358/2 Days - Kingdom Hearts Insider

358/2 Days is one of the newest editions to the Kingdom Hearts Series, and will be focusing on the Roxas during his time within the Oraganization. The game was announced September 2007, at the Tokyo Game Show, along with Kingdom Hearts: Coded and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

One of the mysteries of the game is the title. Nomura has described the title of a sort of "code" that many won't be able to fully understand until they have finished the game, but also added that the word "Days" in the title was to symbolize the daily life of the Organization. He has also expressed that the title is pronounced "358 Days Over Two" (358 Days/2), which opens up many possibilities as to what the title could mean.

Press Release

The untold story of another hero. Organization XIII, Number 13, Roxas.

-Twilight Town-
Roxas and Axel were watching the sunset from their usual spot on the station's clock tower after a long day of collecting "hearts" from the Heartless, as ordered by their organization. When their daily work ended, they often spent their evenings there. They talked about the day's work and other things over ice cream.

"Do you know why the sun looks red as it sinks below the horizon? It's because among the countless colors comprising light, red travels the greatest distance."
"You're just trying to show off, Axel!"

It was idle chatter between two boys without hearts.
This is the untold story of Organization XIII's Roxas.

Story

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days focuses on Roxas' time in Organization XIII. The game will begin briefly from Roxas' birth near the end of the first Kingdom Hearts game, until he is put into Ansem the Wise's Data Twilight Town before Kingdom Hearts II begins. Nomura has said that while the game will focus briefly on Roxas' birth and his joining of the Organization, the central story will take place during the time Sora will be sleeping. He has also added that when Roxas first joins the Organization, he does not understand a lot about them and as the story progresses he starts questioning them and will eventually leave them, resulting in what we see in Kingdom Hearts II and that the reason for his falling out is one of the main topics of the story.

The game starts with the prologue of Roxas being born in Twilight Town and being found by Xemnas. Xemnas tells him he feels nothing, that he can feel nothing, and asks if he wants to have meaning. Roxas nods and Xemnas gives Roxas his new name, telling him it's the "new" him.

It starts to pick up when Roxas joins the Organization and becomes their Number 13. The game will primarily focus on the time that Sora was asleep after Chain of Memories concluded and we will see the daily life of the Organization.The game also introduces a brand new Organization Member currently known only as the XIVth Member.

The ending of the game is speculated to conclude with Roxas' battle with Riku in The World That Never Was which results in Roxas being sent into Ansem the Wise's Data Twilight Town. Nomura has commented that the game will be very much like Crisis Core, where you may know how the game will end, but you don't know what happened to get to that point.

King Mickey, Riku, DiZ and Naminé are also confirmed to make appearances in the title, though the extent of their importance on the plot is yet to be revealed. They have also commented that it would be hard for Sora to appear in the game since he was sleeping to restore his memories but they are thinking about considering a system that would show every important point of his memory. They expressed that this idea is still in an idea phase but they want a system to emphasize the surface connection of Roxas and Sora.

Characters

Since the story will focus on Roxas during his time in the organization, naturally the main character will be Roxas himself. He will be joined by his fellow Organization XIII members, including his best friend Axel and the leader Xemnas. Not only that, but Mickey will play some role within the story as well.

At some point during the story of the game, Xemnas announces to the Organization that they have a new member - a fourteenth member. Not much is known about the XIVth Member at this point, other than that she is a female character and that she isn't Naminé. When asked if the XIVth member was a character we have seen before, Nomura answered, smiling, that it was a secret and that, while the XIVth Member does appear in this game, she is not the reason for the game, but that her "point" was that she was a key character.

Recently her name has been revealed to be Xion. Supposedly, she does have some sort of connection with Kairi, and manages to wield a keyblade as well. We don't know all of the details on this Keyblade, but in the trailer impressions Riku is said to tell her that her Keyblade is a fake, to which Xion says "Don't tell me that! You, don't lie!".

Worlds

Worlds make a return in 358/2 Days, though the system with the worlds has been changed a bit. Appearing worlds will be one of the things said to remain, but not all of these worlds will be available to be played for fun and may only be visited at certain times, or during the missions. Not only that, but the relationships between people in the worlds will be different this time around as you go through the worlds, but many Disney characters are set to make a return. The story is also said not to progress by going to Disney worlds, but that stories will be progressing. It has also been said that Roxas will have different forms, like Sora, when he enters certain Disney Worlds.

The developers have said that, with the circumstance with Roxas, if he were to associate with too many people than it would become inconsistent with KH2 which is why they are thinking of putting in a different play dynamic into each world. They have also said that the appearing worlds will be primarily from previous games, but they will be choosing ones that are best suited for the game.

Nomura had an interview with Gemanga Magazine where he elaborated a bit more on the Disney worlds in 358/2 Days saying that since Roxas' personality is such that he doesn't actively attempt to contact other characters, and that's why the relation with Disney characters will be different from before.

Confirmed worlds so far include:
-The World That Never Was
-Twilight Town
-Wonderland
-Agrabah
-Olympus Coliseum
-Beast's Castle

Gameplay

Basics
The gameplay of 358/2 Days is based on a system of "Go to mission, Clear Mission, Return to HQ, Prepare for next mission, go to next mission", though there will be small mini events that you can do such as joining Axel for ice-cream. The game focuses mainly on the life of an organization which is why the title includes the word "Days" as it focuses on a day of the Organization. So far, the missions seem to be Roxas being sent to various worlds and being ordered to kill the Heartless that reside there, though they are set to include some variety.

During the single-story mode, you play as Roxas and it is believed you play the majority of the game alone, except for special missions when you may be joined by another member. Such as meeting with Axel in Twilight Town and joining forces with Xaldin at Beast's Castle. During these missions, the player gets to delve into the relationships between the members and Roxas. As in Xaldin would see Roxas as nothing but trouble to his mission.

The top screen of the DS is used for the core gameplay and holds the command menu and the Character status icon which showcase your HP, MP and the new Limit Gauge. The bottom screen showcases information such as the mission you are on, the world you are in, and a map.

A new feature to the gameplay is a Limit Gauge which hasn't been seen in the series so far. This gauge (which is a yellow color in-game), is used for co-op attacks as well as powerful limit abilities in single player. The stylus will not be used during actual gameplay.

However, in the latest Shonen Jump Scans there is a screenshot of Roxas and Xaldin in a new world to 358/2 Days, and the Limit Gauge and MP bars have mysteriously vanished. There is also a new "Chains!" counter in the top left of the screen but whether or not these changes are only mission-specific additions/changes has yet to be seen.

Multiplayer
One of 358/2 Days most appealing features is the new Multiplayer mode. The Multiplayer mode in 358/2 Days promises all of the members of Organization XIII available as playable characters, and may even include the new XIVth member. Although, it should be noted that all players will have to play as a unique character, meaning there can't be two Axels or two Xigbars playing at one time.

The Multiplayer mode takes place in a separate universe from the Single Player mode and isn't considered to be part of the games story and is only there for fun. Up to four people can play together as any Organization Member they choose as they work together to complete various missions, with some asking you to kill heartless, fight each-other, or even search for items.

The missions in Multiplayer are unlocked by beating the missions in Single Mode. Every time you complete a mission in Single Mode it is unlocked for playing in Multiplayer mode. These missions include things such as defeating Heartless, and escaping from Areas via teamwork. They are also set to include a lot of gimmicks and puzzles and that the map will be used to keep track of things as well. Many of the missions are designed for short play throughs in Multiplayer and they can be played multiple times. They also mentioned that Scores will be kept on various things during Multiplayer, such as "attack". But they also stress that working together is not the only thing you can do and that there is great potential for waging a competition or contest.

When you complete missions in Multiplayer, the experience you gain from completing those tasks are given to Roxas in Single Mode. For example, if you were to play as Axel and do a few missions in Multiplayer mode, the experience you gained from doing that would affect your Single Mode file. They have also said that they are thinking of an item system that works in a similar fashion.

In Multiplayer Mode, the bottom screen is being revamped from Single Mode to offer the ability to chat to other players by use of the Nintendo DS Stylus. This chatting system will differ from PictoChat in that all of the players will write on the same screen. Nomura and co are also considering adding a few action buttons to the screen, but noted that these would be for actions that didn't affect gameplay. Nomura has also added that they are thinking of missions that will implement this chat feature.

Also, the Limit Gauge from Single Mode will make a reappearance, allowing for co-op techniques to be used. Originally the chairs of the Organization Members would move up or down based on succeeding or failing a mission, but they may change that feature for the final product release.

Technical Information

Voice Acting
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is set to include Voice Acting during it's cutscenes like the other Kingdom Hearts titles. Though they have commented that due to capacity issues with the game, there may not be voice acting throughout the game, but they are trying to work around that and find a way of compressing it within the game.

Cutscenes
The Cutscenes in 358/2 Days look very close to their PS2 counterparts, supporting stunning detail and clips. During event scenes, there may be a cutscene or two. During the attempts to compress and fix the Voice Acting capacity issues, they are also re-doing the cutscenes that appear in 358/2 days because every time there is a hardware update, they try and push the game to its limits. Nomura says he plans on keeping the cutscenes as close as possible to the feel of the KH series and has commented that there may even be an opening cinematic to start the game.

Graphics
The Graphics in 358/2 Days had a fine-tuning from the first time we saw them. In the scans from TGS, the characters seemed to look every pixelly and the character icons were also very pixelly. This changed by Jump Festa where the graphics had a smoother look and feel and held impressive detail compared to the last time we saw them. Click Here for a Comparison.

One of the main problems with the graphics of the 358/2 Days was that the polygon count of the characters had dropped, and they are currently working hard so that the graphics during gameplay look as smooth as possible.

In the latest Shonen Jump, there is a screenshot of gameplay with Roxas and Xaldin, and it seems that the graphics have gone through yet another change, offering up a new icon for Roxas.

Screens

Scans

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