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Home | Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix | Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories | |||
Well, that depends. If you live in Japan, you
should just be able to find it in any major video game retailer. However,
if you live anywhere else in the world, you're in a bit of trouble.
The game, unfortunately, never saw an American of European release, instead
being released only in Japan. However, that doesn't mean it is impossible
to obtain it. You simply have to be open to the wonder of importing. Importing
is buying a game from another country and having it shipped to you overseas.
Several online retailers allow this, but my personal recommendation would
be play-asia.com, but you're free to use any site that you can find,
of course. However, it's not as simple as just buying the game an popping it in your Playstation 2. The PS2, as most video game consoles, is region locked. What this means, is that the console will only play games from the same region it was made in (i.e. An American PS2 will only play games distributed in America). However, there are ways of getting around this. Several options exist, and I'd encourage you to search for more if you need to, but the option I use is called Swap Magic. Swap Magic is a special PS2 that allows you to bypass the region locking and play games from any region on your PS2. The way it works is that you insert the Swap Magic disc, and run it on the PS2. Then, when prompted, you simply remove the disc, and replace it with your fancy import game. Once you hit the Load Game option, it'll boot disc just as if it was from your region. It can be a little more complicated than that depending on what version of the Playstation 2, but it's generally fairly simple. At worst it will only require extremely minor alterations to your console, and regardless will never void your warranty. Still, you may want to search out more information on Swap Magic specific to your Playstation 2 to make sure you are willing to use the software. |
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One of the very interesting new scenes that was added to the game is one that plays after you defeat Saix in The World That Never Was. This new scene is very unique in that it lets us view an event that we all knew took place, but never got a chance to see first hand in Kingdom Hearts II due to the timeline: the battle between Riku and Roxas. The scene is portrayed as a flashback and brings us back to the point in time, before the game started, when Roxas betrayed the Organization, and Riku went to kidnap him in order to help Sora. The scene is very nicely done and shows Roxas defeating Riku, and forcing him to adopt to form of Xehanort's heartless. Although not vital to the story, it is a very neat scene, that many fans are happy about having found its way into the game. | ||||
Perhaps to most famous new scene in the game is the secret movie. If certain conditions are met (the conditions varying depending on your difficulty setting), than when you beat the game, a secret movie will play once the credits are finished. The scene is constructed using full motion video, meaning the animation is the same quality as that used in the opening and closing scenes of the game. The movie shows three armored warriors doing battle with a man who looks like an aged Xehanort, and a masked warrior wearing the same outfit Riku wore in his dark form during Kingdom Hearts 1. The scene is said to display an event that takes place during the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP, and has raised interest in the game through the roof. | |||||
Another new feature in the game is the twenty
new bosses added to game. Although only one of these bosses is optional,
all of them are very fun fights meant to provide a challenge and new concept
to the gameplay. The first type of boss that you'll come across in the game is the Absent Silhouettes. The Absent Silhouettes are dark orbs that are located in specific areas of certain worlds. When you interact with the orb, you face one of the Organization XIII members who was killed during Chain of Memories. There are five Absent Silhouettes in the game, and although all of them are available by the time you complete the game, you may be forced to wait until after completing the game to fight them, depending on your skill level, as they can be quite difficult. The fights give you with special rewards for beating them such as stat boosts additional drive gauges, or special equipment. |
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One of the most publicized new bosses is Roxas. Anyone who's played Kingdom Hearts II surely remembers the fight between Sora and Roxas at the Memory Skyscraper. In the original game, this fight was merely a cutscene (albeit an awesome one), and was not playable. For Final Mix however, they changed the scripting to allow the player to control Sora during that fight. Roxas is fought right before the cutscene plays, and provides quite the challenge. Roxas is very fast and is relentless in his attacks, making him a bit overwhelming. However, since the fight is required, it is of course balanced to make sure it is not too difficult for the player to defeat. | |||||
Perhaps to most appreciated bosses added into the game is the Data Room. The Data Room is located in a new area within Hollow Bastion and, once accessed, allows you to re-fight any member of Organization XIII. However, instead of simply making them the same exact fight, they've instead altered the bosses' stats and tactics to scale them for level 99. That means that even at maximum level these fights should still be challenging. These fights provide you with special rewards for beating them, and can be fought as many times as you wish. If you manage to defeat all of them (quite the feat indeed), you are rewarded with a crown that Sora will wear in game. There are two other side quests that reward you with these crowns and can be done in any order. The first one you receive will be bronze, the second one silver, and the third one gold. The crowns don't alter your stats, but are nice for showing off. | |||||
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The final new boss added into the game is the Enigmatic Soldier. Although his name was not known at the launch of the game, he has since been identified as Terra, one of the three playable characters in the upcoming PSP game, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Terra is notable for being arguably the most difficult boss in the series. His attacks are incredibly powerful, he has a massive health bar, and is very difficult to get a hold of. He is easily the toughest boss in Kingdom Hearts II. The fight is not necessary and is instead simply meant to challenge the player but is worth fighting nonetheless, as it becomes available in Disney Castle's throne room automatically once the game is beaten. You receive a crown for the beating this fight, just like you do for beating the Organization XIII Data Fights. | ||||
One major change to the game that you'll notice right away is Critical Mode. Critical Mode is a new difficulty mode that is even tougher than Proud Mode. Enemies do much more damage is Critical Mode, and Sora's HP maxes out at half of what it does normally. To compensate for this, the game provides you with 50 AP, and a few abilities at the beginning of the game. One of these abilities is called EXP 0, and is notable for the fact that it adds a very interesting dynamic to the game. EXP 0, as you might guess, prevents you from gaining experience, making people in search for a challenge capable of playing through the entire game at level 1. Although not recommended to anyone who's new to the game, if you're a Kingdom Hearts veteran who's no longer finds much challenge in the game, this may be the option for you. | |||||
The next change you'll witness is when you return to Twilight Town as Sora and are rewarded with Limit Form. Limit Form is a new drive form that costs four drive gauges to activate. The form only allows Sora to wield one Keyblade, and prevents him from using magic, but gives him apt compensation. First, the drive form does not require any party members to be activated, meaning those fights like the 1000 heartless battle now can be fought using a drive form. The form also reverts Sora to his Kingdom Hearts 1 appearance, allowing him access to all the attack abilities that were introduced in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. You also have your magic command replaced with the limit command, which allows you to activate the four special abilities Sora received in Kingdom Hearts: Strike Raid, Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum, and Ragnorok. You also gain access to the growth ability Dodge Roll, making the form very worth while to level up. | ![]() |
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The major side-quest that was added to the
game is the Organization XIII Mushrooms side-quest. This side-quest scatters
thirteen mushroom heartless through the various worlds, each of which will
challenge you to a unique mini-game. If you perform well enough in the mini-game,
they reward you with items, and money. If you perform well enough in all
thirteen mini-games, you are rewarded with a special Keyblade for Sora,
and a crown, like the ones rewarded for the Data Fight and the Terra fight. The final major change in Final Mix is the addition of a new area in Hollow Bastion called the Cavern of Remembrance, which opens up once you beat the game. The Cavern of Remembrance is very reminiscent of the old Hollow Bastion in appearance. It has a lot of challenging new heartless, and forces you to make use of the various growth abilities you gain from leveling up your drive forms, for platforming uses. If you manage to reach the end of the area, you'll unlock to Data Room, where you can engage in the Data Fights. It also opens up a shortcut to the Data Room so that you do not have to go through the entire cave every time you wish to visit the Data Room. |
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