Despite all this, the title received glowing reviews and sold astonishingly well, not because everyone went crazy for a while, but because the rest of the game more than made up for the above issues. The core gameplay and mish-mash of Final Fantasy characters with popular Disney properties worked so well that even in the face of these faults, the allure of fighting alongside Donald and Goofy throughout various Disney locales, characters close to the hearts of generations, far outweighed the numerous design problems.

Going into a sequel, especially a high-profile one four years in the making, one hopes the development team has learned from their mistakes, correcting past issues while building upon what the previous game did right. Sadly, that's not always the case, but I'm thrilled to report Kingdom Hearts 2 is a shining example of the "fix what's broken and improve what isn't" mindset. And though the game still has its flaws, they're relatively minor by comparison, a drastic improvement upon its predecessor in all regards.

First up, control of the camera has been moved from the L2/R2 shoulder buttons to the right analog stick. Not only does this setup now allow for movement upon the vertical axis, but it also allows for more precise camera positioning. Furthermore, the camera is now far less likely to reset itself to its prior position after a few steps. For those out there accustomed to using the right stick for menu navigation, fear not, holding L2 acts as a toggle between camera control and menu navigation, with an option to default the right stick as a menu navigator should the player desire. Of course, the D-Pad can also be used for menu control, as in the first, but it's nice to see that greater camera control didn't come at the expense of alienating fans of a particular control scheme.

Next, the Gummi Ship segments have been much improved. No longer just a blocky ship simply moving forward through a block-filled tube, these portions are now somewhat reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon, complete with rollercoaster-esque paths, a constantly shifting camera, and the whole hold X to lock on and send out homing lasers, tap X for rapid fire control scheme. There's still room for further improvement, the lack of a proper targeting reticule means it's still a bit difficult to know exactly where one is firing and Gummi Ship customization is still as daunting as ever. However, these are minor complaints, especially when compared with the original Gummi Ship, which was so poorly implemented it left many wondering exactly how the concept was approved in the first place.

Problematic level designs, such as poorly implemented vine-swinging that left players backtracking across a good chunk of a level if they missed a jump, are now a thing of the past. And instead of leaving the player to aimlessly wander a level hoping to randomly trigger the next event, Kingdom Hearts II provides the player with a clear idea of what to do next.

What about the combat, one of the first Kingdom Heart's redeeming features? Things haven't changed much here, the core gameplay still revolves around mashing X, the game still auto-targets the closest enemy and R1 still locks and centers the camera on them, L1 still pulls up a customizable menu of frequently used spells and items, and main character Sora still unlocks abilities as he gains experience.

But that doesn't mean combat is the same old thing. Sora has a few new tricks at his disposal, namely the Drive ability, which allows him to temporarily wield two Keyblades, and Reaction Commands, special context-sensitive attacks triggered by hitting triangle whenever the symbol appears on-screen. Though they may not sound it, these Reaction Commands are by far the coolest of the various tweaks and additions, allowing Sora to pull off all sorts of crazy moves and playing an integral role in several boss fights.

While we're on the subject of boss fights, Kingdom Hearts II follows in the tradition of the first in that it has some extremely frustrating boss fights, especially towards the endgame. But the challenge doesn't always seem fair, especially in one boss battle that temporarily removes the player's ability to heal just when they needs it most, or another that periodically requires the player to defeat a set amount of enemies within a set time limit and ends the game if they fail to do so. Though the rest of the boss fights are more of the traditional lengthy-battle-against-a-powerful-foe fare, these two battles are the most extreme of the bunch, simultaneously making them both most frustrating and rewarding encounters in the game. Thankfully, Kingdom Hearts II also retains the ability to immediately continue from the last checkpoint in the event of a Game Over, and combined with the newfound ability to skip cutscenes, the player can be back to the fight in under a minute.

Kingdom Hearts II also allows the player to pause cutscenes, a welcome addition given they occur rather frequently and tend to last a few minutes. Throughout these cutscenes, it's incredible to see how well the folks over at Square Enix have captured the look and mannerisms of the various Disney characters. Credit must also be given to the localization staff, whose script matches perfectly with each character's personality. And though the original actors were not always available to reprise their roles, the voice actors do an admirable job. In fact, I only had qualms with the voicework of two characters, both of whom are relatively minor. Given the sheer amount of characters featured throughout the game, that's rather impressive.

As far as length goes, the main storyline can be completed in around thirty hours. Multiple sidequests help to flesh that number out, including multiple combat tournaments, numerous minigames, item synthesis, and an optional checklist of objectives for each world.

Interestingly enough, the events of Kingdom Hearts II don't pick up from the original Kingdom Hearts, but rather the Game Boy Advance's Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which itself was a direct continuation of the original. Though enough exposition and background information is eventually provided to give those that never played Chain of Memories or the original Kingdom Hearts an idea of what's going on, the first few hours will be a bit confusing if one is not familiar with the events of past titles. Luckily, Wikipedia provides a detailed plot synopsis that covers the basics of both titles, something even series veterans should consider looking over to refresh themselves.

Given all of its improvements, it's obvious a lot of work went into the Kingdom Hearts II, the lengthy development time resulting in a significantly superior product. The crew over at Square Enix has taken everything that was good about Kingdom Hearts and made it better, resulting in one of the PlayStation 2's best action RPGs. A bold claim, but given the title's wide appeal, featuring numerous characters and scenarios close to the hearts of many, and given how it ties this to simple yet addictive gameplay backed by mostly solid game design, there's no denying Kingdom Hearts II satisfies in a way few games can.