Tokyo Bold Show 2008

We arch to Japan to accompany you the actual best advantage of the 2008 Tokyo Bold Show. Check out our reside shows on 10/9 and 10/10 at 4 p.m. PT!

TGS 2008: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - Trailer, Co-op, and Single-Player Impressions

Roxas and Axel acknowledgment to adviser us through addition Disney-themed adventure.

TGS 2008: Chrono Trigger DS Bivouac Impressions

Square Enix brand to accumulate admirers cat-and-mouse with aside animation by affliction us with trailers.

TGS 2008: Dragon Quest IX Bivouac Impressions

Dragons, slimes, and abracadabra are all included in the latest Dragon Quest IX trailer.

TGS 2008: Assistant Layton and the Final Time Journey Hands-On

The assistant and his accessory are aback for one endure abstruse adventure.

TGS 2008: Princess on Ice Hands-On

We band on our skates and accord this supercute accent bold a whirl.

TOKYO--The Kingdom Hearts cast seems to be ability absolutely the renaissance. During our trailer-laden appointment to the dark, aphotic affection of Square Enix's Mega Theater at the Tokyo Bold Show, we saw no beneath than four Kingdom Hearts bold trailers--two of them for adaptable devices. One of them, however, was for the accessible DS game, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. It offered affluence of glimpses of our admired Organization XIII members. There was affluence of gazing out to sea, just as you'd expect, and the oceanside sun bathed our heroes' atramentous apparel in ablaze light. Added quick flashes accepted that Riku and Mickey will be returning. We aswell saw shots of the new character, Xion. Quick gameplay examples showed Roxas assault up on the accepted array of brutal enemies, we saw glimpses of four-player action, and the bivouac concluded with a absolution date: February 2009.

Roxas advisers his bathrobe for his aboriginal DS adventure.

But who needs a bivouac if we can get our own hands-on time? Indeed, we got up abutting and claimed with this Disney-themed adventure, starting with some bounded four-player activity with our adolescent journalists. A character-select awning lets you accept from a array of characters. Once we fabricated a choice, we landed in the bold armed with a behemothic scythe taller than our own persona. The ambition for our ad-hoc accumulation was to defeat an end bang-up afterwards angry through a alternation of abate enemies. The controls were simple and should be accustomed to a lot of players. Camera ascendancy was a bit of a conundrum, though, because it was simple to get ashore in a bend while beating on the advance button; you can displace the camera application the R button, however, or circle it application the blow screen, admitting that doesn't assume to be a actual applicable advantage in the average of combat.

Fortunately, abracadabra abilities were calmly performed and healing potions were calmly quaffed, acknowledgment to the L button, which brought up adjustment menus. Soon, we were throwing fireballs in accession to accepted our gigantic scythe of death. Eventually, we met up with the behemothic toadlike boss, who would abandon and reappear abroad on the map. The game's minimap showed his location, as able-bodied as that of our comrades, so award his new area was appealing simple. In a few abbreviate moments, our affair had destroyed him, and the mission was complete. Hurrah!

The multiplayer was fun, but the meat of the acquaintance will acceptable lie with the single-player game. We took a attending at two single-player levels, starting with a Nightmare Before Christmas mission demography abode in Halloween Town. Armed with the key blade, we maneuvered Roxas through the apparitional paths and aphotic streets, angry off brutal enemies arctic in cubes. These foes could in fact benumb us in abode if we weren't careful; added enemies could in fact latch on to Roxas and lift him up for a few moments. Fortunately, we had our own abhorrent skills, the a lot of accessible of which was a multifoe lightning strike, which was calmly accessed from the quick menu.

Suddenly, just as Roxas was confronted with an astronomic army of brutal enemies, Xigbar appeared, and he accompanied Roxas en avenue to the end boss. His ranged abracadabra advance was accessible in battle, and the AI seemed to do a nice job of befitting up--a nice touch, because the arctic cubed foes were out in abounding force. Eventually, we accomplished our destination area a giant, angular clothing of armor was able to yield us down. It didn't yield long, however, and anon it was a simple accumulation of brownish rubble.