It's been a long wait, but Square Enix and Disney have finally come through with Kingdom Hearts II. A lot of things have changed since the first Kingdom Hearts and the Game Boy Advance follow-up, Chain of Memories, but I'm not going to dwell on what's new and what's been changed. A lot of you either haven't played Kingdom Hearts in a long time, or possibly not at all, and Kingdom Hearts II is a new game aside from the continued storyline.

Let's get straight to the point. Is Kingdom Hearts II a good Action-RPG? The answer to that is a mixed one. Unlike the original Kingdom Hearts that was loved by almost all action-RPG fans, the sequel will most likely not be received the same way. The storyline in Kingdom Hearts II is quite intriguing, and will draw in Disney and Square Enix fans alike. However, no matter how important a story is to an RPG, if nothing else is solid, the game overall is not solid.

Unfortunately, this is the case with Kingdom Hearts II. The gameplay seems to be geared toward a considerably younger audience. Granted, the Disney theme somewhat dictates this, but it's clear that the Kingdom Hearts series is not geared solely toward a younger audience. Square Enix has gone out of its way to include summons, magic spells, limits and all kinds of other attacks and offensive abilities into the game. However, a vast majority of the fights require nothing more than mashing away at the attack button.

You may occasionally have to use the new action command, but even that is seldom. It's quite a shame because the new action command allows your character to perform many various actions during combat. If a flurry of attacks is heading toward your character, the action command will become active, and with a quick press of the Triangle button, you'll evade all of the attacks. This is a great feature of Kingdom Hearts II, but a feature you'll rarely be required to use in combat. Even when you do use it, there's very little skill required to properly execute the technique.

There's a fine line between making a game like this accessible to all audiences, and limiting the fun to strictly younger audiences. If you're in the younger audience, you'll really enjoy Kingdom Hearts II, and you can check out our Family Guide review for information from a kid's point of view. However, if you're an average gamer who doesn't watch the Disney Channel all day, Kingdom Hearts II is lacking.

On a more positive note, as I previously mentioned the storyline is top notch. If you haven't played the original Kingdom Hearts or Chain of Memories, you may be a bit lost at the beginning. However, there are several flashbacks that will bring you up to speed, as well as Jiminy Cricket, who offers a wealth of knowledge on all things Kingdom Hearts. You'd be better off playing through the original and the GBA sequel to fully understand the storyline, but Square Enix does a good job of bringing new players up to speed relatively quickly.

If you're a younger gamer, Kingdom Hearts II is an amazing title, and nearly perfect in every way. However, if you're grown out of the Disney age, you may not find yourself having as much fun with Kingdom Hearts II as you did with the original. While it will still take you hours upon hours to complete the title, those hours will be spent mashing away at the attack button instead of carefully planning your next assault. Even using the Disney characters and the others who join your party, the AI is terrible, but it doesn't matter because the game is still far too easy. I'm still looking forward to a next generation Kingdom Hearts, but please make things a bit more challenging, Square.