Kingdom Hearts Re:coded DS
User Score
6.2 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 40
  3. Negative: 8 out of 40

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  1. ChronoFlareZero
    Jan 14, 2011
    7
    The story does need some work, and it is by far the weakest in the entire series. Not to mention that the game is terribly short and it has a tendency of dragging on. But good graphics especially for the DS, fun gameplay, and a good amount of replay value despite the convoluted story makes up for it.
  2. taywah09
    Jan 31, 2011
    10
    This game is amazing! There is a whole new story and everything else is the same. but since it is only for the Nintendo d.s there are some things that had to be changed for the gaming system. otherwise the whole new story, battles are tougher and the heartless and character's stayed the same. also the story does not need work.
  3. KdeKatharsis
    Apr 16, 2012
    4
    Hate all that computer's stuff in the game, I really hate it, and the virus-clearing stages are SO ANNOYING, much more than those of Assassins Creed Revelations... Also, this is the 3rd game repeating the same worlds over and over again. I'm tired of playing at Traverse Town!!!... To finish, why the hell do they keep making KH games for shi tty systems? Just release them multi-platform, or only for PS2/PS3, but don't waste the storyline on this cra ppy consoles.… Expand
  4. gm101
    Feb 22, 2011
    10
    While not as good as the recent Kingdom Hearts releases 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep, I was more satisfied playing this game then I was when playing Chain of Memories back in 2005.
  5. Mewtwo465
    Jan 30, 2011
    9
    Kingdom Hearts is a very strange video game franchise. It's one of my favourites as well. I was a little disappointed of the previous Kingdom Hearts title for the DS, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, so I was expecting something a little better than the last effort. And that's exactly what I got and a little bit more. You see, the thing is with Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, is that this remake actually has a hell lot of effort put into it compared other ones. *Looks at Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition*. And when they say fully-fledged they really mean fully-fledged. Another thing I really like about Re:coded is that it has lot of diversity. In fact there's so much diversity that some people and critics may not even like the game. Ah well. For example in Traverse Town the unique gameplay element of that world is a 2D side-scrolling platforming like sequence with the camera always moving to the right type thing. Just like the Super Mario Brothers! Another one I like is the one in the Olympus Coliseum world. It's unique element is a turn based Final Fantasy styled battle system. See a Heartless, whack it and you engage in battle. The one in Wonderland is like a Sin and Punishment styled thing like you're running up buildings and walls in a forth person type view and you have to shoot oncoming obstacles and Heartless. And so on. The unique style just differs from each world. And all of them are enjoyable to me. The normal combat system is actually unique in its own way as well. It's a combination of the gameplay from the original coded, 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep. It has the Command Deck stuff from Birth By Sleep, has the graphics and presentation like 358/2 Days and has the unique plot elements and enemies from the original coded. Oh and by the way the original Kingdom Hearts coded was actually a Japanese cell phone only game. And it was episodic. It was bird's eye view and the backgrounds were 3D and the characters were 2D. It was the best cell phone game in Japan. Now we have Re:coded in all territories coming out soon. They've expanded the remake from the original a lot haven't they? Completely different game in a way. Now let's get down to the story. Jiminy Cricket now has two journals after his two main adventures with Sora (this game takes place after Kingdom Hearts 2 by the way) and he finds the one from the first game completely empty (play Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories to understand). Except for one line. "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it". He tells King Mickey Mouse about this strange one line and they have to take action. Jiminy then realises that there is another line. "Thank Namine". So they take the action even further and they digitalise the journal. Jiminy and Mickey are joined by Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale in this operation. They create a Data form of Sora called Data Sora. They find out there are many bugs inside the journal and the Data Sora has to go to each Data World to destroy them. The playable worlds are Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, Wonderland and Hollow Bastion. In each of these worlds there are enemy Heartless and you have to destroy them. There are also new enemies like Bug Blocks, Bug Spiders and all other type of Bug Data Block things. There are Data Portals in each world that'll take you to the place you'll eliminate most of these Bug enemies. Destroy all the Bug Blocks and you'll be able to fight a boss at the end. The bosses differ from worlds such as Cerberus being the boss of Olympus Coliseum or the Guard Armour being the boss of Traverse Town and stuff like that. The bosses are always the cause of the Bug Blocks appearing in the first place. It may sound repetitive but it's actually really fun in each world since their unique gameplay styles are different. If you have played the original Kingdom Hearts or even Kingdom Hearts 2 then you'll recognise these places well and their residents. The residents are mostly Disney characters but some worlds have Final Fantasy characters like the Destiny Islands residents are younger versions of Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. Traverse Town has Cid from Final Fantasy VII and Olympus Coliseum has Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII as well. Awesome right? And each world has its own Moogle Shop. Moogles from the Final Fantasy universe have appeared in every Kingdom Hearts game to date so it's no surprise that there's a Moogle Shop in each world now. These worlds are so much fun to explore and to have a look around in. You'll find many treasure chests to open and many enemies to battle too so you'll level up quicker. And to sum up everything Kingdom Hearts Re:coded has I'm going to finally talk about the only major flaw. The camera. It's really hard to use it properly since you could only use the R button to turn it right and the Touch Pen to move it elsewhere. Your fingers will be all over the D-Pad so it'll be hard to even take out the Stylus.… Expand
  6. sLm
    Oct 19, 2012
    3
    Worst of the series, no doubt.
  7. huffnat890
    Apr 27, 2011
    8
    I don't know why this game got bashed so much. I bought it expecting to have a great time with the game and that's exactly what I had. The game isn't that short. I guess a solid 15 hours is short nowadays and honestly I think that's becoming a promblem in the game industry. I am absolutely sick of games that are 50+ hours when they could have wrapped up the story in about 10. The game is remniscient of KHI and includes many of the characters that made me love that one in the first place. The graphics are excellent for a DS title. The only complaint I have is the pesky camera. The camera can get in the way a lot, but it isn't anything game breaking. Overall I think this is a really good game actually better than I expected. Square Enix also was nice enough make the repetitive levels different by adding different gameplay methods and enemies throughout. In the second town the game goes from an RPG to a side scrolling adventure platformer for the boss fight. This is a winner if you ask me.… Expand
  8. Sensei
    Jan 16, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Despite its obvious flaws, the game delivers a true gaming experience, and the story may be irrelevant, but at least it keeps you entertained for a large amount of time. Even though it's terrible short, the replay value adds a lot to this game. I had fun and I'm having fun with the game.Nevertheless, I expect the next entry to refresh the series, and most important to be as fun as this game.… Expand
  9. jafs741
    Jan 18, 2011
    6
    well i buy it and all i have to say is disappointed because the game story is very boring and repetitive and besides the story is very short too but i have to say nice graphics
  10. Bart148
    Mar 4, 2013
    0
    Where is kingdom hearts 3??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
  11. Autosaver
    Apr 8, 2012
    9
    It was only a matter of time before another Kingdom Hearts game came out. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded is a remake of a cell phone game exclusively made for Japan. Square Enix again manages to squeeze the PS2 franchise into the palm of your hands onto the Nintendo DS. The story is presented very nicely with 2D moving frames and 3D cutscenes. It starts off with Mickey trying to find out what happened to Jiminy's journal. All they can find is "Thank Namine" and a odd message talking about hurt. Mickey brainstorms an idea to solve this puzzle. He brings out Data Sora to fix the bugs. Since they are debugging the original journal from the first game, expect to revisit the same worlds again. The graphics are extremely well done in this game. There are a ton of 3D models for the player and enemies. The textures are quite detailed and varied. Every single command in this game has its own sprites. Most of the worlds are filled with plentiful vibrant colors. You might wonder how this game could possibly be done on the DS! Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded has to be one of the most unique Kingdom Hearts game. It takes the classic Kingdom Hearts gameplay and merges it with the Birth By Sleep command deck. Along with that, you'll find that there are platforming, side scrolling, RPG, and even shooting sections. Before you ever get tired, the game will throw you into a totally new gameplay scenario. All of the different types of gameplay styles are done very well. There are a ton of different music tracks in this game. Although, some may be disappointed that most are recycled from previous games. All of the music tracks fit nicely with their respective worlds. The battle themes sound pretty good. You might even pause the game to listen to the music then actually play the game, that is how great the soundtrack is. Unfortunately, there is no real multiplayer in this game. The only multiplayer function there is is the ability to trade avatars and play other player's floors. Playing those floors will grant items that your avatar can wear. This adds a ton of replayablity to the game as there are over 100 floors you can download and play. Some floors even have secret bosses that you aren't able to get to in the normal story mode Speaking of replayability, the game has tons. After beating the game, you can replay any world you have beat to gain extra rewards you might of missed the first time around. Along with that, you can do optional quests and system sectors to reap rewards. This game is perfect for any die-hard Kingdom Hearts fan. The story is very simple that even players that never entered the Kingdom Hearts realm won't get confused. The graphics and gameplay are amazing for a handheld. This is a game I would recommend to buy right now. You won't regret it and I'll bet that you'll have a ton of fun with it. You'll be playing this game for a long time.… Expand
  12. Welterweight426
    Jun 20, 2012
    5
    This game is the worst Kingdom Hearts game ever created. The story is awful and the game is boring. The leveling system was somewhat interesting but overall this game was stupid and a waste of time.
  13. MrHayden4495
    Mar 11, 2013
    5
    If there was any game that could be pulled out of the series that would not affect the overall story of the series, it would be this game. I understand if it was a cell phone game that was just ported to the DS, but Square Enix treats it as an important title. It's not needed, because players already know what will proceed after playing BBS. With that said, the story is meaningless and is worth nothing to talk about. Gameplay is.....ok. The RPG elements are done well, with the customization of Digital Sora. But other than that, the camera is outright broken, and some of the gameplay can be counter-intuitive. For example, a mission will tell you to ignite 5 Heartless. So, I shot fire at the Heartless, but the shot is SO powerful, since my level is so high, and it kills the Heartless instantly. So it doesn't count. You COULD try to remove Level Up chips, but this is way too tedious and against any normal strategy the player can conjure.… Expand
  14. PKMN37
    Jan 17, 2013
    8
    This is one of my favorite Kingdom Hearts games. It's gameplay is the best part and the only real reason to play it more than once. The game's story, unfortunately, is so convoluted and nonsensical that the writers of LOST would be jealous. The gameplay varies per World. One World's theme will be side-scrolling platforming, while another is done in the classic RPG style. The game's really short, sadly, but, then again, it's a remake of a cell phone game that was only available in Japan.… Expand
  15. Chammy
    Feb 14, 2013
    6
    This has to be the KH title I enjoyed the least. The gameplay is good (even if backdoors sometimes frustrate me and are a little repetitive), it's the story I didn't like much. Seems to me it was just an excuse to visit for the bazillionth time the worlds from KH1. I like avatars though, and some things of the gameplay that are innovative, such as 2D battles or the different endings in castle oblivion.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 58 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 58
  3. Negative: 4 out of 58
  1. Cubed3
    May 9, 2011
    90
    Thanks to its familiar settings, independent storyline, and range of gameplay styles, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded works well not only as an introduction to the series, but also as a continuation of what is most likely the zaniest storyline in gaming today.
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  2. Game Over Online
    Mar 21, 2011
    70
    Kingdom Hearts Re:coded is a game that feels fragmented. It failed to live up to its potential when it comes to treading new ground, as it falls back into the same familiar territory that fans have already visited and seen. It is not a bad game by any means, but this latest Kingdom Hearts game just isn't what it could have been in regards to giving the series a boost and the breath of fresh air that it needed.
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  3. Gamer Limit
    Mar 10, 2011
    55
    Kingdom Hearts re: Coded is the weakest of the series mostly out of a sense of just existing to kill time until the next 'actual' installment.
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