD, and are not worth doing as soon as you come across them. At the time when the first few are unlocked you hardly have any survivability options outside of valor form and maybe cure, and you’re lucky if Donald and Goofy survive the opening few seconds. Considering you need Goofy alive in order to even use valor form in the first place, you’re down a lifeline right off the bat.

But enough about optional stuff, let’s talk about the playthrough. I have learned that the Reflect spell is my best friend, more than I though guarding would be. I can block attacks all around me with Reflect and hit enemies with the resulting explosion. The only downside I see to Reflect right now is that it costs MP, that fact has been helping me improve my item management with ethers. I never felt a need to use items in KH2 until playing Critical Mode, so it feels good to find a use for yet another tool in the game. I’ve also learned to love summons, with a specific example being the Chicken Little summon. This little guy can draw enemies towards you and briefly stun them, which gives you the perfect opportunity for some Fire spells! It was the perfect solution for when I got into fights with a lot of enemies running around, particularly in the Timeless River world.

I also feel like I need to mention the Gummi Ship segments that take place when you travel to a new world for the first time. These Star Fox-like space shooter levels are a ton of fun to fly through with your customized Gummi Ship while blowing up enemies. I would say the remastered soundtracks in the HD versions of KH2 are the most striking in some of the Gummi Ship levels, and make them that much more enjoyable. I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying this piece of side content. I can’t wait to see more, along with more of the rest of this game! Stay tuned!

Kingdom Hearts 2 – Critical Mode

• Part 3
• Part 2
• Part 1
• Part 0