I see that no-one has made a Kingdom Hearts 2 thread yet...granted, it ain't coming out for a while yet (supposedly 1st September or 1st October) but with all you KH1 fans on here I'm surprised one hasn't been made.
Anyway, KH2 news so far (I'm sorry about the copy and paste job, but there's just so much info...)...
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Story.
Little is known about the story. So far, all we know is that the heartless are slowly infesting the worlds once again, and Hollow Bastion seems to be the center of the problem. Sora and the crew go to HB to investigate, and there they find the Organization. Remember, the Organization care to study the ways of the heart, so whatever they are doing is likely something to do with that. Maybe all those heartless are a test of Sora's heart? Who knows at this point. The game likely starts with a dive to the heart as Blonde, then maybe a Twilight Town scene, then to Sora and the gang."Promises" is the them of KH2, so while that was big in CoM, that along with "Connections of Heart" should make up the non-disney part of Sora's story.
Heartless once again begin to appear in many Worlds, and threaten the balance of life. It's unknown why or how they have returned. Some claim that Hollow Bastion is once again the cause/source of their unpleasant return. When Sora hears about this, he gathers his companions and they immediately leave for Hollow Bastion. They arrive and discover the World is in total chaos. The essence of what they believe is Darkness, that is emanating from the castle, is warping the very World itself. Before they have a chance to head to the castle, they are surrounded on all sides by a very large group of Heartlesses, including some they had never seen before. They have no choice but to try and fight their way out, with the knowledge that very sinister things are taking place... and it's only the beginning.
The following is the official preview from Square-Enix:
It has been a year since the events of KINGDOM HEARTS. Sora and friends are joined by a vibrant new cast of characters, including the king himself. Together, they will face countless dangers in worlds both familiar and brand-new. It seems the Heartless still exist. A new villain also awaits but is it an old foe behind the mask, or a new menace? This mystery and others will be solved as the story unfolds in a grand adventure. KINGDOM HEARTS has sold over 4 million units worldwide and continues to gain popularity with fans of both DISNEY and SQUARE ENIX across the planet.
KINGDOM HEARTS captured the imagination of gamers young and old by combining classic DISNEY properties and implementing new characters and worlds with SQUARE ENIXs renowned style. The tale is brought to life by an all-star voice cast. Fans will revisit this beloved story and come to care for a new troupe of characters in KINGDOM HEARTS II.
The release date for KINGDOM HEARTS II will be announced at a later date. This title has yet to be rated by the ESRB.
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As with KH1, and KH:CoM (I think) there is a poem of sorts that reflects the storyline in some way, here's the KH2 poem:
"Walking this road,
Without you,
To remake forgotten promises and meet you at roads end.
Faded Memories,
Reconstucted Memories,
A dream - a dream of you,
In a world without you.
The dream I see in the world without you,
Torn dream, like a memory from the far past,
I'd like to put it together,
With you..."
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New Abilities.
Because of the new battle engine, several new abilites have been added to Kingdom Hearts 2, below is a confirmed list of Abilities:
- Mawarikomu [Turn behind the enemy for a sneaky attack]
- Wall Kick [Kick off wall's to keep in the air]
- Safe Landing [land safely when hit mid-air]
- Full Swing
- Teleport
- Air Juggle
- Zeus' Thunder
- Herc's Might
- Hermes' Tail
Abilities are no longer the 4th menu option, they are moved to the triangle button. Simply press triangle at the proper time to execute an ability. What's the proper time? A triangle appears on the enemy now, it's in the E3 and TGS 04 trailers. It seems to be situational like in KH, but unlike KH, it seems that there are different factors than just "how far away you are from the enemy" this time, which gives it much more variety. Also, where it says "COMMAND" on the menu, changes to the name of the attack you can execute when a triangle appears on an enemy.
Also the triangle button is the open chest button, obviously, when you aren't in battle.
There is also one ability we learned in Chain of Memories called "Terra" which allows Sora control a heartless for a limited amount of time and make it fight Sora's enemies. It'd be quite believing to see this sort of ability in Kingdom Hearts 2 except we might see it used as a magic attack, or even one of our new nifty triangle attacks. There's no guarantee that this will appear in Kingdom Hearts 2 but it is very likely.
Drive is the 4th menu option now. The number on your status bar is the number of drives you have. More advanced drives likely use up more than one number. You also have a drive meter, you fill up the drive meter, which raises your number by one. To raise, simply collect the orbs enemies drop (enemies drop munny, MP, HP, and drive now).
Drive allows you to merge with one of your partners, no, this isn't DBZ, Sora simply gets a costume color change. For Donald, it's blue, for Goofy, it's red. Drive makes you stronger, and you get to use two keyblades when you use it.
Magic has been greatly improved so it's useful in this game. Fire is now a circle of fire around you that hits enemies when they get near (look at the Disney Castle pic). I don't know how this attack is executed yet, but Sora spins and shoots flames out, likely a sort of triangle attack, but then again, it could be the new magic. Blizzard fires like a high speed shotgun, instead of wide and slow. Thunder only hits a single enemy, but i'm betting is more powerful, and can hit more as you get more advanced magic. Maybe lightning is a single enemy, thunder hits all.
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Worlds.
There are many different versions of which worlds are going to be in KH2, below are the
confirmed worlds, and all those that are
highly rumoured...
Destiny Islands
Twilight Town
Hollow Bastion
Ancient Greece (Hercules)
Fabled Countryside (Beauty & The Beast)
Ancient China (Mulan)
Disney Castle
Halloweentown & Christmastown
Agrabah
Deep Dive
Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood)
Pride Rock (The Lion King)
Camelot (The Sword In The Stone)
Prydain (The Black Cauldron)
Victorian London (The Great Mouse Detective)
The Jungle Book
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Well, there's some of the main info. If this thread gets a good reception, I'll add about characters and heartless etc, and also maybe a few videos...
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Sites used:
Sora's Domain
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania
Kindgom Hearts 2.net
I am officially psyched for this sequel. I am 'bout to go buy a PS2 to play the first one. That was just pimp. I especially liked when the FFX guy with one arm (Auron?) stopped Hades from attacking the Hero kid (Sora?). All I have to say is 
Linear Mode
