The Kingdom Hearts saga continues with this new installment exclusively on the Nintendo DS. How does it measure up to the rest of this venerable saga? Is it worth you time or, more importantly, your money? Read on and find outKingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is the newest chapter in the insanely popular Kingdom Hearts series. This is the 4th installment in the series. This installment, like the other handheld installment in the series, Kindom Hearts: Chain of Memories, fits between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. However, while Chain of Memories fills in the gaps of Sora’s story between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, 358/2 Days fills in the same gap for Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, who was created at the end of the original game. You play the entire game as Roxas, as he attempts to piece his memory back together and determine his true purpose and the true intentions of the mysterious Organization XIII. Along the way, you will meet Xion, the 14th member of Organization XIII.

The game takes the form of different missions, which are undertaken from the Organization’s Castle in the World that Never Was. Over the course of the missions, you will visit familiar locations from the Kingdom Hearts series, such as Agrabah, Twilight Town and Beast’s Castle.

The controls use the directional pad to move and the A,B,X and Y buttons to execute different actions. The DS’ Shoulder buttons are used to control the camera and target lock. The best thing the game developers did was to eliminate touch-screen controls. It makes the game much easier to pick-up and play.

Unfortunately, they did not get rid of the “card battle” mechanic that displeased many of those who played Chain of Memories. It has now been redesigned as the “Panel System.” While, you do not have to worry about keeping track of the deck dueing battle anymore, you now have to remember to equip all of your panels BEFORE you start a mission, or you could end up not having enough healing items or magic spells. Also, one of my other pet peeves is hat you must heal in real time. In other words, if you are low on health, you have to find a quite corner to access thew healing menu in, otherwise the enemies can keep hitting you.

The story is interesting, and it fills in the missing pieces. The graphics are great, even featuring new FMV cut scenes with full voice. However, the panel system is not my favorite gameplay element and I hate the real time healing. All-in-all, if you are a huge Kingdom hearts fan, you will want to complete the story. Otherwise, this is not a must-play.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days collects 3 Keyblades out of 5.