Is Days Really a Bad Game?

[Veritas7340]

They did that though. You just had to hit the 'Advance' button after you completed the key story missions. You could also enter previous areas again and level up by fighting Heartless and abort your mission without it being too tedious.

Oh didn't know that. Didn't beat that game yet. I was
on day 100 something. I don't know why but the combat/missions didn't feel as satisfying as other kh games.like. Kh II and Birth by sleep.if that makes.sense

 

[Chaser]

Oh didn't know that. Didn't beat that game yet. I was
on day 100 something. I don't know why but the combat/missions didn't feel as satisfying as other kh games.like. Kh II and Birth by sleep.if that makes.sense

KHII and BBS has unlimited magic and you were able to carry a lot of items. Days restricted you in all of that, as well with your levels. Having to sacrifice a lot of your abilities to try and make a stable Roxas didn't provide for an entertaining journey.

 

[Rydgea]

KHII and BBS has unlimited magic and you were able to carry a lot of items. Days restricted you in all of that, as well with your levels. Having to sacrifice a lot of your abilities to try and make a stable Roxas didn't provide for an entertaining journey.

I disagree. The panel system made for an excellent strategic experience. Almost every mission I read the Objectives tab so I would make efficient use of my time when customizing my panels and on the field (and yes, I like that I put some prep work went into most every mission). The bestiary was also never as useful or necessary in the series as it was in this game in order to find the weaknesses of the different Heartless. The more I play Days, the more I like it. You could tell the developers really wanted to push for a new experience and implemented ways to help the player through it.

The game nearly forces you to be tactical, not unlike Chain of Memories with its card inventory and knowledge of sleights, and I appreciate that, especially in a series like KH where one might expect to just breeze through a cavalcade of Disney characters, which you do in KH2 (bleh).

 

[Solo]

I disagree. The panel system made for an excellent strategic experience. Almost every mission I read the Objectives tab so I would make efficient use of my time when customizing my panels and on the field (and yes, I like that I put some prep work went into most every mission). The bestiary was also never as useful or necessary in the series as it was in this game in order to find the weaknesses of the different Heartless. The more I play Days, the more I like it. You could tell the developers really wanted to push for a new experience and implemented ways to help the player through it.

The game nearly forces you to be tactical, not unlike Chain of Memories with its card inventory and knowledge of sleights, and I appreciate that, especially in a series like KH where one might expect to just breeze through a cavalcade of Disney characters, which you do in KH2 (bleh).

I second this. To me, the ability to customise Roxas (and his Keyblade attacks!) according to your preferred play style is one of the best thing that you can enjoy in Days.

Unfortunately, though, these features could be a huge turn-off for those who just want to breeze through the story or casual players. I can imagine their frustration knowing that Roxas doesn't level up in the conventional sense, that you need to equip level panels to actually gain levels. That's probably just one of a few things that makes the game not very user-friendly.

It's not that Days is bad, but I'd say it simply isn't a game for your average gamers looking forward to jump straight into action without having to worry about too much of this and that.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

The main problem with the Panel system was that the Level Up-panels, even when used with the few double- and triple-extras you get, take up way too much room in the later missions, extremely limiting your options in terms or magic and/or items.

I agree that the system itself is a creative idea, but the above severely hampers the true potential of it the further you come in the game.
In comparison, the stat matrix (which is much like FF X's sphere grid) in Re: Coded is superior to the Panel system of Days.

 

[Ruran]

The main problem with the Panel system was that the Level Up-panels, even when used with the few double- and triple-extras you get, take up way too much room in the later missions, extremely limiting your options in terms or magic and/or items.

I agree that the system itself is a creative idea, but the above severely hampers the true potential of it the further you come in the game.
In comparison, the stat matrix (which is much like FF X's sphere grid) in Re: Coded is superior to the Panel system of Days.

Indeed, I overall liked the idea of the Panel System as well, the only thing that killed me was leveling up because it took up so much space. The Panel System is a good idea that needed a little polishing and that's where the Matrix System succeeded.

 

[Gram]

The main problem with the Panel system was that the Level Up-panels, even when used with the few double- and triple-extras you get, take up way too much room in the later missions, extremely limiting your options in terms or magic and/or items.

I agree that the system itself is a creative idea, but the above severely hampers the true potential of it the further you come in the game.
In comparison, the stat matrix (which is much like FF X's sphere grid) in Re: Coded is superior to the Panel system of Days.

Indeed, I overall liked the idea of the Panel System as well, the only thing that killed me was leveling up because it took up so much space. The Panel System is a good idea that needed a little polishing and that's where the Matrix System succeeded.

Thirded. There wasn't many things I did enjoy but I did like the idea of the panel system but as Sephiroth said it was severely hampered.
Honestly I'd love to see a revamped panel system (not the matrix system specifically) return one day so long as they learn from what they did in recoded and ditch level panels entirely.

 

[Ventus_]

Initially it didn't much capture my attention largely due to the repetitiveness of both the story and game play but in addition I'd felt at the time it was first released for the DS like it lacked in substance. There is very little depth to the organization, even now I still stand by this. The idea that they are building this kingdom from hearts, the literal 'Kingdom Hearts' is intriguing and has potential but it felt to me as though there needed to be more to it. It lacked the strength of the original Princesses of Heart storyline. Nonetheless however Kingdom Hearts II is my favorite in the series and it's been years since playing it for the PS2 so perhaps I am forgetting aspects of the Organization introduced there but just the same the portion in Days was quite weak.
Anyway this made it very easy to throw Days aside when I had trouble following Pete in Agrabah where it got lost in oblivion for literally years.

Then I decided to give it a try on Final Mix not realizing beforehand that it consisted of only the cutscenes and at least a quarter of the way through when I was finally realizing that there would not be gameplay I very nearly stopped it but at last the story was tapping my interest. I still feel that it's not the strongest story line, that the heart collecting is repetitive and 1-dimensional but the concept behind Xion is what kept me watching. Initially I don't think I'd picked up on the concept of her character and just like a film in a theater it kept me curious and in suspense when I watched it now. Her revelation that she needed to return to Sora's memories (specifically the line "I belong with him") and her final scene with Roxas were beautiful.

Much of the same thing occurred with Chain of Memories. Initially on the GBA I did not fully grasp the concept of how Donald and Goofy had become cards rather than traveling with me and the worlds having such a different layout than in the first game. My main focus was how the battle concept with the cards was quite limiting and annoying (which the small screen only made worse). Things that became more clear when I begun it on Final Mix and as a result I have a new intrigue for the idea of Castle Oblivion.

Now that I have a new semi-interest in the Days story I recovered my DS cartridge from oblivion and am continuing my old file. I couldn't help but notice myself what everyone here is mentioning about the graphics being bad quality. A scene that stood out to me last night was when Xemnas had gathered the Organization to behold the developing form of the literal 'Kingdom Hearts'. The heart shaped moon like image was horribly pixelated and I am now noticing the same as I look over at my screen turned on to Roxas about to accept a new mission that so are the window panes, the ground and the outlines of the characters hair and robes. Somewhat sloppy considering the 3 Dimensional CGI the animation clearly is which is quite capable of being made clean, crisp and sharp. We've all seen amazingly CGI-ed films such as 'Happy Feet' and anything Pixar I assume.

Moving on to game play, I am finding the panel system to be similarly limiting and distasteful as the card system of Chain of Memories. Especially the fact that leveling also uses this system. I don't understand that. Not to mention I am still getting used to the controls and how much they differ from KH's. The 'Attack' and 'Jump' buttons being pretty much reversed has caused me some confusion and slight issues when being attacked. It's a shame you can not customize them to personal comfort. I dislike that you can not at least create temporary save states during missions as you could in the GBA Chain of Memories (nor can you do it in the FM CoM XP) and the missions themselves remain repetitive and lacking in diversity but the perspective has become slightly more interesting. It intrigued to me to have accidentally read somewhere that you can supposedly at some point be Riku? Is that right?

Speaking of Riku I very much like his role in the story as well; his struggle to fight the darkness within him and his alliance with King Mickey.

Overall I'd say I'd rate it 5 maybe 6 out of ten.

 

[The_Echo]

Somewhat sloppy considering the 3 Dimensional CGI the animation clearly is which is quite capable of being made clean, crisp and sharp. We've all seen amazingly CGI-ed films such as 'Happy Feet' and anything Pixar I assume.

Unfortunately those sorts of graphics just plain weren't going to happen on DS. Days's graphics are a product of the platform's limitations. Re:coded is similar, but managed to mitigate this using portraits for cutscenes rather than the 3D models.

you can supposedly at some point be Riku? Is that right?

This is exclusive to the Mission Mode, wherein you can play as all Organization members, Riku, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mickey.

Though now that I think about it, maybe you play as Riku during the final encounter? I'm not sure, it's been a long time.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Though now that I think about it, maybe you play as Riku during the final encounter? I'm not sure, it's been a long time.

You play as Roxas with dual wielding.

 

[Ventus_]

Unfortunately those sorts of graphics just plain weren't going to happen on DS. Days's graphics are a product of the platform's limitations. Re:coded is similar, but managed to mitigate this using portraits for cutscenes rather than the 3D models.

This is exclusive to the Mission Mode, wherein you can play as all Organization members, Riku, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mickey.

Though now that I think about it, maybe you play as Riku during the final encounter? I'm not sure, it's been a long time.

Thanks for this information, that still sounds interesting. I've only tried one Mission in Mission Mode. It was recently and I chose Axel but now I have been told I've unlocked new characters so perhaps I will check that out.

 

[kuraudoVII]

I never did get the chance to physically play Days yet. If I can find one in a GameStop or something, then perhaps I'll finally give it a whirl.

Having said that, I followed up on the game's story ever since it was released in Japan and found it to be interesting enough. I have also seen some of the dialogue boxes and cutscenes (the latter from the original and the 1.5 remake) and I have to say that overall, they were done decently well. There were only three problems:

1) DS version: Graphics could have been better. Games like Super Mario 64 DS were already released and looked better than this game did (although to be fair, 64 DS was more cartoony, so perhaps it looked better due to the systems limitations solely because of that).

2) 1.5 version: certain cutscenes could have been full CG. When I say this, I mean Kingdom Hearts I and II opening and closing credits kind of CG in FMV cutscenes as opposed to the ones using the game's graphics engine. Obviously, it would be a strain to make the entire movie this ala Advent Children, but I kind of wished that the devs could have made the opening and closing credits FMVs (and maybe the fight against Riku as well). That being said, I understand that there were very few people working on 1.5 ReMIX and they had enough on their plate as it was. However, this does lead into my third problem...

3) 1.5 version: Where the hell are my fight scenes? I have no problem with the devs not elaborating on certain battles due to time constraints and lack of manpower, but I do wish that they implemented the transitions better. It's jarring to see the characters strike a pose only for them to be standing around doing nothing just seconds later. There are also three fights that, despite all of the above, the devs still should have made - Roxas vs Saix, Roxas vs Xion and Roxas vs Riku. If they were going to cut out all of the meaningless fights, then they still should have at least came up with these fights as well. These were fights that practically every fan, myself included, wanted and fully expected to see due to the dramatic tensions and conclusions surrounding them. Hell, fans of the series who have never played or followed up on the DS version of the game may not even know that the first aforementioned battle existed at all.

Despite all of the above, I still find the game to be decent enough - at least from the perspective of someone who never had the chance to play the original. I'd still check it out to to at least understand the overall story for the series better.

 

[Veritas7340]

I actually like Days a lot more now. I usually like Keyblade-based attacks more (melee in general) but in this game, magic is incredibly powered. If you equip a lot more magic, it gives more versatility and enjoy-ability to the gameplay. Also the Keyblade chains play a big role; I like synthesizing the more powerful ones with immense area damage.

The level panels though, like many aforementioned, really mess up many options that you could do with the command panels.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

At least there was a plot throughout the whole game which is more than you can say for 3D. Still 3D was more fun to play and when it did get to the plot it was pretty damn good.

 

[Antar]

I think I've said this before, but I really enjoyed 358/2 days. It was an amazing DS game for me and I had a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed the missions because they really showed how different the organization works from Sora. The story was interesting and the end was incredible! I also really liked the panel system a lot.

1) DS version: Graphics could have been better.

The game looked great for a DS game. It drove the DS to it's limit which is why it sometimes lagged when there were too many enemies. The environments were more detailed and had a lot more to them than Super Mario 64 DS.

 

[kuraudoVII]

I think I've said this before, but I really enjoyed 358/2 days. It was an amazing DS game for me and I had a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed the missions because they really showed how different the organization works from Sora. The story was interesting and the end was incredible! I also really liked the panel system a lot.



The game looked great for a DS game. It drove the DS to it's limit which is why it sometimes lagged when there were too many enemies. The environments were more detailed and had a lot more to them than Super Mario 64 DS.

Fair enough. Its been a while since I actually played Mario 64 DS.

 

[Ventus_]

I think I've said this before, but I really enjoyed 358/2 days. It was an amazing DS game for me and I had a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed the missions because they really showed how different the organization works from Sora. The story was interesting and the end was incredible! I also really liked the panel system a lot.



The game looked great for a DS game. It drove the DS to it's limit which is why it sometimes lagged when there were too many enemies. The environments were more detailed and had a lot more to them than Super Mario 64 DS.

A valid viewpoint which had not crossed my mind, thank you for opening my eyes to this angle of it.

Also though it will stray me slightly off topic, apologies I'd like to amend this statement pertaining to Chain of Memeries:

I dislike that you can not at least create temporary save states during missions as you could in the GBA Chain of Memories (nor can you do it in the FM CoM XP)

I've learned a lot about the workings of the game while playing FM and relized recently that not only do the cards you use to unlock a room effect what's in the room but also that you can open a room with a save point with a 'Moment's Reprieve' card. This is actually even better than the temporary save state I was referring to.

 

[The_Echo]

The game looked great for a DS game.

Frankly I have to disagree. Few DS games are uglier than Days, 3D models or no. Re:coded looked pretty much the same, but the effect was mitigated through its use of portraits in cutscenes, taking emphasis off the gross models. In Days, you're looking at KH as if it's gone through a meat grinder all the time.

Spoiler Show

It drove the DS to it's limit which is why it sometimes lagged when there were too many enemies.

Did it lag? I don't remember ever experiencing that, in either DS game.

The environments were more detailed and had a lot more to them than Super Mario 64 DS.

Which caused them to be super compressed, removing any sense of 'quality.'

 

[Ruran]

Yeah, even for a DS game, saying it looked good is kind of pushing it. I get what people mean though, for the graphics they were trying to utilize, they did push the DS as far as it could go, but aesthetically it was still unappealing. To be fair, the graphics are still a triumph in that regard, I mean, it's not like Square half-assed the game and that's it looks that way. The DS just isn't a powerful enough system to handle polished 3D models.

Although, it makes me wonder why they didn't go with the hand-drawn comic book look like they with TWEWY. It was the basis for Days after all.

 

[kuraudoVII]

Yeah, even for a DS game, saying it looked good is kind of pushing it. I get what people mean though, for the graphics they were trying to utilize, they did push the DS as far as it could go, but aesthetically it was still unappealing. To be fair, the graphics are still a triumph in that regard, I mean, it's not like Square half-assed the game and that's it looks that way. The DS just isn't a powerful enough system to handle polished 3D models.

Although, it makes me wonder why they didn't go with the hand-drawn comic book look like they with TWEWY. It was the basis for Days after all.

I honestly would have preferred the hand-drawn style in this case. The character designs have had a more anime look the longer Nomura has been designing them and it would have gelled a little better since the graphics, while not outright horrible, just don't compare to most of the other titles. Yeah, it's kind of unfair to compare them since every other title aside from Re:coded and the GBA version of Chain of Memories were on better systems, but I kind of expected just a little better.