Kingdom Hearts II spoilers below
21. Kingdom Hearts II – Heartless Invasion
Whoa, all of a sudden, Kingdom Hearts II stuff is everywhere! I know this is a long sequence, but this is where it all gets real. It’s all (well, mostly all) awesome stuff with a great atmosphere. This entire sequence has a great sense of tension and so many major characters play big roles here. It all just feels like a really big deal, like there’s really a lot on the line and the bad guys are throwing a ton of stuff at you. There’s just a great sense of scale involved here, like this is clearly the biggest part of the game, and Square wants to make sure you know it. And I’m glad they took the effort to make the climax of the game actually FEEL like the climax because sometimes a game’s big moment comes and goes and you think, “Wait, that was it?” I know there’s still a lot of game left to be played in Kingdom Hearts II after this, but a lot of the stuff you see here was what Square was hyping about the game before it was released, especially the 1000 Heartless battle. This was the make it or break it moment for KHII, and it made it.
Anyway, it all starts innocently enough after your first visit to the Tron world and you start learning stuff about Hollow Bastion, the real Ansem, Xehanort, and the like. Then it gets chaotic real fast as Heartless and Nobodies invade in massive numbers. Mickey tries to talk you out of getting involved, but Sora will have none of it. He wants to help out, too. You also get a couple of scenes between Cloud and Sephiroth talking about the darkness within Cloud’s heart and how he refuses to let it go despite outwardly claiming he wants to get rid of it. I’m sure you Compilation haters don’t like all this stuff, but I enjoy the interaction between the two of them.
But things really pick up when you run into Demyx. Square and Disney were smart enough to put a boss fight against the best Organization XIII member (other than Roxas, that is) in the best part of the game to ensure that it is, in fact, the best part of the game. I love how he tries to play it all nonchalantly in order to try to avoid a fight if he can. “Hey, you guys are lookin’ lively!” But then I really love when Demyx basically decides to forget it and go all out with, “Silence, traitor,” just as The 13th Dilemma (which is much better than The 13th Struggle, by the way) cues up. So good. Just an excellent use of music at the right time to enhance the moment. The look of surprise on Sora’s face as Demyx busts out the sitar is priceless, too.
But yeah, I love the fight against Demyx. Might be my favorite storyline boss in the game. The battle against Organization XIII has been building up throughout Kingdom Hearts II up to this point, but now you finally get to fight one of them with a real battle system (LOL Chain of Memories)! I believe this is the only fight in KH2’s main game I have ever gotten a Game Over on, too, thanks to the “Defeat 10 Clones in 10 Seconds” thing. Regardless, I do find the battle to be a lot of fun because Demyx is all over the place with his attacks and is generally silly yet enjoyable. DANCE WATER DANCE! C’MON KEEP TO THE BEAT! He’s not really difficult or anything, but he’s fun and the atmosphere due to the part of the game this is ramps it up a bit as well.
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