Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days was released in late September of 2009 for the Nintendo DS. The game is an interqual in the series, taking place at the very end of the original Kingdom Hearts, during Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and up to the very beginning of Kingdom Hearts II. The game was highly popular, especially among cosplayers, who found the characters of the game quite intriguing. In this article, I will explain the basic story, talk about the game mechanics, look at a few negatives of the game, and then give it my personal rating using the ten-star system.
In the end of the original Kingdom Hearts, the main protagonist, Sora, a fourteen-year old boy living on a peaceful island with his friend Riku and his secret crush Kairi, had finished defeating an evil and mysterious scientist named Ansem. Ansem had been studying creatures called Heartless, who are the result of when a person's heart becomes consumed with darkness. However, he himself had embraced the darkness, and he became an extremely powerful heartless. After defeating Ansem, Sora (along with his two new friends Donald and Goofy) began to search for a way to free Riku from a world of darkness, which acted as his prison. However, in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, after encountering a mysterious organization, he and his friends began to lose their memories. They were put into a slumber by a young girl who had power over their memories, and so they slept for a whole year, slowly getting their memories pieced back together. During this slumber, it was revealed that Sora had a Nobody named Roxas. When someone becomes a Heartless, the empty shell left behind begins to act as though it has a will of its own, therefore becoming a Nobody. Sora's Nobody, Roxas, joined a group of Nobodies known as Organization XIII. Organization XIII's goal is to defeat Heartless and collect the hearts that they had captured. When they collect enough hearts, a gateway to the birthplace of hearts of both light and darkness, known as Kingdom Hearts, will be revealed, and Organization XIII's members will gain new hearts and become whole. During their work, Roxas became friends with a Nobody named Axel, as well as a mysterious Nobody who happened to be the fourteenth member, named Xion. Roxas begins to question his work in the Organization, and he soon finds out that there are more people than the Organization who need him for dire reasons.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days introduced a few new game play mechanics that are full of potential. For one thing, they introduced a new story-progressing system in the form of Missions. The player starts off with a couple of basic Missions, and after they complete them, they unlock a few more. Throughout the cutscenes that are both in between and during Missions, the main storyline progresses, and the story oftentimes triggers the unlocking of certain Missions that are more crucial to the storyline than others. Not only did they alter the story progression system, they also altered the equipment and abilities system. After certain Missions, the player unlocks a new ability or keyblade. To equip it, the player would open the Equipment interface and use the stylus to drag the ability or keyblade onto a section of the interface that has a collection of slots. The ability would be fitted into several slots, and after collecting many abilities and items, the player would have to rearrange the equipment so it all can fit, similar to a jigsaw puzzle. Keyblades and abilities have extra open slots connected to the main slot, which can be fitted with upgrades to the ability/item. However, one of the most major gameplay mechanics put into the game would definitely have to be the introduction of a multiplayer mode. The player can use the Nintendo DS's wireless connection to link up with other players who have the game, and they can engage in Missions together.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days did have a few minor downsides. For one thing, the Multiplayer Mission Mode, while fresh and fairly enjoyable, didn't quite satisfy all of the franchise's fans. Many of the fans were hoping for a slightly different Multiplayer mode, such as one where the player could duel another player without being penalized. Not only that, but in order to engage in a Mission with another player, they would've had to have completed the Mission in story mode separately first. Other than those minor downsides, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days was an enjoyable, great game with dynamic changes to both the story and game play.
MY PERSONAL RATING: 7.75 / 10 Stars
