Today's game on display from our physical collection is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS!
The Kingdom Hearts series has been special to me for quite some time. Though I was late getting into it—thanks to not initially owning a PlayStation 2—I have been a fan since the day my friend Keith let me borrow his copy of the original. While I'll always consider Kingdom Hearts II to be my favorite, there isn't a single entry in the series that I didn't enjoy. Though Re:Coded is easily my least favorite, that's a story for another time.
Launch Day Memories
I have quite a few special memories attached to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days that I often look back on fondly. I still remember the day it was announced, which had me thrilled for a Kingdom Hearts game on the Nintendo DS. I'll also never forget launch day: sitting in my college's math and science building, chatting about it with fellow Netto's Game Room writer Sagi over MSN while waiting for the clock to hit 4:00 PM so I could be done for the day. That night, I rushed over to GameStop to secure my copy, but when I got home, I couldn't play right away. Instead, my grandfather asked me to come over and help him close his pool. It was hardly what I wanted to do in the nearly 100-degree heat, but looking back now, I miss those days with him.
Gameplay, Story, and Shared Moments
Later that night, I finally got my chance to play. That weekend, I happened to get sick and had to miss work—which gave me plenty of extra playtime—so it honestly didn't take me long to reach the credits. While I can't say it's the greatest game in the world, it did a fantastic job of adapting the action-RPG gameplay Kingdom Hearts is known for and translating it to the small screen. The story itself was the real draw, with Roxas, Axel, and Xion taking center stage, and to this day, it might still be my favorite tale in the entire series.
Additionally, it featured an almost Monster Hunter-like Mission Mode with a deep level of customization for each character. Sadly, it lacked online play, so I never got to make full use of it outside of playing solo. It was still fun, but definitely a missed opportunity. Years later, I returned to the game when I introduced my wife to the series. She’s a die-hard Disney fan who hadn't played many video games before meeting me outside of titles like The Sims and Mario Kart, so getting to see her reaction to everything was such a great moment. "No! Who else will I have ice cream with?" is something we still quote to each other as an inside joke, which is even funnier to her since she's been a fan of Jesse McCartney since she was a kid.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, this little DS game remains one of my personal favorites in my collection, and despite its flaws and occasionally repetitive mission structure, I'd still love to see a true remake of it someday.
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