Why Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix Is Easier On Critical Mode

It’s hard going back to proud because of the extra abilities being unavailable and the tons of extra AP being gone

Currently doing a 100% to trophy run, and decided to go on critical to do everything, and sure the first levels can be a a bit tricky, the abilities you start are op, but being so used to "press x to win", that's a no go for critical, now you have to use everything at your disposal, limits, drives, summons, magic, change keyblades, abilities that are bad or better on some fights, know what enemies do what and respond accordingly, right now I just need to defeat the data battles and lingering will, I was so terrified when I started the game, but now I feel ready for them, with everything I have learned along the way

Critical Mode made me engage with the game in a way that I never had on Standard and Proud. There were some times where I would die to random heartless because my health was so low and then I learned some great combos, like Magnet into Finishing Leap. And the bosses. When I beat Roxas after my 15th or so attempt after having successfully stollen his keyblades, I was so hype. Then learning how to guard and Reflect, the game just feels better on Critical.

When you get used to critical mode you realize that it's not actually that hard, it's actually pretty easy once you get to level 99. Note, level 99 is close to the standard mode difficulty in critical. For me the only thing that destroyed me was critical level 1. It's VERY hard and it's a pretty good challenge. I reccomend it if some people want a real challenge.

Highkey might have to do a replay of this game on critical mode. I feel like I already did but can’t find my save file unless I saved over it. Oh well - but aye at least I played the game a lot over the years (and did a BBS and KHIII critical mode run with saves to prove it lol)

I'm not sure about Final Mix, but Critical is definitely easier than OG KH2 Proud mode, since in that version the Drive gauge is much harder to filll, you have access to less abilities, no limit form, Reflect is drastically weaker, among other small changes that made Final Mix easier. I'm not sure if it's easier than FM Proud, since I've only played Standard and Critical on FM, but OG Proud is definitely harder than Critical. I will say though, the reasons why OG Proud is harder are mostly not very fun, hence why I consider Critical to be the more fun and fair challenge of the two and my preferred way to play now.

my first playthrough was Critical mode... i was suprised that it wasnt harder xD

Right now im trying to beat the game on proud mode and i can definitely say it's extremely harder. I haven't beaten the game on critical but even i had some easy moments during critical. Im constantly swapping abilities because of low AP at lvl 59. You lose health so quickly from few hits and right now im trying to beat sephiroth and the most i can do is get em to half health lol

i've only played kh2 on critical and again on standard, but i feel like the thing with critical mode is that it's pretty much a glass canon mode sora is prolly the most powerful gameplay wise in KH2, the amount of busted abilities sora has in that game like reflect, drive forms, limits, and how they work in tandem with the games resource management makes sora unstoppable, and critical mode is pretty much built around how yeah the bosses can break you, but you can easily break them if you have a solid understanding of the games mechanics

Played on critical mode for a while and with the steam release decided to do a normal run on standard and what really confused me is how much of a damage sponge everything was. Every fight took so long, I started to think I was doing something wrong.

Ive played KH2FM twice for the trophies, and in both playthroughs the only story bosses I struggled with are Xaldin and the first boss you fight in TWNTW, and on crit I did die a few times to demyx, 1K heartless, jafar, fire and blizzard lords, and hades escape That was kinda it tho.. Least for story bosses

I can barely do it on standard difficulty lol am I just terrible or is it most people have been playing for decades

i have done a replay of KH2 my last replay of the game was on the og ps2 game, like 10 years ago and wanted to test the hardest mode (critical mode), but my game was in french (i'm french) and the game mode name was MASTER Mode not critical so i was playing in critical mode without knowing it, thinking when i'm a going to unlock critical mode. X)

critical is just for dark souls fans, prove me wrong. I've actually ONLY played on standard my first run, and my second run it crit, and i still find it fun, and possibly quicker than how my standard run went (mostly because i was used to the controls by then), but you're right! chill explanation.

First time playing KH2 and I decided to start on critical, it isn't so bad

I agree; Critical isn't that bad... Normally... Now Critical LV1 option; that's a different beast all together.

kh3 also gives you some good abilities on critical iirc. nothing as extreme as kh2 tho

I am playing it now on the first time and my God. Everything and I do mean EVERYTHING kills you in 1 or 2 hits. You don't have to learn the pattern. You have to perfect it.

I just finished my 1st playthrough of this game on critical and man was it fun, yes it was tough in some parts but never felt unfair and made some fights in my opinion better and more epic, especially against, SPOILER WARNING ⚠️ Roxas and Xemnas

So I never got to play Critical for the longest time playing KH2 way back in 2004. I knew it existed but only had Proud. That being said he speaks a lot of truths in the quality of life handouts you receive in Critical which fundamentally makes curtain things easier. But overall Critical offers the same difficulty as Proud does, but simply removes a lot of bullshit Proud provides like the need to conserve MP considerably more when dealing with Captain Crack Sparrow's world or LITERALLY doing chip damage to normal enemies cause you're too damn under leveled and need to grind out kills to even out the playing field. It's a mix up whether Proud or Critical is more difficult, but Critical is the superior way to play hands down.