Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Interviews 358/2 Days (Famitsu Interview #2) October 2007

Tetsuya Nomura (Kingdom Hearts), Hiroshi Takai (Last Remnant) and Koji (Square-Enix Network)

First of all, please tell us the meaning of the title 358/2 Days.
Nomura: The title was done on purpose as a code; you can only understand it after beating the game. The word Day is closely linked to the progress of the game; it is to show how the Organization came to be, as well as the daily life of the Organization XIII. They are always faced with a duty that leads them from place to place, and then have to return to the Organization. The game will focus around Roxas, who is a member of the Organization. It will be an adventure game. Repetition is also one of the concepts of the game.

Does the time of the game focus around when Roxas enters Organization XIII, and does it connect to Kingdom Hearts?
Nomura: Yes, after Roxas enters Organization XIII, which will only be a small part of the story; afterwards it will focus around the time frame when Sora was asleep for the year. Roxas entering the Organization was not understood yet, but will be explained. The duty he is put through everyday will also be explained. Finally, this is about Roxas’ doubts of the Organization and why he leaves the Organization. This is basically the main part of the story.

Do you wish to represent something of the three works (Days, Birth by Sleep, Re:Coded), by having a different color logo on each of the games announced this time?
Nomura: The reason why we chose this color for 358/2 days was to use the warm color group as a sunset in Twilight Town. I believe the story in this game will be really sad as well. It should also be noted that some of the scenarios I chose for Kingdom Hearts II Final MIx+ were based off the novel that focused on Roxas, which came in the Kingdom Hearts Another Report.

In a way, this game will be the same as Zack in Crisis Core, where the future was already decided.
Nomura: Yes; however, Roxas in Kingdom Hearts wasn’t as tragic as Zack’s was.

Why did you choose the Nintendo DS for this game?
Nomura: Well first of all, I always choose a system before developing a plan. There was a plan for multi platforming that could be easily played, so this one made it to the DS. Also, it made it more possible to use the characters of Organization XIIIl; the project of this work was also meant to make it a story that automatically depicted Roxas.