The Kingdom Hearts franchise is one that alternates between good and...not so good. Since the last entry in the series (KH II) was great, it's only fitting that the next one is full of disappointment.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (yes, it'll make sense in the end) is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts II, taking place after the events of Chain of Memories. You play as Roxas, who passes his days trying find out what he really is, while doing missions.
And therein lies the problem. Going on mission after mission fighting heartless may appear to be the same thing you've been doing before in different clothing, but the way that the missions are structured prove this to be wrong. First off, Organization XIII closes off certain areas of the worlds you visit so that you stay on track. It might seem like a nice way to entice the player to keep on playing so as to eventually reach the point where you can go somewhere new, but it isn't. It comes off as a way to not expand these missions into something more grandiose like the other entries in the series have done with their storylines.
Not to mention that this game gets off to an awful start. The tutorial phase lasts for about 1 to 1 and a half hours, but it seems like so much longer since it's spread among several missions that you go on with different members of the Organization. It's standard fan pandering gone awry. Though, some of the later missions where you get paired with members of the Organization are rather charming. Especially those with Xigbar, whose sarcastic tone isn't common in the series and is a breath of fresh air.
The story is more along the lines of Chain of Memories than the other two games. It's another existential crisis tale that might have been more effective if every meaningful conversation only seems to take place in one location. Yes, the clock tower is important. But you can get that point across without having a cutscene there after almost every mission. The ending is the most effective of the entire series which says a lot considering that you have to get through around 2/3 of the game before it becomes interesting.The graphics are disappointing. It's very pixelated and even the cutscenes that are using the PS2 graphics are heavily compressed. The DS is not the right console for a 3-D action game. The battle system has taken a major step back with the removal of the reaction command, and only making Limit Break, where you go berserk for a brief period of time, more important in the gameplay. It plays like KH I and KH I isn't that fun to play after you play KH II and neither is this one. I didn't play the multi-player, but Mission Mode is quite the novelty since you can play as different members of the Organization.
The worlds that you visit are the exact same ones that were introduced in the previous games while adding some areas that don't necessarily leave much of an impression. Except the addition to Neverland, due to its amazing dullness. A bunch of rocks in the middle of the sea? So impressive!
Music-wise, the game is mostly made up of remixes of older pieces that are found in Kingdom Hearts II. But the soundtrack does include a new theme song for a character and a rather impressive mix of "Another Side, Another Story" and "Graceful Assassin" to make a song that's used in the final boss fight. Look forward to hearing that one.
As mentioned before, this game does get interesting in the later parts. The most interesting of which is the tease for Birth by Sleep that Nomura includes towards the end. That one seems like it'll be a blast to play. In the meantime, I'd only recommend playing 358/2 Days if you're a avid fan of the KH series. Everyone else might find to be a passable game if they found it in the bargain bin.