Post by Beebs on Aug 2, 2008 18:44:15 GMT -6
Previews: Kingdom Hearts DS
First hands-on with the DS Kingdom Hearts.
By Jeremy Parish 08/02/2008
While Kingdom Hearts' PSP incarnation, Birth By Sleep, seems like a promising and polished piece of work, its upcoming DS entry could best be described as "troubled." Everything about the game, including the name, seems in dire need of improvement before it's ready to ship.
The name, by the way, apparently varies from day to day. We've heard that "358/2 Days" is supposed to be pronounced "three five eight over two days," but upon closer examination at Square Enix's DKS3713 event in Tokyo, the proper pronunciation appears to be "three five eight days over two." But either way, it's a cumbersome name that probably means something, but it could probably go about expressing that concept in a more elegant and less obtuse manner.
Likewise, there are some good ideas in 358/2 Days, but they could be expressed more effectively.
On its surface, this particular Kingdom Hearts is all about the multiplayer. Players take control of one of the 13 (actually 14) members of the mysterious Organization XIII in Twilight Town (the game stars Sora's double, Roxas, rather than Sora himself). Then three other players join in and team up to battle through standard KH levels and missions. It's a great idea; if any Square Enix property lends itself to cooperative play, it's KH. But the execution has issues, many of which stem from the hardware platform.
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with the DS; it's acquitted itself time and again. But it may simply lack the horsepower necessary to depict a four-man action-RPG in full 3D. Plus, the D-pad feels like a definite step backward from the analog control of previous entries in the series, a poor choice for controlling a character in 3D space. And then there's the camera issue -- somehow, unbelievably, Square has managed to create a game with a worse camera system than the original Kingdom Hearts. There's no way to shift the camera, at least that we were able to determine, and the close-in point of view makes keeping an enemy in your sights needlessly difficult.
It doesn't help that so few enemies are onscreen at a given time. To allow for four players in reasonably interesting environments, it seems that Square Enix had to make compromises elsewhere, and it started with the enemy count. Only two -- maybe three -- enemies are ever seen onscreen at any given moment. To compensate for the thinned enemy ranks, though, the developers cranked up their hit points. So four people may be pounding on two foes at once, but they'll still take as long to defeat as a larger group. On the plus side, there was no appreciable lag or slowdown even with four people onscreen at once.
Still, something about 358/2 Days feels a bit off. We'd like for it to succeed -- a good four-player cooperative action-RPG is never unwelcome -- but in order for it to hit the mark, it's going to need a bit of work.
First hands-on with the DS Kingdom Hearts.
By Jeremy Parish 08/02/2008
While Kingdom Hearts' PSP incarnation, Birth By Sleep, seems like a promising and polished piece of work, its upcoming DS entry could best be described as "troubled." Everything about the game, including the name, seems in dire need of improvement before it's ready to ship.
The name, by the way, apparently varies from day to day. We've heard that "358/2 Days" is supposed to be pronounced "three five eight over two days," but upon closer examination at Square Enix's DKS3713 event in Tokyo, the proper pronunciation appears to be "three five eight days over two." But either way, it's a cumbersome name that probably means something, but it could probably go about expressing that concept in a more elegant and less obtuse manner.
Likewise, there are some good ideas in 358/2 Days, but they could be expressed more effectively.
On its surface, this particular Kingdom Hearts is all about the multiplayer. Players take control of one of the 13 (actually 14) members of the mysterious Organization XIII in Twilight Town (the game stars Sora's double, Roxas, rather than Sora himself). Then three other players join in and team up to battle through standard KH levels and missions. It's a great idea; if any Square Enix property lends itself to cooperative play, it's KH. But the execution has issues, many of which stem from the hardware platform.
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with the DS; it's acquitted itself time and again. But it may simply lack the horsepower necessary to depict a four-man action-RPG in full 3D. Plus, the D-pad feels like a definite step backward from the analog control of previous entries in the series, a poor choice for controlling a character in 3D space. And then there's the camera issue -- somehow, unbelievably, Square has managed to create a game with a worse camera system than the original Kingdom Hearts. There's no way to shift the camera, at least that we were able to determine, and the close-in point of view makes keeping an enemy in your sights needlessly difficult.
It doesn't help that so few enemies are onscreen at a given time. To allow for four players in reasonably interesting environments, it seems that Square Enix had to make compromises elsewhere, and it started with the enemy count. Only two -- maybe three -- enemies are ever seen onscreen at any given moment. To compensate for the thinned enemy ranks, though, the developers cranked up their hit points. So four people may be pounding on two foes at once, but they'll still take as long to defeat as a larger group. On the plus side, there was no appreciable lag or slowdown even with four people onscreen at once.
Still, something about 358/2 Days feels a bit off. We'd like for it to succeed -- a good four-player cooperative action-RPG is never unwelcome -- but in order for it to hit the mark, it's going to need a bit of work.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Trailer Impressions
Discover the true story of Roxas.
by Jeff Haynes
August 2, 2008 - If you've played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories or Kingdom Hearts II, you're probably familiar with Roxas, a character who is part of Organization XIII and loses his memory of his previous life. The answers to that life are going to be coming soon, with the upcoming release of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. At the DKΣ3713 Private party event in Harajuku today, Square showed off a trailer for the game, which will be released for the Nintendo DS later this winter in Japan.
Some of the scenes shown within the trailer highlighted Namine speaking to various figures within the game, including Diz and the figures of Organization XIII. The group appeared to welcome an additional 14th member who happened to be female that resembled Kairi. (Fans of KHII will understand just how significant that could be with this group.) However, the primary focus of the trailer was on the gameplay, which showcased many of the fight sequences that players will be able to experience. Apparently, 358/2 will have a deep single player and multiplayer experience, with players typically taking over Roxas as they explored with other Organization members joining in as part of their party.
However, this managed to expand within multiplayer, as up to four players will be able to join into the game and take over different members of the Organization for separate missions. During one battle, we were able to easily pick out Roxas, Axel and Saix slashing their way through a group of Heartless, each using their specialized weaponry. While players will be able to focus upon co-op play, there will also be a heavy focus on competition, as players will be ranked based on their performance in missions.
Discover the true story of Roxas.
by Jeff Haynes
August 2, 2008 - If you've played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories or Kingdom Hearts II, you're probably familiar with Roxas, a character who is part of Organization XIII and loses his memory of his previous life. The answers to that life are going to be coming soon, with the upcoming release of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. At the DKΣ3713 Private party event in Harajuku today, Square showed off a trailer for the game, which will be released for the Nintendo DS later this winter in Japan.
Some of the scenes shown within the trailer highlighted Namine speaking to various figures within the game, including Diz and the figures of Organization XIII. The group appeared to welcome an additional 14th member who happened to be female that resembled Kairi. (Fans of KHII will understand just how significant that could be with this group.) However, the primary focus of the trailer was on the gameplay, which showcased many of the fight sequences that players will be able to experience. Apparently, 358/2 will have a deep single player and multiplayer experience, with players typically taking over Roxas as they explored with other Organization members joining in as part of their party.
However, this managed to expand within multiplayer, as up to four players will be able to join into the game and take over different members of the Organization for separate missions. During one battle, we were able to easily pick out Roxas, Axel and Saix slashing their way through a group of Heartless, each using their specialized weaponry. While players will be able to focus upon co-op play, there will also be a heavy focus on competition, as players will be ranked based on their performance in missions.
SOURCES:
www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3169132&p=39
ds.ign.com/articles/896/896062p1.html
Thoughts?
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