Well, this is a bit of an interesting case. I’ve actually ONLY played Kingdom Hearts: Dumb Name this week. Literally. Unless you count Sudoku on my iPod. And I don’t count that. So I’ll just post my impressions of the game so far. Kill two somethings with one something.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days –
Well, the name is still stupid, but if you’ve been following Riddlethos during this Kingdom Hearts Week, you probably already know that my opinion of the game itself doesn’t reflect my opinion of the title. Now work started its kick into overdrive this week, and stunted my previously quick progress through the game, I’m still a healthy 7 hours into the title and have played enough at this point to talk about the developing pros and cons.

Things I like –
Like I mentioned before, the combat is fun and returns to Kingdom Hearts’ roots. Meaning it is fast-paced, fun, but more importantly properly challenging. Unlike the pure button mashing in Kingdom Hearts II, Dumb Name requires you to think before you hack and slash. Magic is important again, and just running into the fray against larger enemies will almost guarantee your defeat. This ties into another great aspect of the game: the brand new panel system. Not entirely unlike the deck-building mechanic from Chain of Memories, Dumb Name lets you build Roxas from scratch by way of filling up a bunch of panels with different tiles. And I mean from scratch. You add items, magic, and even levels this way. If you’d rather have 3 hi-potions instead of Roxas gain 3 more levels, you’re certainly allowed to do that. In this way, it’s almost like The World Ends With You. These comparisons to other handheld games are a good thing, however, as the deck-building from Chain of Memories was probably the best part of the entire game, and The World Ends With You is just awesome all around. There are a few minor downsides to this system, but I’m not there yet. First, I have to say how refreshing it is to return to the world of Kingdom Hearts. Yes, we’re retreading old ground, but it’s from a new perspective and delivered with the kind of honesty that only Kingdom Hearts can deliver. I can only imagine that Kingdom Hearts II will be a far more rewarding play after completing this game. Seeing Roxas’ tale is interesting and involving. However…

I'll memorize your FACE

Things I don’t like -
There are some REALLY bizarre and out of place script and story choices. For such a tight package, it’s very noticeable when any one exchange or choice has been handled in a lazy manner. This hasn’t happened too often so far, but it’s a little jarring when it does happen. Going back to the panel system. For as much as I love it, I wish things were just a little more clear. There are some tiles that connect with other tiles, and while most of them are clear, sometimes I’m left with trial and error to see which panels connect. In terms of the battle system, while it’s overall very strong, the weaker enemies DO bring some of the game’s more repetitive features to light. A lot of the same enemies from old games, a lot of the same worlds from old games, and pretty much exactly the same music from old games. While the ventures into Disney worlds are still far more focused on the main characters (thank god), I seriously never want to go into Agrabah again. And if I do, it better be in the palace or somewhere completely different. Seriously, enough already. The novelty wore off in Chain of Memories. Not mention the TWO MORE TIMES I had to visit it in Kingdom Hearts II. Ugh. Also I hate Axel’s stupid “got it memorized?” hook. So dumb.

Anyway, as you can tell, my enjoyment of the game is absolutely outweighing my gripes. Hopefully I can tear another good chunk out of it this weekend and I can pretend that I didn’t accidentally look at story spoilers on Wikipedia. Long live Kingdom Hearts!