is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Square Enix and Buena Vista Games (now Disney Interactive Studios) in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. Kingdom Hearts II is the sequel to the 2002 Disney Interactive and Square collaboration, Kingdom Hearts, which combined Disney and Square elements into an action role-playing game. The game's popularity has resulted in a novel and manga series based upon it and an international version called Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, released in March 2007. Kingdom Hearts II is the third game in the Kingdom Hearts series. It picks up one year after the events of Chain of Memories. Sora, the protagonist of the first two games, returns to search for his lost friends. Like the previous installments, this game features a large cast of characters fro