Square Enix's latest press release proves their commitment to the Kingdom Hearts franchise: Kingdom Hearts II will have an all-star cast for its characters. Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, and Hayden Panettier all reprise their roles as Sora, Riku, and Kairi, respectively. Mena Suvari is replacing Mandy Moore as Aerith, James Woods reprises his role as Hades, and they got the original Mulan (Ming-Na) to do her voice in the game. We're expecting, then, to have no qualms with the game's audio.
Square Enix's statement does not include the entire list, so here is to hoping they kept a majority of voice actors from the original: Chris Sarandon (Jack Skellington), Billy Zane (Ansem), David Boreanaz (Squall), Lance Bass (Sephiroth), and Sean Astin (Hercules).
The game is set for release on March 28th on the PlayStation 2. According to Japanese reviews, this title surpasses the original in almost every way, so it should make any fan of this Disney/Final Fantasy hybrid very giddy, indeed.
The partial list, as denoted from the press release:
- Haley Joel Osment as Sora
- David Gallagher as Riku
- Hayden Panettier as Kairi
- Jesse McCartney as Roxas
- Britany Snow as Namine
- Christopher Lee as DiZ
- Steve Burton as Cloud
- Rachael Leigh Cook as Tifa
- Mena Suvari as Aerith
- Hedy Buress as Yuna
- Tara Strong as Rikku
- Gwendoline Yeo as Paine
- Ming-Na as Mulan
- James Woods as Hades
- Zach Braff as Chicken Little
