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.
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.
2 Comments
Hell yes.... Love when writing can have this effect ^w^
KingofSushi
22 days ago