Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Summary

I decided to “play” Kingdom Hearts 358/2 before playing Kingdom Hearts II because chronologically KH 358/2 happens prior. I have bought "Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX" from Epic Games Store and I knew while purchasing it that KH 358/2 comes as an HD Cinematics of the game. Meaning instead of spending hours playing the game I spent about two hours watching cutscenes and occasional summaries of what the main character Roxas has been doing. The only problem I had about it is there are characters that are introduced, but are not developed. For example, Demyx is a character that carries around a guitar and apparently loves it. I wonder if we get to know him better if we were able to play the game. Looking at the games reviews it seems like most people enjoyed playing the game so I feel liked I missed out, but I am glad that I can at least understand the story.

Before going into the story, I just wanted to remind you what “the Organization” is. They are a group of thirteen nobodies, those that remain after loosing the hearts to Darkness. Each member of the organization has an “x” in the name. They dress in a black hooded coat. There will be a post in the future about the members in the Organization describing what I know up to KH II. They are the antagonists for the series. There goal is to collect hearts to construct Kingdom Hearts so they can obtain hearts again. At least that is what the leader says.

The one thing I liked about this game is I felt attached to the three main characters, Roxas, Xion, and Axel. They are all best friends with each other even though they don’t have hearts. Most of the movie takes place on top of a clock tower in Twilight Town enjoying sea-salt ice cream, which sounds really nice having something sweet and salty. At first, I thought the clock tower was lazy animation, but the climax and final battle happens there and its emotional because it’s a battle between friends that ate ice cream together at this tower. I will explain more in the summary. I would have liked to travel to other worlds because that is a staple of the franchise, but since this is a movie, we were kept to three locations.

Some themes that were played during the movie is even though they have no hearts they still have attachments. They might not understand what it means to have a heart and feel, but they are attached to what they like, like Demyx is attached to his guitar, Roxas, Xion, and Axel are attached to their friendship, and other members are attached to their objectives. After watching the movie, I believe (and could be wrong) that nobodies have a heart its just clouded by Darkness or something. They have to much emotion to not have a heart. Also, Sacrifice is another theme of the story, especially with Axel and Xion. Axel must choose which one of his best friends he wants to save; Roxas or Xion. While Xion must choose whether she wants to be her own person or sacrifice her life for her friends.

Summary:

Roxas after being born as a nobody is discovered by Xemnas, the head of Organization XIII, and recruits Roxas to be the thirteenth member. Most Nobodies retain there past memories, but Roxas lacks memories of his original self and develops his own personality as time passes (He acted like a zombie the first week; being mindless). Roxas is sent out on missions to fight against Heartless using a keyblade like Sora’s and releasing the hearts the Heartless stole which helps the Organization goal of creating Kingdom Hearts to gain hearts. The Organization must make Kingdom Hearts to gain the hearts that they have lost. Axel has been a mentor to Roxas and teaches him what friendship is and after each mission they eat sea-salt ice cream becoming closer friends. Eventually Axel and a few other members of the organization are assigned to Castle Oblivion, where KH Chain of Memories takes place. During Axel Absence Roxas becomes friends with Xion, the fourteenth member of Organization XIII. Like Roxas, Xion can wield the keyblade and doesn’t remember her past. They form a friendship with each other, and Roxas hopes that Axel will be good friends with her too. While Axel is gone Roxas falls into coma because of Naminé alternations on Sora’s memories. Teaching use that Sora and Roxas a related. After his coma and Axel returns from the castle oblivion (he being the only survivor); Roxas, Xion, and Axel develop friendship enjoying sea-salt ice cream on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town.

Time passes and during one of Xion’s missions she fights against Riku, loses, and goes into coma. While in coma she has visions of Sora feeling that she is attached to him some way. After she wakes, she questions her own existences and distances herself from her friends. Eventually she learns that she is a replica of Roxas/Sora made by Vexen (who made Riku’s replica) to increases efficiency and to be a fail-safe is Roxas fails. She learns that while Sora has been loosing his memories from Naminé she has been absorbing them, specifically the memories of Kairi (that is why she looks like Kairi). With these memories in Xion, Sora is unable to be restored completely keeping him in his coma state in the pod that he put himself in in KH Chain of Memories. After learning from Riku that she must sacrifice herself so Sora can gain his memories and wake up; Xion becomes torn between being her own individual being with her own friends or merge with Sora. When Xion notices that she has been siphoning Roxas’ strength she decides to merge with Sora. For Sora to awaken Xion and Roxas must merge with Sora because they both have his forgotten memories. Axel is commanded by the organization to stop her, and he has a chose whether to let her go save Sora and save Roxas from being completely siphoned or capture her and have Roxas die. He lets Xion go with Riku and loses trust with Roxas (who doesn’t understand how he and Xion are connected and that she is killing him). After She leaves Roxas learns the truth about Xion’s identity and begins to question his own.

Even though Axel set her free the organization eventually captures Xion and alters her memories to attack Roxas to finish absorbing him so she can become the perfect copy of Sora. Upon being defeated by Roxas, her heart becomes released and merges with Sora causing all memories of her to be vanished gradually, meaning no one would remember her. Before he loses his memory of Xion he goes after Xemnas to stop his plan of creating Kingdom Hearts. While in the “World That Never Was” he is confronted by Riku who wants to capture him so Diz can resume restoring Sora’s memories. Roxas overpowers Riku and Riku released the darkness in him, making him look like Ansem, and subdues Roxas. Diz puts Roxas into a simulated Twilight Town removing Roxas memories of the organization so that Roxas may merge with Sora.