Worth it....finally....in the end.
It falls short in terms of Gameplay in the sense that it is often hard to navigate through the worlds if you don't know exactly where to go or what to look for. Often I found myself searching for long periods of time to find one more item or defeat one more enemy. It's not always fun to have to go through EVERY corner of every world to find everything, at least not in a world as artistically and graphically stunted as the few presented in 358/2.
The main selling points for this game are definitely found in the storyline and extra features. Many engaging cut-scenes keep you fighting to find out what the heck is going on, the equipment is fun to upgrade, and various items and magic are fun to use.
So all in all, even though I am more inclined to the traditional JRPG style of gaming, I did enjoy Kingdom Hearts 358/2, it can have the potential to be incredibly boring or maybe more appropriately...tedious at times, but it was a game that I felt happy to complete, and I felt that even though this was not a main title in the series, I was sucked in anyway, and I think every title in a games long line should help you feel a part of the story and catch you up in it's world. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 did just that for me, which is why I give it a strong 8.5. Because every game has its setbacks, but if it can pull through those setbacks and still be worth it, then I feel it has found something very special. Kingdom Hearts is a good buy for the DS.