Review: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 for Nintendo DS

KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS

It’s been some time since the last installment of the Kingdom Hearts series. For those of you that don’t know, Kingdom Hearts is the popular action/RPG series developed by Square Enix most famous for its unique combination of popular Disney movies with Final Fantasy stories. The series’ unique gameplay style has won it several positive reviews, awards and a huge fan base. This latest addition to the Kingdom Hearts line is no exception.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (pronounced three five eight over two) takes place between the first and second games of the series, and tells the story of the young warrior, Roxas, and his time with the mysterious group called Organization XIII and his new friend Xion. Unfortunately, if you haven’t played Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II, the story will leave you very confused and left with a lot of unanswered questions, so if this is your first venture into the series, it would benefit to either play the other games first to fill in the blanks. While the brilliant storytelling enhances the experience, the lack of story does not take all the fun out of the game.

You control Roxas for most of the game, using a unique combination of your blade, magical spells and desperation attacks called limit breaks to fight your way through several worlds based on Disney movies completing missions in order to uncover the secrets of your origin and purpose. Unlike the series’ last attempt at a game for a portable system, 358/2 actually plays like a Kingdom Hearts game, allowing you to run freely through the worlds, explore, and fight enemies at your own pace. The gameplay is massive amounts of fun and keeps you coming back for more. If you’re looking to clear the game completely, you’re looking at about 40-50 hours of gameplay. However, there are four defining changes that set this apart from its console predecessors.

The four paradigm shifting changes to the gameplay help make this installment unique to the series. The first is the mission style of gameplay. Unlike in the past, wherein you were led on by the game’s story, you choose from a list of different missions, each with their own objectives. The game also offers an optional challenge mode to add to the difficulty, allowing you add conditions to the mission to earn you special prizes. The second big change to the game is the panel system. In this game, you’re given a grid with panel that allow you to equip your levels, magic spells, abilities, accessories, items and weapons. It forces you to decide and build your character in ways to help clear certain missions. As you progress, however, your grid does expand allowing you to equip more at once. The third change is the removal of the world travel system. This time, there is no Gummi Ship to get you from world to world. You just choose your mission and go. The final, and possibly biggest, change introduced is the inclusion of multiplayer. The game allows you to link up to four DS’ together to clear missions and earn prizes together. You’re allowed to choose any member of Organization XIII and both cooperate and compete in missions. The game requires you all to fulfill a common goal, but the better your performance in the mission, the better your prizes will be.

While the game is immensely fun and unique, there are other qualities that make this game great. Visually, this game is gorgeous. The graphics, videos and artwork featured in the game are beautiful and use the DS’ full graphical capabilities. The game’s animation flows perfectly, exceeding all expectations. The same goes for the sound track. The music is beautifully rendered and fits the game well. 358/2 also features an all star voice cast that perform brilliantly, making the few spoken moments in the game worth paying attention to. Lastly, the controls in this game are very tight and responsive. For a game that operates without an analog stick, the game is very easy to control and lacks the most of the camera problems that other action games commonly posses.

While this game indeed great, it is not without its drawbacks. This game faces three major issues. The first and biggest issue is the repetitiveness. Unfortunately, 358/2 recycles a lot of its missions. You end up playing the same mission in the same world at least twice. The same goes for a lot of the enemies you fight. The further in to the game you get the more you realize you’re just fighting stronger versions of old enemies, thereby eliminating a lot of the fun if you play for too long. The second flaw in the game is the lack of original level design. The game reuses level designs from the previous two games and doesn’t bother introducing any new worlds to the game, making them look and feel recycled. The final major flaw in the game is the difficulty curve on some of the challenges. A lot of the challenges are made so intense that by the time you’re strong enough to conquer them, any bonus items you earn from clearing them become almost pointless to work for in the first place. But weather you choose to complete them or not is up to you.

Overall, this game is a gem. It has a brilliant story, its gorgeous and offers up hours of fun. While it is neither perfect nor the best in the series, it is a great game on its own. DS owners have a reason to be excited again. For fans of the series, this is a must play. For those new to the series, if you don’t mind a few plot holes, you’ll enjoy it just as much. The game plays as it should, and will offer you a solid experience that will leave you only wanting more.

Signed,

That Gamer Guy In Glasses

"You’re both my best friends. Never forget. That’s the truth."

- Roxas

FINAL GAME SCORE: 87/100