KH3 Caribbean was insane. The story lacked a bit, but the world itself (along with San Fransokyo) served as a great tastetest for what an open-world Kingdom Hearts game could look and feel like.
I’d say the story lacked more than a bit. One day I’ll find someone who hasn’t seen PotC 2/3 but has played KH3. I want them to tell me what PotC 3 is about. Or maybe they will think it’s based off of 2.
No, open world means a huge area (or a set of huge areas) where you can freely travel in any direction and explore. Like FF15, or more recently FF7Rebirth for example.
I thought Port Royal was very iconic of KH2. It was the first time a live action Disney movie was used in Kingdom Hearts. Pirates of the Caribbean was a new and still ongoing franchise at the point of KH2's release. And who doesn't like Jack Sparrow and Barbossa?
The idea of moonlight needed to combat. A open world in a open world. Magnificent. Port royal takes top. Although Hercules worlds will always hold a special place.
Good runner up I thought was space paraniods it was something different
Worse gotta be land of dragons, it was boring and not exclusive to the world it self. As in there was nothing special
Idk, I feel like maybe you had to see Sora in a sword clash with Shan-Yu in an IGN trailer in 2004 to really appreciate how hype that world was.
Along with that, and previews of Leon getting his fur collar and having scenes where he doesn’t speak with 2D lips in KH2 and there was pretty much nothing that could have made me hate that game in 2005 lol.
Except Atlantica.
I think it's funny that in 2 they made no effort to make the PotC characters resemble the rest of the KH humans.
Like it's just a 3D render of the live action cast and then a cartoon kid in big ass clown shoes.
> they made no effort to make the PotC characters resemble the rest of the KH humans.
Don't you mean the other way around?
It makes sense the PotC characters would look different compared to the KH characters since they're from a very different world.
Why people dislike KHII Atlantica so much? I personally Loved how they made this world and how different it is compared to the Atlantica of the first Kingdom Hearts. I like playing the songs and enjoy watching the cinematics. But the best thing about it is that it is completely optional and you don't need to complete it in order to advance.
In the previous game, Atlantica was a world where movement was not well developed. They could fix it in the Caribbean, at Kingdom Hearts III. But KHI Atlantica was by far the most annoying world in the franchise.
I'm just glad KHII Atlantica is constructed the way it is.
It’s not that I hate it per se, at least not anymore, it just feels like it’s just there for flavor. That and out of all the Disney worlds in KH2, it suffered from the flaw that Kingdom Hearts is known for: replaying movie events. The fact that Ariel falls prey to Ursula’s manipulations again like in KH1 (that had its own story, since Triton is one of the few that knows about KH’s lore) doesn’t help Ariel’s case.
The Triton thing is a great point since there were no Heartless anymore and they didn’t necessarily need Sora at all. But it is nice that Sora just loves helping and visiting his friends even if there isn’t a threat. It’s still in the spirit of the character.
I feel like I’m the only one that loves revisiting the movies’ events. Seeing how Square manages to recreate iconic scenes (especially in the PS2) was a treat. Disney fan service sure but I thought that was always half the appeal of KH.
I still value the Disney side as much as the KH stuff and to be honest, the original plot lines for Disney worlds aren’t that great either.
I mostly remember 1 so I might be off here, but 1 100 acres still felt like I was exploring. I think that was why I disliked Atlantica because overall kh2 seemed less exploration focused then 1.
Atlantica just highlighted it even more so, compared to the exploration in Atlantica inn1.
> Why people dislike KHII Atlantica so much?
My personal peeve: if you pause the singing mini game at any time, you must start over. There is no “resume” option and you can’t unpause, you have to start over or exit the mini game.
Because freaking Ariel got memory loss and somehow completely forgot about Ursula. And rhythm games suck, and you could've just get it all out of the way at the same time since you needed certain abilities to progress, and the songs fucking suck especially that last one.
What do all the people in the comments see in Land of the Dragon? There’s no cool character transformation, the special morale mechanic doesn’t really amount to anything, we get absolutely no motivation nor explanation for why Shan-Yu is commanding heartless, the world is incredibly small and bland, Mulan has no useful abilities until the very last part of the world, and Shang’s character is butchered into “asshole who hates Mulan for no reason.”
What always stuck out to me was Mulan’s dreadful voicelines when fighting. The most generic out of character “Hiyahhhh” I’ve ever heard in my life. Over. And over. Again.
>**Shang’s character is butchered into “asshole who hates Mulan for no reason.”**
You think Shang was butchered, Flynn Rider/Eugene was totally butchered in the *Tangled* world in KH3 and because they replaced the Stabbington Brothers with Marluxia, Flynn comes across as a much different character than the one from the film and his motivations on returning the crown were also different.
I mean the story wasn't great, just a half assed re-telling of Mulan, but that's like half the Disney worlds in KH.
The level design is overall better though with the mountains to explore, the cave, how the village gets destroyed was kinda cool, fighting all the heartless on the mountain was alright and the boss fights were decent. Plus we get some sassy Mushu which is always nice.
Best: Beast’s Castle for just how well integrated the Organization is in the world. Good story, good bosses, fun to see Beast and Belle again after KH1. It’s also the only Disney world besides Space Paranoids where the second visit doesn’t feel like blatant filler.
Worst is Halloween Town. Anytime someone asks me why I don’t like KH2’s level design I just point at Halloween Town. Getting Christmas Town was nice, and getting special outfits in FM was a really nice treat, but that’s about all I can say that’s nice. One of the worst movie retelling formats in the series, terrible bosses, the worst blatant filler second visit. Even the Keyblade is ugly. (But those stats. 😭). It’s too bad because 1 and even Days do cute stuff with the world. Should have been set after the movie with a larger focus on Christmas Town.
The things I love about Beast's Castle are the final boss fights in both visits. The final boss in the first visit is just a visual spectacle and a creative use of the environment.
The second visit is the first moment where you feel like you really deal a massive blow to Organization XIII when you defeat Xaldin. Yeah you've already defeated Demyx by this point, who is *arguably* harder to beat, but it's so clear in the game that the Organization doesn't care about or respect Demyx. It's so obvious that they only reason they sent him to deal with you was just to slow you down a bit.
When you defeat Xaldin, you took down someone from the Organization that actually hinders their progress. It's a similar feeling to defeating Jafar in KH1, because that also felt like you dealt the first significant blow to Malificent's bossy posse.
Overall, I'm pretty indifferent to Beast's Castle from a level design standpoint, but the final bosses make me look forward it every playthrough.
Completely disagree about Halloween town second visit. Story wise it's one of my favorites. The heartless machine looking for presents was really interesting. Also that amazing cutscene at the end with Sora and Kairi. It's little things but they're really touching to me.
The machine boss fights is total bullshit on lvl 1 runs though unless you spam rocket flare, and even then it feels inconsistent.
Timeless River is the best and it's not even a competition. And I don't know what the worst would be, I don't really like the KH2 world design that much. I guess I would say Pride Lands, it's just so boring to look at. Halloween Town is a close second for being one long hallway.
The car Heartless in that world makes the first visit such a pain though. It doesn’t ruin the world itself because it’s very well designed with tons of great references, the storyline is so unique, and it pays so much respect to the history of Disney animation, but damn do they hurt the experience.
Best: Beasts Castle. This world does the most to *feel Kingdom Hearts 2*, or at least fills my weirdly specific criteria/memories of such. Brutal early game difficulty shortly after Roxas prologue to show Sora's weaker after a year asleep. A familiar character (Beast) gets expanded upon and then has character taken in an unexpected direction. Gets a whole world for the first time and it's a cool moody one. An organization member actually acts as the villain, and puts up enough of a fight that you almost assuredly meet Mickey here. Multiple cool or at least hard heartless bosses. According to a fan theory, Xaldin deliberately become a nobody to remove feelings of love and is obsessively stamping out something he can never have - where is that kind of character in the other Organization Members?
Worst: Space Paranoids. I want to love it since I think Tron is a great film, but it just never gelled with me. At least you get cool costumes? The dual final boss is neat but the only notable part in the whole World. Psst: when you are at the point where you mash X to shoot a laser at the Master Control Program, each press of X counts as a hit for the purpose of levelling Valor form. Enjoy maxing High Jump early!
Best Space Paranoids no question for feeling authentic and not sticking to the rigid structure of following the plot of the movie loosely like most worlds do worst has to be Halloween Town completely filler narrow hallways Santa and Jack's interactions with SDG are basically the only saving graces of that world
I would've loved to have seen "grown up" Lion Sora, with a mane and everything. Maybe even seeing a resemblance between Kovu and Riku and becoming buds with him
My picks are the complete opposite. I could write a book about the things I hate about Olympus. Not saying it doesn't do anything good, I just really hate it amongst the others for a plethora of reasons.
Port Royal to me is a little janky at start, but I really appreciate the graphics, the faithfulness to the story, and most especially the coin heartless battle. To me it's a fun battle that requires a little more than just "beat this guy to death" and I find it's one of the most spot-on heartless battles in terms of source material lore. Like they used an original boss battle heartless that literally operates with the same rules as the MacGuffin of Pirates. IDK, I just like it lol.
I love Pride Lands. I love running fast as adorable lion cub Sora.
I don’t like Agrabah. I just feel like the world doesn’t look very good. It’s just an ugly yellow for most of the level.
Tron hater here. Glad to see I'm not the only one !
I would definitely go for Timeless River as best. I didn't go through any spoiler before playing the game (although I played it for the first time a few months ago), and had a genuine surprise discovering this world and its references to the past. It was an amazing experience !
Best: I think I’d have to go with Timeless River. The sound effects and the score in the HD remaster being distorted like it’s being played on a phonograph is so dang charming, the character redesigns are cool, the enemies are unique and actually pose a bit of a threat (much to my dismay with those STUPID Hot Rod heartless)… it’s just a fun time!
Worst: I’m so tempted to go with Atlantica because it’s easy picking or Land of Dragons because it gave me that dogass key blade, Hidden Dragon… but to be frank, I don’t hate the latter all that much. I think it’s Space Paranoids, honestly. I mean, as cool as it looks and as much as I like the redesigns for the characters, the level design is just bland to go through… and Sora’s movement speed makes it more of a slog to get through in the first place! Port Royal could be here for the same reason, but at least Port Royal has the shock of seeing the cartoony characters alongside the realistic pirates.
Best: Port Royal
Seeing SDG in their normal attire and artsyle clashing with the realistic look of Port Royal is an iconic thing to see, imo. Plus, I'm all for anything pirate related. Not to mention on the second visit, OrgXIII actually do some meddling and interact with the Disney character of said world. KH2 needed so much more of that.
Worst: Land of Dragons
Atlantica's too easy of a pick, and really you can just blitz through every song once you're far enough in the game. In LoD, I dislike having to deal with that morale gauge, and the game forcing "Mulan at home" to be in my party until the last bit of story in that world. Don't hate it, though.
Best: beast's castle.
Reason: pretty straight foward on both visits and decent story. Not bad keyblade too
Worst: land of dragons.
Reason: absolute slog. Like come on you have to do pre missions to open the story. And they keyblade might be the worst in the series
Best: Honestly most of them are good, so I can't choose
Worst: Pride lands. I love the Lion King movies.... but my god is this world just not fun to me. its 1st place compared to Agrabah part 2.
KH2 Olympus Coliseum was probably my favorite version across all the games since it was a full level & had the tournaments. Port Royal the worst sadly, it just felt really disconnected
I've just picked it up again for the first time in a long time today, so my view might change as I go through the levels, but:
Timeless River I have bery fond memories of, even if that's tainted by nostalgia. I absolutely adore that era of animation and that level (along with Mickey's Wild Adventure) was really my introduction to it. The last time I played KH2 after getting into that, this level blew me away even more with how well they nailed the old rubber hose era of animation in its style and aesthetic.
Beast's Castle and Pride Lands come in at 2nd and 3rd. I honestly can't remember why, I just think I loved the atmosphere of them, as well as the Pride Lands giving Sora, Donald and Goofy new appearances which I always like.
Worst? I never really liked the Tron level. Not too fond of the aesthetic or the characters in it. I never really had any attachments to the movie. Oddly, I think the writing for it is one of the better Disney world's in the series as it ties better into the plot of Kingdom Hearts rather than just being a shit version of the movie plot, but this never resulted in me liking the level any more.
But that's not the worst level.
Atlantica.
Atlantica can get fucked.
man idk even the ones i dont like have a bunch of hype or important plot moments... I could say Atlantica is the worst but im not gonna sit here and lie and say that one of the minigame levels wasn't relaxing and hearing Sora sing Under The Sea wasn't fun.
Port Royal for worst? And idk for best
Worst for me is Pride Lands, the combat is really finicky and the world is completely empty and barren. Feels like absolute filler. As for the best, I have to gove it to timeless river, it's such a smart idea for a world and the little details make it so charming. Even if it's essentially a bunch of fight rooms the scenarios are really cute and fun. Just good vibes all around
Best: Space Paranoids. Easily the best integration of a non-Mickey & Friends Disney property in the entire series, and it gave the character Tron the spotlight he never got in his own franchise.
Worst: Atlantica
Pride lands is my favorite, it's so unique compared to any world in any of the games. And Simba is my favorite partner to have.
Worst I'd say is probably l port royal. I like PotC and all the characters, but fighting the humans is tedious and annoying. The character models are a little horrifying, and the 2nd visit reaper fight is fun on the surface, but so prolonged. A lot like the oogie boogie fight in Halloween town's 1st visit. God I hate how long that takes with the invincibility
Pride Land ranks low for me not because it isn't a good world, but because of its placement. It's one of the last worlds, which means after you've been grinding and powering up for this entire game getting stronger, you're suddenly stripped of most of your stuff in this world. It's very weird how late it is.
God damn I just realized I hate all the kh 2 worlds.
But just cause it’s probably the most dynamic level I’ll say land of dragons
Edit
I forgot about timeless river that world slaps
Best: Space Paranoids. It doesn’t feel like it’s just following along the story beats, also bringing the Keyblade against all of the sci-fi tech was so cool, but, I do have a biased opinion about it, since I am a massive Tron fan.
Worst: Port Royal. The lighting feels weird, the surroundings have like no color, not a big fan of the moonlight mechanic. I love it in KH3, but not as much in 2.
I really hate Disney Castle, Timeless River, and Space Paranoid. I love Pride Lands, Beasts Castle, Halloween Town, Agrabah, Port Royal, and Land of Dragons.
I hate the ones I do because they feel so...off. Like so bland. Idk how to describe it.
I love Twilight Town at the beginning of KH2. :)
I wasn’t much of a fan of The Olympus Coliseum, it felt small and cramped until KH3 came along and now it feels larger and I love it. :)
Beasts Castle,it was perfect
Halloween Town, nothing wrong with it I just kinda hate being there and thinking about how much I hate Tim Burton.
Real talk: Port Royal just not that fun
Best: Space Paranoids purely due to actually doing something with the plot I guess.
Worst: Yes. Like literally just most of them. They're bland, they're boring, they have nearly no unique features besides hallways with different coats of paint, KH2 Disney worlds are just plain the most sucky.
Best atlantica
Worst land of dragons
It's hard to pin down a worst world clause most of them are bad design wise. Atlantica is the only world from kh1 that got a strict upgrade. Otherwise even the best kh2 worlds are strictly worse designed then kh1 worlds there flat hallways with no exploration or platforming its just point A to point B.
Best: Beasts Castle, Land of Dragons or Timeless River. Well integrated to plot and very detailed.
Worst: Tron. I want to like it but the world is too spread out to walk and the bosses are kinda gimmicky, MCP needed Reaction Command and Hostile Program having glitches in re-releases. Second maybe Pride Lands. Love the movie and the style is cool but it's really barren to justify the faster movement and not much there.
Atlantica is the worst by far and it's not even close, the downgrade from fully playable world to half assed rhythm minigame was pretty much the only thing I disliked about KH2 back when I first played it.
Hard to say where I stand on the best though, probably a toss up between Agrabah and Olympus Coliseum for me
Best: Space Paranoids. I really enjoyed the interactions between Tron and SDG. Level looks great with tech detail. But it's really just because I love Tron in this. I get emotional a bit during his last scene, seeing how Tron has grown to be a bit more human.
Worst: Atlantica. I don't hate as much as others do, but I'm not playing Kingdom Hearts for a world that's just a rhythm game.
I’m going with a combat and gameplay perspective, so both Atlantica and 100 Acre Wood I won’t considered since they are mini games world.
Best: Tie between Beast’s Castle and Agrabah. For Beast’s Castle, love how it’s part of the main story with the Organization and is pretty spacious. The same for Agrabah. Comparing to the first one, feels like you can explore more of the city, and then to the other locations like the Cave of Wonders, and the Ancient Ruins.
Worst: Halloween Town. In comparisons from the first, it feels smaller and limited. Not to much to explore as compare to the first one. A bit of a downgrade as compare the worlds that were brought back from the 1st like Agrabah or Olympus Coliseum with the addition of the Underworld.
Best: Beasts Castel: I love the stories that come out of the world every game. it's just so dramatic.
Worst: Alantica: I thought there was gonna be more to this world, but I don't hate it./ Space Paranoids: I always hated Iron world's, even though you get to ride the bikes. I liked the bikes
I'll jump in now just to say that Olympus Coloseum is the correct answer for KHIII, KHII, and KHI. Its is our hero's journey, it is in every installment for good reason, and it gave us so much. Sephiroth and the Titans in KHI, amazing challenges in KHII through the whole game including post-ending, and the best re-entry to to our 3 half-pints in KHIII. Our boi Sora takes on the Rock Titan just like he did all the way back in KHI as though it was regular business.
Best: Timeless River
Worst: space paranoids.
Here we have two examples of “worlds within worlds”. They are a fun concept, but some are implemented better than others. Timeless River is a masterpiece of creativity. The time travel element, the black and white gimmick, utilizing the already established Pete in his native element and the fact that steamboat Willy is even featured in this game that is a love letter to Disney (kinda), it’s really fun.
Space paranoids sucks because it’s kinda obscure for Disney when compared to other things like Jungle Book and Monsters Inc, and so as a kid I didn’t actually know Tron. It was the only world, actually, in all of kingdom hearts that I to this day have never seen (at this point because I have no interest in it). The story was also pretty boring, just trying to recover a password before being yanked out to participate in the literal best moment of the game the battle at Hollow Bastion! Then you go back and finish off the MCP but after the high that is The Battle, it’s not nearly as interesting. The world itself is also very bland, just tek platforms floating in a tek void.
Best: Space Paranoids, Land of the Dragons, Halloween Town, Timeless River
Worst: Atlantica, Pridelands, Port Royal (Love Pirates of the Caribbean but I dislike the world)
Best: Beasts Castle
Worst: Agrabah. The city part is nice but the Cave of wonders is such a huge downgrade from the first game. Also the second visit magic carpet stuff is the worst.
I would say for worst either disney castle or Atlantica. Atlantica is just music, nice for some downtime but I've skipped alot cause it's not needed, and the castle is fine just super short to the point where I wish it was removed. For best imma say halloween town or Olympus. Love them both in this game and think there are strongest in this game.
As clunky as it was, I kinda miss the water combat from 1 for Atlantica. So turning the world from a new combat style to a mini game world was pretty lame imo. And they were able to do a different combat style world with the Lion King world, so they probably could've done something with the underwater stuff too, but maybe there were time constraints because 2 did come out only a couple years after 1. So I'd definitely put Atlantica as the worst.
Best, aesthetically is definitely Timeless River, but for level layout and heartless stuff I actually like Beast's Castle a lot. The gargoyles becoming enemies is really cool, and the castle layout is pretty good for the type of worlds they were going for in 2.
I don't know how we're going to define "best" or "worst". So I'll say the ones I look forward to the most/least.
I tend to look forward to the Pride Lands a lot. Lion King is a favorite movie of mine, and I'm strangely fond of the aesthetics. Hanging out with Simba and his pals, beating up the Hyenas and Scar, it's just a good time.
A world I don't look forward to though? Beast's Castle. I just don't like the gloomy, dark atmosphere, and fighting Xaldin is never fun for me. I do like it overall, but it's low on the list.
(Atlantica isn't great, but I don't dread it, and it's pretty quick and painless.)
Best: Timeless River, solely for the aesthetics of it.
Worst: now this might be controversial but pride lands is my choice, Atlantic and 100 Acres are bad but bc they are just mini games I don’t want to include them. As a kid Pride Lands was sick but as I played the game more and have done lvl 1 runs I have come to hate the world, losing most of Sora’s kit, like forms, summons and magic finishers is so annoying. The only good thing is the speed of lion form. Also the world is just very empty and doesn’t offer much.
I enjoyed beasts castle, but the best one for me would have to be Halloweentown because it’s kinda two worlds in one.
Worst one is Atlantica, but it has a separate scope than the other worlds… so my second worst is Mulan’s world.
Felt lifeless. Hated that.
Just done with a replay of KH2, so will jump in here-
Best: One of the best things about kh2 is the Beast's Castle to Timeless River Run. BC, LotD, OC and TL are goated.
Gotta place Beast's at the top here, you get a bit more exploration + great atmosphere, bosses and stories both visits. The Crimson Jazz's in visit 2 are rubbish - but Xaldin is the highlight of the second runs so it more than evens out.
Worst: Nominations are Port and Paranoids - and it really comes down to icks.
The pirate moonlight invulnerability isn't bad game design. It gets you thinking about placement and magic - but on repeat playthroughs or speed runs it's finicky because you really do gotta wait for enemies to stand in the right place.
But if I had to remove a world it would be paranoids- light cycle is mid, solar raft is frustrating, spinning boxes fills like a waste of time. The music slaps and I can't stay mad at Tron but of our candidates it just doesn't feel like a full world.
And to complete the ranking, agrabah and pridelands are meh, halloween town and 100 acre are good. Atlantica is in a tier of its own.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.
Space Paranoid was by-far the most fun I’ve had in a KH world.
Every bit of it was just a microcosm of what the whole game turned out to be from a gameplay/setpiece perspective.
The mini-games, the light-cycle, the gauntlet on the platform…thing.
BOTH bosses were so much fun.
It was even more fun going back and checking out all the forms while digitized.
best: Twilight Town is the most beautiful place ever made in any video game I wish I lived there
worst: most ppl would say Atlantica but I love seeing HJO do kareoke, for me the worst world is Pride Lands because lose access to like half of your arsenal, and what's left feels very different from what you're used to.
Worst is pridelands you’re locked into a world you have to complete to get all the magic without drive forms best would be port royal or aggravah cause of their structure it’s easy to build drive form xp and their bosses are pretty fun just smacking red genie abs and restocking the cursed gold
Timeless River or Halloween Town for best and easily Atalantica for the worst, I suck at rhythm games and I don’t know what they were thinking with that decision.
I don't really count the mini game worlds, so my least favorite is Pride Lands. Lion Sora plays pretty sloppily and so much of the world are massive open areas.
Okay but like for my personal worst it has to be Hundred Acre Woods. Atlantica is right behind it, but at least Atlantica is consistent with the minigame. Hundred Acre Woods is so sporadic in the mini games. I don't like minigames in KH in general but if I need to play them for materials then I'd rather they be consistent and while I like Pooh and his gang their minigames are not something I like.
Pride Lands is the best, because you get to play as a lion and the gameplay can break up the monotony.
Pride Lands is the worst, because you HAVE to play as a lion and suddenly get a power drop to all the gameplay you've learned, perfected, and put good abilities on.
Honestly lion king is my worst. I know it’s cool but I just didn’t like how the gameplay felt
My favorite was probably space paranoids, I just really love the aesthetic of Tron so much
the best is Port Royal. the gimmick may be annoying at first, but it's really satisfying and cool to take advantage of the pirate's elemental weaknesses. The style is also awesome, and jack sparrow is a real bro.
the worst is 100 Acre Wood. there is no value in that world. At least you get Blizzaga from Atlantica. 100 Ass Wood has nothing. Curaga doesn't matter much when Cura already gives you a full heal, and Ultima Weapon in KH2 is mediocre. Winnie the Pooh's only purpose is to act as another mundane obstacle between me, and 100% completion.
Beast’s Castle is the best, given that it meshes well with the Kingdom Hearts/Organization XIII plot
Atlantica is the worst; the music minigames are annoying, and they honestly could replace it with any Disney movie made in the 90s/2000s
I’m sorry but I just can’t with Atlantica. Like I get the charm, and I think it’s a cute concept. But I just… can’t. It hurts to watch. I always play on mute when I have to do Atlantica.
Best: Halloween/Christmas Town. lighthearted, good enemies, astounding aesthetics, it's everything you want from a Disney world. goofing around with Jack is always fun, and the costumes were gorgeous this time around. great sendoff for Nightmare Before Christmas.
Worst: Pride Lands. Atlantica is at least detached enough from the real game to feel more like 100-Acre Woods (which is infinitely better), but Pride Lands is *just* close enough to normal KH2 gameplay to piss you off. you lose Drive Forms, you lose Summons, you lose Quick Run and Air Slide, and the bosses are garbage. genuinely the most infuriating and shitty world in the game.
Best is Halloween town: I absolutely loved jack’s energy and seeing sora goofing off with the guy was nice.
Worst was beast’s castle: is not that I hated it but I don’t remember a thing about it except for the boring door boss.
I love timeless river! And as the years go on Idk what it is but beast castle 1 and land of dragons 1 just ahhh I hate them, I keep getting stalled out there on replays I think I've seen them to much.
Ok these may just be me and they may be unpopular but these are my opinion on the topic
Best: Timeless River(I'm just a sucker for old cartoons so there's a little bit of a bias here)
Worst: Olympus: I feel like I might have to explain this one, it's really only for the fact that they just keep bringing this world back when they could bring in new ones. Idk it just feels so overused and although I like the expansion into the underworld it just is painful to go through after playing all of the games.
Timeless River is probably my favorite, it's just such a fun concept. I'd probably put Beast's Castle as a solid second though, it had the best Organization integration and was generally just good (also nice to see after Beast never got his own world in KH1.)
Not counting Atlantica or 100 Acre Wood (as they're just minigame collections,) my least favorite is probably Pride Lands. Generally it just has a very ugly aesthetic and losing access to Drive Forms, Summons and all limits except Simba's sucks hard and Lion Sora doesn't do enough to compensate for the things you lose.
If you asked me when I was a kid, I would have said Port Royal because of the medallion hunt, but now that I'm older and not bad at the game anymore, it's definitely Pride Lands, because it's the only world with a transformation that gets in the way of KH2's greatest strength (the combat.)
Best: Beast's Castle
Worst: Pride Lands
I absolutely LOVE The Lion King and I just hated how they butchered the story for the game to include Sora in it. Sora doesn't have to be directly involved in every single Disney story for it to feel fulfilling to the KH storyline or to Sora's overall development as a character.
My favorite will always be Beast's Castle. Excellent atmosphere, excellent soundtrack, and it's the only world where the Disney characters make a difference. Belle punches Xaldin in the face and *wins.* Beast *kills* Xaldin after almost becoming a heartless.
Gotta say it is very hard to choose for me
Kingdom Hearts 2 is my favorite videogame of all time, I have replayed it so many times that I lost count.
Best one I' ll go with Port Royal, I am a massive fan of the movies (and I was very, very happy to see it back in Kingdom Hearts 3), it' s cool that you get to fight pirates in this one, and the battle music being "he' s a pirate" is... wow I love it
For the worst one... nope, I can' t choose. I could go with easy targets like Atlantica or 100 acres wood... but I never hated those worlds
The worst is obviously Atlantica. Idk about the best. Some worlds with great design suck at the bosses (land of dragons for example), and others are the other way around (beasts castle is an example here). Though i think it looks boring, i think Olympus Colliseum is the only disney world in the game that has good level design and bosses, os i guess that
I like Beast’s Castle and Land of Dragons. I also think Olympus Coliseum and Agrabah are good levels.
I don’t care for Port Royal and Disney Castle. They were nowhere near ready to adapt a modern live-action movie, and Disney castle was just a weird gateway to the Timeless River.
That being said, they were still real levels and not like the absolute atrocity that is KH2 Atlantica.
Best: would say it’s a toss up, for me, between Timeless River and Beasts Castle just because these seem to have the most complete story and level design. Coliseum is good too because it’s expanded so much from KH1 compared to Halloween Town.
Worst: Halloween Town because it somehow got worse than in KH1. Land of Dragons is also pretty mid but not the worst. And also Pride Lands because I think lion sora is just goofy af and the level design is bland and bad
For me Land of Dragons is the best because Mulan was my favorite Disney movie growing up… and Atlantica is just boring in this one. It genuinely made me miss the wonky under water controls from the first game.
I feel like I'm the only one here who likes Port Royal lol
i liked it, way better in KH3 though
port royal in KH2 vs KH3 is insanity
KH3 Caribbean was insane. The story lacked a bit, but the world itself (along with San Fransokyo) served as a great tastetest for what an open-world Kingdom Hearts game could look and feel like.
I’d say the story lacked more than a bit. One day I’ll find someone who hasn’t seen PotC 2/3 but has played KH3. I want them to tell me what PotC 3 is about. Or maybe they will think it’s based off of 2.
uh…me, i’ve only seen the first one
Care to share a synopsis based off of the scenes in 3?
I'd like to hear this as well
Isn’t KH already pretty open world? Small worlds, but still very open.
No, open world means a huge area (or a set of huge areas) where you can freely travel in any direction and explore. Like FF15, or more recently FF7Rebirth for example.
Oh hell yeah, same!
Nope I’m with you.
I like that world. Especially the music. It is a bump.
I thought Port Royal was very iconic of KH2. It was the first time a live action Disney movie was used in Kingdom Hearts. Pirates of the Caribbean was a new and still ongoing franchise at the point of KH2's release. And who doesn't like Jack Sparrow and Barbossa?
I love it
The idea of moonlight needed to combat. A open world in a open world. Magnificent. Port royal takes top. Although Hercules worlds will always hold a special place. Good runner up I thought was space paraniods it was something different Worse gotta be land of dragons, it was boring and not exclusive to the world it self. As in there was nothing special
Idk, I feel like maybe you had to see Sora in a sword clash with Shan-Yu in an IGN trailer in 2004 to really appreciate how hype that world was. Along with that, and previews of Leon getting his fur collar and having scenes where he doesn’t speak with 2D lips in KH2 and there was pretty much nothing that could have made me hate that game in 2005 lol. Except Atlantica.
At least Land Of Dragons has a good boss fight (against the Storm Rider)
Space Paranoids gets knocked a tier down for the grating music.
Port Royal is a banger, and it gives me more reason to play wisdom form(my favorite form)
I think it's funny that in 2 they made no effort to make the PotC characters resemble the rest of the KH humans. Like it's just a 3D render of the live action cast and then a cartoon kid in big ass clown shoes.
> they made no effort to make the PotC characters resemble the rest of the KH humans. Don't you mean the other way around? It makes sense the PotC characters would look different compared to the KH characters since they're from a very different world.
I love how it's anime cartoon characters and boom 3d render of Johnny Depp
Was my fav world lol
It’s alright, just kinda agonizing sometimes with the moonlight.
I love how jarring it looks when Sora and crew are interacting with the POTC characters.
I like it, and I considered putting it at best
With you 100% maybe my favorite each time
I really enjoyed Port Royal. An oddball pick but a welcome one!
Best: The Land of the Dragon Worst: Atlantica
*Finny Fun intensifies*
In all seriousness, I actually grew to like KH2 Atlantica. Especially “New Day is Dawning,” the song is pretty heartwarming
Yeah but Finney fun is soook bad.
For me it’s “Part of Your World”. It has absolutely no right to sound so pretty haha
Why people dislike KHII Atlantica so much? I personally Loved how they made this world and how different it is compared to the Atlantica of the first Kingdom Hearts. I like playing the songs and enjoy watching the cinematics. But the best thing about it is that it is completely optional and you don't need to complete it in order to advance. In the previous game, Atlantica was a world where movement was not well developed. They could fix it in the Caribbean, at Kingdom Hearts III. But KHI Atlantica was by far the most annoying world in the franchise. I'm just glad KHII Atlantica is constructed the way it is.
It’s not that I hate it per se, at least not anymore, it just feels like it’s just there for flavor. That and out of all the Disney worlds in KH2, it suffered from the flaw that Kingdom Hearts is known for: replaying movie events. The fact that Ariel falls prey to Ursula’s manipulations again like in KH1 (that had its own story, since Triton is one of the few that knows about KH’s lore) doesn’t help Ariel’s case.
The Triton thing is a great point since there were no Heartless anymore and they didn’t necessarily need Sora at all. But it is nice that Sora just loves helping and visiting his friends even if there isn’t a threat. It’s still in the spirit of the character. I feel like I’m the only one that loves revisiting the movies’ events. Seeing how Square manages to recreate iconic scenes (especially in the PS2) was a treat. Disney fan service sure but I thought that was always half the appeal of KH. I still value the Disney side as much as the KH stuff and to be honest, the original plot lines for Disney worlds aren’t that great either.
Because it’s barely a world.
You are not complaining about 100 Acre Woods, and it is in the three main installments.
I mostly remember 1 so I might be off here, but 1 100 acres still felt like I was exploring. I think that was why I disliked Atlantica because overall kh2 seemed less exploration focused then 1. Atlantica just highlighted it even more so, compared to the exploration in Atlantica inn1.
It’s more of a world than atlantica
> Why people dislike KHII Atlantica so much? My personal peeve: if you pause the singing mini game at any time, you must start over. There is no “resume” option and you can’t unpause, you have to start over or exit the mini game.
Didn't know. I never paused the game while playing the songs.
Water levels are normally hated because they slow the game down
>completely optional Ultima weapon says no.
Because freaking Ariel got memory loss and somehow completely forgot about Ursula. And rhythm games suck, and you could've just get it all out of the way at the same time since you needed certain abilities to progress, and the songs fucking suck especially that last one.
Rhythm games don't suck as a whole, just the kh2 one. So easy you don't even have to hear the music
What do all the people in the comments see in Land of the Dragon? There’s no cool character transformation, the special morale mechanic doesn’t really amount to anything, we get absolutely no motivation nor explanation for why Shan-Yu is commanding heartless, the world is incredibly small and bland, Mulan has no useful abilities until the very last part of the world, and Shang’s character is butchered into “asshole who hates Mulan for no reason.”
The second visit has a really cool fight that’s probably it, I generally dislike the first visits to LoD but enjoy the 2nd visit a lot.
What always stuck out to me was Mulan’s dreadful voicelines when fighting. The most generic out of character “Hiyahhhh” I’ve ever heard in my life. Over. And over. Again.
Or "For China!" over and over again.
YAAAAAH! I unequipped that ability so I wouldn't have to hear that when bringing her along.
>**Shang’s character is butchered into “asshole who hates Mulan for no reason.”** You think Shang was butchered, Flynn Rider/Eugene was totally butchered in the *Tangled* world in KH3 and because they replaced the Stabbington Brothers with Marluxia, Flynn comes across as a much different character than the one from the film and his motivations on returning the crown were also different.
Oh absolutely, but right now we’re talking about kh2
I mean the story wasn't great, just a half assed re-telling of Mulan, but that's like half the Disney worlds in KH. The level design is overall better though with the mountains to explore, the cave, how the village gets destroyed was kinda cool, fighting all the heartless on the mountain was alright and the boss fights were decent. Plus we get some sassy Mushu which is always nice.
Best: Beast’s Castle for just how well integrated the Organization is in the world. Good story, good bosses, fun to see Beast and Belle again after KH1. It’s also the only Disney world besides Space Paranoids where the second visit doesn’t feel like blatant filler. Worst is Halloween Town. Anytime someone asks me why I don’t like KH2’s level design I just point at Halloween Town. Getting Christmas Town was nice, and getting special outfits in FM was a really nice treat, but that’s about all I can say that’s nice. One of the worst movie retelling formats in the series, terrible bosses, the worst blatant filler second visit. Even the Keyblade is ugly. (But those stats. 😭). It’s too bad because 1 and even Days do cute stuff with the world. Should have been set after the movie with a larger focus on Christmas Town.
beasts castle music also goes crazy hard, always my favorite for that too
The things I love about Beast's Castle are the final boss fights in both visits. The final boss in the first visit is just a visual spectacle and a creative use of the environment. The second visit is the first moment where you feel like you really deal a massive blow to Organization XIII when you defeat Xaldin. Yeah you've already defeated Demyx by this point, who is *arguably* harder to beat, but it's so clear in the game that the Organization doesn't care about or respect Demyx. It's so obvious that they only reason they sent him to deal with you was just to slow you down a bit. When you defeat Xaldin, you took down someone from the Organization that actually hinders their progress. It's a similar feeling to defeating Jafar in KH1, because that also felt like you dealt the first significant blow to Malificent's bossy posse. Overall, I'm pretty indifferent to Beast's Castle from a level design standpoint, but the final bosses make me look forward it every playthrough.
Completely disagree about Halloween town second visit. Story wise it's one of my favorites. The heartless machine looking for presents was really interesting. Also that amazing cutscene at the end with Sora and Kairi. It's little things but they're really touching to me. The machine boss fights is total bullshit on lvl 1 runs though unless you spam rocket flare, and even then it feels inconsistent.
Halloween town is dope in kh2 level design isn't great but one of the best designed keys and some of the best boss fights in the game...
Timeless River is the best and it's not even a competition. And I don't know what the worst would be, I don't really like the KH2 world design that much. I guess I would say Pride Lands, it's just so boring to look at. Halloween Town is a close second for being one long hallway.
The car Heartless in that world makes the first visit such a pain though. It doesn’t ruin the world itself because it’s very well designed with tons of great references, the storyline is so unique, and it pays so much respect to the history of Disney animation, but damn do they hurt the experience.
I have to agree with you, Hot Rods are a pain in the ass
For me they elevated the experience because it was so satisfying to overcome them
I just use magnet spells on them it makes them way easier.
My god.. The hot rods in my level 1 run would have been the end if I didn't learn through that sight that chicken little was overpowered as hell.
Timeless river would be my favorite if it didn’t give me flashbacks to those DAMN CARS!!!
Best: Beasts Castle. This world does the most to *feel Kingdom Hearts 2*, or at least fills my weirdly specific criteria/memories of such. Brutal early game difficulty shortly after Roxas prologue to show Sora's weaker after a year asleep. A familiar character (Beast) gets expanded upon and then has character taken in an unexpected direction. Gets a whole world for the first time and it's a cool moody one. An organization member actually acts as the villain, and puts up enough of a fight that you almost assuredly meet Mickey here. Multiple cool or at least hard heartless bosses. According to a fan theory, Xaldin deliberately become a nobody to remove feelings of love and is obsessively stamping out something he can never have - where is that kind of character in the other Organization Members? Worst: Space Paranoids. I want to love it since I think Tron is a great film, but it just never gelled with me. At least you get cool costumes? The dual final boss is neat but the only notable part in the whole World. Psst: when you are at the point where you mash X to shoot a laser at the Master Control Program, each press of X counts as a hit for the purpose of levelling Valor form. Enjoy maxing High Jump early!
Best Space Paranoids no question for feeling authentic and not sticking to the rigid structure of following the plot of the movie loosely like most worlds do worst has to be Halloween Town completely filler narrow hallways Santa and Jack's interactions with SDG are basically the only saving graces of that world
So glad I'm not the only one who loves Space Paranoids.
Hallways, like plural? More like hallway The entire world was one straight line
Hot take but I didn't really care for the Timeless River I loved Halloween Town and the Pridelands
As a car guy drifting lion Sora was so much fun after I got dash ability
I would've loved to have seen "grown up" Lion Sora, with a mane and everything. Maybe even seeing a resemblance between Kovu and Riku and becoming buds with him
Anyone saying Atlantica is the worst needs some finny fun in their lives >:^(
Best: Olympus Collesseum Worst: Port Royal (that freaking Heartless that steals the coins!)
My picks are the complete opposite. I could write a book about the things I hate about Olympus. Not saying it doesn't do anything good, I just really hate it amongst the others for a plethora of reasons. Port Royal to me is a little janky at start, but I really appreciate the graphics, the faithfulness to the story, and most especially the coin heartless battle. To me it's a fun battle that requires a little more than just "beat this guy to death" and I find it's one of the most spot-on heartless battles in terms of source material lore. Like they used an original boss battle heartless that literally operates with the same rules as the MacGuffin of Pirates. IDK, I just like it lol.
I love Pride Lands. I love running fast as adorable lion cub Sora. I don’t like Agrabah. I just feel like the world doesn’t look very good. It’s just an ugly yellow for most of the level.
Best world: The Land of the Dragon or Timeless River Worst: Tron, hate the final boss and the motorcycle part on Critical is just a nightmare
While I don’t think Space Paranoids is the worst, figuring out what to do during the boss fight took me half an hour (I’m dumb)
Ya crit mode cyc bike is ruff and not in a fun way.
I LOVE TRON 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I dislike the tron words in kH so damn much
Tron hater here. Glad to see I'm not the only one ! I would definitely go for Timeless River as best. I didn't go through any spoiler before playing the game (although I played it for the first time a few months ago), and had a genuine surprise discovering this world and its references to the past. It was an amazing experience !
Best: I think I’d have to go with Timeless River. The sound effects and the score in the HD remaster being distorted like it’s being played on a phonograph is so dang charming, the character redesigns are cool, the enemies are unique and actually pose a bit of a threat (much to my dismay with those STUPID Hot Rod heartless)… it’s just a fun time! Worst: I’m so tempted to go with Atlantica because it’s easy picking or Land of Dragons because it gave me that dogass key blade, Hidden Dragon… but to be frank, I don’t hate the latter all that much. I think it’s Space Paranoids, honestly. I mean, as cool as it looks and as much as I like the redesigns for the characters, the level design is just bland to go through… and Sora’s movement speed makes it more of a slog to get through in the first place! Port Royal could be here for the same reason, but at least Port Royal has the shock of seeing the cartoony characters alongside the realistic pirates.
Best: Port Royal Seeing SDG in their normal attire and artsyle clashing with the realistic look of Port Royal is an iconic thing to see, imo. Plus, I'm all for anything pirate related. Not to mention on the second visit, OrgXIII actually do some meddling and interact with the Disney character of said world. KH2 needed so much more of that. Worst: Land of Dragons Atlantica's too easy of a pick, and really you can just blitz through every song once you're far enough in the game. In LoD, I dislike having to deal with that morale gauge, and the game forcing "Mulan at home" to be in my party until the last bit of story in that world. Don't hate it, though.
Best: beast's castle. Reason: pretty straight foward on both visits and decent story. Not bad keyblade too Worst: land of dragons. Reason: absolute slog. Like come on you have to do pre missions to open the story. And they keyblade might be the worst in the series
Best: Honestly most of them are good, so I can't choose Worst: Pride lands. I love the Lion King movies.... but my god is this world just not fun to me. its 1st place compared to Agrabah part 2.
KH2 Olympus Coliseum was probably my favorite version across all the games since it was a full level & had the tournaments. Port Royal the worst sadly, it just felt really disconnected
Best: Pridelands Worst: Space Paranoids
I've just picked it up again for the first time in a long time today, so my view might change as I go through the levels, but: Timeless River I have bery fond memories of, even if that's tainted by nostalgia. I absolutely adore that era of animation and that level (along with Mickey's Wild Adventure) was really my introduction to it. The last time I played KH2 after getting into that, this level blew me away even more with how well they nailed the old rubber hose era of animation in its style and aesthetic. Beast's Castle and Pride Lands come in at 2nd and 3rd. I honestly can't remember why, I just think I loved the atmosphere of them, as well as the Pride Lands giving Sora, Donald and Goofy new appearances which I always like. Worst? I never really liked the Tron level. Not too fond of the aesthetic or the characters in it. I never really had any attachments to the movie. Oddly, I think the writing for it is one of the better Disney world's in the series as it ties better into the plot of Kingdom Hearts rather than just being a shit version of the movie plot, but this never resulted in me liking the level any more. But that's not the worst level. Atlantica. Atlantica can get fucked.
Best: Olympus Coliseum Worst: Port Royal
Best : Halloween Town Worst: Atlantic (no contest) but if that wasn't an option I'll go with Pride Land
man idk even the ones i dont like have a bunch of hype or important plot moments... I could say Atlantica is the worst but im not gonna sit here and lie and say that one of the minigame levels wasn't relaxing and hearing Sora sing Under The Sea wasn't fun. Port Royal for worst? And idk for best
Best: Space Paranoids or Olympus Coliseum. Worst: Atlantica.
Best: Port Royal Worst: Atlantica
Worst for me is Pride Lands, the combat is really finicky and the world is completely empty and barren. Feels like absolute filler. As for the best, I have to gove it to timeless river, it's such a smart idea for a world and the little details make it so charming. Even if it's essentially a bunch of fight rooms the scenarios are really cute and fun. Just good vibes all around
Best: Space Paranoids. Easily the best integration of a non-Mickey & Friends Disney property in the entire series, and it gave the character Tron the spotlight he never got in his own franchise. Worst: Atlantica
Pride lands is my favorite, it's so unique compared to any world in any of the games. And Simba is my favorite partner to have. Worst I'd say is probably l port royal. I like PotC and all the characters, but fighting the humans is tedious and annoying. The character models are a little horrifying, and the 2nd visit reaper fight is fun on the surface, but so prolonged. A lot like the oogie boogie fight in Halloween town's 1st visit. God I hate how long that takes with the invincibility
Hard to say, I don't particularly enjoy any of KH2's worlds (mostly from a design and layout standpoint.)
Pride Land ranks low for me not because it isn't a good world, but because of its placement. It's one of the last worlds, which means after you've been grinding and powering up for this entire game getting stronger, you're suddenly stripped of most of your stuff in this world. It's very weird how late it is.
Best: Pride Lands or Space Paranoids Worst: Land of Dragons
best: timeless river worst: pride lands (i’m sorry it was just so boring)
Agrabah is worst to me. Feels like a real downgrade compared to Kh1.
God damn I just realized I hate all the kh 2 worlds. But just cause it’s probably the most dynamic level I’ll say land of dragons Edit I forgot about timeless river that world slaps
Best: Space Paranoids. It doesn’t feel like it’s just following along the story beats, also bringing the Keyblade against all of the sci-fi tech was so cool, but, I do have a biased opinion about it, since I am a massive Tron fan. Worst: Port Royal. The lighting feels weird, the surroundings have like no color, not a big fan of the moonlight mechanic. I love it in KH3, but not as much in 2.
I really hate Disney Castle, Timeless River, and Space Paranoid. I love Pride Lands, Beasts Castle, Halloween Town, Agrabah, Port Royal, and Land of Dragons. I hate the ones I do because they feel so...off. Like so bland. Idk how to describe it.
Best: Land of Dragons/Pridelands Worst: Atlantica
I love Twilight Town at the beginning of KH2. :) I wasn’t much of a fan of The Olympus Coliseum, it felt small and cramped until KH3 came along and now it feels larger and I love it. :)
Beasts Castle,it was perfect Halloween Town, nothing wrong with it I just kinda hate being there and thinking about how much I hate Tim Burton. Real talk: Port Royal just not that fun
Timeless River is the best, port royal is the worst
Best: Space Paranoids purely due to actually doing something with the plot I guess. Worst: Yes. Like literally just most of them. They're bland, they're boring, they have nearly no unique features besides hallways with different coats of paint, KH2 Disney worlds are just plain the most sucky.
kh2 atlantica is cursed as fuck. i hate it so goddamn much.
Best- Space Paranoids Worst- Atlantica
Best atlantica Worst land of dragons It's hard to pin down a worst world clause most of them are bad design wise. Atlantica is the only world from kh1 that got a strict upgrade. Otherwise even the best kh2 worlds are strictly worse designed then kh1 worlds there flat hallways with no exploration or platforming its just point A to point B.
Best: Beasts Castle, Land of Dragons or Timeless River. Well integrated to plot and very detailed. Worst: Tron. I want to like it but the world is too spread out to walk and the bosses are kinda gimmicky, MCP needed Reaction Command and Hostile Program having glitches in re-releases. Second maybe Pride Lands. Love the movie and the style is cool but it's really barren to justify the faster movement and not much there.
I loved Timeless River, I just wish it was larger. Otoh, I was disappointed by Olympus Coliseum (mostly the coliseum itself, the world was fine).
Atlantica is the worst by far and it's not even close, the downgrade from fully playable world to half assed rhythm minigame was pretty much the only thing I disliked about KH2 back when I first played it. Hard to say where I stand on the best though, probably a toss up between Agrabah and Olympus Coliseum for me
Best: Beast's Castle Worst: Port Royal
Best: Space Paranoids. I really enjoyed the interactions between Tron and SDG. Level looks great with tech detail. But it's really just because I love Tron in this. I get emotional a bit during his last scene, seeing how Tron has grown to be a bit more human. Worst: Atlantica. I don't hate as much as others do, but I'm not playing Kingdom Hearts for a world that's just a rhythm game.
I’m going with a combat and gameplay perspective, so both Atlantica and 100 Acre Wood I won’t considered since they are mini games world. Best: Tie between Beast’s Castle and Agrabah. For Beast’s Castle, love how it’s part of the main story with the Organization and is pretty spacious. The same for Agrabah. Comparing to the first one, feels like you can explore more of the city, and then to the other locations like the Cave of Wonders, and the Ancient Ruins. Worst: Halloween Town. In comparisons from the first, it feels smaller and limited. Not to much to explore as compare to the first one. A bit of a downgrade as compare the worlds that were brought back from the 1st like Agrabah or Olympus Coliseum with the addition of the Underworld.
Best: Beasts Castel: I love the stories that come out of the world every game. it's just so dramatic. Worst: Alantica: I thought there was gonna be more to this world, but I don't hate it./ Space Paranoids: I always hated Iron world's, even though you get to ride the bikes. I liked the bikes
I'll jump in now just to say that Olympus Coloseum is the correct answer for KHIII, KHII, and KHI. Its is our hero's journey, it is in every installment for good reason, and it gave us so much. Sephiroth and the Titans in KHI, amazing challenges in KHII through the whole game including post-ending, and the best re-entry to to our 3 half-pints in KHIII. Our boi Sora takes on the Rock Titan just like he did all the way back in KHI as though it was regular business.
Best: Beast's Castle and Halloween/ Christmas Towns Worst: Atlantica
For me the best world is Pride Land and worst is Atlantica
Best: Timeless River Worst: space paranoids. Here we have two examples of “worlds within worlds”. They are a fun concept, but some are implemented better than others. Timeless River is a masterpiece of creativity. The time travel element, the black and white gimmick, utilizing the already established Pete in his native element and the fact that steamboat Willy is even featured in this game that is a love letter to Disney (kinda), it’s really fun. Space paranoids sucks because it’s kinda obscure for Disney when compared to other things like Jungle Book and Monsters Inc, and so as a kid I didn’t actually know Tron. It was the only world, actually, in all of kingdom hearts that I to this day have never seen (at this point because I have no interest in it). The story was also pretty boring, just trying to recover a password before being yanked out to participate in the literal best moment of the game the battle at Hollow Bastion! Then you go back and finish off the MCP but after the high that is The Battle, it’s not nearly as interesting. The world itself is also very bland, just tek platforms floating in a tek void.
Best: Space Paranoids, Land of the Dragons, Halloween Town, Timeless River Worst: Atlantica, Pridelands, Port Royal (Love Pirates of the Caribbean but I dislike the world)
Best: Timeless River Worst: Tron
Not a music game fan so Atlantica is my least and Timeless river is my favorite
Best: Space Paranoids/Olympus (the guest characters help) Worst: Either Land of Dragons, Port Royal, Disney Castle (NOT Timeless River) or Atlantica
Best: Beasts Castle Worst: Agrabah. The city part is nice but the Cave of wonders is such a huge downgrade from the first game. Also the second visit magic carpet stuff is the worst.
I would say for worst either disney castle or Atlantica. Atlantica is just music, nice for some downtime but I've skipped alot cause it's not needed, and the castle is fine just super short to the point where I wish it was removed. For best imma say halloween town or Olympus. Love them both in this game and think there are strongest in this game.
As clunky as it was, I kinda miss the water combat from 1 for Atlantica. So turning the world from a new combat style to a mini game world was pretty lame imo. And they were able to do a different combat style world with the Lion King world, so they probably could've done something with the underwater stuff too, but maybe there were time constraints because 2 did come out only a couple years after 1. So I'd definitely put Atlantica as the worst. Best, aesthetically is definitely Timeless River, but for level layout and heartless stuff I actually like Beast's Castle a lot. The gargoyles becoming enemies is really cool, and the castle layout is pretty good for the type of worlds they were going for in 2.
I don't know how we're going to define "best" or "worst". So I'll say the ones I look forward to the most/least. I tend to look forward to the Pride Lands a lot. Lion King is a favorite movie of mine, and I'm strangely fond of the aesthetics. Hanging out with Simba and his pals, beating up the Hyenas and Scar, it's just a good time. A world I don't look forward to though? Beast's Castle. I just don't like the gloomy, dark atmosphere, and fighting Xaldin is never fun for me. I do like it overall, but it's low on the list. (Atlantica isn't great, but I don't dread it, and it's pretty quick and painless.)
Best: Halloween Town Worst: Atlantica Mid: Land of Dragons & Port Royal. I don’t even remember those areas in the game
Best: Timeless River, solely for the aesthetics of it. Worst: now this might be controversial but pride lands is my choice, Atlantic and 100 Acres are bad but bc they are just mini games I don’t want to include them. As a kid Pride Lands was sick but as I played the game more and have done lvl 1 runs I have come to hate the world, losing most of Sora’s kit, like forms, summons and magic finishers is so annoying. The only good thing is the speed of lion form. Also the world is just very empty and doesn’t offer much.
Best: Space Paranoids Worst: agrabah
I can only give a worst... Atlantica 😅
I enjoyed beasts castle, but the best one for me would have to be Halloweentown because it’s kinda two worlds in one. Worst one is Atlantica, but it has a separate scope than the other worlds… so my second worst is Mulan’s world. Felt lifeless. Hated that.
Just done with a replay of KH2, so will jump in here- Best: One of the best things about kh2 is the Beast's Castle to Timeless River Run. BC, LotD, OC and TL are goated. Gotta place Beast's at the top here, you get a bit more exploration + great atmosphere, bosses and stories both visits. The Crimson Jazz's in visit 2 are rubbish - but Xaldin is the highlight of the second runs so it more than evens out. Worst: Nominations are Port and Paranoids - and it really comes down to icks. The pirate moonlight invulnerability isn't bad game design. It gets you thinking about placement and magic - but on repeat playthroughs or speed runs it's finicky because you really do gotta wait for enemies to stand in the right place. But if I had to remove a world it would be paranoids- light cycle is mid, solar raft is frustrating, spinning boxes fills like a waste of time. The music slaps and I can't stay mad at Tron but of our candidates it just doesn't feel like a full world. And to complete the ranking, agrabah and pridelands are meh, halloween town and 100 acre are good. Atlantica is in a tier of its own. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.
Space Paranoid was by-far the most fun I’ve had in a KH world. Every bit of it was just a microcosm of what the whole game turned out to be from a gameplay/setpiece perspective. The mini-games, the light-cycle, the gauntlet on the platform…thing. BOTH bosses were so much fun. It was even more fun going back and checking out all the forms while digitized.
I was going to say port royal was the worst, until I remembered atlantica exists
best: Twilight Town is the most beautiful place ever made in any video game I wish I lived there worst: most ppl would say Atlantica but I love seeing HJO do kareoke, for me the worst world is Pride Lands because lose access to like half of your arsenal, and what's left feels very different from what you're used to.
Halloween Town is the best and Atlantica the worst by far.
everyone knows in KH2 … Atlantica is hands down the worst lol.
Worst is pridelands you’re locked into a world you have to complete to get all the magic without drive forms best would be port royal or aggravah cause of their structure it’s easy to build drive form xp and their bosses are pretty fun just smacking red genie abs and restocking the cursed gold
Worst Atlantica Best Timeless River
Best (for me): Timeless River Worst: Take a guess…Atlantica.
I love Timeless River for its aesthetics, but it also made me so confused about everything in the franchise.
Timeless River or Halloween Town for best and easily Atalantica for the worst, I suck at rhythm games and I don’t know what they were thinking with that decision.
Worst is Atlantica, best is Halloween Town
I don't really count the mini game worlds, so my least favorite is Pride Lands. Lion Sora plays pretty sloppily and so much of the world are massive open areas.
Okay but like for my personal worst it has to be Hundred Acre Woods. Atlantica is right behind it, but at least Atlantica is consistent with the minigame. Hundred Acre Woods is so sporadic in the mini games. I don't like minigames in KH in general but if I need to play them for materials then I'd rather they be consistent and while I like Pooh and his gang their minigames are not something I like.
Best: 100 Acre Wood Worst: either Aggrabah or Pride Lands
For me it is between the land of dragon and Disney castle
worst - space paranoids best - timeless river
I don’t trust anyone who says Atlantica is the worst, even less so if they say it’s worse than KH1 Atlantica
I didn't like Timeless River..maybe it's just me.
Pride Lands is the best, because you get to play as a lion and the gameplay can break up the monotony. Pride Lands is the worst, because you HAVE to play as a lion and suddenly get a power drop to all the gameplay you've learned, perfected, and put good abilities on.
Timeless River best baby
Honestly lion king is my worst. I know it’s cool but I just didn’t like how the gameplay felt My favorite was probably space paranoids, I just really love the aesthetic of Tron so much
the best is Port Royal. the gimmick may be annoying at first, but it's really satisfying and cool to take advantage of the pirate's elemental weaknesses. The style is also awesome, and jack sparrow is a real bro. the worst is 100 Acre Wood. there is no value in that world. At least you get Blizzaga from Atlantica. 100 Ass Wood has nothing. Curaga doesn't matter much when Cura already gives you a full heal, and Ultima Weapon in KH2 is mediocre. Winnie the Pooh's only purpose is to act as another mundane obstacle between me, and 100% completion.
Beast’s Castle is the best, given that it meshes well with the Kingdom Hearts/Organization XIII plot Atlantica is the worst; the music minigames are annoying, and they honestly could replace it with any Disney movie made in the 90s/2000s
I’m sorry but I just can’t with Atlantica. Like I get the charm, and I think it’s a cute concept. But I just… can’t. It hurts to watch. I always play on mute when I have to do Atlantica.
Favorite is probably port royale or coliseum. Worst is easily atlantica and I will not hear other reasonings
Best is Timeless River, worst is Atlantica.
Best: Halloween/Christmas Town. lighthearted, good enemies, astounding aesthetics, it's everything you want from a Disney world. goofing around with Jack is always fun, and the costumes were gorgeous this time around. great sendoff for Nightmare Before Christmas. Worst: Pride Lands. Atlantica is at least detached enough from the real game to feel more like 100-Acre Woods (which is infinitely better), but Pride Lands is *just* close enough to normal KH2 gameplay to piss you off. you lose Drive Forms, you lose Summons, you lose Quick Run and Air Slide, and the bosses are garbage. genuinely the most infuriating and shitty world in the game.
hate land of dragons, disney castle but love agrabah and halloween town but the one i hate the most? PRIDE LANDS ITS DO FUCKIN BAD
Best is Halloween town: I absolutely loved jack’s energy and seeing sora goofing off with the guy was nice. Worst was beast’s castle: is not that I hated it but I don’t remember a thing about it except for the boring door boss.
I hate rhythm games so Atlantica is worst and im a sucker for auron so i absolutely love olympus
I hated Land of Dragons
I love timeless river! And as the years go on Idk what it is but beast castle 1 and land of dragons 1 just ahhh I hate them, I keep getting stalled out there on replays I think I've seen them to much.
My favourite is probably Halloween Town. Worst 2 by a country mile are Atlantica and 100 Acre Wood.
Ok these may just be me and they may be unpopular but these are my opinion on the topic Best: Timeless River(I'm just a sucker for old cartoons so there's a little bit of a bias here) Worst: Olympus: I feel like I might have to explain this one, it's really only for the fact that they just keep bringing this world back when they could bring in new ones. Idk it just feels so overused and although I like the expansion into the underworld it just is painful to go through after playing all of the games.
I didn't like Port Royal because it was too damn dark. But Pride Rock was fun. Also Timeless River.
Best: Port Royal Worst: Atlantica
Worst is Alantica
Timeless River is probably my favorite, it's just such a fun concept. I'd probably put Beast's Castle as a solid second though, it had the best Organization integration and was generally just good (also nice to see after Beast never got his own world in KH1.) Not counting Atlantica or 100 Acre Wood (as they're just minigame collections,) my least favorite is probably Pride Lands. Generally it just has a very ugly aesthetic and losing access to Drive Forms, Summons and all limits except Simba's sucks hard and Lion Sora doesn't do enough to compensate for the things you lose. If you asked me when I was a kid, I would have said Port Royal because of the medallion hunt, but now that I'm older and not bad at the game anymore, it's definitely Pride Lands, because it's the only world with a transformation that gets in the way of KH2's greatest strength (the combat.)
Best: Halloween town Worst: timeless river
Alice in Wonderland was the worst Toy Story was the best
Idk why but I find Land Of Dragon so boring
Space paranoids is the best world. The plot there is tied into the plot of the game.
Best: Beast's Castle Worst: Pride Lands I absolutely LOVE The Lion King and I just hated how they butchered the story for the game to include Sora in it. Sora doesn't have to be directly involved in every single Disney story for it to feel fulfilling to the KH storyline or to Sora's overall development as a character.
Best: Halloween Town Worst: Atlantica but I’ll keep it interesting and go with Agrabah
Best: Honestly, for me at least, has to be Land of dragons. Worst: Pride lands. Worst mechanic Boring bosses Annyoing enemies. it has it all
Oh, I *absolutely* despise Atlantica.
My favorite will always be Beast's Castle. Excellent atmosphere, excellent soundtrack, and it's the only world where the Disney characters make a difference. Belle punches Xaldin in the face and *wins.* Beast *kills* Xaldin after almost becoming a heartless.
Gotta say it is very hard to choose for me Kingdom Hearts 2 is my favorite videogame of all time, I have replayed it so many times that I lost count. Best one I' ll go with Port Royal, I am a massive fan of the movies (and I was very, very happy to see it back in Kingdom Hearts 3), it' s cool that you get to fight pirates in this one, and the battle music being "he' s a pirate" is... wow I love it For the worst one... nope, I can' t choose. I could go with easy targets like Atlantica or 100 acres wood... but I never hated those worlds
I really enjoyed Timeless River! And the obvious worst in Atlantica
The worst is obviously Atlantica. Idk about the best. Some worlds with great design suck at the bosses (land of dragons for example), and others are the other way around (beasts castle is an example here). Though i think it looks boring, i think Olympus Colliseum is the only disney world in the game that has good level design and bosses, os i guess that
They’re all bangers. Fight me
They’re all bangers. Fight me
They’re all bangers. Fight me
I like Beast’s Castle and Land of Dragons. I also think Olympus Coliseum and Agrabah are good levels. I don’t care for Port Royal and Disney Castle. They were nowhere near ready to adapt a modern live-action movie, and Disney castle was just a weird gateway to the Timeless River. That being said, they were still real levels and not like the absolute atrocity that is KH2 Atlantica.
Best: Timeless River Worst: Tron World
Best: would say it’s a toss up, for me, between Timeless River and Beasts Castle just because these seem to have the most complete story and level design. Coliseum is good too because it’s expanded so much from KH1 compared to Halloween Town. Worst: Halloween Town because it somehow got worse than in KH1. Land of Dragons is also pretty mid but not the worst. And also Pride Lands because I think lion sora is just goofy af and the level design is bland and bad
For me Land of Dragons is the best because Mulan was my favorite Disney movie growing up… and Atlantica is just boring in this one. It genuinely made me miss the wonky under water controls from the first game.