This one was a weird game to properly wrap my head around when trying to pick apart my feelings on what makes it tick. There are so many weird, clashing elements at play that simultaneously serve to make for something borderline unplayable and deeply interesting. Almost every misstep ultimately contributes to another aspect of the game in an evocative way while playing nicely into the whiplash and incongruence that the Kingdom Hearts series thrives in, managing to tell its best story in the process. Despite the cutscene collection getting the main gist of things across, the amount that playing the game properly adds to the nuances of each character also cannot be understated, it should be obvious, but playing the game is the preferable option to watching a truncated recap of events!

Despite my immediate praise for the game, one that extends to the core gameplay, it’s also not hard to understand why Days is so consistently maligned. There are layers to the idiosyncrasies that the player will be interacting with constantly, with each of them requiring you to meet the game on its own terms, lest things get extremely stilted and a bit difficult to fully digest. The pace of the combat is often very slow and simple compared to the PS2 games, which is to be expected given the fact that this is a DS game, but the way that its handled is pretty effective for the most part, despite a couple of sticking points. To accommodate for the simpler, slower combat, the enemies have likewise been simplified, yet are still made interesting by their mechanical extremities being emphasised. Elemental weaknesses are far more devastating in this game, and enemies will often only have one or two moves they can use, but they’ll instead be used in a synergistic way with other heartless. A big example of this is the role of the loudmouth equivalent in KH2 compared to in Days, where it’s now almost exclusively a healer for the enemies, instead of being a standard enemy with healing capabilities as well, now making them a constant priority, especially given how much slower and weaker Roxas feels than Sora. Enemies such as the barrier master have similar qualities that ultimately contribute to the majority of heartless types feeling distinct and memorable, rather than visually different pieces of fodder. The change in dynamic that the player has to get used to is one of the biggest reasons why I’ve seen a lot of dislike for the game I’d wager, as another change that was made here is that enemies will often have a lot more HP than might seem reasonable, with even the basic enemies often reaching over a health bar by the end of the game. If not properly approached, this would take an excruciatingly long time, because the game pulls no punches in making you feel weak and stupid the very moment you stop listening to it.

The panel system is key to this entire bit of the game working so well for me, as it’s the element in place to make following exactly what the game wants you to do a bit trickier. This essentially turns your inventory into a big tangram board, with each ability, piece of equipment, item and even level up being a piece to put into this inventory grid. It’s set up in such a way that you’ll be having to sacrifice some aspect of your character if you want to ever excel at anything and forces the player to plan in advance before entering a mission, using the little tidbits of information provided to make assumptions about the threats that will be faced in each individual task. If you don’t engage with this system to its fullest extent, there will be frequent situations in which you’ll be left taking far longer than feels good to accomplish your objective. This layer of strategy that gets incorporated into the game is a big part of what makes me have such a great time, it feels great to tweak your build to accommodate for the task ahead, and a lot of instances of things feeling too slow ultimately feel as if they boil down to poor strategic choices, and then it’s just a matter of if I accept this or back out so I can focus even more on the specifics that acted as a roadblock. It also has that fun little wrinkle where level ups are not a strict upgrade in every scenario, due to the space they take up that could theoretically be applied more effectively in particular cases, I just have a lot of fun when even such basic things are used as resources rather than a strict number upgrade with no strings attached sometimes. While it’s true that a lot of this could have functioned equally as well with something like an AP system, where equipping things cost a certain amount of points to use, I don’t care, this system is fun and gives the game a bit more personality!

Despite my appreciation for the ideas behind this dynamic, it doesn’t always pan out either unfortunately, some enemies really do just feel too tanky, the carrier ghosts being the most egregious example. The problem is at its worst with the boss fights however, since literally all of them other than the final couple are genuinely horrible in one way or another. The more simplistic enemy design philosophy that the game sticks to falls apart when approaching these much bigger encounters that feel as if they require a bit more to them to make them feel especially interesting to interact with. Fights like the Infernal Engine or the Guard Armor feel too simplistic and easily exploitable just by fighting normally, while fights such as the Antlion require certain precise movements that are a pain to do with the somewhat clunky controls the game can have, but the worst of it comes from the way that certain fights seem to revel in the idea of wasting your time. There’s a reason why the Leechgrave and Ruler of the Sky are considered so insufferable, and that’s just because of how long a fight with them can take even when you’re aptly prepared due to mechanics that make getting any real damage a total slog. It’s a shame because visually, both of these are some of the coolest looking heartless in the series, but a big portion of their fights respectively are either taking out a lot of really tanky enemies, or slowly chasing it down just to get a couple of hits in before it goes out of reach yet again. It’s such a shame to go through the storyline of each location only to have it culminate in something so consistently underwhelming, seeing awesome designs before being struck with the realisation yet again that the ensuing fight feels like garbage (once again with the exception of the final couple, which are genuinely incredible).

The narrative of the game is where it all really shines to me though, being by far my favourite storyline of any Kingdom Hearts game, contributing a lot to my appreciation for a solid handful of the Organisation members while also telling a poignant journey in its own right. I genuinely do not think I’d care for a few of the Org XIII members without this game, as it gives characters such as Saix and even Xemnas a lot more presence to elevate them beyond being functional but not super interesting to think about on a level deeper than “this guy is intimidating”. The idea of Nobodies and their supposed lack of hearts and emotions has always been an interesting concept in this series and this game sets out to explore this rather than leaving it as interesting in a purely conceptual way, showcasing the different ways in which the members process this facet of their existence hinting at how their pasts had shaped them along the way. It also just makes me feel really, really sad for Roxas for a multitude of reasons, dude just can’t catch a break and this is one of the few times where a game has made me cry as well, especially when even the moments in life where he’s shown the most kindness are still undercut by so much bullshit that it ultimately feels deceptive towards him and a bit of a farce. Even the structure of the game plays into this, with the nonstop, frequently insignificant missions thrown your way further reinforcing how miserable working for the Organisation was. It’s not handled perfectly, as there’s definitely a point in the middle third of the experience where it gets a bit overly tedious even when looking at the game in the favourable light of it being intended to reflect how Roxas should be feeling so upset about having to do such menial nonsense all the time, but its nonetheless really interesting to me and is essential in its role of providing space in between the big events so you can better feel things such as Saix’s increasing hostility towards you, or the developing friendship of the ice cream trio.

358/2 Days is a weird, flawed game without a doubt, but it’s also a game where a lot of those issues contribute to something else in a positive fashion. It’s the ideal sort of game for the DS, it understands that trying to replicate the feel of KH1 or 2 on the system would feel rough, and instead makes a lot of concessions to craft a slower experience that requires a lot more forethought and planning as opposed to leaning more into the execution of a lot of these plans. It doesn’t always work, but it does so often enough to make for a great baseline with some wonderful texture in how a lot of these systems feel to utilise. The game also made me cry so like, yeah. Certainly not a game for everyone, but it’s a game for me.

I don't wanna hear it from anyone. This game showcases Nomura's talent at writing characters.

Such a sincere and relatable story about loneliness and purpose. Roxas is one of the greatest video game characters ever made. The entire game does an incredible job of pacing the development of his character and his relationships with the rest of the organization members. I used to be disappointed that this game didn't explore the rest of the organization more, but now I think it's intentionally brilliant how little we really know about them, because these people don't matter to Roxas. Axel, Xion, Saïx, and the collective entity of the organization are the only ones that are significant to his life, so it makes sense that those are the only ones explored. And the buildup and conclusion is stellar. I love reading Roxas' diary throughout the game, and his blowup at Axel is perfect, leading to not only an insane boss rush, but also to some of the most effective storytelling not only in the series but in the entire medium of video games.

Great story, ok gameplay that doesn’t really get good until the very end
My biggest problem is with the bosses, a lot of them take a long time to beat and are just boring to fight. I’m not a fan of bosses with a ton of health and all you do is go in, get a couple hits in, and then rush out and wait for another tiny opening (looking at you Infernal Engine), the bosses I love either have a lot of story weight (ie Masked Man in Mother 3) or you throw everything you have against everything they have (ie Ridley in like every Metroid). Thankfully this game has a couple of those but they’re sadly at the very end of the game
I will end on a positive note by saying that this game made me sure that Roxas and Axel are some of my favorite characters in any work of fiction

It's actually really impressive how they got a game like Kingdom Hearts to even work on the Nintendo DS. It works near flawlessly and my only real gripe is how the lock on and camera interact sometimes. It may have chosen a mission structure instead of the traditional one, but if you think about it, it's a portable DS game meaning it was designed to be played in short sessions. Not every mission is a winner as I swear to christ if I have to kill another Emerald Serenade it's so boring or as quick as defeat the Deserters, but there are a lot more winners here. The music is mostly recycled from KHII but that's not a complaint. Could you imagine someone going "oh man I have to listen to MASTERPIECE COMPOSITIONS for a whole nother video game"? That'd be bizarre you can put Vim and Vigor and Rowdy Rumble into every game ever and I'll still enjoy it.

The Panel system is pretty fun to use, I love this kind of puzzle power placement system. It starts out simple but becomes more puzzle-like as time goes on and you ultimately determine how you want to build your Roxas.

The story is also compelling, even if it's told a bit slowly due to all the missions. This is definitely the beginning of "The Disney Worlds are just decoration" and there was only two Disney fights: Lock Shock and Barrel (which this is the third time you fight them in this series) and Pete (Who's an easier version of his previous fights in the series). Some worlds are also kind of tired as Square this is the 4th time you've shown off Agrabah and Halloween Town in class, but at least most of the all worlds being recycled plays into the narrative. The one interesting World that wasn't in KH1 was Beast's Castle, which plays as a prequel to its KH2 appearance. The whole story in general sets up for KH2 and worlds really well as a midquel to it with its own compelling characters. The cutscenes also take advantage of the DS hardware, sometimes showing two separate things on both screens, even certain gameplay elements which is impressive!

It's baffling how every game got some sort of enhanced version except this one (which only got translated via HD Cutscenes) as this underrated game definitely deserves another chance.

Played on a 3DS
Difficulty: Proud Mode
Replay, but I haven't played it since it came out

358/2 Days has a great story of friendship with the three main characters: Roxas, Axel, and Xion. The interactions of the three with the organization members are interesting and tense. Some members gel well in the beginning, but eventually start to cross each other with varying hopes and goals. The added context of have played Kingdom Hearts 3 makes some of these moments even that more heart-wrenching and emotional, in good and sad ways.

The game does a great job at setting stuff up for Kingdom Hearts 2, but also gives some great context for Chain of Memories and the relationship that Xigbar and Ven have in Birth by Sleep.

The only issue is with gameplay being okay. You slash with your keyblade and the bosses are a cool spectacle, but some of them can just be beaten with the strategy of hit, dodge or block, and hit some more. This gets better during the ending stretch of the game, but at that point you're almost done with the game that you wish they had some better bosses sprinkled in.

The enemies in general are nice color palette swaps of enemies, but are pretty lackluster in general. Nothing too special about them. You have some that shoot at you to transport you to their spot, or if you hit them in a certain spot, they disappear and spawn a short distance away. But nothing too crazy overall.

The Panel system of the game is an interesting concept to figure out what to focus on in your playstyle. It makes you choose specific things and eventually introduces skills that take up multiple panels to make them stronger, or you can just keep the one panel for that skill. A nice balance I would say in that regard.

Proud Mode feels like a good balance of difficulty for the game. A nice balance of challenging at the spots that are supposed to be, but good enough to survive the other parts.

Overall, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, is a solid entry in the series! It makes you really, really care about the trio of this game. Definitely could be better in gameplay, but the bosses were fun to gaze upon.

Seeing as the 15th anniversary of the title is coming up this month, I figured it was about time I finally sat down and pushed through it. Not to shit on the early celebration, but I have to be honest here and say that 358/2 Days is one of the most tedious experiences I have had with a JRPG to date. It's definitely not for a lack of trying on the developers' side. Quite frankly, 358/2's story is one of the most interesting in the series, and certainly the most emotionally despondent, but the game suffers from so many problems, some of which even detract heavily from the story itself, that I can't help but be left with a sour taste in my mouth after completing it.

First things first, forget the fact that I have not been going through this series in a consistent manner, but I did go through Days' story some years ago through the remaster's VN format, so I already understood the gist of what was to come before actually playing the game myself. And yet, despite not enjoying the game very much at all, I would still say that actually playing Days is essential. Roxas' near-year long residency with the Organization is one that easier to empathize when going through the mundane day-to-day life in his shoes. While this works wonders from a storytelling perspective, it's a double-edged sword that may also cause disengagement from the player, which was partially true for me.

To better explain what I mean, I'd like to draw comparisons to Pathologic, a game that many who hold in high esteem would still call extremely boring; I mean, it's meant to be. It's very much a case of "games as art" that I don't blame anyone for hating. As of the time of typing up this review, I have not finished Pathologic myself, but I have found some great sense of roundabout enjoyment in its deeper themes and worldbuilding, despite its gameplay being the equivalent of nails on chalkboard. In the same way that Pathologic sacrifices "good" gameplay to make the player feel part of its world, one could argue that Days takes a similar approach in order for the player to connect with Roxas. The main problem, however, is that Mickey Mouse is in this game, among other things.

Kingdom Hearts is a series that tends to not take itself too seriously; a fact that attracts many to the series in the first place. As a result, though, I'm someone who has not come to expect too much from the story in these games, but rather a fun and goofy time for a majority of it, and unfortunately, Days is just not fun. Between the boring mission-based structure, the incredibly tanky bosses, and the simplistic/janky combat, there was rarely a moment of genuine enjoyment on my part. Despite this, I'm still glad I finally got to experience it to the end. Roxas, Xion, and Axel are probably my favorite trio in the series, and despite not being as enthralled with the series' overarching narrative as some others, I still think Days was a story worth telling.