Sorry for the wait! I've been really busy with school lately and won't be able to pick up the pace for some more time still. But I'll do my best to post something at some point in time.
... Although you guys didn't seem to be really looking forward to it anyway...
So anyway
#12
I got this game when I was in England. I was really happy they'd have it, cause they were already very short on stock in Poland. I never expected it would be so addicting, and then become so heart-wrenching by the end…
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS
Don’t let the odd title deceive you. This game is almost as dark as Birth by Sleep, if not darker at times. Days proves once again that handhelds get all the good writing in Kingdom Hearts, for some reason.
I dare you to find a more heartful tale of friendship in a video game.
This is another kinda-prequel that sounds pretty bland on paper. “OK, so Roxas is in the organization. I knew that. I doubt anything interesting happens here. And then they’re retconning in this black-haired Kairi? Oh man, I sense another Genesis.” Hoo boy…
In essence, this game is Crisis Core done right. Yes, Xion basically fulfills the same role as Genesis. But she’s alive, and her adorable friendship with Roxas and Axel really feels genuine. Her struggles regarding her identity and their friendship falling apart are really relatable, while she could have been another emo teen just quoting troutty poetry. And when you reach the end, even though you know what’s coming, oh man, will you be bawlin’…
Harsher in hindsight - the trope codifier.
The gameplay is less experimental than what we had in BbS, i.e. there is no command deck, you get a regular command window instead. However, you get to equip so-called “panels” where you’ll put things like items, spells, or even levels. It’s kind of a grid, so you need some special management to get optimum results. Considering the game is played in missions, you need to make adjustments to your panels pretty regularly. While it takes some getting used to, overall it makes for a really rewarding experience.
Yep. Sums it up pretty nicely.
Shimomura does a great job once again. While there aren’t that many new tracks, those we get are incredible.
While much more subdued than Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days makes for a very beautifully tragic experience. This is a perfect example of a prequel done right. Even if the premise may seem fanficky, the end result is determined by the execution of the proper tropes. Days knows how to hit where it hurts the most. And I am so grateful for this game.
Sorry this was short. It's just really hard to keep it spoiler-free, and this is one of those games that I cannot let anyone interested get themselves spoiled. It's literally that good.
The story is great. Pity it's such a boring game to actually play.
While I get where you are coming from, I actually enjoyed it. I really didn't expect to, but I found the quests genuinely interesting and I really just wanted to get to do more of them!
Wow, didn't see that coming. Placing 358/2 over the more fan favorite Birth by Sleep.
I agree that 358/2 has the better narrative and amazingly the less insane plot of the two, but BbS definitely has the better gameplay. With that said, I feel that the customization system as well as the creativity that went into making Magic more useful were quite astounding. The games main issue was what I mentioned briefly for Crisis Core in my review, the game really should have been placed on a better system that could work around some of the design issues like the camera.
Every time I see the members of Organization XIII I think of the parody comic "Ansem Retort." Anyone here ever read that? Funny stuff. Offensive as smurf, but funny stuff.
All this Kingdom Hearts talk really wants me to get back into trying the series game again. I gave up on the first game because of boredom or something like that. I wasn't really into RPGs at the time, even action RPGs. Now that I am, I bought the first game to try it out, but I'm having difficulty decided what kind of games I feel like playing. I'm still having fun with FF II and will finish that, but I also really want to play some Zelda games for the nth time, and take up side-scrolling Mega Man again even though I suck at those. Not to mention I still have just about every FF game from VI onward that I still haven't played.
I also have a job and college. Darn real life time limits!
There’s a couple entries on this list that get credit from me for being simply incredibly original. There’s just some games out there that just scream “INSPIRATION” when you see them. Games that try a new, original visual style, games that really try to challenge the typical notions of gameplay, games that throw in an interesting story-telling device as a little cherry on top of all that magnificence. Games like…
THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU
From the moment you launch the game, you are struck by vivid imagery in a unique style, with some really funky music in the background. TWEWY’s art style imitates street art, which is very fitting, considering its urban setting. The game takes place in Shibuya, where you will spend… um, a week playing a “game” to find out how you, um… died.
Despite this premise, the game isn’t dark at all. The characters all stand out and have plenty of colorful lines. The story is another heartfelt tale of friendship and while it’s not anything groundbreaking, it’s incredibly well-written and well-paced, with very memorable characters.
Some of whom are walking spoilers.
The gameplay is where this game truly shines. This is an action RPG that you use two screens to play. Neku, your protagonist, occupies the bottom screen and is controlled by the touch screen, while your partner will fill the top screen, and you will need to use specific button combinations to control them. You get to customize Neku and give him new pins that grant him abilities, which you trigger by using different motions of the stylus. While this seems a bit confusing, I heard it’s pretty intuitive, and if you’re too lost in it all you can always let the game take over your partner. Now, I’m saying “I heard”, because the version I’m familiar with is the iOS port called -Solo Mix-. While I’ve heard I’ve lost a lot of the innovation because of that, I still had tons of fun and highly recommend it. And even if a large chunk of gameplay is simplified, the game looks quite a bit better with smoothed-out sprites and portraits, while the music range is largely expanded.
Speaking of music, TWEWY’s soundtrack was composed by Takeharu Ishimoto. His heavy use of pop and hip hop in this OST was something I was kinda dreading… But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The music sucks you in just like the rest of the game with its catchy melodies and fun arrangements. So, even though I didn’t expect it to turn out this way, the OST to TWEWY is one of my personal favorites.
[YOTUBE]A_8_UftiIHA[/YOUTUBE]
I highly recommend this game, I can’t stress this enough. Whether you try to look for the DS version or just download this on iOS, you really can’t go wrong with The World Ends With You. With a story that sucks you in and incredibly unique presentation, this is one of the most original and well-done RPGs out there.
Originally Posted by Shauna
