[PS2] Kingdom Hearts 2

MTV Overdrive has interviews with almost the entire english cast, giving you a chance to hear the dub. Be warned that some of them contain spoilers, which are listed in the link.

http://www.kh2.co.uk/index.php?start...ubaction=&id=&

I've only seen Tifa and Aerith's, the former which is safe to watch as long as you stop just before the conversation with Sora and one of the XIII Order members (the spoiler, most likely).

Anyway, Cook seems to be a decent enough Tifa, it's just weird finally hearing a voice on the character after attempting to imagine it for so long. She seems to have the right idea with the soft tone, but I wonder if she can handle Tifa's more aggresive side too (the fighting). The actress seems to really enjoy playing the character and has an accurate grasp on her personality, though I wonder if that's SE whispering details in her ear for the sake of publicity.

Suvari on the other hand.....wasn't very impressive from what I heard. She sounded quite boring and monotone, though there were less lines available for listening. She just didn't have the positive energy that Mandy Moore had (she was so damn good as Aerith).

I'm going to chalk up the latter to a low quality streamed video, though. The same thing happened with Xenosaga Episode I. When people heard the first clip, it sounded terrible online. The same rule could apply here. I remain confidence in Square's casting decisions. They've yet to screw up a dub before, and they certainly aren't going to mess up their most popular female characters.

Also, KH2 was briefly updated with a T rating in the ESRB page, for "Fantasy Violence and Alcohol". It was soon taken down though, most likely as an error, but it still had made me freak out momentarily.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I mostly wonder about how the other members for the XIII Order will die. While none of the deaths in CoM were graphic, a few could require a T rating if they were implemented with PS2 graphics. In particular,

Spoiler:

Vexen's, who after begging for his life, had his throat slit by Axel's weapon. Most of the other guys simply vanished into thin air, but they still made sure to tell you that they were dying, instead of fading into "another dimension" /dbz

But we'll see. The game has an E10 rating, which would be the equivalent of PG. I'm not sure how graphic the Pirates world is though.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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And how odd to hear Haley Joel's voice deep as ever in the interview.

Not if you've been watching IGPX.

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And "Nam-ih-nay," eh...? Makes me think of Inuyasha and "S'show-m'roo."

That's how I pronounced it. Nah-mee-nay.

And I'm not going to listen to Sanctuary until the actual game comes out. I've always wondered, when does Passion/Sanctuary play in the game? Is it in the opening FMV?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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I'm also hoping we won't get shafted in the US when the inevitable KH2:FM comes out.

Don't worry, we will.

The real question is if we'll get any additions to the game at all, including any new characters (like Sephiroth in KH1). Like I mentioned before, I'd be content with additional cutscenes to better explain Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth's roles, and what exactly their stories are (which remain unresolved, from what I heard).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Don't forget the fight with the XIII Order member, which was fun as well as intense (he's almost harder than Seph). You also get a bunch of new keyblades which gives Sora all kinds of agile moves.

On that note, exactly which XIII member do you fight in Final Mix, or is he one of the spoiler members (1 or 13)?

I was speaking idiomatically.

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All I'm saying is, I hope the repeat levels have something new to do besides travel through Agrabah and beat up large bodies again.

I was wondering the same thing myself. One of the biggest complaints about the first game was the lack of variety in each world. Basically you fight Heartless, and that's about it. Town areas like Traverse Town were devoid of life (NPCs). And someone who played the first couple hours tells me that Twilight Town is no different. I would love to be able to visit, say, a local pub in the Pirates world and interact with the various NPCs. So my question is, is there more to do in the worlds now besides fighting enemies?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

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Setzer sounds like he's voiced by Crispin Freeman, not sure, but a fitting voice IMO.

That would be so awesome if it's true.

For the record, since the game is only about a week and a half away, I'm not viewing any online media for it whatsoever. I want to go into the game knowing as little as I can.

FELIPE NO

Large Bodies are a cinch in KH1. All you have to do is block when they charge after you (they pat their bellies when they're ready to charge you). They do become a pain when there's more than one though.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Honestly, what do you all have against Setzer's look? Would you rather he look like Sephiroth in Alucard's outfit? The new look is much better suited to his gambler/high stakes lifestyle.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Who even looks at official pages anyway. It's pretty common knowledge that it's coming next week. That said, I'm sure the site will be updated within the week.

I made an AV/Sig request in this thread, but I figure someone who owns the import (like Kairi Li) might be able to fufill the request.

http://gamingforce.com/forums/showth...p?t=111&page=8

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Why did you have to go and jinx it? I was wondering the same thing, but you don't see me posting about it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Jesus H Christ, Disney. It's bad enough that they're censoring their own shows (Rescue Rangers and possibly Darkwing Duck DVDs), but now they have to extend their goddamn iron hand on KH2. The Hydra bled like that in the goddamn movie. No, it was even worse than that, because Hercules was covered in blood by the time he was done with the fight. The cursor change isn't even worth mentioning, because it changes nothing, but the reasoning is lame.

I can live with it if these are the only things censored, but suddenly I'm afraid at the possiblity that they aren't.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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Wha? What was there in Rescue Rangers to censor? It was pretty homogenized from what I remember.

I'm not certain either, but reports say that there are some scenes that were obviously removed. The example listed was one scene where Chip and Dale are cornered by Fat Cat's goons. Then by the next frame, the goons are knocked out while they run off. The DW censoring is just a rumor, I hear, from insiders at Disney.

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Pirates of the Caribbean. I'd imagine it'd be hard to alter the story to remove the blood aspect of the curse or Jack's drunkery.

Well guess what.

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Nomura Discusses Kingdom Hearts and Future Titles
Soemthing expected to be shown at September Tokyo Game Show.
by Anoop Gantayat
March 26, 2006 - Square Enix gaming superstar Tetsuya Nomura made an appearance at the Kingdom Hearts II North American launch commemoration party in Los Angeles on the 23rd, and brought with him a handful of exciting, vague and excitingly vague announcements about future productions.


First commenting on differences between the US and Japanese versions of Kingdom Hearts II, Nomura revealed that the two versions are pretty close overall. Due to rating concerns, Square Enix had to make some changes to the Pirates of the Caribbean world. For instance, enemy weapons that resembled guns had to undergo design changes.
Given the similarities between the two titles, Japanese gamers who spent their cash on the original Japanese release late last year won't have to worry about buying a re-release based off the US version of the game. In Japan, Square Enix released an update to Kingdom Hearts, called Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, based on the US version of the first title.

The series isn't done yet, though, Nomura confirmed at the event. "We don't have plans to make Final Mix," he said, "but we do have a new idea for Kingdom Hearts."

Nomura wouldn't get too specific on what this new plan is. Based on his vague comments, whatever he's planning won't be something like Kingdom Heats: Chain of Memories, which bridged the gap between the original Kingdom Hearts and Part II. Nor will it be a numbered entry in the series.

There have been some reports of a secret movie contained in Kingdom Heats II that features a different visual style from that of the main game. Nomura wouldn't comment if this movie has something to do with the new idea, but he wouldn't deny it either.

Whatever the case, this new idea is currently just that at the moment, an idea rather than an actual product -- something that Nomura and crew would like to do.

Nomura is hard at work on a number of titles. He promises an announcement of some form at E3 and the Tokyo Game Show later this year.

-IGN

Goddamit, what are they going to use? Ray guns?

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Who said it was Disney?

It fits Disney's current pattern to censor everything to a pre-school level. Square has never been this anal. In fact, I don't think Square has ever done any kind of visual censorship, not counting the SNES titles (Nintendo's doing, not theirs), just a couple of text alterations (Vagrant Story's "Pope" to "Cardinal").

People always say I belittle Disney too much when I ask how characters like Cloud and Sephiroth even managed to be rendered with their dark designs and weapons. They just don't care about their adult audience, and try to make everything sparkly clean for the kids.

I don't know how the XIII Order is going to make it unscathed.

EDIT: Also, I'm certain the Tokyo Game Show annoncement will either be FFXIII, or another title in the FFVII Compilation. Definetley not KH related though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah, I didn't even bother to call them today to confirm it. The only title I've seen to actually ship and receive on the same day was GTA: San Andreas. That was also the only time the Gamestop near me had a line outside. Funny enough, I didn't even stop there for the game, but I decided to get a copy anyway.

That link for the fan-made movie doesn't work. And it sounded interesting too. I've been playing the past levels in KH1 to get brought up to speed. Sad to say, the game hasn't aged well. I was too wrapped up before to notice, but the camera is real shoddy, and the gameplay beyond fighting the Heartless was pretty annoying as well (it basically went down to "run around the four sections of this area in order and get all the cutscenes"). The other factor that bugged me was the Disney portion of the story, which was basically quick summaries of the respective movies, with some key details missing (you can't wish for a Genie to kill someone).

I don't doubt most of these problems will be fixed in the sequel. In fact, 1up.com, who I find to be pretty critical, gave it a 9.0.

http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2017814

The only complaints they brought up were long load times, and Suvari's Aerith sounding a bit flat. That's been my biggest worry, and while I'm sure she won't be terrible, she better have it nailed down once AC rolls around.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I aggree. The best parts, of course, were anything involving the XIII Order, and Riku's side-story.

I do hope the Disney characters get a bit more characterization this time around. You can't just expect people to know all the movies and get their info from just that. At least now it looks like Sora will be more seemlessly integrated into each world, instead of feeling like he doesn't belong there (which technically he doesn't). It'll be especially interesting to see the XIII Order take active roles in each world (at least in the ones shown in trailers, namely POTC and Beauty and the Beast).

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Yeah, Tron says it all there.

Funny you mention that, as I rented the movie last week so I wouldn't get too lost in the game. Of course it's impossible for me to fully appreciate it, since it was groundbreaking CG at the time, but I can see why the Star Trek/Wars clique would worship it. I also see where Reboot got its inspiration from. Aside from that, though, I found the movie pretty boring, with uninspiring characters. Heck, Tron wasn't even the main hero. It'll make a real nice world for KH2 though.

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I'm with Sing on this one. I guess you can call "XIII Order" a "prototype translation" of XIII機関 whereas "Organization XIII" is the official translation.

I'll wait until I see it for myself in the game. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just want to enjoy using "XIII Order" until then, because "Organization XIII" sounds really, really lame.

Speaking of those guys, does anyone know any of the english VA's for them? I'm curious who they hired for guys like Axel.

Also, any of you lucky enough to have gotten the game tonight? Sometimes the games do ship on nighttime, so I might give my Gamestop a call once I get out of class.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

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Quinton Flynn plays Axel. That's all I know.

Heh, seriously? First Reno, and now Axel (or maybe vice versa?). It fits, anyway.

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wow.. just wow.. IGN gave it a 7.6

what fucktards.

sorry.. had to say :P

I'm shocked. Honestly shocked. I've always approved of IGN's reviews (which can be pretty leniant sometimes), but this is serious bullshit.

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Well, too bad for you.

Well...I stand corrected. They really should've stayed with "XIII Order". Sounds much better.

My Gamestop won't be receiving the game until Noon. In any case, I hope everyone takes care to mark their spoilers.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I thought this board would be full of english impressions, but I guess everyone's too busy playing. I just spend a good 2 hours on it, so I'm ready to offer some thoughts. Of course I'll keep spoilers marked, but if any of you don't want to know anything that occures in the first part, you can skip this post.

The title version of Dearly Beloved was fantastic, the perfect way to start up this game. My sister will especially like it, considering how she loves to play it in the piano.

It goes without saying that the opening FMV was beautiful, but it's worth mentioning. It makes me anticipate AC even more (same animation company). I was especially pleased to see a rendered Donald and Goofy, since I was told that no Disney characters showed up in any FMVs.

Despite previous complaints, I found the english version of Sanctuary very well done, and it stays true to the Japanese version. I was a fan of Passion from the start, so I guess to each his own.

The graphics are astounding. I absolutely love the increased use of facial expressions (and less use of the crappy low res faces with the stiff mouth flaps). They're probably the best facial features I've ever seen for PS2. The visuals also impress with Twilight Town. The beautiful sky and other small bits make the town appear much bigger than it actually is.

Mapping the examine button to Triangle is the best improvement to the game. No longer will you accidently swing your keyblade on any NPC you try to talk to. :doh:

Also, the Reaction button in battle is every bit as excellent as you've heard. Context sensitive buttons have become a bit of a fad lately, with games like Resident Evil 4 and God of War. Some might also consider it a cheat, making it easy to render complex moves and acrobatics with little control from the player. Well the day may come when next gen games will let us replicate those insane moves in realtime, but for now, I'm enjoying the crazy battles, especially the one against the giant Nobody.

Nobody does action like Nomura.

Speaking of which, the Nobody, despite looking cool and having some very creepy animations, are also the physical manifestation of Nomura's zipper fetish.

You have to give Nomura props for taking characters as old as Seifer, and still have them speak and act exactly the way they did back in FFVIII. Seifer has his battle stance, Raijin still ends every sentence with "Ya know!?", and Fujin still describes everything in one word outbursts. I don't like what they did to my Vivi, though.

"My life is a chip in your hands. Time to ante up!"

Amazing, they actually took my favorite Setzer line from FFVI and brought it back here. Well done. I really wish the other FFVI crew was here.

The voice acting is pretty amazing so far. I might even say it's the best voice acting out of any Square game. All the newcomers sound very natural, even surpassing the acting from the original. Christopher Lee is just awesomeness personified. I really, really hope they use him for FFXII. He would be perfect in that game.

I'm also impressed how much David Boreanez has improved on Squall (judging from his re-recorded dialogue during the past clips). As for Suvari, also judging by the brief lines in the flashback, well she is passable, but compared to all the other strong voicework, she sounds weak in comparison. It isn't bad, but it doesn't measure up to Mandy Moore. I really hope she does a better job in AC (after such a long wait, there better not be any flaws in that movie).

I'm a bit letdown that one VA didn't return to reprise his role. (not really a spoiler but just in case)

Spoiler:

Billy Zane isn't Ansem this time. Ziggy does a great job, but Zane just rocked with that deep voice of his. Damn.

I do have one complaint with the voice acting, and that's the choice pronounciation of some FF names. Seifer is prounounced as "Sai-fer", instead of "Say-fer". I find the latter to be accurate, because it would have to be spelled as Siefer in order to be prounounced "Sai-fer". What's even worse is that the girl character (Omelett or something...) calls him "Say-fer"!

It gets worse though. Selphie briefly mentions Tidus, and calls him "Tai-dis", which is stupid since it was established in the original game that it's prounounced "Tee-dus". There was already prior arguments over which prounounciation was correct, and now this is going to start the debates all over again.

Finally, Vivi is prounounced "Vee Vee". I always used "Vi-Vee" (like Vivian). It really sucks to spend so many years prounouncing a character's name a certain way, only to find out you were incorrect.

Also, using Sora and Kairi's pre-pubescent voices from the first game is a nice touch. God bless continuity (and damn you, Mandy Moore).

Anyway, the story starts off strong right from the start. It's refreshing to see an Evangelion/Lain style of head trips and warped reality debates in what is essentially a Disney product. I'm very glad they didn't interfere with Nomura's writing (which, between this and FFVII, is establishing him as a master of making his characters really trip out). Things remain lighthearted while at the same time have an omen of impending doom to it. I bet it'll be especially bizzare to anyone who didn't finish CoM.

On that note, the game does a very good job of summarizing the events of the first KH through its constant flashback clips. The same doesn't apply to CoM so far, though, so I hope the majority of you finished it, or at least know the ending.

The unveiling of No. 13 (or is it No. 1?) was just awesome. They really set it up for surprise as the hood slowly comes off. I'm not even going to spoiler tag it, because I'm afraid someone will respond with a follow up that will ruin the future twists. But bottom line, KH2 does a great job of making sure that Sora and Roxas' story outweighs the Disney portion of the story. In fact, the Disney portion now seems as an afterthought, almost uneccesary. The main story with the original characters stands just fine on its own.

I can't wait to see Nomura's FFXIII.

Finally, Kairi is really, really cute. :love:

Oh, and my Gamestop got pretty annoying today. First, the clerk kept asking if I wanted to move my $5 that was used to reserve the game onto reserving something else.

"No thanks."

"Really? Are you sure? There's that new Final Fantasy coming you know. That new...Final Fantasy VII game."

"......"

I was also tempted to get that Limited Edition strategy guide. Even with the discount though, it would have totalled $75 if I got it with the game. Hell no. Perhaps I can get it for cheap in Amazon.

Even if I could though, I don't normally buy Strategy Guides. I can figure out most of the game on my own, and there's always Gamefaqs. The only reason I'd consider it is the beautiful artwork. So I ask those who bought the LE: Is the extra art worth it, or is it a small amount that hardly collects all the art?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Shouldn't they be informed on how to prounounce the name before they say it? Is it written phonetically in the script for the actor to use? I would think that's the case, otherwise there would be constant screwups when the VA's try to say a difficult name. One example that comes to mind is Tenchu. As crappy as the voice acting was to begin with, it was especially hilarious when this one boss character literally stumbles as he tries to prounouce his own name. :doh:

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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As for how the VAs pronounce the names, well, I thought that the recording directors or whoever supervises the recording sessions would catch these small errors, but I guess not.

Or maybe there's so much dialogue, they can't keep track of it all. I remember the dub of the original MGS, where Meryl prounounces Otacon as "Oh-tacon". ><

Embarrasingly, I used to pronounce Tifa as "Tai-fa" when I was in high school. I soon worked in "Teefa", since everyone else was using it. It's pretty common knowledge, but regardless, they better get it right in the game.

Same for Sephiroth, though I don't really see any other way they could pronounce it.

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Then Rinoa always pronounced as Rai-no-ah when it should be (according to katakana) Ree-no-ah. Haha, and as for Quistis, never really seemed to figure out how to say it probably, probably will forever remain a mystery to me.

I say Rinoa as "Ri (like rim)-noah(like the dude with the arc)"


Quistis I say as "Qwis (like Quiznos) tess".

I was speaking idiomatically.

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Here's the full cast list for everyone curious:

Might want to spoiler tag that. I avoided looking at the cast list on the manual, afraid they might list some character names I wouldn't want to know about yet (like the hooded characters who are still kept secret).

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Do yourself a favor and do it. You are missing out on a TON of stuff if you haven't played it.

Not necessarily true. Most of Sora's story from CoM is insignificant since he forgets it all anyway. Riku's, on the other hand, gives tons of hints about DiZ and the other members, so I recommend playing through that one at least.

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It's actually not him; it's Doug Erholtz, a.k.a. Doug Berholtz.

Aw, damn, you serious? That was the one thing I gave Boreaniz credit for (I'm no Buffy/Angel fan). Granted this other guy seems to do a better job, but still...

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to my amusement--that Seifer is voiced by Will Friedle.

Ha ha, oh man, it's true. Terry from Batman Beyond plays Seifer. Awesome.

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Christy Carlson Romano, for some reason, is not Yuffie. It's Mae Whitman. I had a hunch it wasn't Christy...

But wasn't Romano confirmed to play Yuffie in AC? So why isn't she in KH2 (unless she gets only a handful of lines)?

Crap like this pisses me off. I'm a stickler for consistency, so it always bugs me when there's a VA change during sequels. I can learn to accpet the new VA for Squall, but why change Yuffie, especially if she's going to be in AC? I'm not going to comment on Suvari either.

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Heh, talk about the longest introduction I've ever played before. Took me over 3 hours before it got to the title screen.

I just hope the Disney worlds are just as long.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

If she's the type to actually care about e-mails and respond to them, then go for it.

FELIPE NO

I'm still in Twilight Town. I'm going to take my time with this one, and let the story sink in.

How many days total are in TT? Spoiler mark it if you wish.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

More like "we ran out of money". Besides, FMVs take up most of the disc space, so seeing how there's only a few in there, it isn't too strange that the game is 3 GB.

Now that I'm up to the beginning of Hollow Bastion, I have a few more impressions to add.

I honestly hope the last boss from Roxas' story is just a taste of the amazing battles I can look forward to down the road. It was brief but incredible. It also begs the question....

Spoiler:

Is Axel really dead? It's hard to say, as his death didn't resemble the way the other members in CoM died (just fading away). Also, he has faked his death before. And don't answer this question.

And to add to that...

Spoiler:

I'm pretty surprised Axel cares that much for Roxas, considering the way he backstabbed the other members in CoM. It looked like he had no loyalties to anyone, so seeing him with a compassionate side is a bit surprising. I hope they elaborate more on this later.

I absolutely loved the cutscene that reintroduces Sora. The buildup was just great, like a reunion with an old friend. They've also done a great job establishing the relationship between him, Goofy and Donald. Sora now feels like a genuine part of the Disney universe, and not just a guest star.

The scene where Sora boards the train made me choke up a little.

Spoiler:

The unexplained tear made me think that it came from Roxas, deep within Sora somewhere, saddened to say goodbye to his friends. Nomura sure knows his drama.

Oh God, BEST PETE EVER. I'm utterly amazed how they nailed him down. His animation, the bouncing chinflesh, Jim Cummings rocking as always. Pete alone is a testament to the brilliant artists behind KH.

I doubt the Three Goodfairies are played by their original VA's, but if that isn't the case, the actressess responsible did a damn convincing job. Also,

Spoiler:

The bit about not speaking Maleficent's name reminded me of Voldermort. Was this rule established in Sleeping Beauty? Haven't seen that movie in ages.

I am deeply, deeply saddened that Uncle Scrooge lacks his awesome (and still quite alive) VA. Maybe there's a chance he'll say something later, but I won't give my hopes up.

About Yuffie's "new" VA, it's noticably not Christie Romano, but the VA still does a good job. She puts far more effort than Suvari. Regardless, she's a bit more cheerful and older sounding compared to Romano's Yuffie. I really hope this will be the only exception, especially considering Yuffie's role in DoC.

Love the remade Hollow Bastion theme.

Finally, is it me, or is Mickey saying "Pown" instead of "Town"? :/

Jam it back in, in the dark.