Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Review [DS]

I'm going to confess a horrifying secret: I’ve never played a Kingdom Hearts game before. Shock, gasp, horror; I know, I know. The concept of numerous Disney characters incorporated into a Square Enix RPG has always intrigued me but I’ve never gone out of my way to try the series out - until now. Square Enix has finally brought the Kingdom Hearts series to the Nintendo DS and I'm happy to say it delivers on almost every possible aspect.

You play the role of Roxas, the (unlucky) 13th member of mysterious group the Organisation. Fans of the series – spoiler alert if you've not played Kingdom Hearts 2 - will know that Roxas is the Nobody of regular Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora, which makes him look a lot younger than much of the rest of the cast, and a lot newer to the Organisation. As such, the first hour or so of gameplay teaches him the basics, allowing you to get to grips with handling Roxas' Keyblade and learn how to cast magic and use items.

The real-time combat doesn't take long to master thanks to a simplistic and intuitive control scheme. Using the D-pad to control Roxas, you can effortlessly lock-on to a target by double-tapping the R button and then launch Keyblade attacks with A, or utilise magic and items with X. Better still, Square Enix has avoided a regular DS pitfall by keeping the touch screen out of the way of most of the gameplay. All it does here is display a map layout and let players pan the free-flow camera around the map by dragging their finger across the screen. Apart from that, and the chance to switch windows when dealing with character customisation, the touch screen is left to sit there while you concentrate on the action.

Square Enix has introduced a new Panel system for this Kingdom Hearts title, which allows you to customise your characters in all manner of ways, from changing their spells to deciding which items they can use, or swapping out their weapons and armour. The Panels can take a little while to get the hang of, particularly as more complex concepts are introduced, but once you figure it all out the customisation is so strong that you and another player will likely have team members which – despite being the same characters – function in entirely different ways.

As fans of the series will know, the Kingdom Hearts games use a collection of Disney-themed worlds for the story, and this version is no different. Anyone who has watched Disney films will be familiar with levels inspired by classics like (deep breath): Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland and, last but by no means least, Peter Pan. The level designs are vibrant and they're all well laid-out, and your quests on each world will last a long time as you explore every nook and cranny for special chests and goodies. At the end of each of your quests (or missions, as the game prefers to call them) you are shown a screen that reviews your performance in the level, reminding you of your objective and displaying the EXP, Heart Points and Munny acquired, along with the rewards and items received, before throwing you back into the thick of the story.