Parents' Guide to

Kingdom Hearts 2

By Jeremy Gieske, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Great graphics, great story, great sequel. Tweens.

Game PlayStation 2 2006
Kingdom Hearts 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 11+

Based on 9 parent reviews

age 15+

This series isn't really for children here's why

Now I know for some people especially those uninitiated with the Kingdom Hearts franchise that the title I have given it is perhaps a bit odd but over all the Kingdom Hearts franchise features a lot of content that quite simply isn't necessarily appropriate for children under the age of about 14 what do I mean by that well this is one of the darker games in the Kingdom Hearts series so I suppose I'll start with this one this is not the darkest game in the series but just for some examples of what other Kingdom Hearts games the popular Final Fantasy spin-off as well as crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy has to offer the canonical Noble game Union Cross has a plot that revolves around genocide specifically of children as well as a scene of a girl named strelitzia being murdered and then limping out of a door as she passes away holding a dead cat or familiar with her dream eater other games like 358 / 2 days yes I know that's a some mouthful for a title feature the main character being forced to murder his best friend Birth by Sleep features a rather Grim ending in which one of the characters ends up coma toast the other ends up being possessed by the main villain and one and sup in a hellscape because there's no way around it and the previous game to Kingdom Hearts 2 chain of Memories remade as re chain of Memories for pretty much every Consul out there happened to have of scenes of one character being burned to death one being strangled to death and one just straight-up dying the nurse recent game Dark Road also teases the fact that all of the main villains friends were murdered for some reason or another Kingdom Hearts 2 was perhaps a little bit more tame on the surface however much of the story content excluding the Disney filler is very much too dark for younger audiences it's clear that Kingdom Hearts is truly in fact rather well hidden for older audiences the character Roxas whose Fates is death essentially in this title yes I am aware of the fact that he returns and future games he does essentially die in this game the character Axel kills himself to save the others other plot lines include the main character murdering an entire organization of people known as organization 13 simply for the fact that they wish to be whole although when a later game it's revealed that they're just Pawns other content in the game and includes one small scene of blood some content that was removed for American releases such as Will Turner holding a gun up to his face in fact you can look that up not only that but a lot of the overall content outside of that and if you ever look into the secret reports each game has tend to go a lot darker in example is the third game features a an entire plot line from its secret reports were referring to torturing children with legs to their own mental shut down and death overall will not being shown has been perhaps a Ted concerning I do not pretend to be a parent however I am an adult older sibling and I have been with the series Almost since its Inception surrounds the near 21 years of my life I would have originally thought as I was younger it would just be however upon replaying it a lot of the darker material is hidden perhaps due to the Disney connections and that the Disney World's featured essentially act as filler to keep the tone between light and dark as is a somewhat well-done plotline however the darker elements tend to show its final fantasy blood and it's incredibly evident in fact if I remember correctly and this could be false information Kingdom Hearts II was originally given the TV rating however they ended up changing their mind which is kind of dumb since a lot of the content which there's too much of to actually go in death with does go towards team or 14 and up variety let alone the series is too complicated for younger children it isn't convoluted or confusing like many lead the lead others to say however it is truly too complex for younger children much like Final Fantasy Perhaps it is a good start for younger children who want to get into jrpgs but it is perhaps a bit too dark much like a lot of shounen anime are definitely aimed towards the 14 or up variety it's much like Naruto bleach in one piece in that respect something that children could typically watch but isn't really for younger children isn't is more foreign older teenage to adult crowd the game is one of the best jrpgs to ever exist one of the best written in terms of story and by far the definitive action RPG in fact there will never be a better action-rpg than this unless Kingdom Hearts decides to do something even better at some point however a lot of the series is over all content does make you question if it really should be for kids now in Japan yeah I'd say it's just fine however if we're going by a western audience it's a tad too much definitely think the SRP shouldn't be slacking on a lot of the content and that deteriorating would be most appropriate I only think the E rating should be given to the original Kingdom Hearts and its Final Mix version Kingdom Hearts re-coded and perhaps three if it wasn't for what the ending acts of the game included including the main love interest Kyrie literally getting cut in half and the remind DLC content where the main character is essentially killed yes the series is quite dark and going far too in depth with it would take forever not going to do that but no I do not think Kingdom Hearts is necessarily kid-appropriate not the second game nor the series as a whole if you do let your children play please be be there to watch your children because a lot of the stuff will fly over their heads L A lot of it flies over adults heads because they can't seem to realize how well-written series actually is it is your typical jrpg anime a a final fantasy Disney NES coming-of-age tale but it isn't in the fact that it is more mature even by Final Fantasy

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
age 8+

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9):
Kids say (44):

A deep, involving storyline and outstanding graphics make Kingdom Hearts 2 a worthy sequel. From flying to missions in a fully customizable "gummi ship" (co-piloted by no less than Chip and Dale!) to talking to Minnie Mouse or traveling through the 100-acre woods, this game has a lot of fun surprises tucked up its sleeve -- including great mini-missions. Overall, with a playing time of easily over 30 hours, Kingdom Hearts 2 offers a lot of value and a lot of entertainment.

Game Details

  • Platform: PlayStation 2
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Square Enix
  • Release date: April 28, 2006
  • Genre: Role-Playing
  • ESRB rating: E10+ for Mild Blood, Use of Acohol, Violence
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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