Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Blog Post: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep's review game

Daigo Matsuoka — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:44:00 GMT

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is outstanding game because there three campaigns story on each characters are Tera, Ventus, and Aqua. Awesome combat on each characters and the story is incredible. This story is make me really sad and crying about ending. The problem is long load times and all worlds is shortcut story.

Blog Post: A great title for the PSP

Chetashiny — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 02:30:00 GMT

Kingdom Hearts continue to provide us with a great experience.

Blog Post: A Pleasant Surprise for This Fangirl

Kristen — Sun, 15 May 2011 22:22:00 GMT

I'll admit it. I'm a total fangirl when it comes to the Kingdom Hearts series. When I first found trailers and gameplay footage of Birth by Sleep, my initial reactions involved high pitched incomprehensible noises and flailing limbs. It didn't help quell my excitement to know that the game was being released the day before my birthday. Sure enough, I was bought the Birth by Sleep/ PSP combo pack, prompting more squealing and flailing. Having said all that, I will try to rate and review this game without my fangirl biases and without spoiling too much of the game for those who haven't played.

Using the least amount of words, my overall opinion of BBS is this: ***.

The game follows three original characters: Aqua, an older-sister figure of sorts to the two boys; Terra, an earnest young man(not to mention perhaps the first playable character with meat on his bones) and my favorite out of the three; and Ventus/Ven, the youngest of the group who, at a glance, will undoubtedly be mistaken for a certain character from previous games. The player must make their way through each characters' storylines; each of them overlap and ultimately have the same ending. While it may seem tedious to have to replay each world with the different characters, all the work is ultimately worth it by the end of the game.

I'll admit that my expectations were not high of this game. As seemed the case with the other handheld entries in the series, at a glance BBS looked like a ton of fanservice, and undoubtedly, there was quite a bunch throughout. Most of it was select characters making appearances. Perhaps the most squeal worthy moments are of little Sora, Riku, and Kairi. That being said, I was suprised to find that only one Final Fantasy character (if you don't count the moggles) made a cameo.

There is very little I have to complain about this game, and because of that fact, I will get it out of the way early on. While the character designs were excellent, the environments were a bit dissapointing, lacking the beauty of previous titles. Slightly more dissapointing was the voice acting of Aqua. I try to overlook the mediocre performance, seeing as Willa Holland, the VA for the above, doesn't really have as awesome of a resume as the other VA's; however, seeing as Jason Dohring, who lends his voice to Terra, has no voice acting experience at all and does quite the better job, I can only sigh at the diservice which was done to such a great character such as Aqua.

What sets this game very much apart from the other entries in the KH series is the battle system. Along with the familiar hack and slash aspects, each character comes with finishing moves and command styles that help make fighting reoccuring enemies alot funner. You always are given the choice (which often becomes a neccesity) to "meld" or combine certain magics and attacks to make even more powerful attacks. As a whole, battles are fluid and fun and offer a refreshing system. Hell, even the forever faultly camera seems to work alot smoother.

As expected in any of the KH titles, the storyline and character development make playing the game a beautiful experience. The plot essentially sets in motion the events of each of the other games and, as a certain character says at the very end of the game, makes the beloved main character from the original KH, Sora, the character who he is. By the time one has completed this game, many, if not all, questions and mysteries from previous games should be resolved; at the same time, debates are bound to be sparked by diehard fans. The character development is also notable and sure to have many players sympathizing with each character. This seems to be especially true with Terra; as I played through his story, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Anakin Skywalker, as the two try their hardest to choose what is right and wrong yet end up falling deeper into the darkside (or darkness). However, it hurt me even more, as I was more or less first-handedly experiencing his fall from grace. Indeed, Terra struck me as the tragic hero of the game.

Finally, the musician in me must note something of this game that I'm sure many others would not: the music. Yoko Shimomura has an inexplicable talent when it comes to using music to bring out the emotions of characters or events. She does not fail to do so in BBS and, in my opinion, composes some of her best work. "Dearly Beloved", probably the most recognizable piece of the KH games, is presented in a lovely orchestrated arrangement and is, what I think, the best arrangement of the piece. "Ventu's Theme" and "Terra's Theme" are perfectly fitting for each character, highlighting their trials and tribulations. "Aqua's Luck Charms" easily acts as the main theme of the three main Keyblade wielders. In short, Miss Shimomura presents us with another handful of easily memorable music that's sure to add to anyone's experience of this game.

In conclusion, BBS is definately one of the better Kindom Hearts titles, and may just be the best game that is not a numbered entry. If there are any die hard fans who have a PSP, this game is a must. I wouldn't go as far as saying one should buy a PSP just to play this game, but it wouldn't really be a bad idea either. Another excellent addition to an excellent series.

Blog Post: Mind Blowing

kookoomendez — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:24:00 GMT

Being a longtime Kingdom Hearts fan, I was more than pleased when I heard that Square Enix was going to release a prequel to the first Kingdom Hearts game. Not having a Nintendo DS, I missed out on 358/2 Days, so I was more than pleased when they announced that Birth by Sleep was going to be a PSP exclusive. However, when I heard that the game was going to be using an advanced version of the awful cards system from Chain of Memories, I became pretty worried that this seemingly good game would end up a flop. I am ecstatic to announce that I was extremely wrong, and that Birth by Sleep takes full advantage of the new battle system and elevates the game series to new heights.

As most of you probably know, the story follows three young and aspiring Keyblade Wielders: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. After a mysterious race of creatures begin appearing in other worlds, creatures known as the Unversed, the three get separated and must unravel the mystery behind the Unversed, a strange masked boy named Vanitas, and a dark, brooding Keyblade Master named Xehanort.

In the game, you get to play as the three protagonists. You do this by starting a new game saving in separate save slots. You can either choose to play them one at a time, or play a little bit of each at once. Whichever character you choose first, second, and third does not affect the story, and the end result will always be the same, but the story might confuse you if you choose the characters out of order. The best way to play the game is to choose Terra first, then Ventus, and third Aqua.

The gameplay is too good to describe. The advanced, card, combat system is outstanding, and will have you coming back for months at a time. It's a very fluid method of fighting, and it never feels clunky or awkward. The camera control could have been better. It's as if after Square Enix fixed the camera to perfection in the second game, they decided they preferred the old, clunky camera from the first game and implemented that. Of course, it would have been next to impossible to import any other type of camera onto the PSP, seeing as how the system lacks a second analog stick. Running, walking, jumping, and dodging are all the same, and a couple of the characters even have cool new counters and evasive maneuvers.

The story is mind-blowing. After playing Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II, there are more than enough moments in the game that have you saying "Ahhhhh!!" or "NO FRICKING WAY!” It has the classic prequel vibe; explaining the origins of the series and making you rethink everything in the other games. Voice acting is almost perfect. Terra & Aqua give spot on performances. Leonard Nimoy & Mark Hamill do a stunning job as Xehanort and Master Eraqus, while Haley Joel Osment does a pretty good job as Vanitas. The only problem was Ventus' voice work. Jesse McCartney did an awesome job voicing Roxas in KHII, but in BBS he seems like he doesn't put his whole heart into it. He does say some great lines, but after the crazy good job he did in KHII, his performance is kind of disappointing.

The Kingdom Hearts series is famous for its numerous mini-games, and Birth by Sleep is by far no exception. From rhythm games, to monopoly rip-offs, to arena battles, Birth by Sleep has a ton. While some of the mini-games are boring and will only have you playing them for the sweet prize at the end, most of them are really fun and some extremely challenging. There's the arena mode, which is the classic "can you survive a 10 round onslaught of enemies" game, the Command Board, which is sort of a mix between Monopoly and Sorry!, Ice Cream Beat, a rhythm game where you have to see how many balls of ice cream you can stack on three cones, and numerous more. Coming in first place in mini-games rewards you with powerful new magic, attacks, abilities, and even a new Keyblade!

There's so much that in this game that I haven't even talked about yet, and if I did I would more than likely bore you to death, so I'll end with this: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep stands right up there with Kingdom Hearts II in terms of graphics, gameplay, story, and hearts. It's a heart-warming, action-packed, beautiful game, and even PSP owners who aren't fans of the series would be crazy to pass up one of the best PSP titles in years.

Wiki: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Guides

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:53:00 GMT

Guides for Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Blog Post: A Video Game Masterpiece With Astounding Gameplay, Graphics, and Storytelling.

DrJoeystein — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:20:00 GMT

I never thought I was going to play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. The reason for this is because I don't own a PSP. I may not own one, my sister does. I asked her if I could borrow her PSP if I bought Birth by Sleep, and she said that was okay with her. So eventually, I ended up getting the game. That's how I was able to play Birth by Sleep. Now you may be wondering why I don't own a PSP. It's because I think the gaming library for the PSP isn't good enough. Sure, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Resistance: Retribution look like some good games, but they didn't really interest me. But Birth by Sleep got my attention, and therefore, it is the first game I ever truly wanted to play on the PSP. I don't not own a PSP, and I haven't played enough games on it, but I firmly believe this is one of the greatest games made for the PSP.

Birth by Sleep is about the tale of three characters: Ventus, Aqua, and Terra. These three pupils all share a common dream to become a Keyblade master. Under the discipline and apprenticeship of Master Eraqus, Aqua accomplished this, but Terra did not. This event changes the lives of these three friends forever, and the only thing they have left to fight for in the end...is each other.

Let's start out with the gameplay. Birth by Sleep is a third person action RPG. It is by far the funnest Kingdom Hearts yet. Combat is smooth, more diverse, and simple to learn. You have your basic Keyblade attack, but you can also use special moves you can buy at the store or find in treasure chests. In the game, these special moves are called Commands, and you can mix them up in your Command list to use whatever you like on the battlefield. You can even merge certain moves together. For example, lets say you have an attack that allows you to throw your Keyblade at an enemy, and you also have a magic attack like Blizzard. You can meld these together to create a command that not only lets you throw your Keyblade, but also freezes your target into a solid block of ice! There are hundreds of commands you can experiment with, and I had fun doing that. Everything about gameplay is great, I don't have any complaints about it. Some people may find the combat tedious, but I never got tired of it. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is another story...

Next I will move on to the graphics. Man, I can't really put it in any other way, so I'll just say that they are incredible. I was amazed at how beautiful this game was when I popped it in. The graphics surpass the PS2. Facial movements are very believable and realistic...sometimes. Every now and then there will be some impressive graphics with the characters, but I think Square Enix could have done better with the scope of the environments. There aren't many details with big backdrops, but I didn't mind it at all. I'm only stating the obvious, but my experience with the game wasn't affected at all.

The sound in the game is very good. I was most impressed (in order) by the voice acting and music. Two of the voices lent to this game surprised me. Leonard Nimoy voiced Xehanort, and Mark Hamill voiced Master Eraqus. Both of them, as well as the rest of the voice actors, were a treat to listen too. They evoked a lot of emotion and hard work into their part in the game. Another aspect of the sound is the music, and this is one of the defining points of Kingdom Hearts. Yoko Shimomura, as always, outdid herself in Birth by Sleep. Ven's Theme and Terra's Theme are two of her greatest songs in the game. The music is like a puzzle piece with Kingdom Hearts, I couldn't imagine playing the game without her music in the background. There's not much to talk about actual sound effects (like footsteps, Keyblade clashing, etc.) It's fine, there's nothing amazing about it. It's just...fine. :P

Birth by Sleep is all about the story for me. It's exciting, engaging, mysterious, confusing, and complex. If everything I mentioned above was okay or bad, the story alone would still make me want to play the game. It's one of the factors that keeps you wanting to come back to the game, wondering what's going to happen next. This specific Kingdom Hearts story is so good at telling about friendship. What it is, how powerful it is, what it can do, what it's worth, etc. The story is the highlight of Birth by Sleep. Oh, and here's a tip. You can unlock a secret ending mission if you complete the game on Proud Mode, and if you collect of of Xehanort's reports. It's totally worth it, the secret ending shouldn't be missed.

Overall, I have to say this is probably my favorite Kingdom Hearts game. If you own a PSP, you should get this game. It's a lot of fun and addicting. Oh, and don't worry about replay value. Many hours will be spent playing the story mode (I put 30+ hours into it)...and there's plenty of extra content to dig into. There are mini-games, trophies to earn, and an arena mode that puts you up against several waves of Unversed (the main enemies in the game) that can be played with friends or by yourself. I highly recommend this game. It's a masterpiece that shouldn't be passed up.

Blog Post: My short BBS Review

Leonard Hillegass — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:45:00 GMT

So after putting in 25 hours I thought i played enough of the game to give my opinion.

+ Gameplay

+Story

+graphics

- Loaaad times (even after a full install)

Blog Post: Almost perfect

Cypress Grella — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:09:00 GMT

Now i will not say i was disappointed with BBS, but it was a little bit less than i expected. The three different characters was cool at first, that is until you finish the story you've started. I was not very thrilled with starting a whole new character after spending so much time on another one. Because of this i cannot say that i really got to know any of the characters. As far as mechanics go i would definately say that BBS has the best in the series. I loved everything about the battle system and enjoyed fights all the way through the game. Boss battles were very well presented and many required that you don't just spam attacks at them. The style changes were a very cool feature as well and had some really cool flashy attacks with them. The music in the game was also very good. it was refreshing to hear some new music in the series. Also all the worlds were very entertaining and helped break away from the repetiton that 358/2 days suffered from. Graphics were amazing if you set the specs all the way up. The characters wre very smooth and the backgrounds all looked very nice. The attacks had an amazing flare to them and just looked amazing. I also loved that there was no slow down when the game was fully maxed out. In the end BBS was a love hate game. I loved the mechanics and presentaion of the game but I hated the way the story played out. (P.S.) this was all done on my cell phone so I apologize for any major mistakes.

Blog Post: Awesome and fantastic

xKrAzY8sX — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:22:00 GMT

This game is awesome! all of these games are a lot of fun...358 1/2 days was good but it got really repetiative. This game opens up new worlds yet to be in these games. Here's to hoping they come out with KH3 soon!

Blog Post: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - The Force is Strong in This One...

FinalFantasy1026 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 04:20:00 GMT

To call Birth By Sleep "highly anticipated" would be the understatment of the year. To be sure, Square Enix's business model with this series is a sound one: allow a couple games to trickle out at a time and keep the fan base rabid for more. Well, consider me hooked again, because this one's a doozy.

In Birth By Sleep, Square Enix aims to provide answers to many of the series' burning questions by returning to this universe's origins. A prequel is, quite literally, the exact opposite of what fan's surely want at this point (when, oh God when, will Kingdom Heats 3 appear?), but this entry has more than enough intrigue, action, and fan service to appease the series faithful. The story begins with three young padawans Keyblade masters-in-training named Anakin Riku Terra, Obi-Wan Aqua, and Sora Roxas Ventus, as they are training with their master, Yoda Eraqus. On the day when Terra and Aqua are to be examined for the Mark of Mastery, they are joined by another Keyblade Master, Palpatine Xehanort, and when the test is finished, only Aqua is deemed a true Jedi Keyblade Master. Resentment obviously resides in Terra's heart, and this, more or less, serves as the jumping-off point for what follows.

Obviously, story comparisons to Star Wars (mostly Episode 3) are pretty obvious, from literally being able to replace "Darkness" with "Dark Side" in every line of dialogue, to symbolic "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering" speeches. The best part? It completely works. Never once did I slap my forehead and think "Wow, they are really reaching for it here." The story actually turns out to be the games greatest asset, and by separating it into three interlocking tales the game succeeds in making the game essentially un-put-downable. I am nearly done with Ventus's story, having already finished Terra's, and I find it so hard to just stop playing.

The game's combat system was something I was a little wary of going into the game. I had heard, in the previous months, much information regarding the tweaks made to the series classic combat; words like "Command Deck," "Shotlock," "Dimension Link," and others began swirling around in my head to the point where I did not know if it would be too much to process. The fact is, the battle system is perfect. By allowing the player to customize their ability loadout from the pause screen and giving every ability a cooldown rather than a single magic meter, the player never feels like they are backed into a corner without their tools. The Shotlock command, which operates through a "Focus" gauge that refills as you battle, as a pretty impressive (also customizable) screen-clearing ability. Dimension Links replace the "Summon" attacks in previous entries by essentially allowing you to channel the abilities of characters that you meet in the game, and like everything else even these can be leveled up.

The game also controls just as well as any of its console counterparts. This (along with God of War: Chains of Olympus) is one of the few PSP games where I felt that the Analog Nub was not a hindrance on my ability to maneuver. The only really problem with the control setup is the camera, which can become unwieldy in the more hectic battles thanks to having the controls mapped to the shoulder buttons out of necessity. The day a second analog stick can be added to a handheld system is the day I weep like a fanboy.

The visuals are so impressive that I can not do them justice by simply saying this. Not even screenshots convey what the game looks like in motion. This is one handheld game that I truly believe can stand toe-to-toe with Playstation 2 games, even if only the early ones. The characters are highly detailed, the environments looks gorgeous, and many of the games effects are particularly well-done (one Command Style in particular, Sky Dash, was a personal favorite).

The game is also graced with exceptional voice-acting. The obvious favorites here are Mark Hamill and Leonard Nemoy as Masters Eraqus and Xehanort, respectively. Nemoy, whose role is much larger, really brings out the duality of his role to perfection; just like Emperor Palpatine was sweet and good on the surface while hiding his dark and twisted nature, so also does Xehanort seem good to the unknowing heroes who only learn his true intentions much too late. I also enjoyed seeing the continuity preserved in having Jesse McCartney voice Ventus (who, obviously, looks exactly like Roxas, also voiced by McCartney)

To sum up, this game should not be missed for several reasons: it is one of the best games in this series, it is one of the only good games recently released on the PSP, and it is a phenomenal action-RPG that will have fans talking for as long as it takes before the next game in the series that isn't Kingdom Hearts 3 is released.

Blog Post: Kingdom Hearts Wows Again!

Mray901 — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:20:00 GMT

After just finishing Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, I'm completely satisfied with the game. With enough challenge, story, throwbacks, and surprises to please any fan of the series, this was a great ride.

Story:

I'm not going to spoil anything here, since it's so easy, but the story is fantastic. I was extremely happy with it, and I caught every little throwback to the older games there were. Surprisingly though, even though this is a prequel, you'll want to start from Kingdom Hearts 1 for PS2. With great characters, great pacing, and great voice acting (I'll get to that in a minute), the story, while convoluted, should be experienced by every fan of the series, and possibly anyone who likes RPGs. And make no mistake, you'll really want to try and unlock the secret movie.

Sound:

As always with Kingdom Hearts games, the sound is great. The music is top notch, and most of the Voice Actors bring their A-Game. ...Except Terra. Some may find his serious and calm voice fits his character, I think the Voice Actor sounds like he didn't want to do this. That said, he is redeemed by Mark Hamil, the Disney Voice Actors, and others.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in this game is great... for a PSP game. I found my self dying a lot due to the poor way the PSP system was made, especially when trying to use D-Links. That said, the game plays like any other Kingdom Hearts game. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. That newer battle system is amazing. It's a great mix between the poor (in my opinion) system of Chain of Memories, and the great system of Kingdom Hearts 2, making one of the best battle systems in the series. It's great fun trying to pick out a balanced deck of commands, and you can even meld certain commands to make them stronger. But one word of warning, if you die, be very careful. The default option is st on "Continue", which sets you back in the area before the battle started, while "Retry" puts you at the start of the battle, but without the items you used. I found myself to the brink of throwing my system when I had no potions on a tough boss.

Closing Comments: Like Bryan Vore of Gameinformer said in his review, you'd be losing out if you pass this game up because it's on PSP or doesn't have a shiny 3 on the end. With only some frustrating and questionable choises, and minor translation issues (I.E. "Becaws"), this is a great game that any PSP owner shouldn't miss out on.

Blog Post: It's on the PSP!

The Masked Marauder — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:10:00 GMT

Kingdom Hearts is finally on the PSP after many years of waiting. The graphics are great, the voice-acting is awesome, and the gameplay is easy to understand. Now let's get down to the flaws. The game takes forever to load, and I keep on accidently pressing triangle when trying to taalk to somebody. But those are some minor flaws, and it doesn't hold this game back from greatness.

Blog Post: Kingdom Hearts BBS Review: Great Mechanics Undercut By Story Reboots

Bryan Vore — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:11:00 GMT

Anyone depressed that Square Enix is dragging its feet on a high production value PS3 release of Kingdom Hearts 3 would be insane to pass up Birth by Sleep simply because it’s on PSP or that it doesn’t place series hero Sora in a lead role. This entry stands alongside Kingdom Hearts II visually with impressively detailed characters, animation, and on-screen effects. Instead of retreading the same old worlds, it brings in brand-new locations like Snow White’s forest and Stitch’s spaceship prison (if I never have to run through Agrabah ever again, it will be too soon). And it finally explains what the heck is going on in that crazy secret movie with the bunny armor people in a keyblade graveyard from the end of Kingdom Hearts II.

New characters Terra, Ventus, and Aqua play precursor roles to Riku, Sora, and Kairi respectively. They all hope to become keyblade masters and have trained hard for the privilege. You can’t help but draw comparisons to Star Wars in Birth by Sleep, especially when one of the three must battle against the dark side, I mean, the darkness. Despite the heavy borrowing, replacing Jedi with keyblade masters and the Force with magic fits well.

Combat blends melee combos with easily accessible magic and keyblade specials. Like any RPG, your character levels up as you gain more experience, but Birth by Sleep lets you gain experience in each ability. I became addicted to swapping abilities once they maxed out and combining them to make more powerful new ones. When combining abilities, you can also keep any perks tied to a maxed ability like fire resistance, bonus health, or longer combos. This move evolution system doesn’t always tell you what you’re going to create, however, so I wasted a lot of materials along the way in order to tailor my characters how I wanted. Scoring a powerful acrobatic move or a rare powerful spell makes it all worth it in the end. Once you know what you’re doing you can get stronger quickly.

Players choose one of three protagonists at the start and follow each story from one Disney world to the next until the final confrontation. In 10 to 12 hours, you’ve beaten the game and must start over with the next character. You’ll travel to all the same worlds in essentially the same order, but you’ll explore different areas of the map, meet different characters, and battle different bosses. In Cinderella’s world, for example, Ventus is shrunk down to mouse size to help collect items for her dress, Terra escorts her to the ball, and Aqua makes sure she gets to try on the glass slipper. While it’s an interesting concept, by the time I got around to playing Aqua on my third playthrough, I had already been everywhere twice and had powered up two characters. It’s no fun starting over at square one again after you’ve tasted ultimate power. It doesn’t help that Aqua’s story is the weakest of the three, either.

To play the final wrap-up chapter after all three careers, you have to collect all of Xehanort’s reports. If not, you have to go back and grab them and re-beat the game with those specific characters. It’s kind of a pain that you can’t just go right to the end, but if you’ve explored along the way you’ll probably have most of them anyway.

Multiplayer is local ad-hoc only, so good luck finding a friend with a PSP and copy of the game. If you do, you can team up or face off in a variety of minigames like a kart racer, a Monopoly-esque board game, and several arena matches. I didn’t care for the first two options, but it’s always enjoyable to be able beat up a friend in battle or team up with them to take on waves of enemies.

Overall, I loved the combat, leveling, and look of Birth by Sleep, and I applaud the bold storytelling approach of having three storylines. I’m just glad I won’t have to start up another character from scratch in this game ever again.

Getting more out of Birth by Sleep

If you’re interested in playing Birth by Sleep, you should consider investing in a hefty memory stick. To reduce load times as much as possible, you have to install 624 MB of data onto your system. Also be sure to boost color depth up to 32-bit and push the CPU speed up to 333hz. The game will look great and run as smooth as silk no matter how many effects are flying around on screen.

File: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep