This is tied as my favorite game of all time. Almost everything about it is what a good sequel should strive for. Before I gush about everything I love, I will say that my main gripe is the level design. Most of the worlds completely dropped the platforming and exploration from 1, and you have to revisit the same levels twice. It’s pretty damn tiring at times when I realize I gotta go back to Land of Dragons.

With that out of the way...
Everything else about this game is perfection. The combat gives you so many tools to work with while being simple enough to understand. Not playing this on critical mode feels wrong at this point. It’s just so stupidly satisfying to pull off some of the shit you can do in this game. The bosses are a great mix of humanoid 1v1’s and giant heartless/nobody fights. The soundtrack? Holy SHIT the soundtrack..
Yoko Shimomura is the greatest video game composer in my eyes. Her work fills this game with so much emotion and life. The story, while to some may be cringey at points, touched my heart in a way that nothing else has. Sora and Riku’s friendship is one of my favorites. This game also introduces Roxas, who’s without a doubt my favorite character in the series. Once you learn about 358/2’s story and see just how sad his life is, it makes you just want to hug him whenever he has to give up his summer vacation. When this game hypes you up, it does it like no other series can. The amount of times I screamed out of excitement was insane. This silly story about a boy’s journey with disney characters seems so stupid from the outside... but once it sucks you in, you’ll realize just how beautiful it is.

Once the ending cutscene played, I sat there sunk into my pillow, crying my ass off. That’s my favorite ending in anything I’ve experienced in my life.

KH2FM means so much to me, and my connection to it will only grow stronger over time.