PROLOGUE--------------Roxas and the Player's Viewpoint

―― First of all, why make a new title for Nomura's masterpiece Kingdom Hearts series on DS?

Nomura: The invitation to do so had been received from Nintendo for a while. From making Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories on Game Boy Advance to It's a Wonderful World*, working with Nintendo had been successful, so we opted to make a Kingdom Hearts title on the DS. However, having seen the advances being made on the preceding title It's a Wonderful World, we considered what we would do with Kingdom Hearts on the DS.

――Sora is the main character of Kingdom Hearts, why is it Roxas is the hero in the DS game?

Nomura: To start with, since it was for the DS, we wanted to make a game that could be played multiplayer. With the desire to have two or more playable characters in mind, we considered the interesting individuals of Organization XIII. However the part involving the time axis worried me. Since in Kingdom Hearts II we followed the final footprints of Roxas, the story begins from his birth into the world. I think those playing the series for the first time will see the viewpoint of Roxas and will want to catch up on the story until now. If the hero is a common character to the series, it's considerably difficult to present them abruptly without the player knowing the other works they appear in to some extent.

―― From what we can tell, Roxas's main point is concluded in the early stages of Kingdom Hearts II. Will the story for 358/2 Days still be enjoyable for fans of the series?

Nomura: In Crisis Core -FFVII- for the PSP, the ending of the story was known from the beginning; however it did not particularly hinder the story. So even if the ending is understood for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, I think that it can be developed interestingly.