History AwesomeMusic / KingdomHeartsII

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4eN6y6_bTg "Sacred Moon"]], the melancholy theme for The World That Never Was. There's a reason why some keep running around The World That Never Was besides the plot.

** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_iX-HRp7bM final version]] counts as well, nearly matching "Dearly Beloved" in terms of sheer beauty.

* The ''KHII'' arrangement of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRA8h9qojWs "He's a Pirate"]], remixed from its original ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' form into a battle theme. For fans unsatisfied with the original arrangement, the ''2.5'' [[http://youtu.be/1iqkaaHAEbU arrangement]] is far more faithful to Creator/HansZimmer's original rendition, about ten times more epic, and was far and away the most universally popular track on 2.5's OST.

* If you thought the original "Darkness Of The Unknown" was incredible, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4VEqYoGqro wait until you hear the 2.5 ReMIX version.]] The armored Xemnas part is especially intense and amazing.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7AA0S9UKjg "The Other Promise"]], a remix of Roxas's Theme only heard in the Final Mix version of the game.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zexYz6m1SDA The 2.5 version]] is, if anything, even sadder. It starts off slow and quiet, but builds to an absolutely gut-wrenching crescendo.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjS689rvbOw The 2.5 version of Kingdom Hearts II's take on]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII One-Winged Angel]] In addition to reorchestrating it with live instruments, the chorus has been re-recorded, rather than simply re-using the 1997 chorus, as both PS2 versions of OWA did. And it's superlative.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk_uKQ9ACyE "The Home of Dragons"]], the theme of the [[{{Disney/Mulan}} Land of Dragons]], is pretty kickass. Special mention should go to the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrIlKkMkHBU 2.5 ReMix version]]. Some people felt that the original was a bit too screetchy because it tried to make the generic PS2 string sample sound Chinese to... [[LoveItOrHateIt mixed results]]. Their general reception was "this song would be great with real instruments, not so much with MIDI." Sure enough, with 2.5, the re-orchestrated song uses proper Chinese instruments and sounds like it was always meant to.

* If you thought the original ''Darkness Of The Unknown'' was incredible, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4VEqYoGqro wait until you hear the 2.5 ReMIX version.]] The armored Xemnas part is especially intense and amazing.

* The events of Beast's Castle close with a fittingly beautiful instrumental version of "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtMMKckvSA Beauty and the Beast]]". Kinda makes one wish this sort of thing could have been done with original music from the films in some of the other Disney worlds.

* Also this version of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IaoABxFf_Y "Darkness of the Unknown"]], which plays against Armored Xemnas 2.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_iX-HRp7bM final version]] also counts as well, nearly matching ''Dearly Beloved'' in terms of sheer beauty.

** You think the [=KH2=]:FM+ version of "Fate of the Unknown" is epic? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_NXh8-u308 Try this orchestral version]].

* Also this version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IaoABxFf_Y "Darkness of the Unknown"]], which plays against Armored Xemnas 2.

* The events of Beast's Castle close with a fittingly beautiful instrumental version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtMMKckvSA Beauty and the Beast]]." Kinda makes wish this sort of thing could have been done with original music from the films in some of the other Disney worlds.

* Final Mix and 2.5 [=ReMIX=] provided for Christmas Town what a lot of people felt it always should have had: a proper town theme, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atHtKeo905c "What a Surprise?!"]] and battle theme, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NI2eMxjXI "Happy Holidays!"]]

* Final Mix and 2.5 [=ReMIX=] provided for Christmas Town what a lot of people felt it always should have had: a proper town theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atHtKeo905c "What a Surprise?!"]] and battle theme, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NI2eMxjXI "Happy Holidays!"]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qodhFU4q_OM "Desire For All That Is Lost"]]. It even makes up for Phil's endless repeating of [[MostAnnoyingSound "GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!"]]

* The ''KHII'' arrangement of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRA8h9qojWs "He's a Pirate"]], remixed from its original ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' form into a battle theme. For fans unsatisfied with the original arrangement, the ''2.5'' [[http://youtu.be/1iqkaaHAEbU arrangement]] is far more faithful to Creator/HansZimmer's original rendition, about ten times more epic and was far and a way the most universally popular track on 2.5's OST.

* The ''KHII'' arrangement of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRA8h9qojWs "He's a Pirate"]], remixed from its original ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' form into a battle theme. For fans unsatisfied with the original arrangement, the ''2.5'' [[http://youtu.be/1iqkaaHAEbU arrangement]] is far more faithful to Creator/HansZimmer's original rendition and about ten times more epic.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjS689rvbOw The 2.5 version of Kingdom Hearts II's take on]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII One-Winged Angel]] In addition to reorchestrating it with live instruments, the chorus has been re-recorded, rather than simply re-using the 1997 chorus, as both PS2 versions of OWA did. And it's superlative.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjS689rvbOw The 2.5 version of Kingdom Hearts II's take on [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII One-Winged Angel]] In addition to reorchestrating it with live instruments, the chorus has been re-recorded, rather than simply re-using the 1997 chorus, as both PS2 versions of OWA did. And it's superlative.

* As good as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQuBBBzx-I "Dearly Beloved"]] was in the original, Shimomura just turned it into an utter masterpiece for the second game.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbK5MpkCrjQ The calming reprise of Dearly Beloved that plays on the "The End" screen also deserves a mention.]]

* The ''KHII'' arrangement of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRA8h9qojWs "He's a Pirate"]], remixed from its original ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' form into a battle theme.
** For fans unsatisfied with the original arrangement, the ''2.5'' [[http://youtu.be/1iqkaaHAEbU arrangement]] is far more faithful to Creator/HansZimmer's original rendition and about ten times more epic.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk_uKQ9ACyE "The Home of Dragons"]], the theme of the [[{{Disney/Mulan}} Land of Dragons]], is pretty kickass.
** Special mention should go to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrIlKkMkHBU 2.5 ReMix version]]. Some people felt that the original was a bit too screetchy because it tried to make the generic PS2 string sample sound Chinese to... [[LoveItOrHateIt mixed results]]. Their general reception was "this song would be great with real instruments, not so much with MIDI." Sure enough, with 2.5, the re-orchestrated song uses proper Chinese instruments and sounds like it was always meant to.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk_uKQ9ACyE "The Home of Dragons"]], the theme of the [[{{Disney/Mulan}} Land of Dragons]], is pretty kickass.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh42icWH8kUc1y0Wtk6f215m The entire re-orchestrated soundtrack from HD 2.5 Remix]]

** For fans unsatisfied with the original arrangement, the [[http://youtu.be/1iqkaaHAEbU ''2.5'' arrangement]] is far more faithful to Creator/HansZimmer's original rendition and about ten times more epic.