Oh.. my... god... This game takes everything you love about kingdom hearts and wraps it up in one bundle of joy.
OK back up. Yes. This is my first time playing a Kingdom Hearts game, and even now I can't quite understand the whole story. This game, though... this game is worthy of having the word "Heart" in it. That appears to be the bodily organ Square Enix is trying to affect most with this game.
Backstory: Well, it's complicated. See, there are these things called "Nobodies", and they're what happens when somebody's heart gets killed by darkness, and then the hearts become these things called Heartless, and....
um..
How about I talk about the regular story?
Story: A kid by the name of Roxas finds himself in a strange place, surrounded by people in black clothes. He dosen't remember who he is or why he's here. He learns that he's now part of something known as "Orginizatian XIII" (that's 13) His job is to complete missions that entail him killing heartless with his weapon, the Keyblade, and collecting the hearts they drop. The ultimate goal is to collect enough hearts to complete Kingdom Hearts, so all nobodies can gain hearts and become whole. Along the way, Roxas makes friends with a couple of the other members, Axel and Xion. Like Roxas, Xion has no recollection of her past, and after you beat the game, you'll fully understand why. By the way, don't expect some sort of sappy romance to develop between Xion and Roxas. They're Nobodys. They have no hearts to love with.
Gameplay: The controls take a little getting used to, but overall just mash the A button and watch those heartless go down. Not to say it's mindless, far from it.
Multiplayer: Ah, yes, the completely overhyped Kingdom Hearts multiplayer. It's a little fun to get in a little circle with your mates and bash heartless together, but when playing on your own, it just isn't the same. You can play by yourself to get extra bonuses in Story Mode, but since it's really meant for multiple people, it can get REALLY HARD. Who's bright idea was it to give all the heartless three times as much health in multiplayer?
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days is the best game to hit the DS yet, and if you don't go out and buy it RIGHT NOW, I'll find you and sic Mr. T on you.