#1
Posted 17 December 2009 - 12:37 PM
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
First Impressions: 4/10
Picking up KH358 for the first time, I was already unenthusiastic about the game in my hand. I do not like Roxas. I think he's a waste of a character, and his story does nothing but make me want to play as Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Gameplay: 5/10
There is absolutely nothing new here, sans the occasional Y-button combo with different Keyblades. Movement feels a bit restricted without the use of a joystick, and without two more shoulder buttons, I felt like certain shortcuts and camera controls were just pointless. The only redeeming quality to this game is the micro-management I know and love from CoM.
Graphics: 10/10
The Nintendo DS does an amazing job of taking the KH series and putting it on their own device. While it is not at all visually stunning like Birth By Sleep will be, watching the game run on the DS is a feat worthy of praise.
Sound: 5/10
After a while of going back to the same place over and over and over again the music got really, really annoying. This is the first KH title to ever inflict that upon me. I got sick of hearing Heartless appear, I got sick of “Sacred Moon” playing every time I would end up back in TWTNW. While the audio at times did sound like it was coming from a PS2, I was always quickly reminded that it wasn't.
Replay Value: 9/10
After mastering the Slot System, and unlocking all the mission mode characters, there is no replay value. The high score only comes from working to unlock Mickey and Sora on a 2nd play through if you missed them the first time. And even then after you do that you should really just sell the game.
Multiplayer: 6/10
Multiplayer can be fun, once you've turned off Friendly Fire, make sure you do “normal” damage as the maximum, and set your opponents damage to “normal” as that is the weakest they can do. The only fun there is to be found in Multiplayer is that you can have 4 organization members teaming up on the same set of screens. A nice touch, but not enough to keep me hooked. After about the 3rd mission, you'll find yourself asking for a real multiplayer game.
Story: 2/10
The only reason this category even gets a rating is because of three things: 1. Everyone in the organization being a douchebag to Roxas. I couldn't be happier. 2. Xion. A great character, and I wish they had taken her character further. 3. Axel. After the game was over, I found a new appreciation of him. I still don't like him all that much, but I can say I don't hate him. The story is nothing to get excited about and because I never liked Roxas, I had to force myself to complete the game. 33 hours of Roxas being lied to was all right with me.
Overall: 4/10
This game is NOT Birth By Sleep, and it is very apparent that this title is nothing more than a game designed to whet our palettes in anticipation for Birth By Sleep. I feel like I got nothing out of it, and the entire game was just a fat waste of time. No one really misses out on anything if they don't play this game as it doesn't add anything major to the KH Universe. However, it is a KH title. Sadly, it falls into the same category as KH2- the potential to be so good, but falls short in every place imaginable.
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