While practically no further news on the next upcoming numbered entry in the series has emerged since its reveal, Kingdom Hearts has continued to expand its audience through the consistent release of remasters and spin-off titles during the past few years. Recent rumors have indicated that a title which was reduced to less than a playable format in its remastered release may be getting the chance to come to modern systems after all, showing that Square Enix may be far from done with revisiting the franchise. Even if this isn’t currently the case, one of the most underrated games in the Kingdom Hearts saga should get another chance at life.
Despite being relegated to significantly lower fidelity hardware than its PS2 predecessors, Nintendo DS title Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days‘ centering of the enigmatic Roxas as its protagonist made for one of the most emotionally resonant and morally ambiguous experiences of the often convoluted action RPG series. Its rather lackluster gameplay and mission structure led to the game being reduced down to a cutscene collection when the time for remasters came around, but this was arguably a mistake that the studio now has the chance to fix.
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Roxas’ Story Got the Short End of the Stick in the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX Collection
Gutting a Time-Based Narrative of Its Thematic Repetition
There’s still a satisfying arc to be found in watching the lengthy cutscene collection which presents 358/2 Days in HD quality, but it ultimately acts as a disjointed set of cinematics which lack the proper context to connect them and draw the player into emotional investment. In reality, the entire premise of the title’s limited timeframe of Roxas’ involvement with Kingdom Hearts‘ Organization 13 was built around the daily mission-based progression of its gameplay segments. These stand as dated instances of simplified combat by Kingdom Hearts‘ standards, but even the more mundane activities of the title served its greater theme through encouraging the player to look forward to seeing Roxas’ interactions with Axel and Xion.
When it comes to attempting to replicate this feeling through cinematics alone, the format of these purely remastered scenes lacking the events between them can deflate any real stakes by reducing the player to a passive observer. It might have been too much to ask for Square Enix to fully remake all of these missions with better design and flow as just one part of a larger collection, but an entire dedicated project would be another matter entirely.
The Ambitious Concept of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is Surprisingly Fit for a Current Generation Remake
Releasing Key Characters of the Franchise From the Constraints of Cutscenes
With the series seemingly taking time to focus on bringing its past to the forefront ahead of KH4, there are few better ways to flesh out the previous saga than revisiting an inside look at the workings of Organization 13. This game marks the only development that Roxas’ iconic trio of friends receives together, potentially leaving their climactic reuniting in Kingdom Hearts 3‘s Keyblade Graveyard final battle a flat moment for players who only know them from a series of cinematics. A different take on 358/2 Days in a new engine could cast an unseen light on its entire cast, as many of them were still ambiguous Nobody versions of their characters who have technically ceased to exist in that state by the third numbered game.
Long-Term Potential in Features like Playable Organization Members
An underappreciated aspect of the original DS title which was cut alongside its gameplay was the presence of a multiplayer mode and the different characters available within it. On top of the immediate Roxas trio and the entire Organization, even the likes of Sora, Riku, and Mickey could be selected to wield their respective weapons on a mission. This feature may have been held back by the limitations of hardware at the time, but it could now lead to a Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days remake being a timeless release.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is an action RPG developed by Square Enix and represents the fifteenth installment in the franchise. Players once again are put in the shoes of Sora who is suddenly trapped in a more realistic world called Quadratum, with companions like Donald and Goofy attempting to rescue him. Kingdom Hearts 4 is a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
- Franchise
- Kingdom Hearts
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox Series X|S
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- e