Well if your buddy says Kairi is worthless and Namine is cool, perhaps you should remind him that without Kairi, there is no Namine.
I'd say that's worth something.
My top three would definitely be Twlilight Town, Timeless River, and Port Royal (in no specific order, but I just want to emphasize that I thought Timeless River was FANTASTIC).
Atlantica was terrible. Puts me in a bad mood to even think about it.
All the pointless singing... *shudders*
I was in GameStop one evening around the time KH2 was released. I vaguely remember seeing commercials and reviews of it, but it never really caught my attention.
But anyway, I remember scanning through the endless shelves of games in search of a very particular one (god knows what it was), and one of the workers there approached me. He asked if I was looking for anything specifically, but just before I could answer, he suggested a game that had recently shipped in by the name of "Kingdom Hearts 2". A sequel, actually.
The name seemed strange to me, but I took a look at it anyway and fell in love with the cover for whatever reason. Bought it right after that.
Little did I know that moment was the beginning of something special.
If I ever see that store clerk again I'll give him a hug.
Or stab him.
I'll have to reflect a bit more before I can make an official decision.
Kill the kitten.
Or the girl.
Whichever is easier to hide.
Then again you could always voice these concerns to your parents, rather than strangers on the internet.
I'm sure you guys could come to some kind of agreement/understanding.