Kingdom Hearts 358/2
What’s next from Square Enix? Do we get to play a thrilling 40 hour RPG about the ten minutes between the end of Crisis Core and the beginning of Final Fantasy VII?
Tags: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Categories: DS Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Nov 3rd, 2009
Square Enix can always be counted on to do two things, to make epic games, and to make countless sequels and spinoffs of those games. This makes for a somewhat aggravating time in terms of judging them as a brand. Games range from brilliant to pointless, especially since they expanded the genre roster to include more than just RPG’s. What’s worse is that in some way almost every IP they have now is weaved into Final Fantasy, especially in their Disney themed crossover, Kingdom Hearts.
The fourth title in the franchise (that doesn’t include a couple of remakes, which is crazy for a gaming series that started less than a few years ago) Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a DS title that takes a small story between the two “proper” games, and seeks to add more mythology to the series.
I think the problem is that I hated Kingdom Hearts, and I wanted to love it, but the camera was terrible and the stages were dense and maze-like with no motivation to explore them other than lack of clear path finding. I’m sure the patient players were rewarded with a wonderful world mixing Cloud with Mickey Mouse, but to be honest, I’ll wait for the movie. So I skipped out on the franchise altogether, deciding that while I admired it for what it was, I’d spare myself the frustration.
I’m sure that has meant that I missed out on games that weren’t button mashing and moping. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days starts out with a nearly hour long tutorial that you can’t skip, and in between players are subjected to ramblings about amnesia and the mysterious girl known as XIV.
I thought that once the story began moving that this formula would clear up, but the actual game is merely small “missions” that fill up a day’s events, and then you advance. Some of these missions do absolutely nothing to advance the story, while others reveal only a bit. It’s an aggravating way to play an RPG from the company that put out some of the defining stories of previous console generations.
Square (now Square Enix) makes great games, when they aren’t cashing in with remakes and spin-offs. (I’m not damning all of them, but they aren’t all necessary or good.) Kingdom Hearts is a franchise I never really cared about, even though the concept intrigued me, but this story occupies such a small area of the universe that it fails to engage that concept. Instead we’re using the characters invented for the series, and getting a story that was best told as subtext and flashback. It plays out as unadorned as fan fiction or trivia resources. The game lacks any real emotion and I’ll be setting it down as soon as this hits the site. A disappointment from a company I’ve come to expect much more from.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + Will finally answer all those questions you already know the answers to | 3.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Story is un-engaging and boring - Gameplay is repetitive |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| I'm sure somewhere, someone wanted to know this exact story, it's just a shame there so little to actually tell. Square usually makes great games, but this falls really short. | |
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Tags: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Nov 3rd, 2009 and is filed under DS Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
