Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Say that 5 times fast) is another Kingdom Hearts game that is NOT Kingdom Hearts 3, so I was kinda looking down upon this game, same levels and not only another KH game but on the DS? How good can it be?. Well to be honest it certainly made me wish I never thought that, this games story has a lot of heart and some very deep emotional parts throughout the story that will have you playing to the wee hours of the morning.

Story - The story takes place during Chain of memories, which is before KH2 just in case you didn't know. It revolves around Organization XIII, you play as number 13 (Roxas), who is sora's nobody. Roxas wakes with no memories, he remembers nothing. He seems to find a friendship in another Organization XIII member Axel, he becomes best buds with Roxas. Roxas feels sort of alone and Axel was really the only one to show some sort of compassion for Roxas. To make a long story short, the Organization has a new member her name is Xion and her, Roxas and Axel all become the best of friends, they hang out everyday and eat ice cream a lot....a whole lot, everyday for 358 days straight...they got one heck of a sweet tooth, as i grew tired of watching them eat stupid ice cream, it made sense in a way. As Roxas is told he must keep fighting with his keyblade to release more hearts, in order to complete kingdom hearts, he presses on everyday so that he may have a heart of his own. Down side is you have to play through all the same levels as the first game, with no new characters or levels involved. Without giving too much away, it's a very deep story and actually one of my favorite in the KH series, it was very moving and I can't wait to play it all over again.

Gameplay - The gameplay is similar to the other games, bashing buttons and using your command deck for magic and potion use. Although they introduce a whole new leveling system called "The Panel System". Which was kinda neat, not my favorite but still had something going for it. You basically have a grid, and each type of magic, ability, potion etc. is a block, and you fill that grid using the blocks of your choice. Lame part is that level ups come in block form so when you level you must place it within the grid to earn its upgrades. the gameplay wasn't anything special but like always it's very fun to play, and real simple to use with the DS, hardly ever (If any at all) use the touch pad, I personally never touched it the whole game. Controls for DS are solid and work well with its limited buttons. 358/2 Days is the first KH game to feature multiplayer, you may play any character in the Organization and battle waves of heartless together with your buddies which is actually pretty cool (If anyone you know has the game of course).

Sound - I have to say right off the bat that this was one of the best soundtracks out there, especially Xions theme, every piece of music fit so well in the story and really brought you into the game. And of course the classic Disney music brings a sense of joy to everyone's heart unless you don't have a heart (like Roxas).
The sound in this game was pretty spot on, typical KH sound effects used, the constant grunting when you swing the keyblade carries over with Roxas. The terrifying alarm when your health is real low, all great and re-memorable sounds, they did a fantastic job with this game. Although DS titles may not sound is great as consoles and such, they did a really good job considering.

Graphics - I was pretty surprised when I saw how good the graphics were, when they first announced this back in 07, I pictured the KH type graphics that were displayed on the GBA, although as graphics go in general they are a little blocky and sometimes fuzzy, but not to worry it's far from "unplayable". Even the cut scenes looked fantastic, a small amount of lag in the scenes but still awesome to say the least. I really enjoyed it and had no problem with the way it looked, it was a very good looking DS game.



Final Rundown - 358/2 is a fantastic game with a outstanding story. Although only KH fans will understand it, so it's mostly just for us KH fans. Gameplay is not perfect but good, with the typical KH camera. Playing the same worlds over again was a bit of a drag but don't let it turn you away from this great story that all KH fans will love.

Pro's:

• Great Story
• Good voice acting
• Fantastic Soundtrack 
• Plenty of goodies to snatch up

Con's:

• Some missions get repetitive
• Same levels as KH 1
• Camera Issues
• Jesse McCartney plays the voice of Roxas                            
• Lack of Final Fantasy characters

Review Score - 9.0