Legitimately one of the best action RPGs I've ever played, and I doubt anything will top it in terms of being an all around solid experience, aka having a decent story and fantastic gameplay that's honestly some of the best in the entire medium. As much as I love Tales of the Abyss, I have to admit that's more of on story merits moreso than gameplay, 2 Final Mix has it beat for me in terms of having a good balance in both asepcts.
I know people give Kingdom Hearts' story crap, and I won't deny that it has its flaws and dumb writing decisions, especially in the entries following this game specifically, but I still will defend the story of 2 itself, because while the Disney worlds don't really have much cohesion for the plot, the actual meat of the plot involving Roxas' dilemma and Sora trying so hard to save the worlds for good and find his missing friends is done so well and has such good payoff from what KH1 and Chain of Memories set up that I can forgive that.
As for the gameplay, the Final Mix version improves upon everything the original version was lacking in terms of challenge and flexibility in combat, as 2 already was a major step up from 1 in terms of that as is. Critical Mode is balanced incredibly well to provide a strong but fair challenge, and all the new abilities given in this game contribute to that well. Manuevering around enemies and platforming has never felt better, and 2 Final Mix honestly feels like one of the few games I've played where the playable character actually feels like his abilities and power are on par with the insanity you'd expect from JRPG bosses, and it's incredibly thrilling and exciting. The satisfaction I got from beating the secret bosses of this game is something I've rarely felt in most games I've played.
2 Final Mix isn't perfect of course, the story has some shortcomings as I've said before and it does take awhile for you to get all of the flexibility in combat that makes the 2nd half of the game so fun, but the payoff both in story and gameplay is just so worth it that I can easily forgive it. It's very much a game that I'd recommend anyone to give a shot, whether it's for fun or for something a little more. KH2FM is one of the best games I've ever played, and I will die on that hill.
I know people give Kingdom Hearts' story crap, and I won't deny that it has its flaws and dumb writing decisions, especially in the entries following this game specifically, but I still will defend the story of 2 itself, because while the Disney worlds don't really have much cohesion for the plot, the actual meat of the plot involving Roxas' dilemma and Sora trying so hard to save the worlds for good and find his missing friends is done so well and has such good payoff from what KH1 and Chain of Memories set up that I can forgive that.
As for the gameplay, the Final Mix version improves upon everything the original version was lacking in terms of challenge and flexibility in combat, as 2 already was a major step up from 1 in terms of that as is. Critical Mode is balanced incredibly well to provide a strong but fair challenge, and all the new abilities given in this game contribute to that well. Manuevering around enemies and platforming has never felt better, and 2 Final Mix honestly feels like one of the few games I've played where the playable character actually feels like his abilities and power are on par with the insanity you'd expect from JRPG bosses, and it's incredibly thrilling and exciting. The satisfaction I got from beating the secret bosses of this game is something I've rarely felt in most games I've played.
2 Final Mix isn't perfect of course, the story has some shortcomings as I've said before and it does take awhile for you to get all of the flexibility in combat that makes the 2nd half of the game so fun, but the payoff both in story and gameplay is just so worth it that I can easily forgive it. It's very much a game that I'd recommend anyone to give a shot, whether it's for fun or for something a little more. KH2FM is one of the best games I've ever played, and I will die on that hill.