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Hey everyone, the E3 2009 event is just about wrapping up now in California. We were able to see one trailer that lasted for two minutes, but nothing else appeared to be shown at the event for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. It was said that demos were playable at the event, but nothing was shown online. Below are two images from the booth and a hands-on review from IGN.


Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Hands-On)
Written by: Mark Bozon
June 3, 2009 - After a short hiatus the Kingdom Hearts franchise is back on a Nintendo portable, this time heading to DS with Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Teaming the same Square Enix/Disney mash-up RPG design as its predecessors, the latest action RPG is teaming with beautiful character design, some impressive CG, enchanting music, and some tried and true gameplay. I may have only had about 20 minutes with the game thus far, but it's obviously a force to be reckoned with on DS.

For the demo today I had a chance to try the game's main single player mode, following Roxas to Agrabah where Princess Jasmine and Aladdin are attempting to find the source for some mysterious sandstorms, which eerily follow with attacks from the "heartless." In an attempt to set things right in the Disney oasis, the young boy walks the streets with key in hand attempting to take out monsters as they spawn. For this introduction mission it's focused mainly on a group of fire flowers, though supporting "barrier masters" – spell casters with plenty of action magic – keep the other baddies in the fight.

The mission was entirely solo, though it still gave a nice opening experience as far as combat and basic mobility goes. For those that don't know Kingdom Hearts is a mash-up action RPG experience that blends classic hack-n-slash gameplay with members from both the Square and Disney side of things. The DS version blends the two very well, having an in-depth lock-on system, plenty of ground and air combos via A spamming, magic, and items. Since I was jumping in at a random point in the story there isn't much to say about the actual plot, but the combat itself was very snappy, the animation is fluid and well done, and every enemy trounced sprouts out a few coins and items.

Unfortunately that's about the most I could get out of the single player portion, as no spells were included in the build (or at least this mission). In one specific area outside of the main Agrabah zone Axel joins the fight as well via an AI-controlled assist player. He helps out on kills, mills about the area on his own, but you've also got info on his health and status at all times, so while the demo didn't require me to heal or manage him at all I'd assume that develops later on in the mission.

As the other core offering in the demo, a showcase of the game's multiplayer was also on display, letting four players hack it out in arena-style combat. I was automatically brought in as Roxas, but other players looked to be running around with Axel and a few other characters, donning character-specific weapons. This mode was pretty entertaining for what little time I had, but it also inevitably ended with a huge hack-n-slash pile all centered in the middle of the room. It'd take more than a quick E3 showing to really put multiplayer to the test, but the game itself held up extremely well as far as framerate and control goes.

I know, that's a short hands-on, and what I had the chance to play today was really just a taste of what's to come with Kingdom Hearts on DS. Even with it being such a quick demo though I can tell you I was blown away by the game's production values, and that includes the strong voice work, beautiful music, fluid 3D presentation, and snappy animation. This is going to be a great game for DS fans that are waiting for yet another RPG on Nintendo's handheld. And hey, even if you're struggling to keep up with the seemingly never-ending amount of content on the system, you'll be happy to know Nintendo fans just got two definitive RPGs this E3 with both Golden Sun and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Square-Enix knows what it's doing on this platform, and it shows.

Hey everyone, the official NORTH AMERICAN website for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days has been updated. The coming soon splash page has been removed and the website has been added with four sections ("Info, story, characters and preorder").

It doesn't even look close to the Japanese official website.

Press Release: http://release.square-enix.com/na/2009/06/03.html
Official Website: http://na.square-enix.com/khdays/

Source: Thanks to Atiragrame3 for letting me know.

Hey everyone, before I continue this update, I just wanted to let you guys know that another two updates were made right before this current update. In the previous updates, we've added the twelve scans from Nintendo Power and updated on some screenshots and information on Kingdom Hearts: Coded.

E3 2009 will be running till late tomorrow. Let's hope that we'll receive more information. In the mean time, there is a photo that was taken at the E3 2009 event. If you look closely, you may notice that the Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days booth doesn't have much going on over there.

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The new scans from Nintendo Power have surfaced online thanks to Aluminumticket from HeartStation. This issue contains screenshots and a lot of in-depth information. The issue also features a interview with Nomura. The best part about this these scans is that everything is written in English for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.

I'll admit that it's still awhile until Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is released in North America, but the good news is that we'll be receiving a lot of English news on the title. During this time period, I'm sure content for Birth by Sleep will be shown in the new couple of weeks or months. We have a lot to look forward for.

Hey everyone, episode 1 for Kingdom Hearts: Coded is now available for Japan. The official website for Coded, was updated late last night on the "information" and "episodes" sections. Above are some new screenshots from the mobile game.
Link: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/kingdom/coded/