The boss battles are tough, but not impossible (there's no way to get back the years I shaved off of my life during that Clayton battle in the original), making it the best game in the series for gamers who don't like to be frustrated to the point of ripping out their eyelashes individually (see the aforementioned Clayton battle). Plus, the combat upgrades make gameplay faster and smoother, and the addition of Drive Forms allows you to change Sora's form to activate new abilities. Whereas the small worlds in the original often felt mind-numbingly difficult to navigate, the sequel boasts beautiful level design that feels more legible while still being expansive. Kingdom Hearts 2, released three years after the original, expands on the brilliant Kingdom Hearts concept (a young boy named Sora gains the power of a mysterious keyblade and must travel through Disney worlds to stop the evil Heartless from spreading) while polishing rough edges and expanding outwards with gusto.
And once you’ve finished the single-player campaign, jump into Diablo 3’s cooperative multiplayer mode. Kingdom Hearts 3 might have fourteen years of dev time under its belt, but the second installment in the trilogy (excluding all the other games in the franchise, looking at you Re:Coded) is still superior. And thanks to Blizzard’s Starter Game concept, it’s one of the few RPGs for Mac that you can try for free before you buy.
