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Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
You pronounce it three-eight-five days over two. Go figure.
October 16, 2009 | 9:56 PM PSTKombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a side story within the Kingdom Hearts universe. Roxas, one of the main characters from Kingdom Hearts 2, gets his origin story and how he became part of Organization XIII. You play from the day Roxas was "born" to the day you play him in Kingdom Hearts 2 in Twilight Town. You play the game by completing missions you are sent on from the Organization's leader to claim hearts with the power of your keyblade.
What's Hot
Keep in mind the game is on the DS. Imagine some DS games right now; they typically shy away from pushing the system to traditional limits of raw graphic prowess and focus on bringing a different or unique art style to dazzle gamers. Kingdom Hearts goes the more traditional route with eye popping results. Square Enix did an admirable job of putting a PS2 game with all the trimmings on a DS cart. The way that Kingdom Hearts is structured and produced, it is very easy to draw comparisons between the PS2 version since there is that much effort put behind the aesthetics and features. It might have sounded ambitious to do such a feat, but it is pulled off with this effort.
Exploring an origin story can either expand a universe or fall flat and make a character much less interesting. Kingdom Hearts makes you want to know more about Roxas and how he became a Nobody. The supporting cast of the remaining Organization XIII members add more flavor to the mix in absence of more traditional hero characters.
Once you get over how much the game looks and feels like a Kingdom Hearts game without any sort of watering down, there are plenty of new things that appear. The best new feature is the panel system. Instead of picking out spells or abilities from a list after each level, you plug in pieces to a grid based system before you embark on a mission. There are two main benefits to having this system. The first being that Roxas can specialize for each mission and the second reason is that it provides another level of strategy to the gameplay. You can load up on potions, special maneuvers or attempt to find a delicate balance that is right for what the situation calls for. The fluidity of being able to change the core of how you play as Roxas is a great feature and it flows very well with the game.
For the first time on a Kingdom Hearts title, you can play multiplayer. Up to four people can take the role of Organization XIII members and replay missions. You all have access to moves like limit breaks and potions but your character will feel unique because the different styles each member accentuates. Play through enough of the single player game and you'll unlock some familiar characters to experiment with in this mode. Where past Kingdom Hearts games lacked in lasting appeal, this Kingdom Hearts starts a trend that will hopefully continue to the rest of the franchise.
What's Not
This is an origin story and it runs between some of the games, which creates an overlap as this game fills in the gaps. You see many of the same places, people and things as you did in previous Kingdom Hearts games. The original Kingdom Hearts was heralded for being an original, yet unlikely mix of universes but with this title, you'll feel a little of "been there, done that." Even the main theme has been recycled for this outing. If you haven't played a Kingdom Hearts game before, this will all be new to you but you'll feel like you are missing key information that would increase the enjoyment of the game. The truth is, you are. The faithful to the franchise will relish in all the details that fill in the Disney/Square Enix world but at the cost of having the rest wonder what the heck is going on.
Kingdom Hearts starts out slowly and doesn't pick up until you get a decent way into the game. There is a pointlessly long tutorial that you can't skip or breeze through. It seems as if Square Enix wanted to disguise the tutorial as vital to the game's story, but it is implemented in a way that is as effective as putting glasses and a mustache on Ronald McDonald to disguise him. The snail's pace the tutorial sets makes you wonder if you are ever going to run with the beautiful game presented. Thankfully, there comes a point where you realize you are off and running but the feeling of being stuck in a long, drug out tutorial isn't fun in the least bit.
Final Word
Kingdom Hearts fans are going to love this entry as you explore the mysterious Organization XIII deeper and find out what happened just prior to the events of Kingdom Hearts 2. Kingdom Hearts achieves a lot on the DS. The new ideas brought forward are good enough that they should remain staples of the franchise. Overall, it feels like few compromises were made in terms of presentation and combat. What did get compromised is the freshness and originality mainly because this explores an origin story that overlaps with the main storyline.
What the Game's About
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a side story within the Kingdom Hearts universe. Roxas, one of the main characters from Kingdom Hearts 2, gets his origin story and how he became part of Organization XIII. You play from the day Roxas was "born" to the day you play him in Kingdom Hearts 2 in Twilight Town. You play the game by completing missions you are sent on from the Organization's leader to claim hearts with the power of your keyblade.
What's Hot
Keep in mind the game is on the DS. Imagine some DS games right now; they typically shy away from pushing the system to traditional limits of raw graphic prowess and focus on bringing a different or unique art style to dazzle gamers. Kingdom Hearts goes the more traditional route with eye popping results. Square Enix did an admirable job of putting a PS2 game with all the trimmings on a DS cart. The way that Kingdom Hearts is structured and produced, it is very easy to draw comparisons between the PS2 version since there is that much effort put behind the aesthetics and features. It might have sounded ambitious to do such a feat, but it is pulled off with this effort.
Exploring an origin story can either expand a universe or fall flat and make a character much less interesting. Kingdom Hearts makes you want to know more about Roxas and how he became a Nobody. The supporting cast of the remaining Organization XIII members add more flavor to the mix in absence of more traditional hero characters.
Once you get over how much the game looks and feels like a Kingdom Hearts game without any sort of watering down, there are plenty of new things that appear. The best new feature is the panel system. Instead of picking out spells or abilities from a list after each level, you plug in pieces to a grid based system before you embark on a mission. There are two main benefits to having this system. The first being that Roxas can specialize for each mission and the second reason is that it provides another level of strategy to the gameplay. You can load up on potions, special maneuvers or attempt to find a delicate balance that is right for what the situation calls for. The fluidity of being able to change the core of how you play as Roxas is a great feature and it flows very well with the game.
For the first time on a Kingdom Hearts title, you can play multiplayer. Up to four people can take the role of Organization XIII members and replay missions. You all have access to moves like limit breaks and potions but your character will feel unique because the different styles each member accentuates. Play through enough of the single player game and you'll unlock some familiar characters to experiment with in this mode. Where past Kingdom Hearts games lacked in lasting appeal, this Kingdom Hearts starts a trend that will hopefully continue to the rest of the franchise.
What's Not
This is an origin story and it runs between some of the games, which creates an overlap as this game fills in the gaps. You see many of the same places, people and things as you did in previous Kingdom Hearts games. The original Kingdom Hearts was heralded for being an original, yet unlikely mix of universes but with this title, you'll feel a little of "been there, done that." Even the main theme has been recycled for this outing. If you haven't played a Kingdom Hearts game before, this will all be new to you but you'll feel like you are missing key information that would increase the enjoyment of the game. The truth is, you are. The faithful to the franchise will relish in all the details that fill in the Disney/Square Enix world but at the cost of having the rest wonder what the heck is going on.
Kingdom Hearts starts out slowly and doesn't pick up until you get a decent way into the game. There is a pointlessly long tutorial that you can't skip or breeze through. It seems as if Square Enix wanted to disguise the tutorial as vital to the game's story, but it is implemented in a way that is as effective as putting glasses and a mustache on Ronald McDonald to disguise him. The snail's pace the tutorial sets makes you wonder if you are ever going to run with the beautiful game presented. Thankfully, there comes a point where you realize you are off and running but the feeling of being stuck in a long, drug out tutorial isn't fun in the least bit.
Final Word
Kingdom Hearts fans are going to love this entry as you explore the mysterious Organization XIII deeper and find out what happened just prior to the events of Kingdom Hearts 2. Kingdom Hearts achieves a lot on the DS. The new ideas brought forward are good enough that they should remain staples of the franchise. Overall, it feels like few compromises were made in terms of presentation and combat. What did get compromised is the freshness and originality mainly because this explores an origin story that overlaps with the main storyline.
February 8, 2010
