In KINGDOM HEARTS, Sora turned the Keyblade on himself in order to release Kairi's heart, but his heart was also released in the process. This brought about the creation of Roxas, Sora's Nobody. Roxas has no recollection of his previous life, which is unusual for a Nobody. He joins Organization XIII and slowly begins to discover the truth behind his existence and the Organization itself. He meets and befriends the fourteenth member of the Organization, who also has no recollection of her past. What will Roxas see during his time in the Organization? What is the connection between him, Sora, and the fourteenth member? And what becomes of them? Dive into the heart of the KINGDOM HEARTS story lines biggest secrets.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is set between the events of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II and follows Roxas(Sora's Nobody)& his stint with Organization XIII. It almost, entirely, revolves around Organization XIII. Organization XIII has but one goal in mind and that is to fabricate Kingdom Hearts so they can reclaim their own hearts. I have to agree with the majority on one thing and, that is, if you don't know the whole story- you may need to go back to the very beginning and live the story. If you don't, and you're a newcomer to the series, you're going to be quite lost because the plot is rather deep and 'out there'-shall we say. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a game that caters to the diehard KH fan only and it makes no bones about it.

The game, by far, is about the best looking game I've seen on the DS thus far. Like other reviewers have mentioned, it looks nearly as good as its' PS2 bretheren and that's saying something. Course, looks aren't everything I know. How does the gameplay hold up? Well- pretty good actually...the new Panel system adds quite a bit of strategy to things. However, I was quite annoyed at the fact I had to use the Panel system just to level up. That's something that should, automatically, be done when it happens, like in your more Traditional RPGs. I loved the fact that they made the battling more like that in the original KH yet am disappointed that there isn't more exploring. Going on missions everytime isn't so bad but I would've preferred to explore more like in the original game. It does, indeed, remind one of FFVII: Crisis Core and I applaud Dredspider & Luis Zavala for pointing that out. I do love the game, it was an absolute blast of a challenge to play, mind you. It just irritates me that we're visiting the same worlds over, yet, again..why can't we see some new worlds, Square? I know there's alot of Disney worlds out there that'd be perfect for this game(if you need some suggestions-look me up). It irritates me that there isn't more life breathing in any of these levels you're doing your missions on...shouldn't there be? This is a RPG, after all. It irritates me that most of your missions were, basically, much of the same...I like a little variety and spice in things. Don't you???

Other than that, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is fun. It satisfied my appetite for KH, for a little while, at least. Now, I look forward to KH: Birth by Sleep for the PSP and KH:Re:Coded for the Nintendo DS. Then, onto Kingdom Hearts III.

Do I recommend KH:358/2 Days? Definitely...but only for one thing- Roxas' and Organization XIII's story.

Ok so this game was great and not great in different areas.

The story was great. I really got attached to the characters. the ice cream thing is WAY too repetitive though, they eat ice cream every day, we got it, move on please. despite this little pet peeve of mine the story fills in quite a few story gaps in the KH series, this alone makes it worth playing to some diehard Kingdom hearts fans. I personally didn't like the ending but i'm not giving spoilers (last thing i need is a lawsuit over giving spoilers in my review)

now to the gameplay itself...

the battle system was pretty much the same as other KH games. A/X attacks other buttons roll jump and the like.

The panel system was a failure. I should not have to forfeit abilities to get my lvl up! other aspects it were ok, it would've been fine if not for the lvl thing.

The second most annoying thing was the regular battles. so many basic heartless had WAY to much hp, they were a royal pain to kill and it took too much time for me.

the most annoying thing was the boss battles. they were easy but tedious, they took FOREVER to beat, it hurt my hands pressing the buttons so fast for so long.

the graphics were good for the DS, i couldn't ask for more on a handheld from nintendo really.

the cutscenes were almost all reading and no talking for real. considering how well the real cutscences were done i wish we could've had more of them.

There are other things i could complain about, but they aren't worth mentioning since this game was still great.

my final rating is 4 stars for normal gamers, for KH fans looking for answers about roxas's past.

(I've only gotten to day 72, so this is an incomplete review)
Square Enix delivers another satisfying action/rpg adventure.

THE GOOD:
The first thing that pops out at me when I play this game are the graphics-- the overworld graphics are just about the best the DS can offer, and the cut-scenes look nearly as good those on the ps2. Its sad that the voice acting is only in the major cut-scenes, but there are enough of them sprinkled throughout the game that it isnt a glaring problem.
The controls are responsive-- I can't help but think they'd be even BETTER if there was a control stick, but that's a hardware issue, not a software one.
The story is interesting, even if you aren't well acquainted with the other games, although, just like a book series, knowing the plot of the other games adds a lot to the experience.
One thing I noticed after playing the other Kingdom Hearts games is the mysterious lack of either Disney or Final Fantasy characters (at least, 52 days in). Whether this is a good thing or bad is debatable. A part of me likes the chance to develop Roxas and the other Organization XIII characters, but at the same time, a lot of the charm of the original games was in the Disney and Final Fantasy characters. Most die-hard fans of the series probably won't care too much, but others might not like the change in style.
Finally, the soundtrack is great. Not every tune is memorable, but there's more good than bad.

THE BAD:
The panel system adds a challenge that didn't exist in the previous games that could be a turn-off to some people. Personally, the complexity isnt a big problem for me-- it adds depth to what would be a somewhat shallow battle system otherwise. It DOES mean that you will have to use strategy before going into battle, picking your level and what items and attacks to bring along carefully. Its not a normal hack-and-slash where you can just level up until you get around a tough spot.
The plot, while emotional and well written, is also very...eccentric. Example: after almost every mission, there's a scene of Roxas and Axle eating ice-cream and watching the sunset. (Ice cream? Sunsets? And why on top of a clock tower??) If you can't take this weirdness and the other stuff like it with a grain of salt, then the story will just look laughable.
The game is mission based. (A major change from the open worlds in the console games) And there are a LOT of missions. Luckily, most of them are "optional," so you have some freedom to choose which missions you want to do. I say "optional" because even though missions are "optional," you usually have to do at least some of them in order to do the mandatory ones well. Although I'm not a fan of mission based games, the plot is engaging enough and the difficulty curve smooth enough that it doesn't get too monotonous for me. If you aren't a fan of mission based games either, think carefully before buying it; if you ARE a fan of them, go wild-- this is your dream come true!
Fair warning-- this game takes place between the first and second Kingdom Hearts PS2 games, and the plot isn't very accessible to new players. If you haven't played the other games, but you want to jump in anyway, my only advice is google what you don't understand.

OVERALL:
While there are some minor issues with the battle system, all of the good points of the game (plot, music, voice acting, graphics), make any problems seem small.

The graphics are really good, the opening sequence has the nice KHII music, but the game's mission style isn't all that great and doesn't allow for that much freedom. I feel like the game traps me in a way..I bought it for the story, but it's not all that captivating. It's fun, but I stil haven't played in months just because it's not a game I'm engrossed in..There are better rpgs on DS..unless you're a die hard KH fan I wouldn't get this one..

This game is a great intallment into the story! I must say I really enjoyed this game. but i bit of caution. if u haven't played Kingdom hearts 1 or 2....doesn't matter which one...u will be completely lost in the story. There aren't very many Final Fantasy characters showing up in this "days" either. But the game is fun from beginning to end.