Richard Davis

Man this is SO GOOD. We needed a high budget period piece. Whoever the head of the costume department needs a raise. Love the different perspectives of the help, the social commentary... Really just everything in this show is crafted so well. I haven't enjoyed a television program like in over a decade. Can't wait to see more

When I downloaded the 1.5+2.5 Remix, I was excited to play 358/2 Days because when it came out in 2009 I felt like I was "too old" for Kingdom Hearts by that point. Now that I'm older and don't care what anyone thinks about what games I play, I decided to dust off my DS and order a loose cart off ebay (only 10$). And you know what? I think it's my favorite game in the series now. I love the mission variety, the story is so engaging, building panel decks might be my favorite way to level up and build a character in the entire series, and I even love the old PSX looking graphics. People complaining about the control system just need to get used to the slower pace of combat. Sure, it's a little clunky but once you get a few movement abilities under your belt it becomes way more manageable. I guess what I'm saying is don't let negative reviews poison your well for this amazing title. Getting to experience the bittersweet tale of friendship between Roxas, Axel and Xion is worth busting out your old DS and getting used to the less-than-graceful control scheme. Sure you could just watch the movie, but it skips over the Disney sections which in my opinion are some of the best riffs on the narratives of the animated features in the series. And as we all know, there are no "filler" games in the franchise. Nomura, in his infinite wisdom, has tied integral plot points into EVERY game in the series, even these handheld spin-offs. So please play it, especially if you like a little melancholy atmosphere.

I've been playing this game since it came out and I think most of the harsh criticism this game receives is undeserved. The combo system isn't deep but when you factor in the heavy and light hits can be performed in the air, after a side step, during a character switch, or charged up for a guard break it becomes more dynamic than some people suggest. The visuals are wonderfully animated and are always adapted straight from the source material. The attention to detail in the character builds is spot-on. For example, the character Marshall D. Teach takes elemental damage from every type of elemental attack. I found this pretty annoying at first until I got to the episode in One Piece (which I started watching again because of this game) where he and Ace are fighting and he says that the darkness which composes his body draws everything in like a black hole and because of that he feels pain more intensely than other people. They translated that into the game by having him take extra damage and I really appreciate the developers' depth of knowledge on these shows. I was a huge fan of the Budokai Tenkaiichi series so maybe it's because I'm more familiar with SpikeChunsoft's over-the-shoulder arena fighters but I'm willing to forgive the design flaws and appreciate the battle system that allows us to pit some of our favorite shounen heroes against one another. Even if the fighting system was as shallow as others suggested I'd give it a high ranking based on the fanservice alone. Keeps my attention with trying to increase my rank, collecting event items, and chatting with some buddies I made in the clan system. I will say the cutscenes are lacking, but I guess I'm old enough that these silent clips where you read the text at the bottom reminds me of old days playing RPGs in the PSX era. Probably my favorite game of the year