Right, so before you start playing this game, maybe you might want to know some of the basics. The basics I'm going to teach you here is the attack button, camera views, locking on, usage of items, Magic, save points, abilities, Forms and Summons.
Attacking,Guarding, Jumping,Reaction Command and etc..
So, since this game is playable on PS2, the buttons are X to attack, O to jump, TRIANGLE for reaction command and SQUARE for guarding (it is only usable if you use your AP and put Guard). To make a full combo blast, keep tapping X. If you jump in the air and just continue to tap X, you might be able to deliver some "Aerial Combos".
The SQUARE button is to GUARD. When using the SQUARE button, initially you'll find it hard to use it, because it will only work if you hit the button at the RIGHT time. This'll need lots of practice especially if you want to NOT get hit brutally by Bosses like Sephiroth and Xemnas. So, practice Guarding until you're really good, then you've got no problem facing of with some BIG bosses.
The O button is easy to use. To do a LOW jump, just TAP O. To do a slightly HIGHer jump, press and HOLD the O button for a while. If you get the High Jump Level 2+ ability, it'll be useful especially if you want to avoid some incoming blasts from heartless and nobodies. But you can only obtain High Jump by leveling up Valor Form ( Goofy + Sora). Another jumping ability which is really useful in battles is Aerial Dodge Level 2+. Aerial Dodge can only be obtained in your ability list once your Master Form reaches level 5, which is the maximum level. Once you get your Aerial Dodge ability, press O twice, and you'll get your Aerial Dodge.
The TRIANGLE button is only usable when there is a REACTION COMMAND. The reaction command box will appear randomly. Once you see a reaction command box, hit it. Again, it'll be useful when you're fighting with bosses. But sometimes when you're fighting with Nobodies, the REVERSAL command will appear. In this case, you don't really have to tap it until the reaction command box is gone, but you can just tap it once, and they'll stop attacking you for a while. The most crucial time to hit the reaction Command box is when you're fighting the SAMURAI and BERSERKER. One full combo blasts from Samurai and Sora's HP will deplete as much as 3/4 of his HP, or WORSE, you'll die in just 4 hits if you're not strong enough. Whereas Berserkers, the reaction command box will appear when it let go of his weapon. When it does, get near to the weapon, and don't forget to hit the TRIANGLE button. Drive your way to the Berserker, and kill it with a few good swipes.
Camera Views/Controls.
Now for the camera views/control. In Kingdom Hearts 2, you don't have to press the R2 and L2 button anymore, but you just have to turn you right analog stick on your PS2 joystick. Just swing it around to get the view that you want. Otherwise, the camera will just follow behind whatever character you're controlling.
Locking On.
This control is really useful in Kingdom Hearts 2, because you'll find that there are more and crazy battles in this game when compared to Kingdom Hearts 1 (I think.. I saw my brother playing it and compared these two games.) To lock on to your opponents, just press the R1 button and you'll lock on to specific targets. By using this control, your whole view will only concentrate on that target that you have locked on, and all you have to do is to just keep moving around while keeping a close eye on your target. If you happen to get hit by anything, just hit the R1 button and you'll be back on to your track again.
Items.
The item slot will come in handy if you set the slots right for EVERY character. Each character will have their own pack to carry throughout the whole entire game. You can gain access to the item slot by pressing the Start button and click Customize. From there, you'll be able to set all the items you want your characters to hold. You can also gain access to the AP Boosts you've collected in the game. From here, you can give the AP Boosts to any of your characters you think is strong and let him or her equip strong abilities. But I recommend that you give your MAIN character, which is Sora, the AP Boosts you've collected. Once you think your character has enough AP Boosts, you can just give it to any other character. It pays to check the stock from time to time, as you might have AP Boosts in there you may have forgotten about.
Magic.
Using Magic in Kingdom Hearts 2 is way much easier than Kingdom Hearts 1. Reason why is, in Kingdom Hearts you can access the magic slot by using the directional buttons and click on magic, which will take up a few seconds. But in Kingdom Hearts 2, there is a shortcut maneuver. Just hold on to L1 button and press either X, O, SQUARE or TRIANGLE to hit your magic. This is the shortcut after you've customized your character and put the Magic ability under your character's shortcut. This shortcut is really handy when it comes to healing in MID-BATTLES. Like for example, when your HP is in critical state, just hold L1 and click on the CURE button (provided if you have already put CURE as one of your shortcuts).
Save Points.
These are as straightforward as they come. When you want to save progress, go up to one of those glowing vesper-looking things and save. These are also useful for jumping to the world map to fly around to other worlds. You'll definitely, 100% find this in EVERY world you travel to. There is no WAY you CAN'T find a save point. Unless you really don't know where it is.
Abilities.
This is the ability list I got from the Internet, for Donald, Goofy and Sora.
| Donald | |
| Description | |
| Unleashes a firestorm that attacks | |
| unleashes a barrage of ice at the enemy. MP Cost 10. | |
| Call down a bombardment of lightning bolts at your target. MP Cost 10. | |
| Cures Party Member's HP. MP Cost All. | |
| A Limit Command that unleashes Donald's powerful Comet spell. Consumes all of Sora's MP. | |
| A Limit Command that unleashes Donald's powerful Duck Flare spell. Consumes all of Sora's MP. | |
| Draws in and obtains nearby orbs. Equip to obtain far orbs. | |
| Increases drop rate of munny, HP and MP orbs. Equip the whole Party to further increase the drop rate. | |
| Will bring luck by increasing the drop rate of items. Equip the whole Party to further increase the drop rate. | |
| Increase damage done by fire-based attacks. | |
| Increases damage done by blizzard-based attacks. | |
| Increases damage done by thunder-based attacks. | |
| Restores MP relative to the amount of damage taken. Equip more to increase the effect. | |
| Greatly increases MP restoration speed after MP is fully consumed. | |
| Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Limit, if Limit is useable. | |
| Quickly revives a fallen Party Member and greatly restores their HP. | |
| Restores HP while replaced by another Party Member with Change. | |
| Goofy | |
| Description | |
| Creates a vortex to draw enemies close and attack them. MP Cost 10. | |
| An effective ranged attack, throwing a shield at the enemy from afar. MP Cost 10. | |
| Dashes through enemies, bouncing them towards Sora. MP Cost 10. | |
| A Limit command that unleashes Goofy's spinning attack, Whirli-Goof. Consumes all of Sora's MP. | |
| A Limit Command that unleashes Goofy and Sora's joint attack Knocksmash. Consumes all of Sora's MP. | |
| Draws in and obtains nearby orbs. Equip to obtain far orbs. | |
| Increases drop rate of munny, HP and MP orbs. Equip the whole Party to further increase the drop rate. | |
| Will bring luck by increasing the drop rate of items. Equip the whole Party to further increase the drop rate. | |
| Increases effect done by healing items on the field. | |
| Restores MP relative to the amount of damage taken. Equip more to increase the effect. | |
| Increases defense in a pinch. | |
| Ensures 1 HP remains after taking a massive hit. | |
| Ensures 1 HP remains after taking damage from a combo. | |
| Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Limit, if Limit is usable. | |
| Automatically replaces fallen Party Members. | |
| Quickly revives a fallen Party Member and greatly restores their HP. | |
| Restores HP while replaced by another Party Member with | |
| Sora | |
| Description | |
| Block and shoots back enemies with SQUARE. | |
| Knock a target into the air during a combo with SQUARE | |
| Attacks a target from left to right during a mid-air combo with SQUARE. | |
| Jumps high into the air while attacking at the end of a combo with SQUARE. | |
| When knocked down, quickly regain balance and counterattacks with SQUARE. | |
| Rapidly attacks a target. | |
| Unleash an attack that deals damage to nearby enemies. | |
| Instantly closes in on and attacks a far target. | |
| Unleashes a powerful finishing combo move that pierces through a target's guard. | |
| Unleash a finishing combo move that knocks down several enemies. Damage dealt is relative to magic to magic skill. | |
| Unleashes a powerful leaping attack on targets in mid-air. | |
| Closes in on far targets in mid-air and unleashes spinning attacks. | |
| Unleashes a powerful finishing combo move to a single target in midair. | |
| Counterattacks nearby enemies with Attack while performing Guard. | |
| Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Valor in a pinch , if Valor form is usable. | |
| Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Master in a pinch, if Master Form is usable. | |
| When a friend is down, automatically sets the Reaction Command to Summon in column that contains Summon, if Summon is usable. | |
| A Limit Command that uses teamwork to unleash the powerful Trinity attack. Consumes all of Sora's MP. | |
| Increases the amount of time the Summon will stay. | |
And here is the Attribute lists.
| Description | |
| Hit Points, or the life bar in the right hand corner of the screen. You can extend it with special items. | |
| Magic Points, or the magic bar, just above the life bar. This determines how much juice you have to deliver magic attacks, limit attacks, and using cure magic. Use magic as often as you want because this bar replenishes fast. | |
| Ability Points. These are points you can spend on specialized skills for each character. By using AP Boost on someone, you can increase the amount of points they have to spend. | |
| This is basically strength, which determines how strong the attack of a character is. | |
| This is defense, which is determines how affected a character is when they get hit. |
Sora's Drive Forms.
In Kingdom Hearts, there was no such thing as Drive Forms, yes? But in Kingdom Hearts 2, you'll get this box on the Command section saying Drive Form. There are four forms which Sora will be able to transform into with the help of his allies. With Goofy, you'll get Valor Form, Donald, Wisdom Form, Goofy and Donald Master and Final Form. Each of these forms will consume your Drive Gauge, and each and every form you will NEED to train to obtain their own specific abilities like High Jump Level2+ (Valor Form Level 5) , Quick Run Level 2+ (Wisdom Form Level 5), Aerial Dodge Level 2+ (Master Form Level 5) and Glide Level 2+ (Final Form Level 5). Training these forms requires certain conditions. You'll get Valor Form from the fairies from the storyline, Wisdom also from the storyline, Master from Mickey, on the way to Space Paranoid in Hollow Bastion, and Final Form (2 ways) follow story line or go into Olympus and take part in the Cerberus Cup, change to Master Form (don't kill anyone) and keep RETRYING until you get Final Form in you Drive List. On to training the Forms...
Valor Form - Train on
any heartless or nobodies. To level up Valor Form, you just have to use itas long as you can BUT before the Drive Gauge reaches 0, then quickly run to a
save point and jump to world map, and do this again until Valor Form reaches
Level 5. Valor Form is the EASIEST to train. Because it is only based on how many
times you inflict damage to an opponent. Once Valor Form reaches Level 5, you'll
gain the ability High Jump Level 2+ in your ability list.
Wisdom Form - Same as Valor Form, but this time, Wisdom Form requires you t
o defeat onlyHeartless to gain experience points. 1 Heartless = 1 EXP. Once Wisdom Form
reaches level 5, you 'll gain the ability Quick Run Level 2+ in you ability list.
Master Form - Ah! This form is also easy to train but you really gotta be fast. To train this form,
collect all the Drive Orbs, the yellow balls that appear once you defeat a random
heartless or nobodies. 1 small Drive Orb = 1 EXP, 1 big Drive Orb = 3 EXP.
Area of recommendation to train Master Form, Land of The Dragons, The
Throne Room. Your Drive Gauge should be a
t least 5 or 6 to do this. But if youwant to train it early, which was what I did, clear of the enemies in the Throne
Room, go out, then go in again in Master Form. Keep doing this until your Drive
Gauge is 1. Once it has reached 1, quickly run out of the room or perform an
Aerial Dodge, go to the save point, but DO NOT save, Jump to World Map. Then
return to the area and do it again. Remember to clear of the enemies first before
you start training.
Final Form - This is really hard to train. Kill only NOBODIES. 1 Nobody = 1 EXP. Area of
recommendation, World that Neve
r Was, Saiix lair, although there are only threein this area and it is also the nearest to the save point and the easiest to kill.
Summons.
You'll be able to obtain Summon charms in treasure chests throughout the game. Summon lists like Chicken Little, Peter Pan, Stitch and Genie.
Chicken Little - When you run into Merlin, he'll give you this summon. It give your first-person shooter controls. To fire, hit the X button. TRIANGLE will push them back with a firecracker if they get to close.
Genie - You acquire Genie after
the first Agrabah mission. You use him like a Limit attack, teaming up to do combos. You have four different attacks. Use all of the moves to get the most out of his appearance.Stitch - You'll get Stitch after finding his Ukulele Charm in Ansem's study. He initially sits on your menu and shoots random enemies. If you hit X, he'll shoot enemies on cue, and SQUARE makes him to play a songs that hurts all the enemies on screen.
Peter Pan - Peter and Tinkerbell unlock after getting the Feather Charm on the Interceptor in Port Royal. This is in the Ship Graveyard. Both comrades will chip in; Peter fighting for you and Tinkerbell healing you. For a combo limit attack hit TRIANGLE.
That is all for Basics for Kingdom Hearts 2. Next stop SECRETS.
