Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (read "Kingdom Hearts: Three-Five-Eight Days over Two") is an RPG developed by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS, with aid from H.a.n.d. It is an installment in the best-selling Kingdom Hearts series. The game features the life of Roxas between the end of Kingdom Hearts and the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II, exploring the time from Roxas' creation until his confrontation with Riku that leads to his placement in the simulated Twilight Town, which is actually just a data-based Twilight Town, as shown in Kingdom Hearts II.

Square Enix, revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2007 that a new unique installment of the Kingdom Hearts Series would be coming exclusively to the Nintendo DS. In 358/2 Days, Players will learn more about Roxas' time in the Organization XIII by engaging in both exciting single-player & multiplayer modes. Many unanswered questions about Roxas' life (while Sora was sleeping for one year) will be explored alongside offering Kingdom Hearts fans a whole new way to enjoy the series in a variety of Disney worlds. In December 2008, it has been announced that the game will come to stateside audiences as well as in Europe. A North American date of September 29, 2009 was given at Nintendo's E3 2009 press conference.

Characters
Like previous Kingdom Hearts titles, 358/2 Days will feature numerous Disney characters. Confirmed characters include Roxas, King Mickey and Riku. All Organization XIII members will be playable in multiplayer mode. The trailers have also revealed a previously unknown 14th member of Organization XIII, Xion, who has great significance in the story. The Heartless will appear as the primary antagonists, including several new types. Also, some special Heartless will appear as normal encounters, such as the Possessor in Beast's Castle. There are many old bosses seen like Guard Armor and Darkside. Moogles will also appear in the game wearing Black Cloaks. It has also been shown that Pete will feature in various worlds such as Agrabah. However, with the exception of the aformentioned Moogles, there will be no other Final Fantasy characters in the game.

Story
The game covers the story of Roxas before the events of Kingdom Hearts II. On the day he is born as Sora's Nobody when Sora transforms into a Heartless in the original Kingdom Hearts, Roxas is found by Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, who names him its thirteenth member. Each day he is sent on missions to other worlds, either alone or accompanied by his fellow members, to destroy Heartless with the Keyblade and release captive hearts, with which the Organization can fulfill their goal of summoning Kingdom Hearts and become complete beings. Roxas is placed under the care of Axel, who he befriends and spends his spare time with at the end of each day, sitting atop the clock tower in Twilight Town, speaking what's on their minds and eating sea salt ice cream together.

Shortly after Roxas's induction, the Organization sees the arrival of a mysterious fourteenth member, Xion. Later, when Axel and several other members are assigned to Castle Oblivion (setting the stage for Chain of Memories), Roxas is paired with Xion. The two begin to bond, and the reclusive Xion begins opening up to Roxas, revealing her resemblance to Sora's friend Kairi, and her ability to wield the Keyblade. A few days later, Roxas falls into a coma for several weeks, around the same time Sora is put to sleep to regain the memories he lost in Castle Oblivion at the end of Chain of Memories. When Roxas finally awakens (and finds that all the members dispatched to Castle Oblivion, except Axel, have been eliminated), he suggests that he, Axel and Xion all spend time together, and the three become close friends. However, Roxas begins experiencing Sora's memories and grows frustrated when his questions about them go unanswered, becoming increasingly curious about why he wields the Keyblade and doubtful of the Organization's motives.

Meanwhile, Sora, who is still sleeping, is moved from Castle Oblivion to Twilight Town by DiZ and Naminé, who are overseeing the restoration of his memories. Xion also has a confrontation with Riku, who brings her identity and the authenticity of her Keyblade into question and suggests she leave the Organization to merge with her original self. Xion, however, is torn between doing and staying with Roxas and Axel. Eventually Xion discovers that she is an imperfect replica of Sora created by Xemnas from Sora's leaking memories should Sora, who Xemnas intends to use as part of the Organization's plans, turns out to be of no use. Her resemblance to Kairi is a result of Sora's strong memories of her; however, as Naminé attempts to restore Sora's memories, they affect Xion instead to the point where she begins to physically resemble Sora. Upon learning this, Xion goes insane and leaves Organization XIII, desiring to become a true person, but also having a falling out with Roxas and Axel. Upon fully gaining Sora's appearance, Xion attempts to absorb Roxas and become whole, though this would mean the real Sora will never awaken. However, Roxas battles and defeats Xion, who reveals Xemnas's motives and intentions to him before merging with him which, in turn, halts the restoration of Sora's memories completely.

Roxas defects from Organization XIII to find himself, much to Axel's chagrin. Soon afterward, he encounters and battles Riku, who had been dispatched by DiZ to capture him so that he may merge with Sora and complete the restoration of his memories. When Riku is nearly defeated, he taps into the growing darkness in his heart, granting him the power necessary to subdue Roxas, but also giving him the appearance of Xehanort's Heartless, who resides in his heart. Riku subsequently brings the unconscious Roxas to DiZ, who digitizes and places him into a virtual Twilight Town, setting the stage for Kingdom Hearts II.

Gameplay


The gameplay is similar to the action-RPG style of the previous games in the series, and takes place in a 3D environment. There originally were three status bars, HP, MP and a new one labled LM, but the LM and MP bars have been removed. In recent scans, the familiar command menu from past installments of the game has returned, this time with only three visible commands. Instead of using MP for magic you will equip the spells you want to use for each mission. Magic has also been altered in that various forms of the same spell, such as Fire and Firaga, will actually be physically different spells instead of the same attack with a different power.

Nintendo Power subsequently described a control scheme that allowed players to move the camera with the touch screen, and to move, jump, and attack using the control pad and face buttons. These controls may still change before the game is released.

Another interesting point is the height of the chairs Where Nothing Gathers. The chairs' heights do not actually relate to the chronological number of the members in the Organization, but rather their rank. Lower ranking members, like Vexen and Lexaeus have lower chairs, where as higher ranked members, like Saïx and Marluxia have higher chairs. When missions are completed in 358/2 Days, the height of the chairs change depending on how well or poor the members did.

All characters also have various different forms of their weapons, each with unique stats, not unlike the various keyblades in the previous games.

Limit
Limits have been confirmed as a new feature. When the player's HP drops and the HP gauge turns yellow, a Limit can be initiated by holding down the A button for a few seconds. Depending on which character the player is controlling, a powerful, element based attack will be performed (e.g. Roxas goes into a frenzy, shooting around in a aura of light while hurling light crosses on every finishing attack, or Demyx rocking out on his sitar, sending pillars of water out of the ground). A second stage of Limit called "Final Limit" can also be used.

Multiplayer
There will be a four-player non-canonical multiplayer mode, where players may choose any member of Organization XIII along with five other secret characters, which are Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Riku and Sora, and go on missions.


 * List of playable characters:
 * Xemnas
 * Xigbar
 * Xaldin
 * Vexen
 * Lexaeus
 * Zexion
 * Saïx
 * Axel
 * Demyx
 * Luxord
 * Marluxia
 * Larxene
 * Roxas
 * Xion
 * Goofy
 * Donald
 * Riku
 * Sora
 * King Mickey

Playable

 * The World That Never Was
 * Twilight Town
 * Agrabah
 * Beast's Castle
 * Olympus Coliseum
 * Halloween Town
 * Wonderland
 * Neverland

Cutscenes

 * Castle Oblivion
 * Destiny Islands
 * Dark Meridian

Voice acting
Since the new trailer features voice acting during cutscenes, there will be voice actors working with the game's cutscenes.


 * Quinton Flynn (Axel), Vincent Corazza (Zexion), Kirk Thornton (Saïx), Shanelle Gray (Larxene), Robin Atkin Downes (Luxord), and Dave Boat (Lexaeus) were confirmed to do voice acting for the game.
 * Meaghan Jette Martin will return as Naminé.
 * Xion's U.S. voice actor has been confirmed in E3 trailers as Alyson Stoner, who previously voiced Kairi in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories.
 * With Wayne Allwine having passed away in May 2009 there was concern over Mickey's voice actor and the delay it could have caused for the North American version. However, it has been said he had already finished recording before his untimely death.
 * In the North American trailer, several veterans were revealed to be reprising their roles. They include Jesse McCartney as Roxas, David Gallagher as Riku, and Christopher Lee as DiZ.

Trailer
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Trivia

 * The opening cinematic of the game uses scenes from previous appearances of the Organization, in Kingdom Hearts II and Re:Chain of Memories, and even additional scenes from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+.


 * Part of the scene from Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, with Axel and Roxas sitting on the Clock Tower of Twilight Town, is included in part of the opening of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.


 * Nintendo Power reported what was simply called "Pinocchio's World" to be playable. Recent data-mining has revealed the mugshots for Pinocchio (as a real boy), Geppeto, Gideon and Foulfellow, showing that the world had been at least partly programmed, but was removed for unknown reasons.


 * 358/2 could possibly mean three hundred fifty eight and a half days, which is the number of days that Roxas was with the Organization. The other six and a half days were the ones we played as Roxas in the virtual Twilight Town at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II, and when you add 358 and a half to 6 and a half, you get 365 days, the year that Sora was asleep.


 * This game is one of Wayne Allwine's final roles as Mickey Mouse before his death.


 * Another meaning to this title could be that again 365 days meaning the time Roxas was in the organization. The remaining 7 days would be the time that Roxas was in the Virtual Twilight Town. The "/2" might mean half because Roxas is half of Sora, or because this game is the story of the other half of Sora. Or it could refer to the two days between when Roxas quit the Organization and was put into the Simulated Twilight Town. It can also be interpreted as a reference to Roxas and Xion, being that they are two aspects of Sora who were active at the time.