Revisiting The Vanilla Version of Kingdom Hearts 2
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- The original version of Kingdom Hearts 2 is somewhat shrouded now due to Final Mix being the easiest to access, so let's take a look back on what KH2 Vanilla was like and what Final Mix added!
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I remember when I found out about Final Mix for KH2 I was obsessed with it. I even bought the Japanese ps2 copy of it and used a tool called a slide tool which was a disc you put in then you use this special shaped plastic to pull out the ps2 disc drive so you can switch the disc, it had to be done every time I wanted to play the game but I didn't care. It was worth it and to this day KH2FM is one of my favorite games of all time! P.S sad how the PS2 was region locked.
There’s many workarounds for that now, plus you can play imports no problem on OPL, I’ve done that with the final mixes with English patches and the JP vanilla games.
Oh man I remember wanting one of those bad boys so bad just for Final Mix but my Mum never allowing me to swipe the credit card mean't I had to wait several years to save up for a PC to emulate 😭😭😭
I did this very same thing lol. I would watch the data boss fights constantly and when I finally got the Swap Magic ps2 discs and final mix imported for christmas I was so happy! I had to make my own slide tool with an old credit card lol
@@windalchemist1611 Yeah my friend tried to do that but it didn't work out to well. 😂
Jeah that swap magic tool was great :D
If you didn't know about Final Mix, the vanilla version is still insanely good. Final Mix just makes an already amazing game even better by adding extra content. The CoR is still the best end game content we ever had in KH. I would love to see more post game dungeons in the future. Loved it in Final Fantasy and I loved it in KH2.
YES PLS, MORE POST GAME DUNGEONS FOR FUTURE GAMES
@@TheGamersJoint Kingdom Hearts Omega Ruins 😂😂🔥
You re in high school again
NO RECEEEES
I guess the one thing that is better in OG is the music. Your preference tho. I just love the Main Menu theme.
@@MariusBoss11458 Yeah they kind of botched the mixing or whatever it is. Some themes just sound way more intense in the original version like 13th dilemma and the other promise
One of the biggest differences for me was Roxas' ingame battle quotes, specifically the attack/damaged sounds. In 2.5, they were swapped out with Ventus' quotes, which are much less... fitting for him, even though it's the same voice actor.
Wait they were. I didn’t notice that
There's a mod on nexus that switches back to his Ps2 orginal voice
Is there a way to do mods on the ps4
Even worse having grown up with one of the many localized dubs that they for some reason all threw out... I often wish I could play 2.5 with the german voices.
Yeaaaa I absolutely really disliked that, it felt so weird roxas having his own battle quotes not only made him more of his own character but also pretty badass in the orginal.
I remember way back when the trailers first released for KH3 everyone was saying “why are the bottom of Sora’s shoes so white/bright?” And I had to convince myself that they were always like that because everyone else was so used to the FM retexture. It wasn’t until I found a mod that textures Sora like how he is in vanilla I finally sighed in relief knowing I wasn’t crazy.
What the Final Mix version added to KH2 is unmatched by most DLC / definitive versions of most games made today and made an already amazing not only the best in the series, but my favorite video game of all time
Nah the dickeating is crazy tho…
To be fair, they kinda HAD to make it better... because, without the ability to add DLC separately, people would have to re-buy a game they already own... so they had to make it worth the sale...
@lord barking Back when they knew everything was going on a worldwide permanent disc, no updates no bs, using every dollar and possible resource at their disposal. Those were the days…
@@TheDeathmail And even that wasn't enough as they added Re:CoM. Makes me wonder if KH1FM didn't sell well enough so they had to up the features.
The part where you mention being confused towards how people had FM exclusive content was so relatable as a kid, I used to think how and when tf do *I* get limit form, fight roxas, LW and previous org members. good memories.
Lets not forgot about roxas’ old combat voices. That man sounded like he reaaally wanted to hurt people
“RAWGHH
“HURAGGHHHH”
Dunno why they decided to use Ventus’s combat voice in the PS3 version onwards because despite voiced by the same person, Jesse uses completely different tone to voice Roxas and Ventus
@@ardianhesa4340didn’t know they were the same person or that they switch voices , but if the voice actor is the same person does it even matter
@@Rinn3godVen and Roxas are different characters with different personalities. Ven is upbeat and playful, Roxas is angy and edgy. giving Roxas Ven's voice lines in combat makes him less distinct.
Perfect timing, I’ve just completed my second play through of kh2. Still my favourite kingdom hearts game. Timeless classic
1 billion % correct, good sir 🔥
Man. I was 14 when KH2 Final Mix came out and I got the "brilliant" idea of just buying it from Japan. I remember fighting for a long time to convince my mother to import both Final Mix 1 and 2. When she finally gave in and they got here, I first found out about the joys of region locking. So my dad had to find a guy who knew how to mod my PAL PS2 to accept any games. My mom wasn't all too happy about how much trouble and money this had already cost. Once everything had finally been figured out and I got to play those copies of the games I loved so much, it was all worth it. To this day my mom reminds me of how all her misgivings vanished the second she saw how much joy the games brought me. I am 30 now, oh god why, and I am pretty sure KH1 is still my most replayed game of all time. I go back to it once every other year, at least. And now that I am writing this, of course I'll do it again.
This is a lovely story, especially the part about your mom being happy to see your joy playing the games.
I had a modchipped PS2 slim in beautiful satin silver. My mom bought it for me from the UK but it came stock and only accepted UK region discs. I had a friend who had stacks and stacks of PS2 pirated games and in my home country stores only sold pirated PS2 discs since we never had any official game shops, so after I bought my PS2 I bought a lot of games myself only to find out I needed to modchip my PS2 to play these pirated discs. So I told my dad and he took me to a shop to get it modchipped. After that I had amassed a massive collection of PS2 games and KH2 was one of my all time favorites on the system. If I had imported the Final Mix games I would have been able to easily run it on my PS2 since I got it modchipped but I never got around to playing KH2 FM until last year when I started emulating the English patched fan mod on my phone.
I had my PS3 which wasn't modchipped since the PS3 wasn't region locked and didn't get cracked until quite a few years after release so stores brought original discs from various regions and I bought about 80 original discs on that console, but no 1.5 or 2.5 remix. I still have my PS4 slim where I bought KH3 on and I have a couple of gaming PCs and laptops and I could buy The Story So Far collection either on EGS or PSN anytime but the temptation of playing KH2 FM portably was too much. It runs very nicely on my phone, maxed out at 8x res. The emulator is AetherSX2. I'm about 75% of the way through it.
I remember when me and my Brother played the Vanilla Version back when we were Kids we figured out, that the 200 rapid thruster on top of pride rock would respawn infinitely. The even dropped MP Orbs so you could just spam thundaga and farm EXP.
I’ve always really disliked most of the color changes for the heartless in both 1 and 2. Most of them were super unnecessary at best and incredibly ugly at worst. Kh1 in particular. Guard armor got fucked over hard.
They looked like a coloring book that you gave a child with 6 different crayons and left the room for an hour.
Purple guard armor was iconic. FM guard armor looks like garbage
100% agreed.
luckily i think we got mods for that in nexus :)
I always thought it was funny how the Final Mix Guard Armor's color swap is literally the primary colors of my country's flag
Fun fact about the Japanese vanilla KH2, there was a bug that made doing Trinity Limit with Donald and Goofy do the damage of your max damage, which could oneshot some bosses!
Oh yeah there was that, reflect was pretty weak, and Saix has some of his English grunts during battle.
This takes me back too
I remember the time where I found all these videos on youtube with like the secret ending, the data fights and all. And I was so confused because I didn't know any better!
I remember trying to find "the hole" in hollow bastion myself, not knowing how to get into the cavern of remembrance
I don't know when exactly I realized that it was basically DLC back then, but I remember being confused and sad for quite some time xD
SAME BROOOO I WAS LIKE “MY GAME SKIPPED ALL OF THIS WHATS WRONG WITH MY PS2” 😂😂😭 I searched vanilla KH2 for HOURS for the bonus content before learning what FM was when I was like 8, then my heart broke, then my life was completed via emulation like 5 years later thank god for those memories, felt like unlocking the maximum dopamine potential in my brain all at once lmao I wouldn’t change a thing
fucking same I cannot stop to look for that hole by that time over and over like something is gonna happen just for try It 🤣🤣
For the Xigbar one, I believe that is actually something that was censored in the NA release. 2.5 decided to stick with the original for all versions.
Technically yes and no. The original animation was used in FM/2.5, but the censored targeting reticule was retained - KH2J used a different graphic for the targeting reticule which was.... I guess slightly more realistic than the three purple circles?
16:07 The pattern on the sleeves in the original KH2 were from Master Form, while the Final Mix fixes this by adding the blue flames that were supposed to be there in the first place. They were also shown on the og KH2 strategy guide.
Welp, just wrote a comment detailing this, lol. Apparently the OG Japanese version had the correct textures, and then they were wrongly sourced from Master for international releases.
the biggest change i remembered not liking in 2FM was the sweet memories keyblade being completely different, and the pride rock spawn only having 1 enemy rather than a swarm.
Pride Rock can still span a swarm, it's just a random chance. But they made that heartless drop HP, removing the ability to farm XP with critical HP.
I didn't play the FM versions for any of the Kingdom Hearts titles until the 1.5 + 2.5 collection came out on PS4. I skipped the PS3 entirely, going straight from the PS2 to PS4. Which means that I didn't play the FM versions of these games until 2017.
I’m glad I’ll be able to have my son experience all of these games and I’m also glad that they are all on PS4 and Xbox. Even if it is the final mix editions, they are far better imo
Parenting advice: get your son a PS2 console and an OG copy of KH1 and KH2 greatest hits edition. Have him play it on an old school tv and then later on in life once he’s earned his right of passage synthesizing Ultima and beating Sephiroth on the PS2 controller, introduce him to the Final Mixes in crispy HD 60fps with the ReMaster (or the uncensored emulation version with an English patch if you want him to grow up to be a real one) with all the bonus content.
That is the journey one must walk if they wish to truly understand.
@@mistayoutubah unskippable cutscenes in KH1 is something one has to suffer through
@@KuronekoShrimpSama Repeatedly loosing to Riku II while underleveled... I think I memorised every line. I'm not gonna say it though, don't wanna evoke any pts or anything XD
@@mistayoutubah I can't tell if your joking...
@@jilp2002 why would I joke about Kingdom Hearts?
A couple weeks ago I went to an old game store with some friends that had games from all major consoles, and I managed to find two copies of the original KHII. It was wild holding an original PS2 copy with the shiny silver game cover art and all that
The reason why Xigbar has a different sniping animation in vanilla is because in og Japanese kh2 he made still the sniper rifle and then got an actual gun reticle. In international kh2 he lost the realistic reticle and just did the twirl so that it didn't look like real gun violence, and then in final mix they brought the sniper rifle back but kept the less realistic reticle.
I have to say, even to this day, though I love everything else about the Final Mixes, I HATE HATE HATE that they don't give you the option to toggle to the original enemy palette designs. It makes my autism flare up SO MUCH since all the other non-FM games in the series keep the original color designs. I know it's just a cosmetic change, but the inconsistency has always gotten under my skin, and yeah, I would much prefer seeing the original, nostalgic (and often just better) designs that I grew up with. If there's anybody out there who can make a mod with OG designs, please for god's sakes make one!
I think a mod does exist for PC, but yeah there really should be a toggle. The original palettes are way better
@Sophie yellow and brown soldier/large body heartless 🤢🤢🤢 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING IN THE HD 😩
Black and purple not only looks better but makes so much more sense from a story perspective and everything.
I understand they were tryna funk it up a little back then for the remix but dang it’s just so dang funky can’t believe this is some peoples first impression 😭
Enemy color pallets make your autism flare up? This is a bit concerning, maybe don't play Final Mix if you can't even handle some colors.
@Sophie for real, glad that mean guy is outta here 👏
24:57 It was probably changed because those fireworks dropped drive orbs after exploding. It was an easy way to level up Master Form in the vanilla game.
26:30 The vanilla animation was exclusive to the western release. Disney censored the use of a sniper rifle. They probably either forgot when II.5 came out or they let it slide because Xigbar’s limit in 358/2 Days was left alone despite the sniper rifle.
Man, this brings me back to when I was playing kingdom hearts 2 Vanilla. I played that version so many times I knew where I would get most of the stuff but when I played final mix for the first time, I reached agrabrah, Beat it and I was ready for the explosion ability but I didn't get it.
I was like "Where's my explosion? I want my explosion!" Wouldn't be till that godforsaken Solar sailor battle where I finally got it. That day really stung me.
This really brought nostalgia back to me. From the major chances to the little ones, like the redesign of the heartless, most of which I wasn't expecting. Thanks for this trip down memory lane Jared.
16:01
Actually, the OG wisdom form sleeves had the Master Form insignia. The FM change was simply fixing that so that it matched the pants like you said. Cuz the other Forms have matching insignias so Wisdom randomly having Master's insignia on the sleeves was making it the odd one out.
Damn, its so nostalgic! Back in 2015, when i had no access to consoles and was curios about kh franchise, i went along with the vanilla versions of the kh2 alongside kh1 and bbs in their respective platform emulators. Though kh2fm is far superior than vanilla, seeing the vanilla version again, espicially the original heartless colors made me tear up a bit.
I remember seeing some of the final mix stuff and was just thinking "how do I do that and why can't I do that"
Xigbar's sniper rifle animation was already there in the vanilla Japanese version of the game, but was then changed for the vanilla English versions due to censorship which also changed his crosshair HUD into that purple target pointer thing. Looks like they brought that animation back for all the HD versions, yet the crosshair HUD is still missing - perhaps only for the non-Japanese releases.
if I remember correctly Xigbar's lack of a sniper rifle was a change made only to the international version. I do believe it's still there in the original Japanese non-final mix version
one other change I didn't see mentioned was the change made to the top of Pride Rock. in the vanilla version there'd be a swarm of heartless up there that dropped only MP prizes which made it the perfect exp grinding spot. in Final Mix they lowered the spawn rate of the swarm and changed it so that they dropped HP prizes so you can't get the benefit of the exp booster abilities
I didn’t play Final Mix until a few years ago, but honestly for me there’s something so special about playing the OG KH2 on the PS2. That’s where it all started for me
Nail on the head. I got my import of KH2FM+ in 2008. It made my whole experience of the original KH2. You completely took the words out of my mouth. You’re an OG for sure
I had this "What's this 'final mix' thing on UA-cam?" mystery experience but with 'Birth By Sleep' as a young teenager. I remember being confused seeing Purple Unverse on UA-cam videos, rather then the vanilla Blue Unverse; as well as the secret chapter with aqua in the dark realm and extra cutscenes I hadn't unlocked, and extra arena bosses and post-game bosses.
It was pretty demorilizing at the time, to feel like I was missing out on the full Birth By Sleep experience. Especially with all the extra post-game content.
Another difference I noticed was there was a grind spot in the pridelands where you fight Scar and fight a horde of the tiny heartless. They changed the frequency of them appearing like the Land of Dragons example you provided. Instead of them instantly respawning, it takes multiple times of entering a room for them to appear again.
Great video! I've always wondered what were the differences between vanilla and Final Mix. I DEFINITELY miss the OG color schemes for the heartless. It bothers me so much when I replay the FM versions. They did our boi Soldier dirty with that re-color
PURPLE AND BLACK > YELLOW AND BROWN 🤢🤢🤢💩
18:46 speaking true facts here. Even without the addition combo modifiers, kh2 vanilla combat still felt fluid and tight. It's a classic.
Great video! One huge difference that you did not talk about is that the HD Final Mix has updated, fully orchestrated soundtrack, whereas the vanilla version has a fully synthetic/electronic soundtrack. I tend to prefer the synths because I grew up on the vanilla version, but the remastered music sounds fantastic! Real instruments bring out a great sound!
Synth gang for life -
“Booooop boooooooop beeeeeeeeeeep,
Booop booop booop beeep beep,-
boopy boooooooop, boooooop beeeeeeeep,
Boop beeep boop beeeep booop booooopy
booooooooooooooooooop…”
-Twilight Town, Lazy Afternoons
Twilight Town music just doesn't feel the same in the HD game..
@@keyblader1985 exactly, like it was very sweet of them to do an orchestral remake of the entire soundtrack for us, but the og vanilla synth just SMACKS SO HARD 🔥
One thing you forgot to mention, and something I abused back then, is in the vanilla version, at the top of Pride Rock, there are a ton of Rapid Thrusters up there that you could use to Level up to 99 VERY fast.
If you were to use Gravity (or any upgraded versions) you would be able to kill them all real fast. Leave the room and go back up to it and they are back again.
I remember pulling this off just so I could beat Sephiroth for the first time lol I was a little disappointed when this got removed, but looking on it now, they probably didn't want us abusing that anymore lol
You can still do that in the final mix version of KH2
@@anthonyrodriguez2038nope. they aren't there anymore
@@yinyangdragon3381 I did this on the ps4 version, honestly
Isn't gravity a kh1 spell?
@@personwhoplaysgames332 it's in KH2 as well
Not sure if someone brought this up yet, but another difference I found was in The World That Never Was, the city areas had heartless enemies while the castle areas had nobodies. This was changed in the remix where the enemy types were swapped for each area.
The fireworks change in Land of Dragons was probably because it was super easy to farm drive orbs to level up master form. That’s what I used to do.
I had the opposite reaction to the Explosion change. I distinctly remember being really confused during the section of Hollow Bastion when you're running up to the castle for the second Space Paranoids visit convinced I should have definitely had Explosion by that point. And I should have! If it was vanilla... Oh well, at least I finally got it not long after that point. I remember it coming in handy for when the SP Heartless are spawning into HB.
I think the change at 24:42 was maybe made because you use drive orbs to upgrade Master Form. Maybe they thought it was broken if people went room to room to gain exp for it. But on the other hand they still have it where you can reset your drive gauge from the Gummi Ship and Hades' Tournament so I have no idea.
Thank you to everyone who worked on that KH2 FM English patch! I played it too and I felt so lucky to have found that in my teens.
I love your videos man.
There is a reason fireworks in Land of Dragons were given a new respawn rule. One of the forms gets XP by picking up drive orbs. So you'd go in and out of that room to speed level.
Another fun Form leveling trick. When the form is about to time out, go back to your Gummi Ship, before it reverts you. It will return the drive gauge you spent for that form.
i still know that one day....
when i started the original kh 2 in 2012, i got it from my brothers who already played it a long time b4 that.
it was the first game i ever played in my whole life, i loved it
now im obsessed with the franchise again, cant wait for kh 4
My best guess about fireworks 24:45 being less frequent to lessen the spam on Levering up master form
I ABSOLUTELY kingdom hearts 2 in both formats. and yes, I was poking through UA-cam and came across the roxas fight and was instantly upset and confused why I couldn't fight him
UA-cam is the reason why I wanted final mix, I asked some of my family for help to buy me the game but it was like 70-80 dollars so my mom bought me swap magic instead and I burned the game on a disc. My parents were separated and my ps2 was with my mom and only could go there on the weekends for awhile but I did try to run it on the PC in my room it ran at like 4 frames a second, eventually I was allowed to bring the ps2 over to where I was living at and move it back and fourth. Swap Magic allowed me to play final mix! In December of 2020 I finally got a physical copy of Final Mix 2 plus. It was amazing ! I hope everyone enjoys this story !🙂 I played Vanilla kh2 back in 2006 at my grandmas house on her ps2 so kh2 has special memories for me 🙂. I Played Kh1 at her house in either 2002 or 2003 but because of this I got to learn about this amazing series which is my favorite of all time !
Another change is that in vanilla kingdom hearts. In the World that Never Was, shadows will always spawn in the valley no matter how far you make it in the castle. In the final mix version, when you beat xemnas for the first time, the valley will be filled with nobodies instead.
Prime farming ground for Wisdom EXP, and if you don’t plan for it in final mix you lose it
I even miss having the whole game freeze for like 12 seconds when you entered a drive form
This takes me all the way back to my elementary days, the orginal KH2 was I believe the game I played the absolute most everyday I got home and several years later when I started getting on UA-cam seeing final mix it was interesting cause at the time I thought the same that I needed to put in a cheat code to access the new color palettes or abilities it was certainly something and I finally got to play final mix back in 2018 and it was a HUGE difference in comparison to the original. Vanilla KH2 still will always have a special place in my heart since it was the first kingdom hearts game I ever played and what got me started in this amazing series I most recently played it this past Sunday and even tho it certainly can make you feel a bit handicapped at times it still holds up just as good as it did all those years ago.😁🔥👍
@lord barking oh dang that's awesome and you and me both it's very addicting since it's that good 🤣😆
Can't begin to say how much I relate to the story at the beginning. I remember doing the same thing and being so excited when I finally found a prepatched english version of final mix. I also found BBSFM english patch and played it on the psp emu a few years later, boy, those we're the days. Now I'm on to modding KH3 and I gotta say I'm really happy with all the stuff the community has come up with and fixed, it's amazing. They even made an in-game version of all the X-keepers keyblades, yours and skyward wings are personally my favorites.
I have to say when it comes to original vs final mix I really really REALLY miss the original color palettes of the heartless in 1 and 2, the heartless were always very colorful and in style with the world they were encountered in but they were almost always made up of dark colors, final mix colors conjure up the "wacky rainbow candy piñatas" style that would later become the staple of the dream eaters of DDD.
I remember being so excited when they first announced 2.5 having the final mix versions of the games. I was one of those kids that were morbidly curious about the extra bosses in the final mix version
You forgot Port Royals battle music had the proper Pirates of the Caribbean theme
The younger self thinking, "why isn't Kh2 didn't let me fight the PAST Organization 13 members. I haven't get a chance to fight Roxas, didn't see the extra cutscenes, not having a lot of abilities, and finally... I'm just glad I didn't get to use the critical mode
You forgot to mention Roxas' outfit got a texture overhaul as well in FM.
KH 2 vanille will be a badass memory for life, I recently playd both vanilla version of the KH 1 and 2.............. man I am still used to the color of those heartless instead the one from final mix
It's certainly harder to go back to the vanilla versions of the games now but just recently I played both Kingdom Hearts 1-2 FM via the story so far, then bought a PS2 and played through each on there, definitely a strange experience, but while EXTREMELY hard to adjust to, especially after playing so much of the FM versions for almost a decade now, but they still hold up exceptionally well and are still great experiences
this whole video was you me and maybe a lot of the community. , appreciate this a lot. I have been on a nostalgic railroad
Even playing without the bonus content KH2 is still the best title in the series 🔥😮💨
True that. The tight and fluid combat and the epic story i've ever seen.
@@kerozine819 but it was too easy
KH1's standard mode was harder
Fun fact: kh 1 and 2 were my first 2 games, and I had a blast on the second one.I'm still obsessed with this game, I have 2 tattoos about it
the change in music is also a significant change from KH2 to KH2 FM for me. I liked a lot of the newer renditions prior to their old verisons (the encounter especially comes to mind, never liked the old one but the new one is one of my favs).
Altought there are some songs in which I prefer the original ones over the FM ones, like Vim and Vigor and dance to the death.
Wish we were able to switch what verions of the song you could listen to in game and indiviual songs to mix it up to your liking!
You forgot the most important change of all! Roxas's voice and sound effects in the battle with the Twilight Thorn! How could you forget that? In all seriousness though, I actually am a bit bummed that they were changed. It made him feel more unique.
I never knew until today that Roxas’s battle voice was changed O.o
That wasn't a final mix change specifically, it was a 2.5 change
My Big brother allowed me and him (to probably our dismay at the time) experience KH1 Final Mix and KH2 Final Mix because even when we were both younger he was very techsavy and understood technology. And so he was able to find the files and Burn copies of both them for us to play, though not having a hacked or Region Free PS2 we had to do some disc manipulation to get them to work they were still functional and it was interesting playing them at the time.
(If any of that sounds like its inaccurate btw keep in mind these are memories of events that happened over 15 years ago)
My silly headcanon about the heartless color palettes changing is that it's an aftereffect of Namine messing with Sora's memories. Much like how Vanitas looks like Sora despite Sora having just been born when Vanitas was created (audience perception filter.)
It's still so wild to me that when you talk about KH2 online, everyone asumes you're refering to the final mix version, and the vanilla version is considered rare. To this day, I haven't been able to play KH2 final mix yet and I'm a big fan of the series
Surprised you never mentioned the biggest change! In Pride Lands in vanilla, if you head to the top of Pride Rock, there's a ton of heartless to take out that expedited getting to the max level. In the Final Mix version, it's one singular heartless. The new method is similar to the vanilla, but there's a run through in The Workd That Never Was
Incredible video Jared, this brought back so many memories, makes me think about the fact that KH has been part of my life since basically forever, the analysis was also so in depth, I forgot about all the many changes final mix brought to KH2, I would really like a series of this, analysis about all KH games that had a final mix version and comparisons with the 2 versions. I don't know if KH1 has enough material about that since the original international ps2 version was actually very similar to final mix everything considered, while the original Japanese version was actually really lacking compared to FM, but BBS would be extremely interesting I think, anyway I'm digressing but well done, you nearly made me shed a few tears :')
Fun fact: During the second fight with the Grim Reaper when you put all the medallions back if you look at its transformation you can very briefly see its original colors.
At least I think anyways.
I only just now realized that Demyx time was increased to 13 seconds, no wonder I felt like I lost to him so many times more in OG KH2
I also just realized the KH2FM wisdom outfit differences because I do remember looking at it and just “something isn’t right…”
26:20 It’s actually changed to 15 seconds in final mix for the story fight. It was 13 seconds in the data fight. I bet so many controllers wouldn’t be broken if they just bumped up the timer by a few seconds.
All of the gameplay changes that were made to Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix were put there to make the game just a tad bit more challenging for players. The fact that you couldn't get as many support items or that you couldn't earn really useful abilities until damn near the end of the game are proof of that. The same can be said for the phenomenon with fireworks in Land of Dragons. Each of the Drive Forms has a specific experience boost criteria you have to meet to level up the forms. Valor gains experience for every attack you land, Wisdom gains experience for every Heartless you kill, Limit gains experience for every Limit combo you land, Master gains experience for every Drive orb you pick up, and Final gains experience for every Nobody you kill. The best places to get Drive orbs to level up Master Form were Beast's Castle and Land of Dragons. If memory serves, they also limited the number of Drive orbs you could get from the suits of armor in the West Hall of Beast's Castle as well as the fireworks in Land of Dragons.
All and all, KH2 Final Mix is arguably the best Final Mix we've gotten to date. KH1 Final Mix was pretty good, and BBS Final Mix was phenomenal, but you really can't beat KH2 Final Mix in terms of quality and content. I really do wish there was an option to switch between the OG enemy designs and the recolors. That friggin Assault Rider recolor is a fucking abomination. Who in the hell thought it was a good idea to turn the Assault Rider into the Hippie Horse? They could have at least inverted the original color scheme so that the Assault Rider looked more red than black. Or better yet, they could have made it look black and grey so that it would more closely resemble Shan Yu.
I LOVE BOTH VERSIONS! I love Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix because of ALL the extra content! The OG Kingdom Hearts II was already a damn masterpiece, and then Final Mix just made it even MORE PERFECT!
The original Kingdom Hearts II is STILL an awesome game! Again, even without the extra content, Kingdom Hearts II is still one of the best video games ever made! And MY personal favorite in the series! NOW AND FOREVER!
The thing you said at the beginning. Having had played the original KH2 and stumbling upon Final Mix content on the Internet. I completely forgot about it, but you've evoked the exact same feeling I had way back when.
KH2 was my introduction to the series way back in 2006, back in a time when I didn't understand English as well as I did today (and playing games like these were key to keep me interested in learning the language). It's so cool going down memory lane and revisiting this awesome game.
I remember saving up all my birthday money and having my poor mother drive me to the nearest walmart one day after school (she was working 12-hour shifts at the time and would get home around 7) solely to buy kh2. I remember picking out the game behind the glass case and spending ALL my $60 which was a lot considering I was like 10 at the time. I remember reading the game case over and over again on the car ride back with so much anticipation to get home and finally start playing! My first walkthrough took me a couple of days after school to beat the Roxas intro. I was on the intro for so long that I began to wonder if Sora was even in the game lol. I then played it every day and couldn't wait to show all my friends this masterpiece. Although I was very confused with the story, I was determined and finally beat it. I must've beat the original KH2 about 5 times as a kid. That was over 15 years ago. Crazy to think I still occasionally play this game today because it's exceptional and holds a special place in my heart.
i'm so happy that i still have a PS2 with kh1 and kh2 on it. and i got an xbox-S for the final mixes and kh3
I had played final mix originally but after becoming obsessed with kh so I bought kh2 for the ps2 just because it was my favorite game and while not the same as my preferred version it was still nice to have. And after a while I booted it up and played it, getting to the max level, ultima weapon, beating sephiroth, and the game. Though I did start to realize how much final mix did, It wasn't the kh2 I knew but it was still kh2 in a way. I think not getting Fenrir, not having the mushroom 13 to grind out certain drive forms, and the absence of my favorite fight in the series sora v roxas makes me appreciate final mix so much more
That GREEN Morning Star at 3:05 really threw me off. I completely forgot what vanilla colors even looked like.
I think we all became upsessed with KH2FM when we learned of its existence lol i researched endlessly trying to get my hands on it. Ill never forget the struggle. Funny thing is i read in the past that america was never going to get a patched version of FM as it was something special exclusive for japan
3:53 Well, the original version of KH1 in Japan only had the Phantom as a superboss as well as the additional cups and Synthesis, but the international version added Kurt Zisa, the Ice Titan, and Sephiroth, so it did actually have a pretty decent post-game or at least compared to base KH2. All FM added was Xemnas and the Special Heartless for Synthesis, which the latter some people consider a detriment than anything since it makes getting Ultima Weapon more of a pain in the butt.
It's cool to see that a lot of people had the same experience I had with final mix. For the longest time I thought that the different color pallets were a critical mode exclusive thing, where the buffed enemies had different colors to indicate a more elite status.
Another difference between the vanilla and final mix is that in the World that never was, the place where you arrive at the world you only fight shadows. In final mix after beating Xemnas that changes to dusk nobodies
My story with Final Mix pretty much matches yours, minus the part of selling games to buy a PC. I did emulate the game, but I did so through my crappy laptop. It was playable, but definitely not the best way to play it. But I didn't care back then, because I was finally playing the mysterious Japan-only version of my favorite PS2 game, and I got to experience all of the unique content it contained first-hand (apart from the secret bosses, because that lag made doing the Nobody gauntlet in CoR impossible lol).
I do agree, it is weird to think that there used to be a time where the FM versions were so highly sought after, seeing how they're pretty much the only way to get them on modern releases these days. I'm glad that they're so accessible now, especially considering how essential they are to the overall series lore, but I also can't help but reminisce to when I played the OG PS2 version, spending time grinding to lvl 99, fighting Sephiroth and getting the Fenrir, which back then was my greatest achievement in any game I played.
Literally the very franchise that started my love for video games, the first KH game was the absolute first game I ever played in my life and I'm happy that it was a huge part of my childhood. Being able to finally play KH2 on the PS2 so long ago was amazing. Now I have the KH collection for PS4 and I gotta say, playing through any of the KH games makes me feel like a kid again even though I never played any of the "in-between" installments as a kid. Also I have to say this... I'm happy that the PS2 version of KH2 is still very relevant in 2022... Yeah I know I made a corny joke about the number 2. XD
KH2FM proves that some games only need the slightest of tweeks to achieve greatness. Yes, obviously the new area and bosses are a huge plus, but the addition of Limit Form, Critical Mode and the slight changes to the drive gauge were all the game needed to go from an 8 to a 9.5.
That encounter ost in the back brings me back.
For 24:45, they made this change because people were farming the drive orbs to level up master form quickly instead of using the form in combat.
I never understood what people were talking about when i saw stuff like KH2FM and KH2.5 Remix or whatever. It literally wasnt until the beginning of this year (2022) that i learned what final mix was all about when i found it and bought it off the Xbox marketplace
There's something to be said about vanilla Wisdom Form, Sora's arm textures were mistakenly taken from Master Form in every post-Japanese release and were fixed in FM+, the of Vanilla JP release dating back to 2005 did have the correct textures for the Wisdom Form and it's virtually identical to FM+
i remember the official guide book for KH2 back in the day showed that Wisdom form with the blue flames sleeves, so i think it was always suppose to be the flames, but something went wrong along the way
Actually final mix is the icon for wisdom for, vinilla kh2 had the icon for master form
The whole PC thing is legit the same story as mine, i first experienced kh2fm in 2012 using pcsx2 + upscaled the it to like 3k. Seeing the visual difference for the first time was simply unreal.
I think KH2 had the most speculation when it came to extra content because of Final Mix existing. I remember one of my friends and I found that if you 100% completed Jiminy's Journal you would get a summoning charm for Mickey. After doing it, I was slightly disappointed it wasn't true but hey full 100% on the Journal is still an accomplishment!
Omg thank you for telling me about the drive gage. I was going crazy trying to leave it up on vanilla thinking something was wrong 😅
I’m glad I’m not the only one with vivid memories of discovering Final Mix as a kid. I remember in like 2008 coming across it for the first time and wondering how they were able to fight Roxas and what this new special Drive form was, and also that you could DODGE ROLL again? I wanted it so badly, but as soon as I did some googling and found out it was Japan-exclusive it really bummed me out because I was a dumb kid who didn’t know how to order things online. Good times. The original KH2 was my childhood, KH2FM is like a superior version of my childhood. Such an insanely good addition all around.
Good lord, no wonder I thought KH2 Vanilla was the easiest game I've ever played when being surprised at Proud on 2FM kicking my ass. Explosion got pushed to *near the end of the game* when you have it almost right away in Vanilla is an absolute game changer, it really makes so many Heartless encounters outright trivial while I'd die quite a bit in FM by lacking it and getting reckless in a big group.
I just remember when I saw a video of someone using limit form and I was like, they modded kingdom hearts 1 and 2 together, and all I could try to do was figure out how to mod the games together until I finally got a PS3 and saw Kingdom Hearts 2.5 and I was like maybe it has better graphics, until I realized I was seeing things in new colors and that I have never seen in the original game, like the puzzle pieces and the enemies and eventually on my second visit to get my favorite keyblaade oathkeeper I saw limit form and I freaked out. I will never forget that feeling but the original game is still so good and you all should try it.
24:58 Because that was the primary method used to level up Master Form. Final Mix gives you newer, better ways to do it, and takes away the old one. Found that out the hard way.
I remember asking “Santa” for the Final Mix Version after I found out about it… he obviously didn’t brought me that, BUT because of it I got to play Re: Chain of Memories… so at least i got to experience the bridge between KH 1 and KH 2, because let’s be honest, most of us didn’t even played KHcom back in the day.
Man, even without fully knowing the story about Roxas, Namine and Sora losing his memory… somehow KH II instantly became my favorite game of all time.
I didn't know sephiroth was a secret boss when I played reg kh2 😫