Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is the latest installment in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Those who love the series will definitely enjoy this and those who are new to it can still appreciate what's there.
The game takes place 11 years before the events of Kingdom Hearts(1) and focuses around the story of 3 keyblade wielders. Terra, Ven, and Aqua. They all have a distinct personality and great voice acting to go along with it. However, there are a few really bad voices that come along but are usually just for minor character(ex. Snow White).
The battle system is the best of the series. It's no longer boring to grind because you're always switching through different skillsets and trying to unlock new combinations and abilities. The melding and command deck system is a little overwhelming at first but as you play you will become accustomed to it and eventually master it. It's quite an elegant progressive system.
D-Linking, although seeming useless in the normal mode, is essential in the proud, and critical modes. This alows you to take on the skills and buffers of a connected character such as the characters you meet in other worlds. Also, when you D-Link your character regenerates all of his/her health.
The story, unlike most Kingdom Hearts games, is simple and surprisingly not melodramatic and it really benefits from it. It's unfortunate though that you don't get to meet as many Final Fantasy characters in this installment. However, the game doesn't really suffer from it(and Zack is a much better character than Cloud).
Graphics are pretty good. Better than the first KH but not as good as the second. Though the mouth syncing is much better than both and there is less dialog boxes and more actual talking. The game's framerate stutters in some portions and every now and then you'll get some freaking out of the camera but it's not so often that it's intolerable.
I'd say now, without a doubt, that Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is the best in the series. It's been a great year for the PSP. This game had a lot of competition to live up to but it definitely pulled through. The game has many set pieces and great plot points. This, accompanied by a great battle system and graphics, make Birth by Sleep a heavy hitter.
Overall, Birth By Sleep is an important slice of the Kingdom Hearts series, and shouldn’t be missed out on if you’re looking to get into the series. Granted, some of the features and moment-to-moment gameplay is lost when it transitioned from the PSP to modern consoles. But nonetheless, one can’t deny its overall importance to the story and the impact of its mechanics and systems to the series overall.
i like it, but its just too much "friendships are the key to our power" bs.
don't get me started on them minigames lol
i think the game had tremendous potential for essential online gaming and other things. but they didnt do a whole lot with it in the remaster.
i would, however, consider it to be one of the harder games in the series, which is good
What makes Birth by Sleep’s story so engrossing isn’t that it's as a prequel, It’s the fact that it’s emotionally charged and mature.
As the decade ends, let’s look back at many of the biggest moments in the Kingdom Hearts series. From games to merchandise, there was something for every Kingdom Hearts fan to enjoy.
Great review, I think that the graphics should be 9.5 though.
Love this game cant wait for KH 3.Still need to beat Aquas story.
I've been playing through it and haven't encounter too many drops in frame rate…I'm wondering did the reviewer have game set on accelerated mode, where it uses more of the CPU. If you use this mode and leave it in 16-bit color mode it should run even smoother.