Square Enix’s Nintendo DS exclusive Kingdom Hearts spin-off, subtitled 385/2 Days was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show last September. We’ve not had the chance to learn a lot about it yet, but new details have today been spied thanks to an unnamed French magazine.

Developed by H.A.N.D. and co-directed by Tomohiro Hasegawa (Final Fantasy VIII, previous Kingdom Hearts titles), 358/2 Days is said to allow players to explore Illusiopolis, Twilight Town, Agrabah, and Wonderland, revolving around the untold events of Roxas during his time with Organization XIII and will take place during the year that Sora was asleep between the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Tetsuya Nomura has noted that the game’s prologue will cover the “birth” of Roxas, but the gameplay will start from when he enters the Organization. Roxas’ daily duties with the Organization, his doubts of the Organization, and his departure from it will also be included in the story.

The title is said to include “gorgeous” cut scenes, accompanied with musical arrangements fro Yoko Shimomura, most of which will have been featured at some point or another in earlier entries in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

As for gameplay and controls, the bottom screen on the Nintendo DS displays the map, while there is no touch interactivity to speak of. The multiplayer gameplay is separate from the single player story and will be mission-based, which include boss fights and competitive player battles. It will also allow up to four players to play as one of the thirteen members of Organization XIII. Each member will have different weapons and skills. 358/2 Days’ multiplayer will also feature a chat system for communication between players, but will be different from PictoChat in that everyone will draw on the same screen. The Kingdom Hearts’ traditional menu and combat system returns, while customisation and levelling up will allow for “greater freedom.”

That’s more than enough for us to digest for now, but as soon as we hear anything else – including the all-important word on a release date, we’ll be sure not to keep it to ourselves.

[Source: NeoGAF]